The Physician
Physician
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Death to the physician |
Her doctor meyster in der arstzedye
ik hebbe jw rede gheeschet wol dryge
noch meyne gy leyder lenger to leuen
vnde willen jw nicht thu gade geuen
legget wech dat glaß unde scheydet dar van
vnde seet wu wol ik iw vordantzen kan
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Mr Doctor - master in medical science
I have already asked you three times.
Still you mean, unfortunately, to live longer
and will not give yourself to God.
Put away that glass;(1) and separate from it
and see how well I can dance before(2) you.
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The Physician |
Och almechtige god gef du my nu rath
wente dat water is utermaten quat
ik solde wol up dy abbeteken ghan
(wente i)k sie den dot harde vor my stan
(dar jeg)en wasset keyn krut in den garden
(her j)hesu woldestu myner warten
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Oh almighty God, give you me now a remedy
for the water is bad beyond measure.
I suppose I should go to the pharmacy
for I see Death standing close in front of me.
Against this grows no herb in the garden(3)
Lord Jesus, will you wait for me!
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Notice that the physician appears among the clergy. See the comments about the sequence.
The physician's verse is reminiscent of that in Dodendantz. See
a comparison of Berlin's dance of death with Dodendantz.
Footnotes:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Physician with a urine glass from Lübeck's dance of death.
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Glass: Urine glass. Indispensable part of medieval medical science.
See the picture to the right.
dance before. . .: vordantzen (High German: vortantzen)
means to execute the steps of the dance,
so the partner or the audience can learn the dance.
"
Contra vim mortis, non est medicamen in hortis."
- Against the power of death there is no remedy in the garden.
Dances of death
Berlin
The Physician