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diff --git a/14529-0.txt b/14529-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2e8d46 --- /dev/null +++ b/14529-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,800 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14529 *** + +YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH +ALBERT S. COOK, EDITOR +LXIII + + +THE +OLD ENGLISH PHYSIOLOGUS + + +TEXT AND PROSE TRANSLATION +BY +ALBERT STANBURROUGH COOK +Professor of the English Language and Literature in Yale University + + +VERSE TRANSLATION +BY +JAMES HALL PITMAN +Fellow in English of Yale University + + +NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS +LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS +MDCCCXXI + + +[FACSIMILE] + + + + +PREFACE + + +The Old English _Physiologus_, or _Bestiary_, is a series of three brief +poems, dealing with the mythical traits of a land-animal, a sea-beast, +and a bird respectively, and deducing from them certain moral or +religious lessons. These three creatures are selected from a much larger +number treated in a work of the same name which was compiled at +Alexandria before 140 B.C., originally in Greek, and afterwards +translated into a variety of languages--into Latin before 431. The +standard form of the _Physiologus_ has 49 chapters, each dealing with a +separate animal (sometimes imaginary) or other natural object, beginning +with the lion, and ending with the ostrich; examples of these are the +pelican, the eagle, the phoenix, the ant (cf. Prov. 6.6), the fox, the +unicorn, and the salamander. In this standard text, the Old English +poems are represented by chapters 16, 17, and 18, dealing in succession +with the panther, a mythical sea-monster called the asp-turtle (usually +denominated the whale), and the partridge. Of these three poems, the +third is so fragmentary that little is left except eight lines of +religious application, and four of exhortation by the poet, so that the +outline of the poem, and especially the part descriptive of the +partridge, must be conjecturally restored by reference to the treatment +in the fuller versions, which are based upon Jer. 17.11 (the texts drawn +upon for the application in lines 5-11 are 2 Cor. 6.17,18; Isa. 55.7; +Heb. 2.10,11). + +It has been said: 'With the exception of the Bible, there is perhaps no +other book in all literature that has been more widely current in every +cultivated tongue and among every class of people.' Such currency might +be illustrated from many English authors. Two passages from Elizabethan +literature may serve as specimens--the one from Spenser, the other from +Shakespeare. The former is from the _Faerie Queene_ (1. 11.34): + + At last she saw, where he upstarted brave + Out of the well, wherein he drenched lay; + As Eagle fresh out of the Ocean wave, + Where he hath left his plumes all hoary gray, + And deckt himselfe with feathers youthly gay, + Like Eyas hauke up mounts unto the skies, + His newly budded pineons to assay, + And marveiles at himselfe, still as he flies: + So new this new-borne knight to battell new did rise. + +The other is from _Hamlet_ (Laertes to the King): + + To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms; + And like the kind life-rendering pelican, + Repast them with my blood.[1] + +However widely diffused, the symbolism exemplified by the _Physiologus_ +is peculiarly at home in the East. Thus Egypt symbolized the sun, with +his death at night passing into a rebirth, by the phœnix, which, by a +natural extension, came to signify the resurrection. And the Bible not +only sends the sluggard to the ant, and bids men consider the lilies of +the field, but with a large sweep commands (Job 12.7,8): 'Ask now the +beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they +shall tell thee; or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the +fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.' + +[Footnote 1: Alfred de Musset, in _La Nuit de Mai_, develops the image +of the pelican through nearly thirty lines.] + +The text as here printed is extracted from my edition, _The Old English +Elenc, Phœnix, and Physiologus_ (Yale University Press, 1919), where a +critical apparatus may be found; here it may be sufficient to say that +Italic letters in square brackets denote my emendations, and Roman +letters those of previous editors. The translations have not hitherto +been published, and no complete ones are extant in any language, save +those contained in Thorpe's edition of the _Codex Exoniensis_, which +appeared in 1842. The long conjectural passage in the _Partridge_ is due +wholly to Mr. Pitman. + + A.S.C. + +March 27, 1921. + + + + +PHYSIOLOGUS + + + + +[**Transcriber's note: The following texts have been split into small +sections based on the pagination of the original. These sections +alternate as follows, each section being separated from its neighbors by +rows of asterisks: Old English verse; Modern English verse translation; +Modern English prose translation. While this fragments each version, it +facilitates comparison in parallel.] + + +I + +THE PANTHER + + + Monge sindon geond middangeard + unrīmu cynn, [_þāra_] þe wē æþelu ne magon + ryhte āreccan nē rīm witan; + þæs wīde sind geond wor[_u_]l[d] innan +5 fugla and dēora foldhrērendra + wornas widsceope, swā wæter bibūgeð + þisne beorhtan bōsm, brim grymetende, + sealtȳpa geswing. + Wē bi sumum hȳrdon + wrǣtlīc[_um_] gecynd[_e_] wildra secgan, +10 fīrum frēamǣrne, feorlondum on, + eard weardian, ēðles nēotan, + æfter dūnscrafum. Is þæt dēor Pandher + bi noman hāten, þæs þe niþþa bear[n], + + * * * * * + + Of living creatures many are the kinds + Throughout the world--unnumbered, since no man + Can count their multitudes, nor rightly learn + The ways of their wild nature; wide they roam, + These beasts and birds, as far as ocean sets + A limit to the earth, embracing her + And all her sunny fields with salty seas + And toss of roaring billows. + We have heard + From men of wider lore of one wild beast, + Wonderful dweller in a far-off land + Renowned of men, who loves his native glens + And dusky caverns. Him have wise men called + + * * * * * + +Many, yea numberless, are the tribes throughout the world whose natures +we can not rightly expound nor their multitudes reckon, so immense are +the swarms of birds and earth-treading animals wherever water, the +roaring ocean, the surge of salt billows, encompasses the smiling bosom +of earth. + +We have heard about one marvelous kind of wild beast which inhabits, in +lands far off, a domain renowned among men, rejoicing there in his home +amid the mountain-caves. This beast is called panther, as the learned + + * * * * * + + wīsfæste weras, on gewritum cȳþa[_ð_] +15 bi þām ānstapan. + Sē is ǣ[_g_]hwām frēond, + duguða ēstig, būtan dracan ānum; + þām hē in ealle tīd andwrāð leofaþ, + þurh yfla gehwylc þe hē geæfnan mæg. + Ðæt is wrǣtlīc dēor, wundrum scȳne, +20 hīwa gehwylces. Swā hæleð secgað, + gǣsthālge guman, þætte Iōsēphes + tunece wǣre telga gehwylces + blēom bregdende, þāra beorhtra gehwylc, + ǣghwæs ǣnlīcra, ōþrum līxte +25 dryhta bearnum, swā þæs dēores hīw, + blǣc, brigda gehwæs, beorhtra and scȳnra + wundrum līxeð, þætte wrǣtlīcra + ǣghwylc ōþrum, ǣnlīcra gīen + and fǣgerra, frætwum blīceð, +30 symle sellīcra. + Hē hafað sundorgecynd, + + * * * * * + + The panther, and in books have told of him, + The solitary rover. + He is kind, + A bounteous friend to every living thing + Save one alone, the dragon; but with him + The panther ever lives at enmity, + Employing every means within his power + To work him evil. + Fair is he, full bright + And wonderful of hue. The holy scribes + Tell us how Joseph's many-colored coat, + Gleaming with varying dyes of every shade, + Brilliant, resplendent, dazzled all men's eyes + That looked upon it. So the panther's hues + Shine altogether lovely, marvelous, + While each fair color in its beauty glows + Ever more rare and charming than the rest. + His wondrous character is mild, and free + + * * * * * + +among the children of men report in their books concerning that lonely +wanderer. + +He is a friend, bountiful in kindness, to every one save only the +dragon; with him he always lives at enmity by means of every injury he +can inflict. + +He is a bewitching animal, marvelously beautiful with every color. Just +as, according to men holy in spirit, Joseph's coat was variegated with +hues of every shade, each shining before the sons of men brighter and +more perfect than another, so does the color of this beast blaze with +every diversity, gleaming in wondrous wise so clear and fair that each +tint is ever lovelier than the next, glows more enchanting in its +splendor, more rare, more beauteous, and more strange. + +He has a nature all his own, so gentle and so calm is + + * * * * * + + milde, gemetfæst. Hē is monþwǣre, + lufsum and lēoftæl: nele lāþes wiht + ǣ[ng]um geæfnan būtan þām āttorsceaþan, + his fyrngeflitan, þe ic ǣr fore sægde. +35 Symle, fylle fægen, þonne fōddor þigeð, + æfter þām gereordum ræste sēceð, + dȳgle stōwe under dūnscrafum; + ðǣr se þēo[d]wiga þrēonihta fæc + swifeð on swe[_o_]fote, slǣpe gebiesga[d]. +40 Þonne ellenrōf ūp āstondeð, + þrymme gewelga[d], on þone þriddan dæg, + snēome of slǣpe. Swēghlēoþor cymeð, + wōþa wynsumast, þurh þæs wildres mūð; + æfter pære stefne stenc ūt cymeð +45 of þām wongstede-- wynsumra stēam, + swēttra and swīþra, swæcca gehwylcum, + wyrta blōstmum and wudublēdum, + eallum æþelīcra eorþan frætw[um]. + + * * * * * + + From all disturbing passion. Gracious, kind, + And full of love, he meditates no harm + But to that venomous foe, as I have told, + His ancient enemy. + Once he has rejoiced + His heart with feasting, straight he finds a nook + Hidden among dim caves, his resting-place. + There three nights' space, in deepest slumber wrapped, + The people's champion lies. Then, stout of heart, + The third day he arises fresh from sleep, + Endowed with glory. From the creature's mouth + Issues a melody of sweetest strains; + And close upon the voice a balmy scent + Fills all the place--an incense lovelier, + Sweeter, and abler to perfume the air, + Than any odor of an earthly flower + Or scent of woodland fruit, more excellent + + * * * * * + +it. Kind, attractive, and friendly, he has no thought of doing harm to +any save the envenomed foe, his ancient adversary of whom I spoke. + +When, delighting in a feast, he has partaken of food, ever at the end of +the meal he betakes himself to his resting-place, a hidden retreat among +the mountain-caves; there the champion of his race, overcome by sleep, +abandons himself to slumber for the space of three nights. Then the +dauntless one, replenished with vigor, straightway arises from sleep +when the third day has come. A melody, the most ravishing of strains, +flows from the wild beast's mouth; and, following the music, there +issues a fragrance from the place--a fume more transporting, sweet, and +strong than any odor whatever, than blossoms of plants or fruits of the +forest, choicer + + * * * * * + + Þonne of ceastrum and cynestōlum +50 and of burgsalum beornþrēat monig + farað foldwegum folca þrȳþum; + ēoredcystum, ofestum gefȳsde, + dareðlācende --dēor [s]wā some-- + æfter þǣre stefne on þone stenc farað. +55 Swā is Dryhten God, drēama Rǣdend, + eallum ēaðmēde ōþrum gesceaftum, + duguða gehwylcre, būtan dracan ānum, + āttres ordfruman-- þæt is se ealda fēond + þone hē gesǣlde in sūsla grund, +60 and gefetrade fȳrnum tēagum, + biþeahte þrēanȳdum; and þȳ þriddan dæge + of dīgle ārās, þæs þe hē dēað fore ūs + þrēo niht þolade, Þēoden engla, + sigora Sellend. Þæt wæs swēte stenc, +65 wlitig and wynsum, geond woruld ealle. + Siþþan tō þām swicce sōðfæste men, + + * * * * * + + Than all this world's adornments. Then from town + And palace, then from castle-hall, come forth + Along the roads great troops of hurrying men-- + The very beasts come also; all press on + Toward that sweet odor, when the voice is stilled. + Such as this creature is the Lord our God, + Giver of joys, to all creation kind, + To men benignant, save alone to him, + The dragon, author of all wickedness, + Satan, the ancient adversary whom, + Fettered with fire, shackled with dire constraint, + Into the pit of torments God cast down. + The third day Christ arose from out the grave, + For three nights having suffered death for us, + He, Lord of angels, he in whom alone + Is hope of overcoming. Far and wide + The tidings spread, like perfume fresh and sweet, + Through all the world. Then to that fragrance thronged + + * * * * * + +than aught that clothes the earth with beauty. Thereupon from cities, +courts, and castle-halls many companies of heroes flock along the +highways of earth; the wielders of the spear press forward in hurrying +throngs to that perfume--and so also do animals--when once the music has +ceased. + +Even so the Lord God, the Giver of joy, is gracious to all creatures, to +every order of them, save only the dragon, the source of venom, that +ancient enemy whom he bound in the abyss of torments; shackling him with +fiery fetters, and loading him with dire constraints, he arose from +darkness on the third day after he, the Lord of angels, the Bestower of +victory, had for three nights endured death on our behalf. That was a +sweet perfume throughout the world, winsome and entrancing. Henceforth, + + * * * * * + + on healfa gehwone, hēapum þrungon + geond ealne ymbhwyrft eorþan scēat[a]. + Swā se snottra gecwæð Sanctus Paulus: +70 'Monigfealde sind geond middangeard + gōd ungnȳðe þe ūs tō giefe dǣleð + and tō feorhnere Fæder ælmihtig, + and se ānga Hyht ealra gesceafta + uppe ge niþre.' Þæt is æþele stenc. + + * * * * * + + From every side all men whose hearts were true, + Throughout the regions of the circled earth. + Thus spoke the wise St. Paul: 'In all the world + His gifts are many, which he gives to us + For our salvation with unstinting hand, + Almighty Father, he, the only Hope + Of all in heaven or here below on earth.' + This is that noble fragrance, rare and sweet, + Which draws all men to seek it from afar. + + * * * * * + +through the whole extent of earth's regions, righteous men have streamed +in multitudes from every side to that fragrance. As said the wise St. +Paul: 'Manifold over the world are the lavish bounties which the Father +almighty, the Hope of all creatures above and below, bestows on us as +grace and salvation.' That, too, is a sweet odor. + + + + +II + +THE WHALE (ASP-TURTLE) + + + Nū ic fitte gēn ymb fisca cynn + wille wōðcræfte wordum cȳþan + þurh mōdgemynd, bi þām miclan hwale. + Sē bið unwillum oft gemēted, +5 frēcne and fer[_h_]ðgrim, fareðlācendum, + niþþa gehwylcum; þām is noma cenned, + fyr[ge]nstrēama geflotan, Fastitocalon. + Is þæs hīw gelīc hrēofum stāne, + swylce wōrie bi wædes ōfre, +10 sondbeorgum ymbseald, sǣrȳrica mǣst, + swā þæt wēnaþ wǣglīþende + þæt hȳ on ēalond sum ēagum wlīten; + and þonne gehȳd[_i_]að hēahstefn scipu + tō þām unlonde oncyrrāpum, +15 s[_ǣ_]laþ sǣmearas sundes æt ende, + + * * * * * + + Now will I spur again my wit, and use + Poetic skill to weave words into song, + Telling of one among the race of fish, + The great asp-turtle. Men who sail the sea + Often unwillingly encounter him, + Dread preyer on mankind. His name we know, + The ocean-swimmer, Fastitocalon. + Dun, like rough stone in color, as he floats + He seems a heaving bank of reedy grass + Along the shore, with rolling dunes behind, + So that sea-wanderers deem their gaze has found + An island. Boldly then their high-prowed ships + They moor with cables to that shore, a land + That is no land. Still floating on the waves, + Their ocean-coursers curvet at the marge; + + * * * * * + +This time I will with poetic art rehearse, by means of words and wit, a +poem about a kind of fish, the great sea-monster which is often +unwillingly met, terrible and cruel-hearted to seafarers, yea, to every +man; this swimmer of the ocean-streams is known as the asp-turtle. + +His appearance is like that of a rough boulder, as if there were tossing +by the shore a great ocean-reedbank begirt with sand-dunes, so that +seamen imagine they are gazing upon an island, and moor their +high-prowed ships with cables to that false land, make fast the +ocean-coursers at the sea's end, and, bold of heart, climb up + + * * * * * + + and þonne in þæt ēglond ūp gewītað + collenfer[_h_]þe; cēolas stondað + bi staþe fæste strēame biwunden. + Ðonne gewīciað wērigfer[_h_]ðe, +20 faroðlācende, frēcnes ne wēnað. + On þām ēalonde ǣled weccað, + hēah fyr ǣlað. Hæleþ bēoþ on wynnum, + rēonigmōde, ræste gel[y]ste. + Þonne gefēleð fācnes cræftig +25 þæt him þā fērend on fæste wuniaþ, + wīc weardiað, wedres on luste, + ðonne semninga on sealtne wǣg + mid þā nōþe niþer gewīteþ, + gārsecges gæst, grund gesēceð, +30 and þonne in dēaðsele drence bifæsteð + scipu mid scealcum. + Swā bið scinn[_en_]a þēaw, + dēofla wīse, þæt hī droht[i]ende + þurh dyrne meaht duguðe beswīcað, + and on teosu tyhtaþ tilra dǣda, +35 wēmað on willan, þæt hȳ wraþe sēcen, + + * * * * * + + The weary-hearted sailors mount the isle, + And, free from thought of peril, there abide. + Elated, on the sands they build a fire, + A mounting blaze. There, light of heart, they sit-- + No more discouraged--eager for sweet rest. + Then when the crafty fiend perceives that men, + Encamped upon him, making their abode, + Enjoy the gentle weather, suddenly + Under the salty waves he plunges down, + Straight to the bottom deep he drags his prey; + He, guest of ocean, in his watery haunts + Drowns ships and men, and fast imprisons them + Within the halls of death. + Such is the way + Of demons, devils' wiles: to hide their power, + And stealthily inveigle heedless men, + Inciting them against all worthy deeds, + And luring them to seek for help and comfort + + * * * * * + +on that island; the vessels stand by the beach, enringed by the flood. +The weary-hearted sailors then encamp, dreaming not of peril. + +On the island they start a fire, kindle a mounting flame. The dispirited +heroes, eager for repose, are flushed with joy. Now when the cunning +plotter feels that the seamen are firmly established upon him, and have +settled down to enjoy the weather, the guest of ocean sinks without +warning into the salt wave with his prey (?), and makes for the bottom, +thus whelming ships and men in that abode of death. + +Such is the way of demons, the wont of devils: they spend their lives in +outwitting men by their secret power, inciting them to the corruption of +good deeds, misguiding + + * * * * * + + frōfre tō fēondum, oþþæt hy fæste ðǣr + æt þām wǣrlogan wīc gecēosað. + Þonne þæt gecnāweð of cwicsūsle + flāh fēond gemāh, þætte fīra gehwylc +40 hæleþa cynnes on his hringe biþ + fæste gefēged, hē him feorgbona, + þurh slīþen searo, siþþan weorþeð, + wloncum and hēanum þe his willan hēr + firenum fremmað; mid þām hē fǣringa, +45 heoloþhelme biþeaht, helle sēceð, + gōda gēasne, grundlēasne wylm + under mistglōme, swā se micla hwæl + se þe bisenceð sǣlīþende + eorlas and ȳðmearas. + Hē hafað ōþre gecynd, +50 wæterþisa wlonc, wrǣtlīcran gīen. + Þonne hine on holme hunger bysgað, + and þone āglǣcan ǣtes lysteþ, + ðonne se mereweard mūð ontȳneð, + + * * * * * + + From unsuspected foes, until at last + They choose a dwelling with the faithless one. + Then, when the fiend, by crafty malice stirred, + From where hell's torments bind him fast, perceives + That men are firmly set in his domain, + With treachery unspeakable he hastes + To snare and to destroy the lives of those, + Both proud and lowly, who in sin perform + His will on earth. Donning the mystic helm + Of darkness, with his prey he speeds to hell, + The place devoid of good--all misty gloom, + Where broods a sullen lake, black, bottomless, + Just as the monster, Fastitocalon, + Destroys seafarers, overwhelming men + And staunch-built ships. + Another trait he has, + This proud sea-swimmer, still more marvelous. + When hunger grips the monster on the deep, + Making him long for food, his gaping mouth + The ocean-warder opens, stretching wide + + * * * * * + +them at will so that they seek help and support from fiends, until they +end by making their fixed abode with the betrayer. When, from out his +living torture, the crafty, malicious enemy perceives that any one is +firmly settled within his domain, he proceeds, by his malignant wiles, +to become the slayer of that man, be he rich or poor, who sinfully does +his will; and, covered by his cap of darkness, suddenly betakes himself +with them to hell, where naught of good is found, a bottomless abyss +shrouded in misty gloom--like that monster which engulfs the +ocean-traversing men and ships. + +This proud tosser of the waves has another and still more wonderful +trait. When hunger plagues him on the deep, and the monster longs for +food, this haunter of the sea opens his mouth, and sets his lips agape; + + * * * * * + + wīde weleras; cymeð wynsum stenc +55 of his innoþe, þætte ōþre þurh þone, + sǣfisca cynn, beswicen weorðaþ. + Swimmað sundhwate þǣr se swēta stenc + ūt gewīt[e]ð. Hī þǣr in farað, + unware weorude, oþþæt se wīda ceafl +60 gefylled bið; þonne fǣringa + ymbe þā herehūþe hlemmeð tōgædre + grimme gōman. + Swā biþ gumena gehwām + se þe oftost his unwærlīce, + on þās lǣnan tīd, līf biscēawað: +65 lǣteð hine beswīcan þurh swētne stenc, + lēasne willan, þæt hē biþ leahtrum fāh + wið Wuldorcyning. Him se āwyrgda ongēan + æfter hinsīþe helle ontȳneð, + þām þe lēaslīce līces wynne +70 ofer ferh[ð]gereaht fremedon on unrǣd. + Þonne se fǣcna in þām fæstenne + gebrōht hafað, bealwes cræftig, + + * * * * * + + His monstrous lips; and from his cavernous maw + Sends an entrancing odor. This sweet scent, + Deceiving other fishes, lures them on + In swiftly moving schools toward that fell place + Whence comes the perfume. There, unwary host, + They enter in, until the yawning mouth + Is filled to overflowing, when, at once, + Trapping their prey, the fearful jaws snap shut. + So, in this fleeting earthly time, each man + Who orders heedlessly his mortal life + Lets a sweet odor, some beguiling wish, + Entice him, so that in the eyes of God, + The King of glory, his iniquities + Make him abhorrent. After death for him + The all-accursed devil opens hell-- + Opens for all who in their folly here + Let pleasures of the body overcome + Their spirits' guidance. When the wily fiend + Into his hold beside the fiery lake + + * * * * * + +whereupon there issues a ravishing perfume from his inwards, by which +other kinds of fish are beguiled. With lively motions they swim to where +the sweet odor comes forth, and there enter in, a heedless host, until +the wide gorge is full; then, in one instant, he snaps his fierce jaws +together about the swarming prey. + +Thus it is with any one who, in this fleeting time, full oft neglects to +take heed to his life, and allows himself to be enticed by sweet +fragrance, a lying lure, so that he becomes hostile to the King of glory +by reason of his sins. The accursed one will, when they die, throw wide +the doors of hell to those who, in their folly, have wrought the +treacherous delights of the body, contrary to the wise guidance of the +soul. When the deceiver, skilful in wrongdoing, hath brought into that +fastness, + + * * * * * + + æt þām [_ā_]dwylme, þā þe him on cleofiað, + gyltum gehrodene, and ǣr georne his +75 in hira līfdagum lārum hȳrdon, + þonne he þā grimman gōman bihlemmeð, + æfter feorhcwale, fæste tōgædre, + helle hlinduru. Nāgon hwyrft nē swice, + ūtsīþ ǣfre, þā [_þe_] þǣr in cumað, +80 þon mā þe þā fiscas, faraðlācende, + of þæs hwæles fenge hweorfan mōtan. + Forþon is eallinga . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + dryhtna Dryhtne, and ā dēoflum wiðsace +85 wordum and weorcum, þæt wē Wuldorcyning + gesēon mōton. Uton ā sibbe tō him, + on þās hwīlnan tīd, hǣlu sēcan, + þæt wē mid swā lēofne in lofe mōtan + tō wīdan feore wuldres nēotan. + + * * * * * + + With evil craft has led those erring ones + Who cleave to him, sore laden with their sins, + Those who in earthly life have hearkened well + To his instruction, after death close shut + He snaps those woful jaws, the gates of hell. + Whoever enters there has no relief, + Nor may he any more escape his doom + And thence depart, than can the swimming fish + Elude the monster. + Therefore it is [best + And[1]] altogether [right for each of us + To serve and honor God,[1]] the Lord of lords, + And always in our every word and deed + To combat devils, that we may at last + Behold the King of glory. In this time + Of transitory things, then, let us seek + Peace and salvation from him, that we may + Rejoice for ever in so dear a Lord, + And praise his glory everlastingly. + +[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied.] + + * * * * * + +the lake of fire, those that cleave to him and are laden with guilt, +such as had eagerly followed his teachings in the days of their life, he +then, after their death, snaps tight together his fierce jaws, the gates +of hell. They who enter there have neither relief nor escape, no means +of flight, any more than the fishes that swim the sea can escape from +the clutch of the monster. + +Therefore is it by all means [best for every one of us to serve[1]] the +Lord of lords, and strive against devils with words and works, that so +we may come to behold the King of glory. Let us ever, now in this +fleeting time, seek from him grace and salvation, that so with the +Beloved we may in worship enjoy the bliss of heaven for evermore. + +[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied.] + + * * * * * + + + + +III + +THE PARTRIDGE[1] + + + Hȳrde ic secgan gēn bi sumum fugle + wundorlīcne[2]. . . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fǣger + þæt word þe gecwæð wuldres Ealdor: +5 'In swā hwylce tiid swā gē mid trēowe tō mē + on hyge hweorfað, and gē hellfirena + sweartra geswīcað, swā ic symle tō ēow + mid siblufan sōna gecyrre + þurh milde mōd; gē bēoð mē siþþan + +[Footnote 1: The partridge (like the cuckoo) broods the eggs of other +birds. When they are hatched and grown, they fly off to their true +parents. So men may turn from the devil, who has wrongfully gained +possession of them, to their heavenly Father, who will receive them as +his children.] + +[Footnote 2: Gap in the manuscript, probably of considerable length.] + + * * * * * + + About another creature have I heard + A wondrous [tale.] [There is] a bird [men call + The partridge. Strange is she, unlike all birds + In field or wood who brood upon their eggs, + Hatching their young. The partridge lays no eggs, + Nor builds a dwelling; but instead, she steals + The well-wrought nests of others. There she sits, + Warming a stranger brood, until at last + The eggs are hatched. But when the stolen chicks + Are fledged, they straightway fly away to seek + Their proper kin, and leave the partridge there + Forsaken. In such wise the devil works + To steal the souls of those whose youthful minds + Or foolish hearts in vain resist his wiles. + But when they reach maturer age, they see + They are true children of the Lord of lords. + Then they desert the lying fiend, and seek + Their rightful Father, who with open arms + Receives them, as he long since promised them.[1]] + Fair is that word the Lord of glory spoke: + 'In such time as you turn with faithful hearts + To me, and put away your hellish sins, + Abominable to me, then will I turn + To you in love for ever, for my heart + Is mild and gracious. Thenceforth you shall be + +[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied, on the basis of other versions.] + + * * * * * + +So, too, I have heard tell a wondrous [tale[1]] about a certain bird.[2] +... fair the word[3] spoken by the King of glory: 'At whatsoever time ye +turn to me with faith in your soul, and forsake the black iniquities of +hell, I will turn straightway to you with love, in the gentleness of my +heart; and thenceforth ye shall be reckoned to + +[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied.] + +[Footnote 2: Gap in the manuscript, probably of considerable length.] + +[Footnote 3: Cf. 2 Cor. 6.17,18; Isa. 55.7; Heb. 2.10,11.] + + * * * * * + +10 torhte, tīrēadge, talade and rīmde, + beorhte gebrōþor on bearna stǣl.' + Uton wē þȳ geornor Gode ōliccan, + firene fēogan, friþes earnian, + duguðe tō Dryhtne, þenden ūs dæg scīne, +15 þæt swā æþelne eardwīca cyst + in wuldres wlite wunian mōtan. + Finit. + + * * * * * + + Refulgent, glorious, numbered with the host + Of heaven, and, instead of children, called + Bright brethren of the Lord.' + Let us by this + Be taught to please God better, hating sin, + And strive to earn salvation from the Lord, + His full deliverance, so long as day + Shall shine upon us, that we may at last + Inhabit heavenly mansions, nobler far + Than earthly dwellings, gloriously bright. + + Finit. + + * * * * * + +me as glorious and renowned, as my illustrious brethren, yea, in the +place of children.' + +Let us therefore propitiate God with all zeal, abhor evil, and gain +forgiveness and salvation from the Lord while for us the day still +shines, so that thus we may, in glorious beauty, inhabit a dwelling +excellent beyond compare. Finit. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Old English Physiologus, by Albert S. Cook + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14529 *** |