When he had come down thence, the master coalman said to him:
“Here are bread, cheese, and beer. If thou art hungry, eat; if thou art thirsty, drink.”
Ulenspiegel signed with his hand that he was neither hungry nor thirsty.
He walked thus with Lamme, who stayed astraddle on his ass, while Ulenspiegel held his by the halter.
They arrived at Katheline’s cottage, tied up their asses, and went in. It was meal time. There were on the table haricots in their pods mixed with great white beans. Katheline was eating; Nele was standing and ready to pour into Katheline’s plate a vinegar sauce she had just taken from the fire.
When Ulenspiegel came in, she was so startled that she put the pot and all the sauce in Katheline’s plate, who, nodding her head, began to hunt for the beans around the saucepot with her spoon, and striking herself on the forehead, repeated like a madwoman:
“Take away the fire! My head is burning!”
The smell of the vinegar made Lamme hungry.
Ulenspiegel remained standing, looking at Nele, smiling with love through his great sadness.
And Nele, without a word, threw her arms about his neck. She, too, seemed bereft of her wits; she wept, laughed; and red with great and sweet joy, she said only: “Thyl! Thyl!” Ulenspiegel, happy, gazed at her; then she left him, went and stationed herself farther off, contemplated him with joy and from there once again sprang upon him, throwing her arms about his neck; and so several times over. He held her, very happy, unable to sever from her, until she fell upon a chair, wearied out and as though out of her senses; and she said without any shame: