Copenhagen's Dance of Death, Part 9

Oh, had I made the right judgement.
But, if there is error on my side
then God's mercy will help, I will wait for it.

Death answers.

Here is my castle, here you shall stay
I will now go hence and drive more people here(1)

Death to the Empress.

Empress, empress, you noble woman -
how do you fell now?
All your heart and bliss
have you placed on haughtiness.
You should have supported the wretched and poor
and always taken pity on them.
But come quickly and follow me now
a whole foot longer I will stretch you.(2)
With these same words I will also call
all the mistresses and maidens in the world.
Because I will treat them the same way(3)
and soon turn them into soil and earth.
Hold on, dance forward, it has to be
it's too late to complain now.

The Empress Answers.

Aha, how strange I feel
after all I am a noble empress,
I still have much to do in this world
Oh, if only Death wouldn't punish me
What could it hurt him if he would spare me
so that I wouldn't come in such danger?

Click the little pictures to see the original pages.

If you want to read the page in the original medieval Danish, select the Danish section by clicking the red-and-white flag at the top right corner of this page.

Footnotes: (1) (2) (3)

I will now go hence . . .: Meyer suggests, that at this point Death leaves the stage and comes back with the next actor.

As mentioned in an earlier footnote, Death used used to be known for stretching his victims.

It's rather unusual that Death suddenly speaks to other persons than his current victim, but this goes to show that the empress (unlike the male dancers) does not represent any particular class, but rather all married women (as opposed to the unmarried maiden).