"I don't deny that you were in Rome; but you look like a beer drunkard," said the Czech.
"Look out for eternal damnation," answered the stranger; "you are talking to a man who last Easter ate hard boiled eggs with the holy father. Don't speak to me in such cold weather about beer; but if you have a flask of wine with you, then give me two or three swallows of it, and I will pardon you a month of purgatory."
"You have not been ordained; I heard you say you had not. How then can you grant me pardon for a month of purgatory?"
"I have not received ordination, but I have my head shaved, because I received permission for that; beside, I am carrying indulgences and relics."
"In the chests?" asked the Czech.
"Yes, in the chests. If you saw all I have there, you would fall on your face, not only you, but all the pines in the forest and all the wild beasts."
But the Czech, being an intelligent and experienced attendant, looked suspiciously at this peddler of indulgences, and said: "The wolves devoured your horse?"
"Yes, they devoured him, because they are the devil's relatives. If you have any wine, give me some; although the wind has ceased, yet I am frozen, having sat by the road so long."
The Czech would not give him any wine; and they rode along silently, until the stranger began to ask: "Where are you going?"
"Far. At first to Sieradz. Are you going with us?"
"I must. I will sleep in the stable, and perhaps to-morrow this pious knight will give me a present of a horse; then I will go further."
"Where are you from?"
"From under Prussian lords, not far from Marienburg."
Having heard this, Zbyszko turned and motioned to the stranger to come nearer to him.
"Did you come from Marienburg?" said he "Yes, sir."
"But are you a German? You speak our language very well. What is your name?"
"I am a German, and they call me Sanderus; I speak your language well, because I was born in Torun, where everybody speaks that language; then I lived in Marienburg, and there it is the same. Bah! even the brothers of the Order understand your language."
"How long since you left Marienburg?"
"I was in the Holy Land, then in Constantinople, and in Rome; thence through France I came to Marienburg and from there I was going to Mazowsze, carrying the holy relics which pious Christians buy willingly, for the salvation of their souls."