The Mysterious Stranger

The witch commission is too frightened to pursue the astrologer for his actions at Marget’s party, choosing instead to focus on the disadvantaged to placate Eseldorf’s more fervent believers (85). Their most recent target is a woman who treats the sick by bathing and feeding them as opposed to bloodletting. These treatment options are considered unholy, and she is hanged for witchcraft. Theodor is among the crowd gathered to witness her death. As she hangs dying, the crowd begins throwing stones at her body. This makes Theodor uncomfortable, but he feels internal pressure to join them, noting that “all were throwing stones and each was watching his neighbor, and if I had not done as the others did it would have been noticed and spoken of” (85).

Suddenly, Satan arrives, bursting into laughter. The crowd corners him, asking why he laughed and refused to throw a stone. Satan says it is impossible to prove that he did not. After some repartee with the blacksmith, the butcher’s assistant, and a journeyman, he tells them that they are cowards to stone a dying woman when they are all destined to die soon. One will die tomorrow, one will die next week, and one will die in five minutes.