Page:Lays and Legends of Germany (1834).djvu/242

 which they scraped all sorts of out of the way tunes. These were soon afterwards joined by other instruments, and jovially did they play together; indeed it would be impossible to relate half the marvellous and pleasant things that came to pass.

As soon as they had finished their repast, Rubezahl paid another visit to his closet, and brought forth from it all sorts of rare fruits, such as grew in Spain, France, the low countries, Arabia, India, and Greece, with various rich and fresh spices, and other beautiful productions of those lands, which his guests might eat and enjoy with pleasure and delight: many of which were known to them, though many others were unknown. Moreover there were such varieties of beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs, that one could not but be amazed thereat. And when they had been thus merry for some time, one among them begun and said to Rubezahl, ‘Sir host, I beg you will be so kind as to let us see some pretty sportive jest?’ But Rubezahl answered and said, ‘There is enough this time—this time you and the other lords have seen enough.’ All the rest agreed with Rubezahl, saying, ‘the pastime would indeed be superfluous.’ But he who had spoken, persevered and entreated so hard for one as a sort of sleeping cup, that Rubezahl at length said, ‘It shall be so!’

Soon after this, in a trice, this same guest had gotten an ox’s head with great horns, just like the head of a real animal. At this sight the other lords began to laugh and mock him. This angered him, and he sought to reproach them for so doing, but when he begun, he only roared and bellowed for all the world as if he had been a living ox. Shortly afterwards, he tried to raise a beaker to his mouth, that he might drink out of it, but this he could by