Page:Foreign Tales and Traditions (Volume 2).djvu/374

 “A fellow, indeed!” thought the old forester to himself, when he had returned home from the chase. “Who could have expected to find such a dexterous shot in a quill-driver? Well, to-morrow I will speak to the Amtmann myself; for it would be a pity that he should not become a Jäger. The fellow may prove a second Kuno yet! You know who Kuno was, I suppose?” said the old man turning to William.

William replied he did not.

“Now do you not know who Kuno was!” exclaimed the forester in great surprise. “Why, Kuno was my great-grandfather’s father; and was the very first forester in this place! He was once a poor stable-boy, and served the young knight of Wippach, who took a great fancy for him, and made him attend him at all feasts and tournaments and hunting-parties. Well, it happened once that young Wippach was present at a magnificent hunt which the duke held here with a great number of knights and nobles. Now the dogs roused a stag, to the back of which a poor wretch had been fastened, and who appeared wringing his hands and crying most piteously for help. You see there was once a tyrannical and barbarous law amongst our hunting nobles, that if a poor man committed any trespass against the forest-laws he should be bound to a stag, and left thus to be gored to death or to perish by hunger and thirst. So when the duke beheld this spectacle he became exceeding wroth, and commanded them to stop the hunt, and endeavour to rescue the man, for he wished to know from his own mouth what had been the nature of his offence. And he promised a great reward to any man who would bring down the stag; but declared that he who should hit the man in the attempt should be put to death. Not a man amongst all the nobles would undertake the dangerous task, however willing to please the duke. At last who should step forward but Kuno himself, my great