"It is not for me," he said, "to question your wisdom, nor shrink from
my allotted task. After all, I am but human, and up to this decisive
moment had hoped, alas! in vain, that some one more worthy than I might
be chosen in my place. The most grievous part of the undertaking, so far
as I am concerned, was outlined in the last words spoken by the wooden
statue. The evil deeds my ancestor has committed will in time be
obliterated by the prayers of the younger member of my family who
becomes a monk, but the accumulated gold carries with it a continual
curse, which can be wiped off each coin only by that coin benefiting the
merchants who have been robbed. The contamination of this metal,
therefore, I must bear, for it adds to the agony of my ancestor that,
little realizing what he was doing, he bequeathed this poisonous dross
to the Abbey he founded. I am required to lend it in Frankfort, upon
undoubted security and suitable usury, that it may stimulate and
fertilize the commerce of the land, much as the contents of a compost
heap, disagreeable in the senses, and defiling to him who handles it,
when spread upon the fields results in the production of flower, fruit,
and food, giving fragrance, delight, and sustenance to the human frame.
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