Of the Knight Walter von Endenich and the Devil
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| Geographic Coordinates: 50° 43' 30.00" N, 7° 4' 20.00" E |
In the village of Endenich, which lies within the district of Bonn, there once was a noble knight named Walter. This knight was a very faithful follower of both our house as well as our order. Once, when he had fallen deeply ill and was lying all alone in his bed, the Devil appeared in visible form at his feet next to it. As Walter told us himself, he had a face like an ape and the horns of a billy goat. Initially, the knight was startled. But he soon regained his composure, and said:
“Who or what are you? Where do you come from, and what do you want?” The monster replied: “I am the Devil, and have come to fetch your soul.”
When the knight replied: “Begone from here, Tempter! You shall not have my soul, and I put it into the hands of Christ!”, the Devil interjected: “If you are willing to serve and honor me, I will not only make you healthy again, but shall also make you and your descendants rich.”
The knight replied: “I have enough, and do not ask for your deceptive treasures. And where would you take those treasures anyway?” — “There are innumerable of those within the boundaries of your estate”, replied the Devil.
As the knight began to enjoy his conversation with him, he asked: “Please tell me, where is the soul of my (1207) deceased lord, the Count Wilhelm von Jülich?” Thereupon the Devil: “Do you know the neighboring castles Wolkenburg and Drachenfels”? — “I know them” — “Then I will reassure you: If these castles, as well as the mountains on which they stand, were made out of iron, and be moved to the place where the soul of Count Wilhelm is located, then they would melt faster than the blink of an eye”. Then he laughed and added: “This heat is a mere bath of milk for them. Only in the future, when his soul regains his body, shall he receive the punishment that he is due.” Asked about the soul of Count Heinrich von Sayn, he gave the reply: “Certainly, we have him as well”, but did not say anything about his punishment.
The knight furthermore inquired after the soul of his father, whereupon the Devil responded: “We had him for twenty-one years, but that one-eyed woman and the bald lice coat wearer who lies upstairs have stolen him.” He referred to the wife of the deceased man as “the one-eyed woman” since she had lost an eye because she constantly wept tears for the soul of the deceased. And the “bald lice coat wearer” was her son, our fellow monk Dietrich, who was present in order to visit his brother.
When asked about the above-mentioned noblewoman, the Devil replied: “She was never in our power, as she had been a good and holy woman. But we have the reins so tightly on your brother Lamberg that he shall not escape us.” The latter had died a few years ago, and had been a greedy, miserly man.
When the knight inquired: “Tell me, from where did you come before you arrived here?”, the Devil responded: “I was at the deathbed of a certain abbess of a Black Order, and we waited for the departure of her soul.” — “How many of you were there?” — “Do you know the forest called the Kottenforst?” — “I know it very well.” — “There are not enough leaves on the trees in that forest as our numbers were when we congregated there. And, indeed, no forest of this country has.” — “And what have you accomplished there?” — “Sadly, nothing at all, for she was a devout woman. Furthermore, the Archangel Michael arrived and assailed us with an iron club, and drove us away with beatings so that we flew apart like dust scattered by a stormwind.”
Asked whether he had been present at the death of our recently deceased abbot Gevard († 1208), he replied: “There are not as many grains on the shores of the ocean as the number of us who were present then. But it was to no avail, for those lice coat wearers were lying on the ground and grunted like pigs, so that we were unable to approach him at all. Furthermore, they had a murmur house” — he was referring to the chapter house — “in which all the crimes they had committed were taken away from us.”
Thereupon the knight said: “How dare you fool appear at the death of such a just man?” — “Dare what? I was present when the Son of God died, and was sitting on one side of the Cross.” — “And what was your participation in the death of Christ?” — “We had no involvement at all, and went there to our regret. For through the power of the dying one we were confused, thrown into the highest distress, and hurled down into Hell.”
The knight conversed about these and many other things when he was alone with the Devil. And later on, when he had recovered, he told many people about this.(*)
(*) This narrative, written with a certain attitude, should be seen as proof that Cäsarius did not lack Rhenish humor. Further examples of this can be found in the sixth book of the dialogue, which covers simplemindedness (simplicitas). However, even when he relates humorous tales, Caesarious maintains an outwardly serious countenance.