The Travels of Sir Thomas Mandeville
And men pass by that way, by a place that was
wont to be a great city, and a great land; and the city
was clept Cathailye, the which city and land was lost
through folly of a young man. For he had a fair damosel, that he loved
well to his paramour; and she died suddenly, and was done
in a tomb of marble. And for the great lust that he had to her,
he went in the night unto her tomb and opened it,
and went in and lay by her, and went his way.
And when it came to the end of nine months, there came a voice
to him and said, Go to the tomb of that woman,
and open it and behold what thou hast begotten on her;
and if thou let to go, thou shalt have a great harm.
And he yede and opened the tomb,
and there flew out an adder right hideous to see;
the which as swithe flew about the city and
the country, and soon after the city sank down.
And there be many perilous passages without fail.
. . . A fair maiden was blamed with wrong, and slandered
that she had done fornication; for which cause she
was demned to death, and to be burnt in that place,
to the which she was led. And, as the fire began to burn about
her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as wisely as
she was not guilty of that sin, that he would help her
and make it to be known to all men, of his merciful grace.
And when she had thus said, she entered into the fire,
and anon was the fire quenched and out;
and the brands that were burning became red rose-trees, and
the brands that were not kindled became white rose-trees,
full of roses. And these were the first rose-trees and roses,
both white and red, that ever any man saw;
and thus was this maiden saved by
the grace of God. And therefore is that field clept
the field of God flourished, for it was full of roses.
And in that church is a well, in manner of a cistern,
that is clept PROBATICA PISCINA, that hath five entries.
Into that well angels were wont
to come from heaven and bathe them within.
Chapters Sixteen through Nineteen
And in that country is an old castle that stands upon a rock; the
which is clept the castle of the Sparrow-hawk, that is beyond
the city of Layays beside the town of Pharsipee,
that belongeth to the lordship of Cruk, that is a rich lord
and a good Christian man; where men find
a sparrow-hawk upon a perch right fair and right well made, and a
fair lady of faerie that keepeth it. And who that will watch that
sparrow-hawk seven days and seven nights, and, as some men say,
three days and three nights, without company and without sleep,
that fair lady shall give him, when he hath done, the first wish
that he will wish of earthly things;
and that hath been proved often-times.
Chapters Nineteen until Twenty-four
And from that isle men go by sea, from isle to isle,
unto an isle that is clept Tracoda, where the folk
of that country be as beasts, and unreasonable, and dwell in caves
that they make in the earth;
for they have no wit to make them houses. And when they see any
man passing through their countries they hide them in their caves.
And they eat flesh of serpents, and they eat but little.
Chapters Twenty-four unto Thirty
. . . This land of Cathay is in Asia the deep; and after,
on this half, is Asia the more . . .
Of Paradise ne can I not speak properly, for I was not there.
Credits:
Original scanning and proofing by David Price, by grace of Project Gutenberg
Art for this book courtesy of
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Last Updated on January 18, 2001 by Lisa
and Sylvia.
