Eulenspiegel did not do without trickery in the village of Riesenburg. There lived a priest who had a beautiful housekeeper and a nice little horse. The priest loved both of them very much, the horse even more than the maid. Once the Duke of Brunswick visited Riesenburg, and he ordered to convey to the priest through other people that he would like to get this horse and was ready to pay more for it than it was worth. But the priest resolutely refused the duke; He loved his horse too much and did not want to part with it. The Duke did not want to take her by force.
Eulenspiegel, who knew a lot about such matters, heard about this and said to the duke: “Dear sir, what will you give me if I get you the horse of the Riesenburg priest?” “If you do this,” answered the Duke, “I will give you a red caftan from my shoulder, embroidered with pearls.”
Eulenspiegel took up this matter and headed to the village. He had already been to the priest's house, so he was known here and received hospitably. A few days later, Eulenspiegel pretended to be completely ill, began to moan loudly and eventually fell ill. The priest and his housekeeper did not know how to help him, and were very upset. Finally, seeing that he was in a very bad way, the priest started talking to him about confession. Eulenspiegel had nothing against it. Then the priest said that he would confess him himself, and suggested that he remember everything that was in his soul, all the bad things that he had done in his life, and the all-merciful Lord would forgive him. Eulenspiegel answered the priest in a weak voice that he had no sins, except one, but he could not confess to him. It would be better to call another priest so that he could tell him everything, for he is afraid that the master priest will be angry if he reveals himself to him.
Hearing this, the priest became curious and wanted to know what was going on here. "Dear Eulenspiegel," he told him, "the road is long, I am unlikely to be able to get another priest, and if you die in the meantime, we will both have to answer to God. Tell me your sin; perhaps it is not so great and I will free you from it. And why should you be afraid of my anger, I have no right to divulge a confession." I confess to you. Even though the sin is not so great, I am sorry that it will be unpleasant for you; after all, the matter concerns you.”
These words irritated the priest’s curiosity even more, and he decided to find out everything at all costs. If Eulenspiegel stole something from him, he said, or was guilty of something similar, let him speak without fear, he will forgive him and will not bear any grudge against him. "Ah, dear sir," said Eulenspiegel, "I know that you will be angry, but since I will soon have to say goodbye to this world, I must open up to you. Don't be angry, dear sir, the fact is that I slept with your maid."
The priest asked how often this happened. “Only five times,” replied Eulenspiegel. “Well, she will receive five times for this,” thought the priest, and, having absolved Eulenspiegel of his sins, he went to his room, called the maid and asked her if she had slept with Eulenspiegel. The housekeeper replied that this was a lie. Then the priest said that Eulenspiegel himself admitted this to him in confession and he could not help but believe him. She kept saying “no,” he said “yes,” and then he took a stick and beat her until she was black and blue. And Eulenspiegel, lying in bed, laughed and thought to himself: “Well, now the job will be done.”
He lay there for a day, and during the night he recovered, and in the morning, getting up, he said that he was already feeling better and should move on. He asked how much he owed during his illness; the priest calculated everything, received it from him and was very glad that he was leaving. And the housekeeper was glad - after all, it was by his grace that she was beaten. Eulenspiegel was already fully prepared, but before setting off, he said to the priest: “Mr. Priest, I want to warn you that since you have divulged the secret of confession, I intend to go to Halberstadt and tell the bishop about it.”
Hearing that Eulenspiegel wanted to make him unhappy, the priest forgot all his anger and began to ask Eulenspiegel to remain silent, promising him twenty guilders for this. But Eulenspiegel said: “No, I won’t remain silent even for a hundred guilders, I will go and do as I promised.” Then the priest, with tears in his eyes, began to beg the maid to talk to Eulenspiegel and find out what he wanted; he will give him everything for silence.
Finally, Eulenspiegel said that he was ready to keep his mouth shut if they gave him the horse. The priest would rather give all his money than part with his horse, so he
loved her. But like it or not, I had to give up the horse, and Eulenspiegel immediately rode off on it.
He galloped at a trot to the City Gate. And the Duke was standing on the drawbridge at that time. Seeing Eulenspiegel on the priest’s horse, he took off the promised caftan and said: “My glorious Eulenspiegel, here is your caftan.” “And here is your horse, dear sir,” replied Eulenspiegel, dismounting.
The Duke was very grateful to him, and then asked him to tell him how he managed to get a horse from the priest, and, having heard about everything, laughed merrily and gave Eulenspiegel a horse in addition to the caftan.
And the priest grieved greatly for his horse and often beat the maid on this occasion, so that she soon left him. And he was left with nothing: without a horse and without a maid.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru