The Three Perils of Man; or, War, Women, and Witchcraft, Vol. 2 (of 3) Read online

  CHAPTER V.

  And I said unto him, Can'st thou tell unto thy servant what is the meaning of this?

  _Esdras._

  The friar having volunteered a tale, the priority was unanimouslyawarded to him: So, after the watches were set and all quiet, he beganthe following singular narrative, without further ceremony:

  The Friar's Tale.

  CHAPTER I.

  1. In the days of the years of my pilgrimage, it chanced to me that Isojourned in the great kingdom that is toward the south.

  2. And I passed through the city that lieth on the river of the hills,unto the house of Galli the scribe, who was a good man and a just.

  3. And he had one only daughter, who was unto him as a treasure and anheritage, for her mother had been led unto her people before the maidcould distinguish between her right hand and her left.

  4. And the maiden was fair to look upon;

  5. For her neck was as polished ivory, and her chin like the ripenedpeach basking on a wall that looketh toward the south.

  6. Her lips also were like the honey-comb; her teeth were rows of pearl,and her breath was as sweet smelling incense, and myrrh, and cassia.

  7. Her eyes were brighter than the dew of heaven, and her hair was likethe beams of the moon streaming through the white clouds that are in thefirmament of air.

  8. And I loved the maiden exceedingly; and my heart burned within me;and I became as a dead man.

  9. And I wist not what to do, or what would become of me; for the vowsof the Lord were on me that I could not wed; and I said, Woe is me, forI am undone!

  10. And I went in unto her, and communed with her of my great love; andwhen she had hearkened to my voice, she laughed me to scorn.

  11. And I said, Why dost thou laugh me to scorn? Knowest thou not that Iwould lay down my life for thee? For I love thee so much above allthings that are on the earth, that I would even lick the dust from offthy feet.

  12. And she said, What wouldst thou have me to do?

  13. And I looked on my right hand, and on my left, and I communed withmy heart.

  14. And I perceived that the maid had asked aright, for I knew not whatI would have her to do; and lo my countenance became abashed.

  15. And she laughed at me exceedingly; yea she laughed at my calamitytill the tears streamed from her eyes.

  16. I said therefore unto myself that I would die, and be gathered untomy fathers; for how could I live to be a scorn and a derision, and to beburnt up as with a devouring flame? and I had many thoughts ofunrighteousness dwelling in me.

  17. And she told her father of these matters; and Galli the scribe waswroth with me, and said unto me, Why wouldst thou betray my daughter,the child of my age, and the hope of my grey hairs?

  18. Is it not better for thee to depart unto thine own country, and tothy kindred, than commit this great wickedness?

  19. And my spirit was grieved within me; nevertheless I could notdepart, for my heart clove to the maid, and I loved her as my own soul.

  CHAPTER II.

  1. And it came to pass that the army of the prince of the land encampedin that place;

  2. For he was a great prince, and had increased his army; and he hadcaptains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains overtens.

  3. And these were clothed in gorgeous apparel, in brocade of gold, andin brocade of silver; and they were vain men, for they had the plumageof birds upon their heads, and gems of silver, and of gold, and ofprecious stones, on their breasts; and swords girded on their thighs.

  4. And the damsel beheld them, and her heart danced with joy; yea, hereyes followed them whithersoever they went.

  5. And I was more grieved than ever; therefore I counselled her, andsaid all manner of evil of the men.

  6. But she would not hearken to my reproof, but cast all my counselbehind her back; and she derided me.

  7. And it came to pass, in the process of time, that one of the captainsof fifty came to her, and spoke kind words unto her, even great swellingwords of vanity.

  8. And she hearkened unto him, and her ears drunk in his burningspeeches, even as the ox drinketh in water; and she delighted therein;and he looked into her eye, and behold he saw his own image impressed init, as in a glass.

  9. And he looked into it many times, and it grew brighter; and everytime that he looked into it he saw his own image the more deeply andstrongly reflected, until he knew that he lived in her heart.

  10. But her image was not in his eye.

  11. And I knew this, and was grieved. Therefore I withstood him to hisface, and rebuked him; yea, and I also cursed him.

  12. But the captain of fifty mocked me; he also told the maid, and shebecame wroth with me, so that, the two being combined against me, Icould do nothing but sit down and weep.

  13. And she gave unto him all that she had; yea she gave him until shehad no more to give, for she gave unto him herself.

  14. And her countenance was changed; her bright eyes retained not theirwonted brightness; her voice was broken, and her tongue faltered in hermouth.

  15. But the captain of fifty regarded it not; for he left her and wenthis way, and he did eat and drink, and made himself merry with wine.

  16. And he said, What is a maiden that I should regard her? or for whatwere the daughters of women formed but for my pleasure?

  17. And the prince of the kingdoms of the land sent unto his army, thatthey should go into a far country to fight against the enemies of theirlord the king. And the men purposed to go; and the captain of fiftypurposed to go also.

  18. And when the maiden heard of it her heart failed within her, and shefell sick, and I feared it would be to death.

  19. And I tried to comfort her; and I watched with her day and night,and prayed many prayers for her; but she became worse, for her spiritwas wounded and cast down.

  20. And Galli the scribe was also sorely afflicted, and he mournedexceedingly, saying, Alas! what shall I do for my daughter! she who wasthe hope of my age, and my only comfort here below. Wo is me, for she isdying of a lingering disease, and I shall be left childless! Now Gallithe scribe knew not what the captain of fifty had done unto her, nor ofall that she had given unto him.

  21. So I went forth unto the host to seek this betrayer of women, and tospeak peaceably with him, and to reason with him.

  22. But he knew me afar off, and said to his brethren, Lo, here comeththat man of a strange country, let us make him our sport.

  23. And they combined against me, and treated me with great indignity;for they bound my hands and put me into the river, and the flood carriedme away, so that I said in mine heart, lo, I shall be drowned, for thereis not one to pity or save me.

  24. But they took me forth before my breath departed clean away; andthey stripped me naked, and tied me to a stake, and scourged me.

  25. And afterwards they stoned me out of the camp.

  26. And I was very wroth, and went unto the captain of the host, andmade my complaint known unto him.

  27. And I said, O my lord, hearken unto the voice of thy servant. Beholdone of your captains of fifty came unto the house of Galli the scribe.

  28. And the man intreated him kindly, yet hath he betrayed his daughter,and refuseth to do her justice; and the maid will die, and her father,who is a good man, will go down to the grave with her.

  29. And he answered and said unto me, What have I to do with thismatter, or with thee? As a maid treadeth the wine press, so let herdrink. It is not meet that I should be troubled with these things.

  30. And I went away and wept bitterly, for I could find neitherconsolation nor redress; and I saw that the wickedness of the men wasvery great.

  31. Then I went and trimmed my beard, and borrowed me a suit of armour;and I put an helmet of steel upon mine head, and a breast-plate upon mybreast, and I girded on a sword.

  32. And I went forth and challenged the captain of fifty to fight withme.

  33. And I said in mine heart, Lo, I will fig
ht this wicked man, andovercome him. And I will take his sword from him, and rend his armourfrom off his loins.

  34. And then will I compel him to do justice to those whom he hathwronged, else will I smite off his head.

  35. And we met by the side of the river; and he discerned me not throughmy disguise, for he said unto me, Who art thou, or what have I to say tothee?

  36. And I said, For the wrong that thou hast done to the house of Gallithe scribe have I called thee out to battle.

  37. And he said, Thou hast done well. I will chastise thee as thoudeservest, that thou mayest learn how to lift up thy hand against theservants of our lord the king.

  38. So we fought; and his hand was sore against me.

  39. For he drove me out of my place, and wounded me, and my hope hadnearly perished.

  40. But I prayed to the Lord for strength. And we fought again; and thecombat was very sore that day, and he prevailed not against me.

  41. And after the combat had lasted until my breath was spent, and myarm weary, by the help of the Lord I wounded him in the loins, so thatmy sword found a passage through his body, and he fell.

  42. And I was sore afraid; and fled away, and hid myself; for I trembledat the thing I had done, because I perceived that the last case wasworse than the first.

  43. And when the soldiers came to him, he said that Galli the scribe hadsent out ruffians to slay him.

  44. And when these things were told to the captain of the host, he wasexceedingly wroth, and he sent forth men to destroy the house of Gallithe scribe, and to slay him, and take his substance for a prey.

  45. And the captain of fifty died that night; and they buried him withgreat lamentation, for they wept over him, saying, Alas! our brother!for he hath been cut off before his time.

  CHAPTER III.

  1. And it came to pass, that after I had laid aside my armour, and puton my pilgrim weeds, that I went forth into the plain, and into thecity.

  2. And when I heard the words of the captain of the host, and thecommand that he had given, I hasted to the house of Galli the scribe,and said unto him, Go to, put up all thy money, and thy jewels, and flyfor thy life, for behold evil is determined concerning thee.

  3. But he would not hearken to my voice; for he said, I have done no manwrong.

  4. And I intreated him, but prevailed not.

  5. Therefore I went unto his daughter, and told her of what I had heard;and I said, Rise up, make haste and escape, for the soldiers will abusethee.

  6. And she was afraid, and said unto me, Take me, and hide me for ashort time, for thy words have never deceived me.

  7. And I hid her in a palm tree, and remained with her.

  8. And the men who belonged to the captain of fifty, even to him whom Islew in battle, came as they were commanded; and they entered into thepossessions of Galli the scribe, and they took all that he had for aprey, and burned his house with fire.

  9. And we beheld all from our hiding-place, and were greatly astonished;for we saw Galli the scribe flying through the garden, and the soldierspursuing hard after him, with their swords drawn.

  10. And when his daughter saw it she shrieked and fainted away; and whenthe men heard her voice they looked about, and some of them ran into thearbour, but they found her not, therefore they pursued after Galli thescribe.

  11. And I trembled sore, for I knew not if we were discovered, neithercould I support the maiden in her seat.

  12. For she beheld whose men they were that pursued after her father toslay him, and she deemed that her captain of fifty had sent out hisfifty to devour them, yea to destroy, and to slay, and to ravage; andthere was no more spirit in her.

  13. And I prayed to the Lord my God out from among the branches of thepalm tree, and he heard my voice.

  14. For the spoilers came, and they sought, but they found us not.

  15. For their eyes were blinded that they could not see. We beheld theireyes, and heard the threatenings that proceeded out of their mouths, yetcould they not perceive us.

  16. And their threatenings were filled with the abominations ofiniquity, for the men were very wicked.

  17. And I took her out of the palm tree by night; and I covered her withmy sack-cloth gown, and we tried to fly and make our escape, but shecould not; therefore my distress was very great.

  18. And I carried her to the house of a poor widow in the suburbs of thecity, and I concealed her there till her strength should recover.

  19. And I went about making many inquiries; and I heard that thesoldiers had taken Galli the scribe, and had given him up to bepersecuted, and tormented, and slain; also that the whole army wereabroad searching to recover his daughter, to execute vengeance on her.

  20. And I was grieved for that I had done, and for bringing evil onthose I loved; for I knew that the men of the host spoiled the people,and did according to their will.

  22. So I borrowed me a pilgrim's robes, and in these I equipped themaiden; and when she was clothed in her flowing sack-cloth gown, withher cross, scallop, and shell, behold I myself could not discern her.

  22. And we escaped from the city by night, and journeyed toward thenorth, and at break of day we came to the fords of the great river,where we were encountered by three of the soldiers of the guard, whowaylaid us.

  23. And I said unto them, Whom seek ye? And they said, We be sent out toseek the daughter of Galli the scribe, for she hath betrayed one of thecaptains into her nets, and hath robbed him, and also caused him to becut off from his men; therefore are we sent out to take her, that shemay be delivered into the hands of his men, that they may do to her asseemeth good in their eyes.

  24. And the maiden trembled, so that the men beheld it; and I turned andsaid unto her, Said I not that it was so?

  25. And I said furthermore, Sit thee down, my brother, until we conversewith these men, for they are good men, and filled with wisdom; and lo,have not I strange things to relate unto them?

  26. And the men sat down, and we sat down beside them.

  27. And I said, We are pilgrims and strangers, and come from a farcountry. And they said, Peace be unto you.

  28. And I said, moreover, that it was given unto me to dream dreams, andto see visions, and that I had a vision of my head upon my bed, whichwas of this Galli the scribe of whom they spake.

  29. For I saw and beheld that he had put forth his hand on a captain ofthe servants of my lord the king, and had sent forth his bravadoes, whohad wounded him until the sword passed through him, even from the leftside unto the right. And the men said, Is not this wonderful?

  30. And behold I saw the servants of my lord the king enter thedwelling of the man, even of the scribe, and take his goods, and himthey pursued with the edge of the sword, and took by the vineyard asthou goest down towards a river.

  31. And they burned his house with fire, so that the flames ascended upon high; and his daughter who was sick, and concealed in an innerchamber, her also did they burn until she was quite consumed.

  32. And the men wondered exceedingly; and they bowed down their headsand said, Thou hast told unto us strange things. It is even as thou hastsaid. Go on your way.

  33. And I blessed them; and they returned to tell unto their captainsthe wonderful things which they had heard.

  34. And I fled with the damsel until I came to the sea; and when we hadfound a ship we went into it, and I brought her to my own country, butnot to my kindred, for I placed her in the holy isle near the river ofthe north.

  35. And she mourned night and day for her father, and also for thecaptain of fifty, whom she called her husband; for she dreaded thatsome evil had befallen unto him.

  36. For, on the day that he had sworn to her, he had given her a gravenimage, which she kept hid in her bosom, and she wept over it and kissedit.

  37. And I was grieved, and rebuked her, but she refused to be comforted;and I went and came and brought her of the good things of the land, forI loved her as the breath of my nostrils.

  38. And when the days o
f her months were fulfilled, behold she broughtforth a daughter.

  39. And the babe was also beautiful to look upon. And the bosom of themother yearned over her child, and she called her by her father's name,even by the name of the captain of fifty.

  40. And she kissed her child, and wept over it day and night; but theframe and substance of her body were wasted away with perpetual grief,and I saw that the child would die.

  41. And, when I saw the countenance that was once beautiful as themorning bathed in tears, as her babe lay at a breast in which there wasno nourishment, I was exceedingly sorry even unto death.

  42. And lo, I took the child and nourished it; yea I fed it with breadand with wine, with butter also, and with honey and milk from the beastsof the field; and the child was restored.

  43. But the mother decayed like a flower that is cut down; for the windsof grief had passed over her, and her spirit was consumed. The summercame, and all the herbs of the field were renewed, but the fairestflower of the land was bending down to meet the clay.

  CHAPTER IV.

  1. And it came also to pass that as soon as I found myself in a land ofsafety, I wrote many letters to Galli the scribe; for I said,Peradventure he may escape out of their hands.

  2. I wrote also to the chief of our order, giving account of the wholematter, and attesting the innocence of Galli the scribe.

  3. But no answer came to me, therefore was I sore distressed; for Isaid, If the mother and babe both perish, what shall become of me?

  4. And one day as I sat with the babe on my knee, I beheld, and, lo, theeyes of the mother were fixed mournfully on her babe, and she liftedthem to my face, and looked at her babe again.

  5. And I could not contain myself; so I lifted up my voice and weptbitterly.

  6. But she smiled, and said, Wherefore shouldst thou weep? Behold, amnot I in the hand of the Lord? And my child, the daughter of my youth,and of my love, thou also art in the hands of thy Maker.

  7. May he lead thee, and guide thee, and keep thee from the snares inwhich thy mother hath fallen.

  8. Though thou hast lost thy father, as I also have lost mine, yet hastthou a Father in Heaven who will not forsake thee. Neither shalt thoualtogether lack a father's care here below.

  9. And she said to me, Is it not even so?

  10. And I could not answer her, for I wept aloud; yea, I even wept untilthe child grew affrighted, and wept also.

  11. And the mother took the graven image from her neck, and from herbosom; and she kissed it, and hung it round the neck of her babe.

  12. And she said, It is the image and likeness of thy father, wear it,my child, till the day of thy death.

  13. Peradventure thou mayest fall among his people, and among hiskindred, for they were men of honour and renown.

  14. And she kissed her child, and said, Now shall I be taken from thee,and go to my grave, and they will bury me, my babe, among strangers, andthere is none of my people to shed a tear over me.

  15. And we all wept abundantly, and shed many tears.

  16. And while we yet cried aloud, lifting up our voices, behold oneentered in, and said, Peace be with you!

  17. And I discerned him not, for mine eyes flowed like two fountains ofwater.

  18. But the woman cried out, and sprang from her couch, and she claspedher arms around his neck, and said, My father! my father!

  19. And behold it was Galli the scribe.

  20. And the woman said, Now hath my child found a father indeed.

  21. And she said, Blessed and happy mayest thou be, my daughter, for Ibring thee joyful tidings, and blessed be this man who hath befriendedand saved thee. His intercession hath also saved the life of thy father;all that was mine hath been restored to me, yea, and more also.

  22. And I will give all unto thee and to thy child after thee, and thoushalt have riches and honours in thy own country, and among thy ownpeople.

  23. But his daughter answered him not, for the words died on her tongue;but she looked in his face and smiled, and then she looked at her babeas it lay on my knee.

  24. And Galli the scribe was sore amazed, and said, What aileth thee, mydaughter? and why answerest thou not to the words of thy father?

  25. And he held her in his arms, and her hands were clasped around hisneck that they would not be loosed.

  26. And behold there was a sound like a small voice issued from hermouth, and the light of her eyes became dim, and her head fell back overthe arm of her father.

  27. And her gentle spirit departed away unto him that gave it; for shespoke no more, neither breathed she any more.

  28. And we buried her in the isle of the holy place, and mourned for hermany days.

  29. And I besought of Galli the scribe that he would leave the childwith me, that I might bring her up in our convent, and breed her in theways of purity and truth.

  30. But he refused, and said, I cannot part with the child of my onlydaughter; she shall go with me and be the heiress of all that I possess.

  31. And after I had blessed him, he departed with the little maid to goto his own land, and I saw them no more.

  32. For after many years had elapsed, I went again into the countrybeyond the river, and I visited the house of Galli the scribe.

  33. But behold he had never returned to that place; and the people ofthe land reported unto me, that he fell among thieves, and was slain,and the babe was slain with him, or led into captivity.

  34. The ways of heaven are unsearchable, and the hand of man oftenworketh out its decrees. But for the misfortunes that befel the house ofGalli the scribe will I go mourning till the day of my death.