Suddenly Lamotte said to him:
“Whither art thou going thus, Pilgrim?”
“Master Captain,” replied Ulenspiegel, who was hungry, “long ago I committed a grave sin and was condemned by the chapter of Notre Dame to go a-foot to Rome to ask for pardon from the Holy Father, who accorded it to me. I came back to these countries cleansed of my offence on condition that on the way I should preach the Sacred Mysteries to all and any soldiers I might meet with, who should in return for my sermons give me bread and meat. And thus preaching I sustain my poor life. Will you grant me permission to keep my vow at the next halt?”
“Yea,” said Messire de Lamotte.
Ulenspiegel, mingling and fraternizing with the Walloons and Flemings, felt his letters underneath his doublet.
The girls cried out to him:
“Pilgrim, handsome pilgrim, come hither and show us the power of your scallops.”
Ulenspiegel, drawing near to them, said modestly:
“My sisters in God, mock not ye the poor pilgrim who goeth over mountain and by vale to preach the holy faith unto soldiers.”
And he devoured with his eyes their dainty charms.