The Adventurous Simplicissimus · Chapter
XX: How They Hired a Fair Cookmaid and by God’s Help Were Rid of Her Again explained
Simplicissimus and the carpenter discover a woman washed ashore on a chest, whom they rescue and take in as a cookmaid.
What happens
Simplicissimus and the carpenter discover a woman washed ashore on a chest, whom they rescue and take in as a cookmaid. She claims to be an Abyssinian Christian and proves helpful, but while Simplicissimus is away gathering eggs, she conspires with the carpenter to murder him so they can marry and rule the island. When they sit down to eat, Simplicissimus says grace and makes the sign of the cross, whereupon the woman vanishes with the chest, leaving a foul stench, and the carpenter faints.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance
The cookmaid pretends to be a grateful servant and a Christian Abyssinian, but secretly plots murder; her beauty and lively actions deceive the carpenter.
Religion and Morality
Simplicissimus's prayer and the sign of the cross cause the demonic woman to vanish, underscoring the power of Christian faith against evil.
Fortune and Fate
The chest washes ashore as a providential gift, but the woman's arrival brings danger; Simplicissimus's escape from the plot is attributed to divine intervention.
Characters to notice
- Simplicissimus
Narrator and older man (over forty) on the island; he prays gratefully for the chest's provisions and later unknowingly foils the murder plot by saying grace.
- The Huntsman of Soest
Referred to as 'my comrade' and 'the carpenter'; a young man of about twenty who conspires with the cookmaid to kill Simplicissimus.
- Robert Fitzroy Bell
The 'pretended Abyssinian' cookmaid who washes ashore; she plots with the carpenter to murder Simplicissimus but vanishes when he says grace.
Key passages
“O heavenly Father of all mercies, now do I find indeed that Thou art more ready to give than we to ask; yea, dearest Lord, Thou hast with the fullness of Thy divine riches supplied us more quickly and more plentifully than we poor creatures ever thought to ask of Thee at all.”
Simplicissimus prays in gratitude, acknowledging that God provides even before they ask.
This prayer highlights his devout faith and sets up the later divine intervention.
“no sooner had I made the sign of the Cross over the meats and over my companions at table and asked God’s blessing, when our cookmaid vanished away with the chest and all that had been in it, and left behind her such an horrible stench that my comrade fainted clean away because of it.”
The demonic nature of the woman is revealed through her vanishing at the sign of the cross.
This moment resolves the murder plot and demonstrates the power of Christian ritual.