This story delighted Orm hugely, and he gladly promised never to repeat a word of it, to Rapp or anyone else.
“As long as Rapp never knows that they have cuckolded him,” he said, “no harm need result from this incident. But this magister is, indeed, a remarkable man; for in all other manly pursuits he is wholly incompetent, but his handling of women leaves nothing to be desired. It would be a bad thing if he should see any more of Torgunn without other people being present; if that were to happen, this business might end evilly, for Rapp will not allow himself to be gulled a second time. So I must think out some regular task for him to perform, which will keep him away from her, and her from him; for I cannot be sure which of the two would be the more desirous of promoting a second meeting.”
“You must not treat him too harshly,” said Ylva, “for the poor creature has enough suffering ahead of him at the hands of the Smalanders. I myself will do what I can to keep him and Torgunn apart from each other.”
The next morning Orm called the magister to him and told him that he had at last found him a task that he thought he would be able to perform to everyone’s satisfaction.
“Hitherto,” he said, “you have not shown much skill in any of the labors to which we have set you; but now you will have the chance to do us all a real service. Here you see this cherry tree which is the best of all my trees; and that is not only my opinion, but also that of the crows. You are now to climb to the top of it, and I would advise you to take food and drink with you, for you are not to come down until the crows and magpies have gone off to their night branches. You shall sit there every day; and you shall take your place there early, for these crows awake in the gray twilight before dawn. It is my hope that you will succeed in protecting the berries for us, if you do not eat too many of them yourself.”
The magister looked gloomily up at the tree; the fruit there was larger than that usually found on cherry trees and was just beginning to darken toward ripeness. All the birds were especially fond of these cherries, and both Rapp and Father Willibald had tried to keep them away by shooting arrows at them, but had been able to achieve little.
“This is no more than I deserve,” said the magister, “but I am afraid to climb so high.”
“You will have to accustom yourself to that,” said Orm.
“I easily become dizzy.”
“If you hold on tightly, the dizziness will not affect you. If you show that you have not the courage to undertake this task, everybody will laugh at you, and the women most of all.”
“I have, in truth, deserved all this,” said the magister sadly.
After some argument he succeeded, with much difficulty, in climbing part of the way up the tree, while Orm stood on the ground below, exhorting him continually to ascend higher. At length, amid much praying, he managed to reach a fork where three branches met; it swayed beneath his weight, and, seeing this, Orm commanded him to remain there, since his rocking would make him more visible to the birds.
“You are quite safe up there,” he shouted up at the magister, “and nearer heaven than we poor creatures who must remain on the ground. There you can eat and drink to your heart’s content, and discuss your sins with God.”
So there he sat; and the crows, which came flying eagerly from all directions to peck at the good fruit, fled in terror and amazement when they saw that there was a man in the tree; they circled over him, cawing with anger, and the magpies sat in the trees around him mocking him with spiteful laughter.
It was on the sixth day, on an afternoon when the heat was very great, that he fell. He had become drowsy with the heat, and swarming bees had come to the tree and had selected his head as a resting-place. Awaking in terror, he whirled his arms violently to drive them away, lost his balance, and fell shrieking to the ground in a shower of bees, cherries, and broken branches. The twins and their playmate were the first to reach the place of the accident; they stared at him in wonder, and the boy Ulf asked him why he had fallen down. But he only lay there groaning and saying that his last moment was at hand. The children now began joyfully to pluck the good fruit that had fallen with him; but this aroused the bees, who attacked them, so that they fled shrieking. All the house people were gathering reeds down by the river, and it was left to Ylva herself and two of her maids to rush to their help. They bore the magister into the weaving-room and put him to bed. When the maids heard of the misfortune that had befallen him, they became so mirthful that Ylva lost patience with them and boxed their ears, and bade them go at once and fetch Father Willibald, who was down by the river with the others.
Ylva was moved with pity for the magister and did what she could to make him comfortable; she also gave him a strength-drink of her best ale. He had sustained no injury from the bees, but suspected that the fall had broken his shoulder. Ylva wondered whether this might not be God’s punishment for his conduct with Torgunn in the forest; and he agreed that this might well be the case.
“But how much do you know of what happened between us in the forest?” he asked.
“Everything,” replied Ylva, “for Torgunn has told me with her own lips; but you need not fear that anyone else will come to hear of it, for both she and I know how to keep our tongues quiet when there is need for it. And this comfort, at least, I can give you, that she had plenty to say in your praise, and that she does not regret what took place between you, though it came so near to bringing disaster on you both.”
“I regret it,” said the magister, “though I fear there is little to be gained by that. For God has so cursed me that I cannot be alone with a young woman without straightway becoming inflamed with desire. Nor have even these days that I have spent in the tree cleansed me of this passion, for my thoughts have dwelt less upon God than upon the sins of the flesh.”
Ylva laughed. “The bee-swarm, and your fall from the tree, have helped you now,” she said, “for here you are, alone with me, in a place where nobody will be able to disturb us for a good while; and I think I am not less comely than Torgunn. But from this temptation, at least, I think you will be able to emerge without sin, poor foolish man.”
“You do not know,” replied the magister sadly, “how powerful the curse is,” and he stretched his arm toward her.
What then happened between these two, nobody ever knew; and when Father Willibald came to the house to examine the magister’s injuries, he found him asleep, purring contentedly, while Ylva sat working industriously on her weaving-chair.