“Seest thou the flyboat that but late came to join our fleet, and knowest thou who it is upon it that twangs the viol every day?”
“Through the late colds,” said Lamme, “I am as one deaf in both ears. Why dost thou laugh, my son?”
But Ulenspiegel, continuing:
“Once,” he said, “I heard her sing a Flemish lied and found her voice was sweet.”
“Alas,” said Lamme, “she, too, sang and played upon the viol.”
“Dost thou know the other news?” went on Ulenspiegel.
“I know naught of it, my son,” said Lamme.
Ulenspiegel made answer:
“We have our orders to drop down the Scheldt with our ships as far as Antwerp, to find there the enemy ships to take or burn. As for the men, no quarter. What thinkest thou of this, big paunch?”
“Alas!” said Lamme, “shall we never hear aught else in this distressful land save burnings, hangings, drownings, and other ways of exterminating poor men? When then will blessed peace come, that we can in quiet roast partridges, fricassee chickens, and make the puddings sing in the pan among the eggs? I like the black ones best; the white are too rich.”