miner at the shaft, of Kuttenberg
“I swing the pick and bring up the silver. It is hard work, not meant for the weak or the foolish.”
Things Black Erhard had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the eve of Whitsun, at Vespers
Menhard wept again about the wooden beads I won fair and square at Easter. I told him he can have his dead mother's rosary the day he puts my heavy splitting wedge back in my hand. A wager is a wager. I spit on men who cry over dice.
Nota scribaeHe spat on my boots as he said it.
the Feast of the Invention of the Cross, at Compline
My shoulders ache worse tonight. The air in the deep shaft is heavy, and lifting the ore takes its toll. I pray to Saint Barbara I do not wake up broken. If I cannot swing the iron, old Walpurg will toss me out of the cellar before the week is out.
the Tuesday after Easter, at Sext
We rolled the bones at the alehouse. Menhard lost all his coin and threw his mother's old wooden rosary into the pot. I won it. Now he whines that it is holy. He should not have diced with it if he lacked the stomach to lose.
Gambling a holy object is a grave sin, Erhard. You must return it.
Keep it, Erhard. He played like a fool and lost like one.
the Monday after Saint Gregory, at Prime
Dietrich stood at the gates today and almost passed me over because my hands were empty. I asked Andreas for my picking hammer back. The whoreson claims I told him to keep it until the silver vein runs dry. I said no such thing. That iron cost me a month's sweat.
You said use it till we are done here, Erhard. The vein is still giving silver. Be reasonable.
I said use it to clear the collapse, not to steal my livelihood.
Nota scribaeDictated before the tavern opened. He was in a foul temper.
Candlemas, at None
The rock face gave way in the Saint Wenceslas shaft this morning. Thank Christ almighty no one was crushed. I lent my picking hammer to Andreas to clear the rubble, and my heavy wedge to Menhard. Young fools never buy their own tools. I expect them back by Vespers.
The Lord spared you all from a terrible death in the dark. Give thanks.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Have a heart, Erhard. Without those beads my luck is gone, and my mother Elsbeth will curse my shift.
Let her curse you, lad. She would be ashamed to see a miner who steals a man's iron.