Part 12

Thus ich awaked, wot God, wanne ich wonede on Cornehulle, Kytte and ich in a cote, cloþed as a lollere, And lytel _ylete_ by, leyue me for soþe, Among lollares of London and lewede heremytes; For ich made of þo men as Reson me tauhte. 5 For as ich cam by Conscience, wit Reson ich mette, In an hote heruest, wenne ich hadde myn hele, And lymes to labore with, and louede wel fare, And no dede to do bote drynke and to slepe: In hele and in vnité on me aposede, 10 Romynge in remembraunce, thus Reson me aratede:— 'Canstow seruen,' he seide, 'oþer syngen in a churche, Oþer coke for my cokers, oþer to þe cart picche, Mowe, oþer mowen, oþer make bond to sheues, Repe, oþer be a repereyue, and aryse erliche, 15 Oþer haue an horne and be haywarde, and liggen oute a nyghtes, And kepe my corn in my croft fro pykers and þeeues? Oþer shappe shon oþer cloþes, oþer shep oþer kyn kepe, eggen oþer harwen, oþer swyn oþer gees dryue, Oþer eny kyns craft þat to þe comune nudeþ, 20 Hem þat bedreden be bylyue to fynde?' 'Certes,' ich seyde, 'and so me God helpe, Ich am to waik to worche with sykel oþer with sythe, And to long, leyf me, lowe for to stoupe, To worchen as a workeman eny wyle to dure.' 25 'Thenne hauest þow londes to lyue by,' quath Reson, 'oþer lynage riche That fynden þe þy fode? For an hydel man þow semest, A spendour þat spende mot, oþer a spille-tyme, Oþer beggest þy bylyue aboute ate menne hacches, Oþer faitest vpon Frydays oþer feste-dayes in churches, 30 The wiche is lollarene lyf, þat lytel ys preysed Þer Ryghtfulnesse rewardeþ ryght as men deserueþ:— _Reddit unicuique iuxta opera sua_. Oþer þow ert broke, so may be, in body oþer in membre, Oþer ymaymed þorw som myshap werby þow myȝt be excused?' 35 'Wanne ich ȝong was,' quath ich, 'meny ȝer hennes, My fader and my frendes founden me to scole, Tyl ich wiste wyterliche wat Holy Wryt menede, And wat is best for þe body, as þe Bok telleþ, And sykerest for þe soule, by so ich wolle continue. 40 And ȝut fond ich neuere, in faith, sytthen my frendes deyden, Lyf þat me lyked, bote in þes longe clothes. Hyf ich by laboure sholde lyue and lyflode deseruen, That labour þat ich lerned best þer_with_ lyue ich sholde:— _In eadem uocatione qua uocati estis_. 45 And ich lyue in Londene and on Londen bothe; The lomes þat ich laboure with and lyflode deserue Ys _Paternoster_, and my Prymer, _Placebo_ and _Dirige_, And my Sauter som tyme, and my Seuene Psalmes. Thus ich synge for hure soules of suche as me helpen, 50 And þo þat fynden me my fode vochen saf, ich trowe, To be wolcome wanne ich come oþerwyle in a monthe, Now with hym and now with hure; and þusgate ich begge Withoute bagge oþer botel bote my wombe one. And also, moreouer, me þynkeþ, syre Reson, 55 Men sholde constreyne no clerke to knauene werkes; For by lawe of _Leuitici_, þat oure Lord ordeynede, Clerkes þat aren crouned, of kynde vnderstondyng, Sholde noþer swynke, ne swete, ne swere at enquestes, Ne fyghte in no vauntwarde, ne hus fo greue:— 60 _Non reddas malum pro malo_. For it ben aires of heuene alle þat ben crounede, And in queer in churches Cristes owene mynestres:— _Dominus pars hereditatis mee_; & alibi: _Clementia non constringit_. Hit bycomeþ for clerkus Crist for to seruen, 65 And knaues vncrouned to cart and to worche. For shold no clerk be crouned bote yf he ycome were Of franklens and free men, and of folke yweddede. Bondmen and bastardes and beggers children, Thuse bylongeþ to labour, and lordes children sholde seruen, 70 Bothe God and good men, as here degree askeþ; Some to synge masses, oþer sitten and wryte, Rede and receyue þat Reson ouhte spende; And sith bondemenne barnes han be mad bisshopes, And barnes bastardes han ben archidekenes, 75 And sopers and here sones for seluer han be knyghtes, And lordene sones here laborers, and leid here rentes to wedde, For þe ryght of þes reame ryden aȝens oure enemys, In confort of þe comune and þe kynges worshep, And monkes and moniales, þat mendinauns sholden fynde, 80 Han mad here kyn knyghtes, and knyghtfees purchase , Popes and patrones poure gentil blod refuseþ, And taken Symondes sone seyntewarie to kepe. Lyf-holynesse and loue han ben longe hennes, And wole, til hit be wered out, or oþerwise ychaunged. 85 Forþy rebuke me ryght nouht, Reson, ich ȝow praye; For in my conscience ich knowe what Crist wolde þat ich wrouhte. Preyers of parfyt man and penaunce discret Ys þe leueste labour þat oure Lord pleseþ. _Non de solo_,' ich seide, 'for soþe _uiuit homo, 90 Nec in pane et pabulo_, þe _Paternoster_ witnesseþ: _Fiat uoluntas tua_ fynt ous alle þynges.' Quath Conscience, 'By Crist! ich can nat see this lyeþ; Ac it semeth nouht parfytnesse in cytees for to begge, Bote he be obediencer to pryour oþer to mynstre.' 95 'That ys soth,' ich seide 'and so ich byknowe That ich haue tynt tyme, and tyme mysspended; And ȝut, ich hope, as he þat ofte haueþ chaffared, Þat ay hath lost and lost, and at þe laste hym happed He bouhte suche a bargayn he was þe bet euere, 100 And sette hus lost at a lef at þe laste ende, Suche a wynnynge hym warth þorw wyrdes of hus grace:— _Simile est regnum celorum thesauro abscondito in agro, et cetera_; _Mulier que inuenit dragmam, et cetera_; So hope ich to haue of Hym þat his almyghty 105 A gobet of Hus grace, and bygynne a tyme Þat alle tymes of my tyme to profit shal turne.' 'Ich rede þe,' quath Reson þo 'rape þe to bygynne Þe lyf þat ys lowable and leel to þe soule'— 'Ȝe, and continue,' quath Conscience; and to þe churche ich wente. 110

[Foot-note: 3 And a lytel ich let by _MS._]

[Foot-note: 19 Heggen] Eggen _MS._]

[Foot-note: 44 þerwith] þerhwit _MS._]

[Foot-note: 62 alle] and alle _MS._]

[Foot-note: 63 in churches] and in kirkes _Ilchester MS._]

[Foot-note: 92 tua] tuas _MS._]

[Foot-note: 99 laste] latiste _MS._]

IX

MANDEVILLE'S TRAVELS

_Mandeville's Travels_ were originally written in French, perhaps in 1356 or 1357. Their popularity was immediate, and Latin and English translations soon appeared. The English texts published show three forms. The first, imperfect, is the text of the early prints. The second, from Cotton MS. Titus C xvi (about 1400-25), was first printed in 1725, and is followed in the editions by Halliwell, 1839 and 1866, and by Hamelius, 1919. The third, from Egerton MS. 1982 (about 1400-25), has been edited for the Roxburghe Club by G. F. Warner, with the French text, and an excellent apparatus. Our selections follow the Cotton MS.

The _Travels_ fall into two parts: (i) a description of the routes to the Holy Land, and an account of the Holy Places; (ii) a narrative of travel in the more distant parts of Asia. Throughout the author poses as an eyewitness. But in fact the book is a compilation, made without much regard to time or place. For the first part William de Boldensele, who wrote in 1336 an account of a visit to the Holy Land, is the main source. The second part follows the description of an Eastern voyage written by Friar Odoric of Pordenone in 1330. Other materials from the mediaeval encyclopaedists are woven in, and there is so little trace of original observation that it is doubtful whether the author travelled far beyond his library.

In the preface he claims to be Sir John Mandeville, an Englishman born at St. Albans. The people of St. Albans were driven to desperate shifts to explain the absence of his tomb from their abbey; but until 1798 it was actually to be seen at the church of the Guillemins, Liège, with this inscription:

'Hic iacet vir nobilis Dom Ioannes de Mandeville, alias dictus ad Barbam, Miles, Dominus de Campdi, natus de Anglia, medicinae professor, devotissimus orator, et bonorum suorum largissimus pauperibus erogator, qui, toto quasi orbe lustrato, Leodii diem vitae suae clausit extremum A.D. MCCCLXXII, mensis Nov. die xvii.'

A Liège chronicler, Jean d'Outremeuse (d. 1399), who claims the invidious position of his confidant and literary executor, gives further details: Mandeville was 'chevalier de Montfort en Angleterre'; he was obliged to leave England because he had slain a nobleman; he came to Liège in 1343; and was content to be known as 'Jean de Bourgogne dit à la Barbe'.

Now Jean de Bourgogne, with whom Sir John Mandeville is identified by d'Outremeuse, is known as the writer of a tract on the Plague, written at Liège in 1365. Further, the Latin text of the _Travels_ mentions that the author met at Liège a certain 'Johannes ad Barbam', recognized him as a former physician at the court of the Sultan of Egypt, and took his advice and help in the writing of the _Travels_.

Again, in 1322, the year in which Sir John Mandeville claims to have left England, a Johan de Burgoyne was given good reason to flee the country, because a pardon, granted to him the previous year for his actions against the Despensers, was then withdrawn. Curiously enough, a John Mandeville was also of the party opposed to the Despensers.

Nothing has come of the attempts to attach the clues—St. Albans, Montfort, Campdi, the arms on the tomb at Liège—to the English family of Mandeville. It seems likely that 'Sir John Mandeville' was an alias adopted by Jean de Bourgogne, unless both names cover Jean d'Outremeuse. The Epilogue to the Cotton version shows how early the plausible fictions of the text had infected the history of its composition.

It is clear that the English versions do not come from the hand of the writer of the _Travels_, who could not have been guilty of such absurdities as the translation of _montaignes_ by 'þe hille of Aygnes' in the Cotton MS. But whoever the author was, he shows a courtesy and modesty worthy of a knight, begging those with more recent experience to correct the lapses of his memory, and remembering always the interests of later travellers, who might wish to glean some marvels still untold. He might well have pleaded in the fourteenth century that the time had not come when prose fiction could afford to throw off the disguise of truth.

[THE VOIAGE AND TRAVAILE OF SIR IOHN MAUNDEVILE, KT.]

British Museum MS. Cotton Titus C xvi (about 1400-25).

From chap. xiv (xviii), f. 65 b.

Ethiope is departed in two princypall parties; and þat is in the Est partie, and in the Meridionall partie, the whiche partie meridionall is clept Moretane. And the folk of þat contree ben blake ynow, and more blake þan in the toþer partie; and þei ben clept Mowres. In þat partie is a well, {5} þat in the day it is so cold þat no man may drynke þereoffe; and in the nyght it is so hoot þat no man may suffre hys hond þerein. And beȝonde þat partie, toward the South, to passe by the See Occean, is a gret lond and a gret contrey. But men may not duell þere, for the feruent brennynge of the {10} sonne, so is it passynge hoot in þat contrey.

In Ethiope all the ryueres and all the watres ben trouble, and þei ben somdell salte, for the gret hete þat is þere. And the folk of þat contree ben lyghtly dronken, and han but litill appetyt to mete.... {15}

In Ethiope ben many dyuerse folk, and Ethiope is clept 'Cusis.' In þat contree ben folk þat han but o foot; and þei gon so blyue þat it is meruaylle; and the foot is so large þat it schadeweth all the body aȝen the sonne, whanne þei wole lye and reste hem. {20}

In Ethiope, whan the children ben ȝonge and lytill, þei ben all ȝalowe; and whan þat þei wexen of age, þat ȝalownesse turneth to ben all blak. In Ethiope is the cytee of Saba, and the lond of the whiche on of the þre Kynges, þat presented oure Lord in Bethleem, was kyng offe. {25}

Fro Ethiope men gon into Ynde be manye dyuerse contreyes. And men clepen the high Ynde 'Emlak'. And Ynde is devyded in þre princypall parties; þat is: the more, þat is a full hoot contree; and Ynde the lesse, þat is a full atempree contrey, þat streccheth to the lond of Medé; and the þridde {30} part, toward the Septentrion, is full cold, so þat for pure cold and contynuell frost the water becometh cristall.

And vpon tho roches of cristall growen the gode dyamandes, þat ben of trouble colour. Ȝalow cristall draweth colour lyke oylle. And þei ben so harde þat no man may pollysch {35} hem; and men clepen hem 'dyamandes' in þat contree, and 'hamese' in anoþer contree. Othere dyamandes men fynden in Arabye, þat ben not so gode; and þei ben more broun and more tendre. And oþer dyamandes also men fynden in the Ile of Cipre, þat ben ȝit more tendre; and hem men may wel {40} pollische. And in the lond of Macedoyne men fynden dyamaundes also. But the beste and the moste precyiouse ben in Ynde.

And men fynden many tyme harde dyamandes in a masse, þat cometh out of gold, whan men puren it and fynen it out {45} of the myne, whan men breken þat masse in smale peces. And sum tyme it happeneth þat men fynden summe as grete as a pese, and summe lasse; and þei ben als harde as þo of Ynde.

And all be it þat men fynden gode dyamandes in Ynde, {50} ȝit natheles men fynden hem more comounly vpon the roches in the see, and vpon hilles where the myne of gold is. And þei growen many togedre, on lytill, another gret. And þer ben summe of the gretnesse of a bene, and summe als grete as an hasell-note. And þei ben square and poynted of here owne {55} kynde, boþe abouen and benethen, withouten worchinge of mannes hond.

And þei growen togedre, male and femele. And þei ben norysscht with the dew of heuene. And þei engendren comounly, and bryngen forth smale children, þat multiplyen {60} and growen all the ȝeer. I haue often tymes assayed þat ȝif a man kepe hem with a lityll of the roche, and wete hem with May dew oftesithes, þei schull growe eueryche ȝeer; and the smale wole wexen grete. For right as the fyn perl congeleth and wexeth gret of the dew of heuene, right so doth the verray {65} dyamand; and right as the perl, of his owne kynde, taketh roundnesse, right so the dyamand, be vertu of God, taketh squarenesse.

And men schall bere the dyamaund on his left syde; for it is of grettere vertue þanne, þan on the right syde. For the {70} strengthe of here growynge is toward the North, þat is the left syde of the world, and the left partie of man is, whan he turneth his face toward the Est.

And ȝif ȝou lyke to knowe the vertues of þe dyamand, as men may fynden in þe Lapidarye, þat many men knowen {75} noght, I schall telle ȝou, as þei beȝonde the see seyn and affermen, of whom all science and all philosophie cometh from.

He þat bereth the dyamand vpon him, it ȝeueth him hardynesse and manhode, and it kepeth the lemes of his body hole. {80} It ȝeueth him victorye of his enemyes, in plee and in werre, ȝif his cause be rightfull; and it kepeth him þat bereth it in gode wytt; and it kepeth him fro strif and ryot, fro euyll sweuenes, from sorwes, and from enchauntementes, and from fantasyes and illusiouns of wykked spirites. And ȝif ony cursed wycche {85} or enchauntour wolde bewycche him þat bereth the dyamand, all þat sorwe and myschance schall turne to himself, þorgh vertue of þat ston. And also no wylde best dar assaylle the man þat bereth it on him. Also the dyamand scholde ben ȝouen frely, withouten coueytynge, and withouten byggynge; {90} and þan it is of grettere vertue. And it maketh a man more strong and more sad aȝenst his enemyes. And it heleth him þat is lunatyk, and hem þat the fend pursueth or trauayleth. And ȝif venym or poysoun be brought in presence of the dyamand, anon it begynneth to wexe moyst, and for to {95} swete.

Þere ben also dyamandes in Ynde þat ben clept 'violastres',—for here colour is liche vyolet, or more browne þan the violettes,—þat ben full harde and full precyous. But ȝit sum men loue not hem so wel as the oþere. But in soth to {100} me, I wolde louen hem als moche as þe oþere; for I haue seen hem assayed. Also þere is anoþer maner of dyamandes þat ben als white as cristall, but þei ben a lityll more trouble; and þei ben gode and of gret vertue, and all þei ben square and poynted of here owne kynde. And summe {105} ben six squared, summe four squared, and summe þre, as nature schapeth hem.

And þerfore whan grete lordes and knyghtes gon to seche worschipe in armes, þei beren gladly the dyamaund vpon hem. I schal speke a litill more of the dyamandes, allþough {110} I tarye my matere for a tyme, to þat ende þat þei þat knowen hem not be not disceyued be gabberes þat gon be the contree, þat sellen hem. For whoso wil bye the dyamand, it is nedefull to him þat he knowe hem, because þat men counterfeten hem often of cristall þat is ȝalow; and of saphires of cytryne {115} colour, þat is ȝalow also; and of the saphire loupe; and of many oþer stones. But, I tell ȝou, theise contrefetes ben not so harde; and also the poyntes wil breken lightly; and men may esily pollissche hem. But summe werkmen, for malice, wil not pollische hem, to þat entent to maken men beleue þat þei may {120} not ben pollisscht. But men may assaye hem in this manere: First schere with hem, or write with hem, in saphires, in cristall, or in oþer precious stones. After þat men taken the ademand, þat is the schipmannes ston, þat draweth the nedle to him, and men leyn the dyamand vpon the ademand, and leyn the nedle {125} before the ademand; and ȝif the dyamand be gode and vertuous, the ademand draweth not the nedle to him, whils the dyamand is þere present. And this is the preef þat þei beȝonde the see maken. Natheles it befalleth often tyme þat the gode dyamand leseth his vertue, be synne and for incontynence of him þat {130} bereth it. And þanne is it nedfull to make it to recoueren his vertue aȝen, or ell it is of litill value.

Chap. xxvi (xxx), f. 112 a.