Station: [4] Reward for the finder of the treasure of Röderau?
Edelfrau:
Oh, there it is! My jewellery! I’m so delighted to have it back! My armlets and rings – made of pure, shiny gold, you know. And the beads of pale, reddish amber – which comes from a sea up in the far north, at least that’s what they say – the well-travelled merchants who brought us all these treasures.
But … where is the cord that keeps the beads together? And why is my jewellery lying here in this room, behind that brightly lit green window?
Mirtschin:
Honoured lady! I believe I owe you an explanation.
Edelfrau:
You? Who are you?
Mirtschin:
My name is Mirtschin. Alfred Mirtschin…
Edelfrau:
… a strange name.
Mirtschin:
And I found your jewellery.
Edelfrau:
Thou art the noble finder? This is most laudable. I shall instruct my husband, ruler over all villages on the right bank of the River Elbe, to pay thee an appropriate finder’s fee. (überlegt) Let me consider… half an aurochs, perhaps? Or a weapon made of the new, hard metal they call “bronze”? Our smiths are true masters in the creation and working of this … “bronze”.
Mirtschin:
Most esteemed noble lady! I fear there is a misunderstanding. I truly did find your jewels … but only after they had been in the ground for more than three thousand years.
Edelfrau:
More than three thousand years?!? How can this be?
Mirtschin:
It would seem that you or your lord placed the jewels, the dagger blade and the bronze needles into a clay pot and secured it with a cover. The manner in which this was done suggests that it may have been a sacrifice, or a dedication…?
Edelfrau:
Well, I fear my memory fails me… (sehr vage) Was it perhaps to appease the gods? Or calm the waters of the great river? Or was it to move the jewels out of harm’s way, because enemies were approaching? I can no longer recall…
Mirtschin:
Whatever the reason, your pieces of jewellery spent thousands of years buried in the earth, until they were discovered during construction work for the railway.
Edelfrau:
Rail? Way? Construction work? Thou speakest in riddles.
Mirtschin:
Never mind, never mind. In any case, I would be most grateful if your jewellery could remain here. To us, it is priceless.
Edelfrau:
Truly?
Mirtschin:
Aye, because thanks to these jewels, people a thousand years from now will still be able to visualise how a noble lady from the Bronze Age adorned herself.
Edelfrau:
Well then, I shall be gracious. Thou mayest keep my jewels in memory of me and my people. Could I have imagined at the time that my jewellery would still be admired in thousands of years’ time?
Mirtschin:
Honoured lady! Posterity is greatly obliged to you.