Ulenspiegel’s and Nele’s will-o’-the wisp went off to dance with the rest in the meadow.
Suddenly Nele and her lover were seized by the huge hand of a giant, who tossed them up in the air like children’s balls, caught them again, rolled them one upon the other and kneaded them in his hands, threw them into the pools between the hills and pulled them out all covered with seaweed. And as he thus whirled them through space, he sang in a voice that roused all the seagulls in terror:
“Read, Flea, the mystery!
Read, Louse, the sacred word
Which in air, sky, earth
By seven nails is anchored!”
And indeed, Ulenspiegel and Nele sa,w on the grass, in the air, and in the sky, seven tablets of shining brass fastened by seven flaming nails. And on the tablets was written:
“Sap germinates in dunghills;
Seven is bad, but seven is good.
Diamonds issue out of coal:
Stupid doctors have wise pupils:
Seven is bad, but seven is good.”
And the giant went along, followed by all the will-o’-the- wisps, chirping like crickets, and saying:
“Look at him well, he is their great Master,
Pope of Popes, King of Kings;
He takes Caesar out to graze.
Look at him well, he’s made of wood.”
Suddenly his features changed, he seemed thinner, great and mournful. He held a sceptre in one hand and a sword in the other. His name was Pride.
And throwing Nele and Ulenspiegel to the ground, he said:
“I am God.”
Then, beside him, mounted on a goat, appeared a ruddy-faced girl, with bare breast, her gown thrown open, her
