The Sleepwalkers (84 page)

However,
it
is
not
easy
to
change
one's
housekeeper
and
habits
at
sixty-three.
Canon
Koppernigk,
understandably,
hesitated
and
delayed,
perhaps
hoping
that
Dantiscus
would
forget
about
the
matter.
In
November,
Dantiscus
reminded
Copernicus
of
his
promise.
His
letter
is
not
preserved,
but
Copernicus'
answer
is:

"
Reverendissime
in
Christo
Pater
et
Domine
Domine
Clementissime
mibique
et
omnibus
observande
!

Your
Most
Reverend
Lordship's
warning
is
fatherly
enough
and
more
than
fatherly,
I
admit;
I
have
received
it
in
my
innermost
heart.
As
for
Your
Rev.
Lordship's
earlier
intimation
on
the
same
subject,
it
was
far
from
me
to
forget
it.
I
intended
to
act
accordingly;
though
it
was
not
easy
to
find
a
proper
person
of
my
own
kin,
I
intended
nevertheless
to
terminate
the
matter
before
Easter.
However,
as
I
do
not
wish
Your
Rev.
Lordship
to
think
that
I
am
seizing
on
pretexts
for
procrastination,
I
have
reduced
the
period
to
one
month,
that
is
to
Christmas;
it
cannot
be
shorter,
as
Your
Rev.
Lordship
will
understand.
I
wish
to
do
my
best
to
avoid
giving
offence
to
good
manners,
much
less
to
Your
Rev.
Lordship,
who
has
deserved
to
be
revered,
honoured
and
most
of
all
to
be
loved
by
me;
to
which
I
devote
myself
with
all
my
powers.

Ex
Gynopoli,
December
2,
1538.

Your Rev. Lordship's most
obedient Nicolas Copernicus."

Even
the
devoted
Prowe
remarks
that
the
letter
is
"repellent
to
read"
and
that
"making
allowance
for
the
devotional
manners
of
the
curial
style
...
it
remains
humiliating
enough."
⁸³

Six
weeks
later,
Copernicus
wrote
to
Dantiscus
a
kind
of
consummatum
est
:

"
Reverendissime
in
Christo
Pater
et
Domine
Domine
Clementissime
!

I
have
done
what
I
neither
would
nor
could
have
left
undone,
whereby
I
hope
to
have
given
satisfaction
to
Your
Rev.
Lordship's
warning.
As
for
the
information
you
required
of
me
how
long
Your
Rev.
Lordship's
predecessor,
my
uncle
Lucas
Waczelrodt
of
blessed
memory
had
lived:
he
lived
64
years,
5
months;
was
Bishop
for
23
years;
died
on
the
last
but
one
day
of
March,
anno
Christi
1522.
With
him
came
to
an
end
a
family
whose
insignia
can
be
found
on
the
ancient
monuments
and
many
[public]
works
in
Torun.
I
recommend
my
obedience
to
Your
Rev.
Lordship.

Ex
Frauenburg,
January
11
of
the
year
1539.

Your Rev. Lordship's most
devoted Nicolas Copernicus."

But
the
focarias
were
not
so
easy
to
get
rid
of.
Sculteti's
housekeeper,
and
mother
of
his
children,
"threatened
and
heatedly
promised
to
damage
the
Chapter's
obedient
servant
and
shamelessly
used
shameful
words
of
abuse".
⁸⁴
As
for
Copernicus'
Anna,
she
seems
to
have
flatly
refused
to
leave
Frauenburg,
and
was
determined
to
make
things
as
awkward
as
possible
for
everybody
concerned.
More
than
two
months
after
Copernicus'
last
letter
to
Dantiscus,
another
Canon,
Plotowski,
wrote
to
the
Bishop
as
follows:

"As
regards
the
Frauenburg
wenches,
Alexander's
hid
for
a
few
days
in
his
house.
She
promised
that
she
would
go
away
together
with
her
son.
Alexander
[Sculteti]
returned
from
Loebau
with
a
joyous
mien;
what
news
he
brought
I
know
not.
He
remains
in
his
curia
with
Niederoff
and
with
his
focaria
,
who
looks
like
a
beer-waitress
tainted
with
every
evil.
The
woman
of
Dr.
Nicolas
did
send
her
things
ahead
to
Danzig,
but
she
herself
stays
on
in
Frauenburg..."
⁸⁵

A
full
six
months
later
the
matter
was
still
not
finished.
Dantiscus
apparently
tired
of
sending
paternal
admonitions
to
Copernicus,
and
of
getting
dripping
letters
in
return;
so
be
privately
asked
Giese
(now
Bishop
of
Kulm)
to
use
his
influence
with
Copernicus
to
put
an
end
to
the
old
man's
secret
meetings
with
Anna,
and
to
avoid
further
scandal.

On
12 September, 1539, Giese answered as follows:

"...
I
have
spoken
earnestly
to
Dr.
Nicolas
on
the
matter,
according
to
Your
Most
Rev.
Lordship's
wish,
and
have
set
the
facts
of
the
matter
before
his
eyes.
He
seemed
not
a
little
disturbed
[to
learn]
that
although
he
had
unhesitatingly
obeyed
the
will
of
Your
Rev.
Lordship,
malicious
people
still
bring
trumped
up
charges
of
secret
meetings,
and
so
on.
For
he
denies
having
seen
that
woman
since
he
dismissed
her,
except
that
on
a
journey
to
the
Market
in
Koenigsberg
she
spoke
to
him
in
passing.
I
have
certainly
ascertained
that
he
is
not
as
much
affected
as
many
think.
Moreover,
his
advanced
age
and
his
never-ending
studies
readily
convince
me
of
this,
as
well
as
the
worthiness
and
respectability
of
the
man;
nevertheless
I
urged
him
that
he
should
shun
even
the
appearance
of
evil
and
this
I
believe
he
will
do.
But
again
I
think
it
would
be
as
well
that
Your
Rev.
Lordship
should
not
put
too
much
faith
in
the
informer,
considering
that
envy
attaches
so
easily
to
men
of
worth
and
is
unafraid
of
troubling
even
Your
Most
Rev.
Lordship.
I
commend
myself,
etc."
⁸⁶