Tyl, in the course of his wanderings from
court to court, rode to the palace of the
Archduke of Battenburg on his donkey.
His clothes and appearance attracted
everyone’s attention. His cap was set
smartly on his head and the three bright
feathers on it danced in the breeze as he
rode. At the main entrance to the palace,
the Captain of the Guards called out to
him, ‘Hei there! You fellow on the donkey!
We don’t allow any loafers here. You and
your donkey already look like skeletons.’
2 The Captain of the Guards was a tall,
well-built, red-haired man of about
twenty-five. He was handsomely dressed in his gold-braided uniform. Tyl looked
at him coolly and then dismounted from
his donkey. He bowed low and said, ‘May
God bless you, Sir Captain! If I look like
a skeleton, it is not my fault. I’m very
hungry. I’ve come here because I’m forced
to. If you will be so good as to give me a
piece of the gold cord that you wear on
your coat, I’ll go and hang myself by the
teeth on that large leg of mutton that I
see hanging in that butcher’s shop.’
The Captain was playing a game of chess
with another officer. He looked curiously
at Tyl.
‘Where do you come from?’ he asked ‘From Flanders,’ replied Tyl.
‘What do you want?’
‘I should like to show His Highness, the
Archduke, one of my paintings. I’m a
painter.’
‘Well, if you are a painter and if you come
from Flanders, you may come in,’ said the
Captain somewhat impressed.
The Captain knew that Flemish painters
and their pictures were in great demand
all over Europe. Tyl was presented to the
Archduke. He saluted the Archduke three times and stood before him with his head
bowed. ‘May, your Highness pardon me
for my rashness in thinking that one of
my paintings will please your Highness. I
have brought a picture of Our Lady, the
Virgin, in her royal robes. I have painted
it specially so that I might lay it at your
noble feet.’ Tyl paused a few moments for
his words to sink in. Then he continued,
‘You must forgive me, Your Highness, if
I’ve dared to hope that this picture will
please you. Perhaps Your Highness might
wish to offer me the chair of your court painter who died recently. I can see the
empty velvet chair waiting to be filled.’
The Virgin’s picture was a splendid
painting and the Archduke made up his
mind at once.
He embraced and kissed
him on both cheeks. He said, ‘I shall be
delighted to make you my court painter.’
He directed him to the chair and made
him sit on it. ‘Well, my dear fellow,’ he said,
‘you do have a tongue in your head and
you certainly seem to know how to use it.
You are a very talkative fellow, aren’t you?’
4 ‘Your Highness, may it please you to
remember me and my donkey, Jeff, for just
one more minute,’ Tyl replied. ‘My donkey
has been feeding himself fairly well all
along the way on the thorns in the hedges
and the grass on the roadside. But I have
had nothing to eat for the past three days.
My stomach has been complaining very
loudly. Perhaps Your Highness can even
hear it now. I have been feeding myself
with dreams of good food and drink at
your royal table.’
The Archduke smiled and said, ‘Well, my
dear fellow, you will certainly have something more solid than dreams to feed
on.
But where is your donkey?’
‘I left him outside, opposite the palace. I
shall be most grateful if Jeff is looked
after. He needs a little fodder and lodging
at night,’ said Tyl.
The Archduke immediately ordered the
donkey to be taken care of and he added.
‘Treat it like one of my own animals.’
5 Before long, supper was served and it
was like a wedding feast. The tables were
loaded with every kind of food and drink.
Wine flowed like water. The courtiers
stuffed themselves with the choicest
dishes. The Archduke made Tyl eat and
drink until his stomach was about to burst.
The Archduke too ate heartily. His face
was flushed with drink. But he seemed lost
in thought. He suddenly looked up and
said loudly, ‘Our court painter must paint
our portrait, so that we will have the
satisfaction of leaving our memory to our
descendants. We too have to take our place
in history along with our noble ancestors
whose portraits adorn these walls. It is sad
to think of death. We do not know when God will think fit to summon us. But our
portrait should be painted.’
6 Tyl quickly replied, ‘Your
Lordship’s slightest wish
is to me command. All
the same I do feel rather
unhappy about
painting Your
Lordship all by
yourself. Is it not
terrible to think
of Your Lordship
being lonely for
ever and ever?
Don’t you think,
ladies and
gentlemen, that
His Highness should be
accompanied at least by Her Highness, her
ladies, the noble generals and captains who
adorn this court? A court like this has few
rivals in splendour, loveliness and chivalry.
In the midst of such valour and beauty I
will make my Lord and Lady shine forth
like the moon surrounded by lanterns.’
The Archduke thought that it was a good
idea.‘Well, my friend, your painting will be a
great piece of art. What reward do you
expect for it?’
‘A hundred pieces of gold. You can pay
me now or later just as you please.’
‘Here are the hundred pieces of gold in
advance,’ said the Archduke, giving him
the gold. ‘My Lord, you are the most generous of
masters. You have filled my lamp with oil.
It will for ever burn in your honour.’
8 The next day Tyl asked the Archduke to
allow him to see all the courtiers who were
to be painted along with him. They came
and saw him one by one. The first to come
was the Commander-in-Chief of the
Army. He was a short, fat, bald man with
an enormous paunch. He whispered in
Tyl’s ear, ‘When you paint my picture,
remember you are to make me look
handsome. If you do not make my
stomach look flat, I’ll have you hanged.
Remember I was once a very handsome
soldier.’
An elderly lady came next. She had a
large hump on her back. ‘Sir painter,’ she
said softly, ‘make me look young and
beautiful. If you don’t remove the hump
on my back and supply what I lack in
beauty, I will have you torn to pieces.’ A
young lady, who was the companion of
the Duchess, came in as soon as the old
lady left. She was young and pretty, but
had lost three of her front teeth in an
accident. She warned Tyl that if in her picture she didn’t see herself smiling, with
a perfect set of pearly teeth, she would
have him cut into small bits by her lover.
She pointed to the Captain of the Guards.
Similar requests and threats continued
until he had finished with the last of the
courtiers. Then the Archduke sent for him
and said, ‘My dear fellow, I want your
portrait to be perfect in every detail. You
are to paint all my courtiers exactly as we
see them. If you leave out a mole, a
pimple, or a single grey hair, I’ll have you
slaughtered like a pig.’
Tyl coolly thought things over and said
to himself, ‘If I paint this picture, I shall
certainly be killed. Either the Archduke
will have me slaughtered like a pig for
having disobeyed him or the courtiers will
have me murdered for painting them as
they really are. In either case I am to die.
What am I to do? Perhaps it is wiser not
to paint this picture at all.’ The following day he asked the
Archduke for the hall where he was to
paint the picture. He was shown a large
room with bare walls. Tyl asked for thick curtains to be hung on the walls. He
wanted his painting to be protected from
the flies and the dust. He also asked for
three assistants to help him in mixing
colours. The Archduke gave him all that
he asked for.
For thirty days Tyl and his assistants
feasted themselves on the choicest dishes
and drank the finest wines. On the thirtyfirst
day the Archduke thrust his nose in
through the door and said, ‘It is time that
you finished the painting. I am eager to
see it. Is it ready?’ Tyl said that the picture
was being completed and that he needed
some more days to finish it. The Archduke
replied that as long as the painting was
perfect in every detail, he was prepared to
be patient. The delay of a week or two
did not matter, he said.
Tyl and his companions continued their
merry-making for another fortnight. On
the forty-fifth day, once again the
Archduke poked his nose in through the
door. ‘Isn’t it time that the picture was
completed?’ he asked. Tyl said that the
portrait was being given the finishing touches. He begged for some more time.
The Archduke said that his delay did not
matter so long as he did an excellent job.
But he added, ‘You should either complete
the picture within fifteen days or you
should show me the unfinished picture
now.’ Tyl promised to complete the picture
within fifteen days, saying that only a few
minor details remained to be filled in.
‘Should Your Lordship see the painting
now, you would not be satisfied with it,’
he said.
Tyl and his companions enjoyed
themselves for yet another fortnight. On
the sixtieth morning, the Archduke forced
his way into the room and said, ‘I must
see the picture at once. Where is the
picture? Draw those curtains apart!’
‘The picture is ready, My Lord,’ announced
Tyl.
‘Then why don’t you draw the curtains?
What’s the matter?’ the Archduke asked.
‘I want you to grant me one last favour,’
said Tyl.. ‘Please order all the courtiers to
assemble in this room. When they are here I want to say a few words
to them and then I will
draw the curtains.’
14 The Archduke
ordered all the courtiers
to assemble in the hall.
Tyl addressed them, ‘My
Lord, ladies and
gentlemen, the picture is
ready. You will now be
able, as I draw the curtains,
to see how well I have done
my work. You can all admire
my work. But I must warn you
that there is something very special about
this picture. Only those among you who
have noble blood in your veins will be able
to see this painting. All the rest, whatever
their rank or position, will see nothing but
a blank wall. Now I’ll draw the curtains.’
Tyl flung the curtains aside.
The courtiers outdid one another in
showing their admiration for the picture.
They praised Tyl for his splendid painting.
They remarked how natural each one of
them looked in the picture and eagerly pointed out their friends and
acquaintances. All of a sudden the Duke’s
jester leaped into the air and shouted, ‘All
of you know that I am a fool and I’ve no
blue blood in my veins. I can see no picture
but only a blank wall.’
‘When fools begin to talk,’ observed Tyl,
‘it’s time for wise men to walk.’ He calmly
strode out of the hall and rode away on
his donkey. The feathers in his cap danced
in the gentle breeze.
writer
Charles De Coster (1827-’79),
the father of Belgian literature,
was born in Munich. His
masterpiece is The Legend of
Tyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme
Goedzak (1867), a 16th-century
romance, which was barely read
in Belgium because it did not meet up to the
conventional standards of Belgian nationalism.
But it gained popularity all over the world. It is
considered as one of the classics in Belgian
literature.
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