_Of the byrth of Machomet._
AND ye shall understande y^t Machomet was borne in Araby, and that he
was first a pore drudge & kept horse & went after marchaundise. And
so he came once into Egipt with marchaundise & Egipt was the same time
Christen, & there was a chappell besyde Araby, & there was an hermite
& when he came to the chappell y^t was but a lyttle house and a lowe,
as sone as he entered, it began to be as great as it were of a palas
gate and that was the first miracle that the Sarasyns saye that he did
in his youth. After began Machomet to be wise and rich and became a
great Astronomer, and sithen was he keper of the lande of the prince
Corodan and governed it full well, in such maner that when the prince
was dead he maryed the lady y^t men call Quadryge.[1] And Mahomet fell
often in the falling evill,[2] wherefore the lady was wroth that she
had taken him unto hir husband, & he made hir to understande that
every tyme that he fell so, he said that Gabriel the aungell spake to
him, and for the great brightnesse of the aungell he fell downe. This
Machomet raigned in Araby the yeare of our Lord, vi hundred and xx[3]
and he was of the kinde of Ismael that was Abrahams son that he begat
of Agar, and other are called Sarasins of Sara, but some are called
Moabites and some Amenites after the two sons of Loth. And also
Machomet loved well a good man an hermite that dwelled in the
wildernesse a myle from Mounte Sinay in the way as men go from Araby
to Caldee, and a dayes journey fro the sea where marchaunts of Venice
come, and Machomet went so often to this hermyte that all his men were
wroth, for he harde[4] gladly the hermit preach, and his men did
walke all the night & thought they would this hermyte were dead. So it
befell on a night that Machomet was full dronken of good wine, and he
fell in a slepe, and his men toke Machomets sworde out of his sheath
whyles he lay and slept, and therewith they slew the Hermit, and
afterwarde they put up the sword againe all bloudy, and upon the morow
when that he founde the Hermite thus dead, he was in his mynde verye
angry, and right wroth, and woulde haue done his men unto the death,
but they all with one accorde, and with one will sayde that he
himselfe hadde slaine hym when he was dronken, and they shewed his own
swerd all bluddy & then he beleved that they sayde soth, & then cursed
the wine & all those that drank it. And therefore Sarasins that are
devout drinke no wine openly, else they should be reprouved but they
drynke good beverage & sweete & nourishing that is made of Calamelles,
and thereof is suger made.
[Illustration]
And it befel[5] sometime, y^t christen men became Sarasins, either
through povertie, simplenesse, or wickednesse & therefore theyr
Archbishop when he received them, sayd thus,[6] _Laeles ella Machomet
roses ella_. That is to say, there is no God but one, and Machomet is
his messengere. And sithern[7] I have told you a part of theyr law,
and of theyr customes, now I shall tell you of theyr letters that they
haue with theyr names. First they have for A- almoy, B- bethath, c-
cathi, d- delphoy, e- ephoti, f- forthy, g- garophin, h- hechum,
i- iocchi, k- kattu, l- lothum, m- malach, n- nahalgt, o- orthy, p-
choziri, q- zothii, r- rucholat, s- routhi, t- solathy, v- chorimus,
x- yrithom, y- mazot, z- alepin & ioheten- com--these are the names.
These foure letters have they yet more for diversitie of their
language, for as much as they speake so in their throtes, as we have
in our language and speake in England. Two letters may they then have
in theyr A. B. C that is to say, y &, the which are called thorne- and
zowx.
[Footnote 1: Kadijah.]
[Footnote 2: Had epileptic fits.]
[Footnote 3: Other editions have it 610, but it was A.D. 611
when Mahomet professed to have received his call.]
[Footnote 4: Heard.]
[Footnote 5: _Pynson_ says "befalleth."]
[Footnote 6: The Mahometan Confession of Faith is Lá iláha
illá 'lláh Muhammadun rasúlu 'lláh.]
[Footnote 7: Since.]