_Of the dry tree._
[Illustration]
WHEN a lyttle from Ebron is the mounte of Mambre, of the which mount
the vale toke his name, and there is the tree of oke that the Sarasins
call dypre,[1] that is of Abraham's time, that men call the dry tree.
And they say that it hath ben from the beginning of the worlde, and
was sometime grene and bare leaves, unto the tyme that our Lorde dyed,
and so did all the trees in the worlde, or else they fayled in their
heartes, or else they faded, and yet is there many of those in the
worlde. And some prophesies say, that a lorde or prince of the weste
syde of the worlde shall winne the lande of promission, that is the
holy lande, with the helpe of Christen men, and he shall do singe[2] a
masse under that tree, and the tree shall waxe grene and beare fruite
and leaves, and through that miracle many Sarasins and Jewes shal
be turned to the Christen fayth, and therefore they do great worship
therto, and kepe it right[3] basely. And yet though it be dry, it
beareth a great vertue, for certainly he that hath a lyttle thereof
about him, it healeth a sicknesse called the falling evill, and hath
many other vertues also, and therefore it is holden right precious.
[Footnote 1: _Pynson_ and others read Dyrpe or Dirpe.]
[Footnote 2: Cause a mass to be sung.]
[Footnote 3: To keep it carefully.]