Pearl – August 2019

reveal to them. I, who had just then put up at an inn

with my men and was on the scene when this incident

happened, could not hear from the entrance to a church

where I was standing behind the crowd of people what

the strange woman said to the noble gentlemen. To the

extent that when the people laughed and whispered to

one another that she did not share her knowledge with

all and sundry and badgered and shoved forward to

watch the spectacle in the making, I, less in fact out of

curiosity than to make way for the curious, got up on a

stone bench behind me that was carved in the church

entrance. From this vantage point, with nothing block-

ing my view, I had scarcely caught sight of the nobles

and the woman, who sat on her stool before them and

seemed to be scribbling something, when suddenly she

got up leaning on her crutches and, looking around in

the crowd, fixed her gaze on me, even though I had

never exchanged a word with her nor ever in my life

craved her knowledge, pushed her way through the

whole dense throng to me and said: “There! If the noble

gentleman wants to know his fortune, he may ask you

about it!” And with that, gracious sir, she handed me

this slip of paper with her scrawny, bony hands. And

when, taken aback, with all eyes upon me, I said: “What

is this you honour me with, old lady?” she replied, after

mumbling much that was inaudible but in the midst of

which, to my great surprise, I heard my name

mentioned: “An amulet, Kohlhaas, horse dealer; take

good care of it; it will one day save your life.” Thereupon

she vanished. Well!’ Kohlhaas went on good-naturedly,

‘to tell the truth, harsh as things fared with me in

Dresden, I came away with my life; how things will turn

out for me in Berlin and whether I shall also come off

there alive, the future will tell.’

At these words the elector sank down on a bench;

and although to the lady’s perplexed question as to what

was wrong with him, he answered: ‘Nothing, nothing at

all’, he was already down on the floor in a faint before she

had time to help him out and to take him in her arms.

T

he knight von Malzahn, who entered the room at

that very moment on a matter of some business,

exclaimed: ‘Good heavens, what is the matter with the

gentleman?’ The lady cried out: ‘Bring some water!’ The

hunting squires picked him up and carried him to a bed

in the adjoining room; and the consternation reached

its peak when the chamberlain, who had been

summoned by a page, declared after several futile

attempts to revive the elector that he showed all the

signs of having suffered a stroke. The high bailiff, while

the cupbearer sent a messenger on horseback to fetch a

doctor from Luckau, had the elector, when he opened

his eyes, moved to a carriage and slowly conveyed to his

hunting lodge nearby. But this journey brought on two

further fainting spells when he arrived at the lodge and

30 Pearl • August 2019

reveal to them. I, who had just then put up at an inn
with my men and was on the scene when this incident
happened, could not hear from the entrance to a church
where I was standing behind the crowd of people what
the strange woman said to the noble gentlemen. To the
extent that when the people laughed and whispered to
one another that she did not share her knowledge with
all and sundry and badgered and shoved forward to
watch the spectacle in the making, I, less in fact out of
curiosity than to make way for the curious, got up on a
stone bench behind me that was carved in the church
entrance. From this vantage point, with nothing block-
ing my view, I had scarcely caught sight of the nobles
and the woman, who sat on her stool before them and
seemed to be scribbling something, when suddenly she
got up leaning on her crutches and, looking around in
the crowd, fixed her gaze on me, even though I had
never exchanged a word with her nor ever in my life
craved her knowledge, pushed her way through the
whole dense throng to me and said: “There! If the noble
gentleman wants to know his fortune, he may ask you
about it!” And with that, gracious sir, she handed me
this slip of paper with her scrawny, bony hands. And
when, taken aback, with all eyes upon me, I said: “What
is this you honour me with, old lady?” she replied, after
mumbling much that was inaudible but in the midst of
which, to my great surprise, I heard my name
mentioned: “An amulet, Kohlhaas, horse dealer; take
good care of it; it will one day save your life.” Thereupon
she vanished. Well!’ Kohlhaas went on good-naturedly,
‘to tell the truth, harsh as things fared with me in
Dresden, I came away with my life; how things will turn
out for me in Berlin and whether I shall also come off
there alive, the future will tell.’
At these words the elector sank down on a bench;
and although to the lady’s perplexed question as to what
was wrong with him, he answered: ‘Nothing, nothing at
all’, he was already down on the floor in a faint before she
had time to help him out and to take him in her arms.

T

he knight von Malzahn, who entered the room at
that very moment on a matter of some business,
exclaimed: ‘Good heavens, what is the matter with the
gentleman?’ The lady cried out: ‘Bring some water!’ The
hunting squires picked him up and carried him to a bed
in the adjoining room; and the consternation reached
its peak when the chamberlain, who had been
summoned by a page, declared after several futile
attempts to revive the elector that he showed all the
signs of having suffered a stroke. The high bailiff, while
the cupbearer sent a messenger on horseback to fetch a
doctor from Luckau, had the elector, when he opened
his eyes, moved to a carriage and slowly conveyed to his
hunting lodge nearby. But this journey brought on two
further fainting spells when he arrived at the lodge and

30 Pearl • August 2019