_Of a fayre mayden that should be put to death wrongfully._
[Illustration]
THE cause is, for as much as a fayre maiden y^t was blamed wyth wrong
that she hadde done fornication, for the which cause she was demed[1]
to dye and to bee brente[2] in that place to the which she was ledde.
And as the woode began to brenne about hir, she made hir prayer to
our Lorde as she was not gyltie of that thing, that he would helpe hir
that it might be knowne to all men. And whan she had thus sayde, she
entred the fyre and anone the fyre went out, and those braunches that
were brenninge became red Roses and those braunches that were not
kindled became white Rosiers[3] full of white roses, and those were
the fyrst roses and rosyers that any man sawe, and so was the mayden
saved through the grace of God, and therefore is that felde called
the feeld of God florished, for it was full of Roses. Also besyde the
quire of that Church aforesayd at the right side as men come downwarde
xii[4] grees[5] is the place where our Lorde was borne that is now
full well dyght[6] of Marble & full rychely depaynted of golde, sylver
and asure and other colours. And a lyttle thens by three paces is the
crybe[7] of the Oxe and the Asse, and besyde y^t is the place where
the sterre[8] fell that lede the three Kinges Jasper, Melchior and
Balthasar, but men of Grece call the Kinges thus, Galgalath, Saraphy,
Malgalath. These three Kinges offered to our Lorde, Encence, Gold &
Mirre and they came together through myracle of God, for they mette
togither in a citie that men call Chasak, that is liii journeys from
Bethleem, and there they were at Bethleem the fourth[9] daye after
they hadde seene the sterre. And under the cloyster of this church
xviii grees[10] at the righte syde is a great pytte where the bones
of the Innocentes lie, and before that place where Chryst was borne
is the tombe of Sainct Jerom that was a priest and a Cardinal that
translated the Byble and the Sauter[11] from Hebrew into Latyn, and
beside that church is a Church of Saynte Nycolas, where our Lady
rested hir whan she was delivered of chyld, and for as much as she
had so much mylke in hir pappes that it greved hir, she mylked it out
uppon the redde stones of Marble, so that yet may the traces bee seene
whyte uppon the stones. And ye shall understande that all that dwell
in Bethleem are Chrysten men, and there are fayre vynes all aboute
the citie and great plentie of wine, for their booke that Mahomet
betoke[12] them, the which they call Alkaron and some call it Massap
and some call it Harme, forbiddeth them to drinke any wyne, for in
that booke Machomet curseth all those that drynke of that wyne and all
that sell it, for some men saye that he onse slewe a good hermite in
his dronkennesse which[13] he loved much, and therefore he cursed the
wyne, and them that drynke wyne, but his malyce is torned to
hymselfe, as holye writ sayth "_Et in verticem ipsius iniquitus
ejus descendit_," That is to say in Englyshe, His wickednesse shall
descende on his owne head. And also the Sarasins bringeth forthe no
geise,[14] ne they eate no swines fleshe, for they say it is brother
to manne and that it was forbidden in the olde lawe. Also in the lande
of Palestine ne in the lande of Egypte they eate but lyttle veale and
beefe but it be so olde that it may no more travayll[15] ne werke, not
that it is forbidden but they kepe them to tylling of their lande. In
this castell of Bethleem was Kyng David borne and he had Lx wives and
ccc lemmans. From Bethleem to Hierusalem is two myle, and in the way
of Hierusalem halfe a myle from Bethleem is a Church where the aungell
sayd to the shepherdes of the bearing of Christ. In that waye is the
tombe of Rachel that was Josephs mother the Patryarke and she dyed as
soone as she hadde borne Benjamyn and there she was buried, and Jacob
hir husbande set xii great stones upon hir in tokening that she
had borne xii children. In this way to Hierusalem are many Christen
churches by the which men go to Hierusalem.
[Footnote 1: Condemned.]
[Footnote 2: Burnt.]
[Footnote 3: Rose bushes.]
[Footnote 4: Other editions say 16.]
[Footnote 5: Steps.]
[Footnote 6: Adorned.]
[Footnote 7: Crib or Manger.]
[Footnote 8: Star.]
[Footnote 9: Other editions say "thirteenth."]
[Footnote 10: Paces.]
[Footnote 11: Psalter.]
[Footnote 12: Gave.]
[Footnote 13: Whom.]
[Footnote 14: Breed no pigs.]
[Footnote 15: Plough or draw loads.]