The monk as a messenger of love (Version A)
The monk as a messenger of love (version A) is a story that has been handed down exclusively in the manuscript Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cgm 714 (1455-1458) . In this manuscript it is ascribed to Konrad von Würzburg . However, this attribution is considered an author's fiction in German research. Further versions of the fair have come down to us from Heinrich Kaufringer (version B) and Hans Schneeberger (version C). The story is about a clever young woman and a youth who manipulate a monk through invented stories in such a way that he ultimately becomes a messenger of love for them and helps them to get closer.
content
The wife of a rich Roman lives happily ever after in a beautiful house with him. She gets everything she wants from her husband.
A young man walks past this house every day. He falls in love with the Roman woman, and she falls in love with him too. When her husband goes away for some time, the woman takes the opportunity and comes up with a ruse: She goes to a monk to read him a mock confession . She tells him about the young man and lies to him that they gave her a ring. In truth, the ring is hers. The Roman woman pretends not to want to keep the present and therefore asks the monk to bring the ring back to the young man.
The monk agrees. When he is with the youth, he speaks to his conscience because of his alleged misconduct. However, this denies everything. But when the monk gives him the ring, the suitor realizes the deception and feigns repentance. He gives his ring to the worshiper and asserts that it is from the woman. The monk forgives him and brings the ring to the woman. When the monk asks why the Roman woman didn't tell about the ring, she thinks up another lie. She replies that she gave the young man the ring because he had given her a belt and a pouch with the ring and a letter that she had already burned. It should serve as a conscience balance. The letter said that the suitor wanted to visit her through a loose board in the wall. She also says she is afraid of a night visit. She walks out of the room for a moment and prepares a belt and a pouch, which are supposed to be in the young man's possession.
At the woman's request, the monk brings them to the young man and tells him everything the woman had told him. He also mentions the loose board in the wall. The boy says he is sorry and promises not to visit the woman at night again. The monk then goes home satisfied. At night, however, the young man visits the Roman woman. She receives him and leads him into her candle-lit bedroom, where they have a nice evening for two.
literature
- Novellistics of the Middle Ages. Märendichtung (= Deutscher Klassiker-Verlag in the paperback. Volume 47). 2nd Edition. Edited, translated and commented by Klaus Grubmüller. Deutscher Klassiker Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-618-68047-5 , pp. 525–543 (texts in German and Middle High German ), pp. 1196–1202 (commentary).