Lousy Ralph

the eve of Ascension, at Vespers

Anna says I must stop looking at the cobblestones and look for bread instead. I told her a man needs his mother's blessing more than a crust. The medallion is around the baker's stalls somewhere, I know it. One of these thieves snatched it.

• 
  Lousy Anna

  You cannot eat a tin medallion, Ralph. My belly is empty and you are staring at the mud.

Nota scribaeHe spent a long time patting his pockets while speaking.

the second day of Easter week, at Prime

That whoreson Hungarian shoved me aside today and took his horse without dropping a single copper. My fingers were frozen holding the beast. They treat us worse than stray dogs in our own town, Christ almighty.

• 
  Cross-eyed Nicholas

  Ay, they did the same to me at the lower tavern. Filthy lot.

the Thursday after Laetare Sunday, at None

One-eyed Heinz is a liar. He says I stole this wooden flute. I gave him half a loaf of bread and a blanket for it during the great frost. A bargain is a bargain, bloody hell.

• 
  One-eyed Heinz

  You took advantage of my crippled back, you thief. I only lent it to you.

• 
  Lousy Ralph

  You ate my bread and took my blanket. The flute is mine and I'm keeping it.

Nota scribaeThe word he used for Heinz was much fouler.

the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, at Sext

I searched the dirt near the church steps today. No sign of mother's tin Barbara. Musty Hermann reckons a crow took it, but I say one of these Kuttenberg beggars snatched it from the mud when I wasn't looking.

• 
  Musty Hermann

  Crows like shiny things, Ralph. Or you dropped it down a grate. Let it rest.

the feast of Saint Blaise, at Terce

The wind is biting my bones today. Heinz let me play his wooden flute to busk for pennies, as we were sharing a blanket against the frost. We struck a fair trade for it. It is a good flute.

Nota scribaeDictated shivering.