The Castell Saga

When the monks of a certain English monastery were asked about Novice Samuel, most of them would put on a slightly pained expression and mutter, ‘Oh... yes. Novice Samuel. I know him.’ Then, with an awkward grin on their faces, they’d hope in silence that someone would change the subject. After all, their mothers had taught them that if they didn’t have anything nice to say about someone, it was better not to say anything at all.

It was not that Novice Samuel was stupid. He could read and write in both English and Latin, just like the other novices. But sometimes it just seemed as if he wasn’t really interested in becoming a monk. When everyone else in the monastery was busy studying the Bible, Samuel would be crawling around the yard, looking at different stones.

Eventually he started spending less time with the other novices, and more time in his own quarters. Novice Jacob swore he’d seen Samuel with a different book than the Bible under his arm on the way to his room. When Jacob had tried to get a better look at the book, Samuel had quickly hidden it under his robe. It seemed as if the young Novice was meddling with something he’d better keep away from – at least that’s what Novice Jacob reckoned. But whoever believed a word of what Novice Jacob said?

The abbot was not pleased when Samuel consistently forgot to come to masses, but when the Novice forgot about breakfast as well, he became extremely worried. He sent Novice Henry down to Samuel’s quarters to see what he was doing. A few minutes later Henry returned frantically with the news that Samuel had vanished. Everyone in the monastery was shocked. Some of the younger novices panicked, but the older monks calmly started a search for the young Brother.

To everyone’s surprise Samuel was found only ten minutes later. He was sitting in his room, looking calmly at the wall in front of him. When inquired about where he had been, he merely smiled mysteriously and fumbled with a few stones he was holding in his left hand.

Samuel’s disappearances became more and more frequent. Strange rumours arose in the monastery. Although the monks did their best to keep those rumours inside the walls, the people in the nearby town soon knew about the strange novice as well. Since this put the monastery in a bad light, they decided that this was a good enough reason to try and get rid of Samuel.

Their wish was granted when, a short time later, books about magic were found under Novice Samuel’s bed. The Novice was arrested for witchcraft, and was to be burned publicly on a stake.