Part 3

Then the devils went out of the hall, leading the knight with them to a strange place, where nothing good entered, only hunger, thirst, and cold. He could see no tree, could hear no sound of wind, yet a cold blast blew that pierced his side. At last the fiends brought him to a valley where the knight thought he must have reached the deepest pit of hell. As he drew nearer, he looked about, for he heard screaming and groaning, and he saw a field full of men and women, each lying face downward, naked, and with deadly wounds. They lay prone on the earth, bound with iron bands, screaming and wailing, "Alas, alas, mercy, mercy, mercy, God Almighty!" Mercy there was none, but only sorrow of heart and grinding of teeth, which was a grisly sight. That sorrow and misery is punishment for the foul sin of sloth. Whosoever is slow in God's service may expect to lie in purgatory in such torment.

That was the first pain that they inflicted on him, and after he had recovered, they took him to a place where he saw more misery. Men and women crying out, "Alas!" and "Welaway!" lay there, faces upward, as the others had lain with faces downward, with feet and hands and heads nailed fast to the earth with nails glowing red. Owain saw loathsome fiery dragons sitting upon them; on others sat black toads, newts, adders, and snakes that ate them, backs and sides. This is the punishment of gluttony; for the love of God be warned, since that sin flourishes all too widely. Owain thought a wind blew among them so bitter and so cold that it overthrew all who lay in purgatory. The fiends quickly leaped upon the sufferers and tore them furiously with their hooks. Whosoever, man or woman, is guilty of impurity in this life, shall suffer in that prison. The fiend said to the knight, "Thou hast been unclean and a great glutton, also; into this torment thou shalt be thrust unless thou wilt return speedily the way thou didst come." Owain said, "Nay, Satan, further still shall I go, through the grace of God Almighty." The fiends would have seized him, but he called upon God Omnipotent, and they lost all their power.

They then led him into a spot where men never did any good deeds, but only shameful and villainous ones. In the fourth field this was, full of torments. There were people hanging by the feet from burning iron hooks, others hung by the neck, the stomach, the back, and in other ways too numerous to mention. Some were hanging by the tongue, and their constant cry was "Alas!" and no other prayer. In a furnace with molten lead and burning brimstone boiling over the fire were many folk. Some lying on gridirons glowing against the flames were people whom Owain had once known, but who were now entirely changed through the penance they suffered. A wild fire surged among them, and all whom it seized, it burned, ten thousand souls and more. Those that hung by feet and neck were thieves, or the companions of thieves, and wrought men woe. Those that hung by the tongue and ever sang "Alas!" and cried so loudly were backbiters in their lives. Beware, man or wife, if thou art fond of chiding! All the places the knight came by were full of the pains of purgatory. Whosoever takes the name of God in vain, or bears any false witness, suffers strong pains there.

Owain saw where a grisly-looking wheel turned; huge it was, burning like a brand as it wound around, and covered with hooks. A hundred thousand souls and more were hanging from the wheel. The fiends turned it about so fast that Sir Owain could not recognize anybody there. Out of the earth came a burning blue fire; it smelled foully, and it went around the wheel, burning the souls to a very fine powder. The wheel that runs thus is for the punishment of covetousness that now reigns everywhere. The covetous man has never enough gold or silver or even ploughs until Death fells him. The fiends said to the knight, "Thou hast been covetous of winning land and men; upon this wheel thou shalt be placed unless thou wilt return at once to thine own country." When he refused, the fiends seized him, bound him fast upon the revolving wheel, and cast him in the midst. When the hooks tore him and the fire burned him, he thought of Jesus Christ. An angel bore him from the wheel, and all the fiends there could do him no harm.

Further he was led in great pain, until they came to a mountain that was red as blood. Men and women stood on it, in misery, it seemed, for they cried as if they were mad. The fiends then said to the knight, "Thou art wondering about these men who make such doleful cheer. They have deserved the wrath of God; soon they shall have such a drink as they will not think pleasant." No sooner had he spoken than there came a blast of wind that took fiends and souls and knight up almost into the firmament, and then cast them down into a foul-smelling river that ran under the mountain of fire as an arrow from a cross-bow. It was as cold as ice, and no one can describe the pain that he suffered. Owain was almost drowned in the water, and became so frenzied and faint that he was well-nigh lost. As soon as he could think upon God he was brought out of the water and carried to land. That pain is the punishment of wrath and envy. Envy was the blast of wind which cast him into the smelling water. Let every man beware of it.

They led him forth quickly until they came to a hall whose like he had never seen before; out of the hall came such heat that the knight began to sweat. He saw so foul a smoke that he stopped, and when the fiends perceived it they were pleased. "Turn again," they began to cry, "thou shalt die, unless thou dost withdraw." When he came to the hall door he saw misery, a half of which he had never imagined. The hall was a place of torments; those folk who were in that prison were stripped of all happiness, for the floor of the hall was full of pits, round and filled to the top with brimstone, brass, copper, and other metals all molten. Men and women stood in these, screaming and crying as if they were mad; some stood up to the waist, others to the breast, and some to the chin. Each man according to his guilt was fixed in that torment, to suffer that great heat. Some bore around their necks bags full of pennies glowing with fire, and such meat they ate. These were usurers in this life. Beware, men and women, lest such sin hinder you. And many souls there walked upright, bearing false measures and false weights, which fiends sat upon. The fiends said to the knight, "Thou must bathe in this lead before thou go hence; because of thy usury and thy sin, thou must wash thyself somewhat." Owain feared that torment, and called upon God Omnipotent and His mother Mary. He was borne out of the hall, from the pains and all the fiends, when he made that outcry.

Soon he was frightened by seeing a flame of fire, mighty and thick, spring out of the earth, like coal and pitch. Of seven colors was this fire, and some of the souls burning in it were yellow, some green, some black, some blue, and some like adders. They were woful indeed. The fiends took the knight to the pit, and said, "Now, Owain, thou mayst find solace, for thou shalt shake with our fellows in the pit of hell. These are our birds in our cage, and this is our court and our castle tower. Dost thou think, Sir Knight, that to those who are brought here anything is sharp? Now turn again, ere it be too late, before we thrust thee into hell gate, for thou shalt never issue out of it by means of any crying or calling upon Mary, or by any other trick." The knight was firm, so the fiends seized and bound him, and cast him far down into that dark, evil, reeking prison. The farther down they thrust him the hotter it was, and he suffered cruelly. With good will and steadfast heart he called upon God Omnipotent to help him out of that torment, and he was borne up out of the pit, otherwise he would have been lost until the day of his death. That suffering, which lasts forever, is for the foul sin of pride.

Outside the pit he realized how God had rescued him. His clothes were torn to pieces, his body was burned all over, and he knew not which way to go. He changed color when he saw more fiends, none of whom he recognized in that strange place. Some of them had sixty eyes that were loathsome and grisly, some had sixty hands. They said, "Thou shalt not be alone, but shalt have us for company, to teach thee the new laws, as before thou didst learn them in that spot where thou wast among our fellows." The fiends then led the knight towards a foul-smelling body of water, such as he had never seen. It was many miles in breadth and black as pitch. Owain saw passing over it a very strong but narrow bridge. The fiends said, "Lo, Sir Knight, seest thou this? This is the bridge of paradise; across this thou must go, and we shall hurl stones at thee, and the wind shall blow thee over and work thee woe. Thou wilt never pass over this without falling into the midst of our fellows to dwell forevermore. When thou hast fallen down, then all our company will come and wound thee with their hooks. We shall teach thee a new sport, for thou hast served us many a day, and we will lead thee into hell."

Owain beheld the bridge and the water under it, so black and dreadful, and began to be sore afraid because of one thing he noted: never did motes dance in the sunbeam thicker than that company of fiends. The bridge[28] was as high as a tower and as sharp as a razor; narrow it was, and the water running underneath burned with lightning and thunder. He was exceedingly woful. There is no clerk who may write with ink, nor no man who can think, nor no master who can divine, one half of the torment there is under the bridge of paradise. We are told that there is the true entrance to hell. Saint Paul bears witness. Whosoever falls down from the bridge will never have redemption in any degree.

The fiends then said to the knight, "There is no need for thee to cross this bridge. Flee pain, sorrow, and woe, and we will lead thee fairly back to that place from which thou didst come." Owain began to recall from how many of the tricks of the fiends God had saved him, so he set his foot upon the bridge, and felt no sharp edge, nor was he at all afraid. When the fiends saw that he was more than half over, they began to cry aloud, "Alas, alas, that he was born, this knight we have lost from our prison!"

When he was safely across the bridge, he thanked God Omnipotent and His mother Mary, who had sent him such grace, that he was delivered out of torment into a better region. A cloth of gold was brought to him, he knew not how except that God sent it. That cloth he put on, and at once all his wounds from being burned were whole, and he thanked the Trinity. Looking ahead, he saw what seemed to be a stone wall. He gazed far and near, but could see no end of this, which shone all of red gold. Farther on he saw a gate, a fairer one may never be in this world. It was made, not of wood nor of steel, but of red gold and of precious stones, created by God out of nothing. Jasper, topaz, crystal, pearls, and coral, rich sapphires, rubies, chalcedonies, onyxes, and diamonds were wrought into tabernacles. Richer they might not be; they had pillars small and beautifully fashioned, with arches of carbuncles, knots of red gold, and pinnacles of crystal. Inasmuch as our Savior is more skilful than any goldsmith or painter in any land, so are the gates of paradise more richly wrought than any other.

The gates unfastened themselves, and a fragrance like balm came forth, of such sweetness that the knight took fresh strength and thought that now he would be a thousand times better prepared to suffer pain and woe and to fight against all the fiends if he had to go back the way he came. He went near the gate and saw approaching a procession of folk with gracious countenances, bearing tapers and candlesticks of gold and crosses and banners. Popes there were, of great dignity, and many cardinals, kings and queens, knights, abbots superior, monks, canons, and preaching friars, and bishops who bore crosses. Minorite friars and Jacobins, Carmelites and Austin friars, black and white nuns—all manner of religious orders went in that procession. The order of wedlock came also, with many men and women who thanked God for sending his grace to deliver the knight from torment by the fiends, and to bring him alive to that spot. When the praises had thus been sung, two archbishops came out of the midst of that company, bearing palms of gold. They advanced to the knight, and, taking him between them, led him up and down, and showed him still greater joys and also much melody. Merry were their carols of joy and minstrelsy. They went carolling with a joy no man can divine, singing and praising God; angels guided them with harps and fiddles and psaltery, and bells rang merrily. No man may carol there except him who is clean from sin and who has given up all folly. Now may God and His mother Mary, in memory of Thy wounds, grant that we may carol in that hall. This same joy is granted for love and charity towards God and all mankind. Whosoever lets earthly love alone and loves God in Trinity may carol thus.

Other joys he saw in abundance: high trees, with many branches, on which the birds of heaven sat and sang their notes with merry glee, some low, some intermediate, and some high. He thought indeed that with the song of those birds he might live happily there until the end of the world. Then he saw the tree of life, because of which Adam and his wife went to hell. Fair were the arbors, there, with flowers,—roses and lilies of many colors, primroses and periwinkle, mint, featherfoy and eglantine, columbine, and many others, more than man can think. Herbs of other kinds than on earth grow there, though that is the least of the praises of the place. Forever they spring up green, sweeter than licorice, unchanging in winter and summer.

There are wells in that spot, with water sweeter than any mead, and out of the chief one which Owain saw, run the four streams of paradise. Pison, they call one stream that gleams brightly, because men find gold there; Gihon is another that is much praised for the precious stones in its bed; the third stream is named Euphrates, it runs straight along; and the fourth is Tigris, in all the world is there none other with stones so bright. Whosoever loves to live in purity shall have that same bliss and see that same sight. More Owain saw there, under God's glory on high; blessed be His might!

Some souls he saw apart by themselves, and some in groups of ten or twelve; and when they met together they made as much rejoicing as sister does with brother. Some he saw going about in scarlet red, some in purple well wrought, and others in thin silk. They wore tunics and albs, like what the priest wears at mass, some covered with gold work. The knight knew well by their clothing in what state they were, and what deeds they had done when they were men's companions. I will tell you a fair similitude drawn from the clear stars; inasmuch as one star is brighter to the sight and of more power than three others, so is it with the joys of paradise. They are not all alike, yet he who has the least joy thinks he has the most of all and calls himself very rich.

The bishops came again and, taking him between them, led him up and down and said, "Brother, God be praised, thy wish is fulfilled. Now listen to our counsel. Thou hast seen with thine eyes both the joys and the pains. We will tell thee ere thou dost pass hence, of our common fate. That land that is so full of sorrow, evening and morning, where thou as well as many other souls didst suffer sorely, is called by men purgatory. And this land, where thou now art, so wide and spacious and so full of bliss, is called paradise. No man may come here until he has been purged and made clean there. When they come hither, we lead them into joy, sometimes by groups of twelve and ten. And some are so bound, that they know not how long they must endure the heat; but if their friends who are left on earth have masses sung, or else give food or some other kind of alms, all the better will these folk speed and will come out of their misery into this paradise, where joy and bliss ever are, and will live here in perfect peace. Just as they come out of purgatory, so pass we on to God's glory, which is the high kingdom of the celestial paradise, wherein enter only Christian folk to a joy unequalled. When we come out of the fire of purgatory we cannot pass at once into that place nor see God's face, but must dwell here a long time. Even the child born tonight must pass through that pain before he can enter heaven, and how much harder is it for an old man who has been long in sin to come hither!"

Forth they went until they saw a very high mountain where all was pleasure. Finally they came to the top, and saw all its joys. There were all manner of bird songs; much delight was there and evermore shall be. There is more joy in a bird's mouth than in any harp or fiddle or crouth,[29] whether on land or sea. That land so fair is called the terrestrial paradise; the other paradise, which is the kingdom of God, is above the air and has joys unequalled. (In the earthly paradise Owain was, which Adam had lost, and if Adam had done according to the will of God, neither he nor his offspring would have had to depart out of that joy. Yet, since Adam broke God's commandment so soon, God made him delve with pick and spade in the earth, to help his wife and himself. God was very wroth with him. An angel of stern countenance, bearing a sword of fire, came and made them sore afraid, and drove them out into the world, where they lived evermore in sorrow and woe. And when he died he came to hell, as did all his descendants, until the Son of God was born, by whose passion and death man was brought out of that prison.)[30]

The bishops commanded the knight to tell them whether heaven seemed white or gray, blue or red, yellow or green. The knight answered, "Methinks it is a thousand times brighter than any gold." "Yet," said the bishop, "that very place which is so bright is only the entrance, and every day, to make us blithe, we are refreshed by a sweet fragrance, which is food to our soul." Anon the knight was aware that a flame of fire issued out from heaven's gate, and he thought that it flew all over paradise, giving forth a sweet smell. The Holy Ghost, in form of fire, alighted then upon the knight, by whose virtue he lost all his earthliness; and for this he thanked God's grace.

Then the bishop said, "God feeds us each day with His bread, but we have no such knowledge of His grace, nor such a vision of His face as have those who are on high. The souls who are at God's feast have joy that lasts without end. Now thou, because of our common fate, must return again the way thou didst come. Keep thyself from mortal sin, so that when thou art dead thou mayst be led by angels into the joy that has no end."

Then Owain wept bitterly and prayed for God's mercy that he might dwell there and might not behold again the strong pains of hell. From his prayer he got no gain; so he took his leave and departed, although he was very sorrowful. Fiends he saw—ten thousand flying from him fast as arrows from a cross-bow. When he came to the hall he found the thirteen men therein. They all held up their hands, and thanked the mercy of Jesus Christ a thousand times and more, and bade Owain not to rest until he had returned to Ireland as quickly as he could go. And, as I find in the story, the prior of the purgatory had a token that night that Owain had overcome his woes and would appear on the morrow, through grace of God Almighty.

Then the prior, at the head of a procession with cross and banner, went at once to the hole where Owain had gone, and soon they saw a gleam of light like a bright fire burning; then in the midst of the light came Owain, the knight of God. Then they knew well that Owain had been in paradise and in purgatory, and that he was a holy man. They led him into holy church, to do God's office and to say his prayers. On the fifteenth day, the knight took staff and scrip and sought the holy place where Christ bought us so dearly upon the cross and where He rose from death to life through the virtue of His five wounds. Blessed may He be! And Bethlehem, too, he visited, where Christ was born of Mary, His mother like the flower of the thorn. At last, returning to Ireland, Owain took the monk's habit and lived there seven years. When he died he entered, truly, into the high joys of paradise, through the help of God's grace. Now for the love of Saint Owain, may God grant us the bliss of heaven above, in the presence of His sweet face! Amen!

Translated by M. H. S.

SAINTS' LIVES

THE LIFE OF SAINT BRANDON

THE LIFE OF SAINT MARGARET

THE LIFE OF SAINT BRANDON[31]

Saint Brandon, the holy man, was a monk and born in Ireland, and there he was abbot of a house wherein were a thousand monks, and there he had a full strait and holy life in great penance and abstinence, and he governed his monks full virtuously. And then within short while after there came to him an holy abbot, that hight Birinus, to visit him, and each of them was joyful of other. And then Saint Brandon began to tell to the Abbot Birinus of many wonders that he had seen in divers lands, and when Birinus heard that of Saint Brandon, he began to sigh and sore weep, and Saint Brandon comforted him in the best wise that he could, saying, "Ye come hither for to be joyful with me, and therefore for God's love leave your mourning, and tell me what marvels ye have seen in the great sea ocean that compasseth all the world about and all other waters come out of him, which runneth in all parts of the earth."

And then Birinus began to tell to Saint Brandon and to his monks the marvels that he had seen, full sore weeping, and said: "I have a son, his name is Mervok, and he was a monk of great fame, which had great desire to seek about by ship in divers countries to find a solitary place wherein he might dwell secretly out of the business of the world for to serve God quietly with more devotion. And I counselled him to sail into an island far in the sea beside the Mountain of Stones, which is full well known; and then he made him ready and sailed thither with his monks. And when he came thither he liked the place full well, where he and his monks served our Lord full devoutly."

And then Birinus saw in a vision that this monk Mervok was sailed right far eastward in the sea, more than three days' sailing, and suddenly, to his seeming, there came a dark cloud and over-covered them, that a great part of the day they saw no light, and, as our Lord would, the cloud passed away and they saw a full fair island, and thitherward they drew. In that island was joy and mirth enough, and the earth of that island shined as bright as the sun; and there were the fairest trees and herbs that ever any man saw, and there were many precious stones shining bright, and every herb there was full of flowers, and every tree full of fruit, so that it was a glorious sight and a heavenly joy to abide there.