blacksmith at the market, of Kuttenberg
“I sell good steel at the lead market. I am a smith who should have been a soldier.”
Things Erhard Klein had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the eve of Pentecost, at Vespers
My landlord Claus is safe and dry in Prague, while I am shivering under a roof so thin I can see the moon through it. The damp is settling deep in my bones and my knee aches. If the roof falls in, I am paying no more rent.
Nota scribaeDictated loudly. The man crossed his arms and spat on the floor.
the second day of Easter week, at Prime
Some whoreson guard at the lead market told me my chainmail was too heavy and asked if my hands were failing me. I told him I won the shooting contest three years ago and can still hit a mark at fifty paces. I should have joined a lord's retinue.
We all know you won three years ago, Erhard. You tell us every morning.
the Wednesday before Easter, at Sext
My brother Eberhard is strutting around the wheat market today like a wealthy lord, acting as if he sells silk instead of chalk and grit. I asked him if he had paid back the hefty sum of groschen he begged off Kunz last winter. He went red as a beet.
It was a brotherly gift, you loud-mouthed fool. Hold your tongue.
I would not mind seeing those groschen again, brotherly gift or no.
the feast of the Annunciation, at Terce
My nephew Johannes still reads too many tales and wants to marry that washerwoman Ursula. Eberhard is furious and spits whenever he hears her name. I hope the boy goes through with it just to spite his father's ridiculous pride. A washerwoman is too good for him anyway.
Ursula is a good woman, uncle. My father is blind to her virtues.
She is a beggar's spawn and I will not hear her name spoken in my family.
I will speak whatever names I please, you old windbag.
Nota scribaeThe man was rubbing his knee the whole time he spoke.
the day after Candlemas, at None
It is freezing at the lead market. I am squeezed in near the grocer's rows among men who trade in flour additives, selling good steel to burghers who only want cheap iron. A man's hands get stiff hammering plates in this weather. Thank God I have a heavy chest.
Watch your mouth about the grocer's rows. We freeze out here just as you do.
Nota scribaeThe word he used for the burghers was not 'fools'.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
Pay what is owed, Erhard. You have a bucket.
Try digging for silver all day, then tell me about damp bones, lad.