Of the Stabülers, or Bread Gatherers.
Of the Stabülers, or Bread Gatherers.
The next chapter is about the Stabülers.
These are vagrants who tramp through
the country from one Saint to another,
their wives (KRÖNERIN) and children (GATZAM)
going (ALCHEN) with them. Their hats (WETTERHAN)
and cloaks (WINTFANG) hang full of signs
of all the saints,—the cloak (wintfang) being made
(VETZEN) out of a hundred pieces. They go toPg 10
the peasants who give them bread (LEHEM DIPPEN);
and each of these Stabülers has six or
seven sacks, and carries a pot, plate, spoon, flask,
and whatever else is needed for the journey with
him. These same Stabülers never leave off
begging, nor do their children, from their infancy
to the day of their death—for the beggar’s staff
keeps the fingers (GRIFFLING) warm—and they
neither will nor can work, and their children (GATZAM)
grow up to be harlots and harlotmongers
(GLIDEN und GLIDESVETZER), hangmen and flayers
(ZWICKMEN und KAVELLER). Also, whithersoever
these Stabülers come, in town or country, they
beg; at one house for God’s sake, at another for
St. Valentine’s sake, at a third for St. Kürine’s, sic
de aliis, according to the disposition of the people
from whom they seek alms. For they do not adhere
to one patron or trust to one method alone.
Conclusio: Thou mayest give to them if thou wilt,
for they are half bad and half good,—not all bad,
but most part.