The Black Spider – Part Four Short Story: The

We in our age are faced with a strange paradox. Never before have we had so much information in bits and pieces flooded upon us by radio and television and satellite, yet never before have we had so little inner certainty about our own being. The more objective truth increases, the more our inner certitude decreases. Our fantastically increased technical power, and each forward step in technology is experienced by many as a new push toward our possible annihilation.

Rollo May ISTOCK

THE BLACK SPIDER

JEREMIAS GOTTHELF

Part Four

Ever more clearly the belief emerged in her soul that if a priest in the service of the Lord were present at the birth, bearing the sacred sacrament, the sacred love of the Redeemer, and armed with strong spells of exorcism, no evil spirit would be granted to approach, and the priest could straightaway administer the sacrament of baptism to the newborn child, which custom allowed in those days; then the poor child would be forever wrested from the danger which the fathers’ indiscretion had brought upon it. This belief also crept up on the others, and the young woman’s grief touched their hearts, but they were loth to admit to the priest the pact they had made with Satan, and no one had gone to confession ever since, nor confided in him. He was a truly pious man, and even the knights in the castle took no liberties with him, though he told them the truth. The peasants had envisaged that once the matter was over with, he could no longer prevent them; but now none of them was willing to be first to tell him about it, and their consciences left them in no doubt why.

‘Finally the lamentation stirred one woman to the heart; she rushed off to the priest and revealed the bargain to him, and what the unfortunate woman wanted. The pious man was violently appalled, but he wasted no time in idle chatter; boldly he strode into battle against this daunting fiend to defend a poor soul. He was one of those who do not shy away from the fiercest battle, because they long for the crown of eternal life and know full well that no one would be crowned who has not fought the good fight.

‘He sprinkled the perimeter of the house in which the woman awaited her hour with a sacred charm of holy water to make a line of interdict which evil spirits dare not breach, he blessed the threshold and the entire room, and peacefully the woman gave birth and the priest baptised the child without any disturbance. All was equally calm outside, luminous stars twinkled in the clear sky, gentle winds wafted among the trees.

Some people claimed to have heard a guffaw afar off; others, though, maintained that it was only little screech owls at the edge of the forest.

‘All present, however, were greatly elated, and all the fear and anxiety was gone, for ever, as they thought; for if once they had duped the green huntsman, they could always do so again by the same means. ‘A lavish banquet was prepared, with guests invited from far away. The priest cautioned in vain against having a feast or exultation, exhorting them to be wary and to pray, for the enemy was not yet vanquished nor had they atoned before God. Deep within him he felt that he could not impose any penance of atonement on them, and that a mighty and severe penance was approaching from the very Hand of God. But they did not listen to him, merely seeking to ply him with food and drink. He went away saddened, prayed for those who did not know what they were doing, and girded himself with prayer and fasting to battle as a faithful shepherd for his entrusted flock. C hristine, too, was seated in the midst of the festive gathering, but she was oddly quiet, with glowing cheeks and sombre eyes, and there was a strange twitching in her face. Christine, being a seasoned midwife, had been present at the birth and had stood as godmother at the hasty baptism with insolence in her heart and lacking in fear. But when the priest sprinkled the water over the child and baptised it in the name of Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, it felt to her as if someone were suddenly pressing a fiery iron to the spot where she had received the green huntsman’s kiss. In sudden panic she had flinched, almost dropping the child, and since that moment the pain had not eased but grew ever more intense from hour to hour. At first she had sat quietly, suppressing the pain and secretly turning over the gloomy thoughts in her awakened soul, but more and more frequently she passed her hand over the burning spot where it felt

Lighter and more luminous has the Lord of the Worlds created woman, so that she shall go before us men. She is to smooth the paths for us. We have forgotten this in the course of our earth lives.

Buddha

ISTOCK