hired hand, of Kuttenberg
“I am a man meant for better work, treated like a bloody dog by tyrants.”
Things John had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Friday before Whitsun, at Terce
Rained again last night. Half the bloody shingles blew off in autumn and the tyrant will not spare a groschen to mend them. I am sleeping in mud. Mother Johanka would never have let a man freeze like a dog in her own yard. Nobody cares a whit.
Nota scribaeHe kicked the floor repeatedly while speaking.
the Monday after St George, at Sext
My head is splitting. Elizabeth and Amice were screaming at each other over a bloody ruined shift until my ears bled. I haul water all morning and cannot even get a moment's peace in the yard without women wailing. The noise in this place is a curse.
the third day of Easter week, at None
Anna has stolen my bloody axe and wedged it under the cellar door! She claims my boots smashed her precious wooden wash-tub. I did not step in any tub! I demand my livelihood back so I can chop kindling and be a man again.
You will get the axe back when you admit you broke the tub, and not a day before.
I am not confessing to something I bloody didn't do!
Nota scribaeThe dictation was interrupted by several profanities and much scowling.
the fourth Sunday of Lent, at Vespers
Adam is a proper man. He kept Anna's copper jug because she has not paid his wages since Epiphany. I say good for him. Though I wish he would give the bloody thing back so she would unwedge my axe from the door.
A man must eat, John. The jug stays with me until I see my silver.
the day after Candlemas, at Prime
Sweeping out the rooms again. Some drunken swine left the floor covered in muck. It is backbreaking work for a man of my talents, but a man must bear it or starve in the snow. Bloody hell, my boots are wet.
If you swept faster, you would stay warm. Get back to work.
Nota scribaeDictated while shivering heavily.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
I will pray for the rain to stop, John, I truly will.
Stop whining and fix it yourself, you lazy sod.