But without heeding him:
“Wisp,” said Nele, “reply by dancing, for I will ask thee three times: once in the name of God, once in the name of Madame the Virgin, and once in the name of the elemental spirits that are messengers ’twixt God and man.”
And she did so, and the wisp danced three times.
Then Nele said to Ulenspiegel:
“Take off thy clothes; I shall do the same: here is the silver box in which is the balsam of vision.”
“’Tis all one to me,” said Ulenspiegel.
Then being unclad and anointed with the balsam of vision, they lay down beside each other naked on the grass.
The sea mews were plaining; the thunder was growling dull in the cloud where the lightning gleamed; the moon scarce displayed between two clouds the golden horns of her crescent; the will-o’-the-wisps on Ulenspiegel and Nele betook themselves off to dance with the others in the meadow.
Suddenly Ulenspiegel and Nele were caught up in the mighty hand of a giant who threw them into the air like children’s balloons, caught them again, rolled them one upon the other and kneaded them between his hands, threw them into the water pools between the hills and pulled them out again full of seaweed. Then carrying them thus through space, he sang with a voice that woke all the sea mews underneath with affright:
“That vermin, crawling, biting,