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The next victim is the child. The mother seems a bit skeptical, but Death shows her the authorization, Death's mandate, written on parchment and sealed by God. "I've got my credentials and you can see them".
| Death To show that God has power over the great and the small, this child will die in infancy. 224 [God] is able to take as he pleases. |
Instead of talking to Death, the child tries to comfort his mother. Children who die early are without sin, except for the original sin.
Here is another example of an "equivocal rhyme", where a word has two meanings: "la monde" = "the world", "mondé" (from the verb "monder") = "purified".
| The child Mother don't cry because I'm leaving. I have hardly been in the world. Freed with joy I go, 228 when I am purified from mortal sin. |
This is not an unusual thought. In Der Doten Dantz mit Figuren, Death says to the child: »The world might have deceived you / [so] it's better that you die in the cradle«.
The mother obviously feels that this is poor consolation:
| The mother Alas! I see my child dying. [He] who is such a beautiful creature. Alas! I cannot save him. 232 Death is stronger than nature. |
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La mort Lenfant La mere |
