Ritmennt - 01.01.1997, Síða 119

RITMENNT
WILLIAM MORRIS OG KELMSCOTT
sccondly, lcsi it might appear as if thcy fcared he would fulfll his
thrcats rcspccting thc JcnajS^But Jacob Appclmann, the burgo*
master, who lay sick in his bcd from thc trcatmcnt hc had rcccived
at Stramchl.cntircly disapprovcdof this rcsohitiont.tnd whcn they
camcto hitn for his advicc.proposcd togiveforanswcr tothc knight
that hc should flrst indcmnify him for thc loss of his costly spiccs,
which hc valued at one thousand florins, and, whcn this sum was
paid down.thcymighttrcatofthcmattcrconccrning thc apprcnticc
ttffThc knight, howcver, mocked thtm for tnaking such an absurd
dcmandascompcnsation.&rcitcratcdhis threats, tnatifthe young
man werc not dclivcrcd up to him, hc would punish Stargard with
a grcat punishmcnt^The council.howcvcr, wcrc still dctcrmincd
not to yield; & as thc burgomastcr lay sick in his bcd, thcy relcascd
thc apprcnticc from prison; and rcplicd to Otto: "That if hc brokc
thcpublicpeace of his impcrial maicstv, let thc conscqucnccs fall on
hisownhcadithcrcwasstil! justicc forthcmtobchadin Pomcrania.”
BjjHEN thcburgomastcrhcard of this,hc had himsclf
E carricd in a littcr, sick as hc was to thc honourablc
f council.andaskcdthcin:" Wasthis justiccto rclcasc
I an inccndiarvfrom prison ? Ifthcy souvht justiccfor
| thcmsdvcs, lct thcm dcal it out to othcrs. No onc
J hadlost moreby thc transaction than hc:hisincomc
for thc ncxt two years was dean gonc;& thc carc & anxicty hchad
undergonc bcsidcs, had rcdticcd nim to this statc of bodily wcak'
ness wiiich thcy obscrvcd. Itwasa hcart'gricf to him to givc up thc
voung man, for hc had rcarvd him from thc baptism watcr, and hc
had bcen a faithful scrvant unto him up to this day. Could hc savc
hiin, hcwould gladly givc uphishousc and all hc was worth.andgo
andtakealodgingupon thc wall; for this young manhad oncc savcd
his lifc.byslayingamad dog whicli had scizcd him by thc tail ofhis
coat; but it was not to be aonc. Thcy must sct an honourablc cx'
amplc, as just and tipright citiscns and fcarlcss magistratcs, who
hold tliat old saying in honour: 'Fiat justitia et percat mundus’;
which means:' llct iusticc bc done, though life and fortunc pcrish.’
Btit thc punishmcnt of thc whccl was, hc confcsscd, altogctncr too
scvcre for thc poor youth; and thercforc hc counscllcd that thcy
should hang hun, as Otto had hung his brothcrjtfPThis coursc thc
honourablc socicty conscntcd at last to adopt; but thc knight had
disgraccd their arms.andthcy ought in rcturn to disgracc his.Thcy
could get thc court paintcr from Stcttin, at thc public cxpcnsc, and
Ict him paint Otto Bork’s arms on thc back of thc young man's
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hosc^Hcrc thc burgomastcragain intcrfcrcd: " Why should thc
honourablc council attcmpt a stupid insult, bccausc thc knight had
donc so?” But hc t.ilkcd in vain; thev wcrc detcrmincd on this rc-
taliation. At last (but aftcr a great dcal of troublc) hc obtaincd a
promisc that they would have thc artns paintcd bcforc, upon his
smock, and not bchind upon thc hosc, for that would bc a sorc dis*
gracc to Otto, and bring his vcngcancc upon thcm. " Why should
thcy do morc to him than hc had donc unto thcm?Thc scripturc
said: "eyc forcvc, toothfortooth.and not twocycs forancyc, two
tccth for a tooth."' Hcrcupon the hunourablc counctl pronounced
scntcncc on thc youngman.andflxcd thc thirdday from that forhis
cxccution.Butflrstthecxccutioncrmustbringhimupbcforcthcbcd
ofthc burgomastcr, whothus spokc: "Ah, Zabcl, whcrefore didst
thou not Dehavc as I admonishcd thcc in Wangcrin?” And as thc
voung man bcgan to wcep, hc gavc him his hand, and adtnonished
himtobcstcadfastinthcdcath'hour.askcdhisforgivcncssforhaving
condcmncd him.but itwas liisduty asamagistratc so todo.thankcd
himfor havingsavcdhislife by slayingthcmad'dog;finallybadhim
" good*night, and thcn buricdhis facc in thc piIlowjPSo thchang'
man carricd back thc wccping youth to thc counciUhall, whcrc thc
honourablccouncillors had thcBorkanns fastcncdupon hissinock,
&outoffurthcrmaliccagainstOtto(forthcykncw the burgomastcr
bcing sick in his bed.could not hindcr thcm) thcy placcd ovcr thcm
•t large piecc of pastcboard.on which was wríttcn:" So did thcStar*
gardians with Stramchl." ltein, thcy fastcned to the two corncrs a
pair of wolFs cars, bccausc Bork, in thc Wcndig tonguc, signiflcs
wolf. This was to rcvcngc thcmsclvcs for thc harcs’ tails jíSlThen
thc poor apprcnticc was carricd to thc gallows, amid loudlaughtcr
frotn thc common pcoplc. And evcn the honourablc councillors
waxcd merryatthcsight.andas thc hangman pushcdhimfrom thc
laddcr thcy cricd out. “ So will thc Stargardians do to Stramchl!"
ö|OW Otto hcard tidings of atl thcsc doings, but hc
fearcdtocomplaintohisHiglmcssthcDukc.bccause
he himsclf had bcgun thc quarrcl,and thcy hadonly
rctortcd as was fair. Itcm.hc did not darc to ston thc
Jboatsupon the Jcna.forheknewthatalthoughDukc
Barnim was usually of a softahdplacablc tcmpcr, yct
whcn hc was rouscd, therc was no morc dangerous cncmy^
And if the Stargardians lcagucd with him. thcy might fall upon
his town of Stramehl, as thcy had donc onec bcforc J0 Thcrcforc
hc waitcdpaticntlyforanopportunityofrcvcngc.andhcldhispcacc
k 2 131
Óskreyttar opnur eru ekki óalgengar í bókum frá Kelmscott þó þær séu sjaldan myndaðar. Greinaskil eru táknuð
með Kelmscott-laufinu, nema á tveimur stöðum er ný lína og forstafur. Myndin sýnir allvel hlutföllin í opnunni en
segja má að laufin spilli jafnri áferð leturflatarins, sem þó var keppikefli Morrisar (Sidonia the Sorceress, bls. 130-31).
spássíuskraut, flúraðar titilopnur, myndskreytiirg (tréristur).
Morris gerði sér fyllilega ljóst að þarna var fremur um að ræða
persónulegan stíl en að hann ætti að vera almenn krafa í bóka-
hönnun. í greinargerð sem hann slcrifaði á síðasta æviári um
bókaútgáfu sína segir hann meðal annars: „Ég hóf bókaprentun í
von um að mér tækist að búa til bækur sem gætu með réttu lcall-
ast fagrir prentgripir [...] Það var ekki nema eðlilegt að ég sem
hef haft atvinnu af skreytingum reyndi að skreyta bækur mínar
á viðeigandi hátt: Urn það vil ég einungis segja að ég hef ævin-
lega reynt að hafa í huga nauðsyn þess að skreytingin væri hluti
af letursíðunni."3 Má kannski greina þarna ofurlítinn afsökunar-
3 A note by William Morris.
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