Part 41 (1/2)

10. No one must accept a challenge of less than half a choppin, or more than four choppins at once. The graduated quant.i.ties of the Comment, are a half, a whole, two, three, and four choppins.

11. The interval between the fore and after drinking of each agreed-upon quant.i.ty must be no more than five minutes (that is, the accepter must drink his quant.i.ty within five minutes after the challenger). And every earlier challenge must be drunk before the latter one.

12. If four choppins are agreed upon, so must the foreswearer or challenger, drink each choppin separately within five minutes of each other; and not till he has drunk these four choppins, must he take a challenge from another person. Also, the challenger must have first drunk his whole contracted quant.i.ty before his antagonist is bound to drink his.

13. He who has a challenge of four choppins on his hands, is not bound to take another challenge till that is drunk out.

14. If a challenge is made, and the challenged excuses himself on the plea that he has already four choppins to drink, the challenger is justified in obliging the challenged to show him each of those four allege choppins as he drinks them.

15. If a challenge is given, and the challenged _nachsturz_, the quant.i.ty, (that is, insists that it shall be doubled,) the challenger is obliged to drink the doubled quant.i.ty.

16. The challenged may not more than double the quant.i.ty proposed by the challenger.

17. The _nachsturz_ become invalid the moment the prescribed quant.i.ty exceeds two choppins, except in a challenge _a faire_.

18. If one pauses during the drinking, leaves a Philistine in the gla.s.s, (that is, if he leaves the bottom of the gla.s.s still covered with beer,) it is to be considered that he has not drunken his quant.i.ty, and he must instantly drink another in the proper manner.

19. The case is the same when an umpire declares that so much beer has been spilt in the drinking as would cover the bottom of the gla.s.s.

20. In every quant.i.ty which is drunk in successive portions, the ---- 18 and 19 shall apply to the party whom the umpire shall have declared to have drunken informally.

21. As well in the fore as the after drinking, the antagonist can select an umpire, who, if he judges that the fore or after quant.i.ty is deficient, must see that it is made complete, and that it is properly drunken.

22. No one is bound to accept a challenge of more than one choppin at a time out of a vessel which will hold more; unless the two drinkers agree differently between themselves.

t.i.tULUS III.

OF ANSCHISS-SAUFEN; OR DEFINING OF WHAT ARE PENAL CASES IN DRINKING.

-- 23. Foxes, whether Cra.s.s or Brand Foxes, may neither _touche_ an honourable Beer-bursch in beer, that is, challenge him to a beer contest; nor, if he be challenged by an honourable Beer-bursch, may he _nachsturz_, or double the quant.i.ty. If one of them does this, then must he be _verdonnert_,[50] or condemned in thunder, to pay for a _viertel_, that is, sixteen choppins. The Foxes have also here equal rights amongst themselves.

24. The degrees of the beer challenges are the following:--A Learned Man stands for a half-choppin; a choppin is a Doctor; two choppins, a Professor; three choppins, an Amtmann; four choppins, a Pope.

25. If any one has given his cerevis, that is, made an a.s.sertion on his beer-word against another, and it cannot be proved who has given his cerevis wrong, so must the two drink out a Learned Man--such cases, however, excepted as are before the Beer-court.

26. No one is bound to accept _ex abrupto_ more than a _Learned Man_; yet must the Foxes accept, _ex abrupto_ every challenged _Doctor_, from an honourable Beer-bursch.

27. The provoker to a beer-challenge must be challenged within five minutes. If he will double on the challenge, he must do it immediately, and according to the fixed gradations of --24.

The settling of the challenge must be completed within five minutes after the challenge is given; and the drink-duel must be immediately contested, if the challenged has not yet an older scandal[51] to defend.

28. Every earlier scandal must take precedence of a later. If any one a.s.serts that he has yet an earlier scandal, he must name the person with whom it depends. The antagonist has a right to name an umpire, who must take care that the scandal is effaced in its regular order, or otherwise the umpire must write the name of the first on the beer-table with the penalty belonging to the offence.

29. The proceeding in fighting out a scandal is as follows:--Each pawkant or combatant appoints a second, of whom the seconder of the challenger, on his cerevis, makes the weapons equal. If the weapons, however, appear unequal to the other second, he can call an umpire, who decides whether they are equal or not. If the umpire declares that the weapons are not equal, he who calls the umpire, has, after the scandal is fought out, to propose the proper penalty for the second who failed to make the weapons equal, according to -- 131, No. 11 (a).

30. At the place of the challenged the weapons are made equal, and the beer-scandal is there fought out.

31. If the weapons are equal, the second of the challenged gives the following commando, ”Seize it! put to! loose!”