only shameful and villainous ones. In the fourth field this was,
full of torments. There were people hanging by the feet from burning
iron hooks, others hung by the neck, the stomach, the back, and in
other ways too numerous to mention. Some were hanging by the tongue,
and their constant cry was "Alas!" and no other prayer. In a furnace
with molten lead and burning brimstone boiling over the fire were many
folk. Some lying on gridirons glowing against the flames were people
whom Owain had once known, but who were now entirely changed through
the penance they suffered. A wild fire surged among them, and all whom
it seized, it burned, ten thousand souls and more. Those that hung by
feet and neck were thieves, or the companions of thieves, and wrought
men woe. Those that hung by the tongue and ever sang "Alas!" and cried
so loudly were backbiters in their lives. Beware, man or wife, if thou
art fond of chiding! All the places the knight came by were full of the
pains of purgatory. Whosoever takes the name of God in vain, or bears
any false witness, suffers strong pains there.
Owain saw where a grisly-looking wheel turned; huge it was, burning
like a brand as it wound around, and covered with hooks. A hundred
thousand souls and more were hanging from the wheel. The fiends turned
it about so fast that Sir Owain could not recognize anybody there. Out
of the earth came a burning blue fire; it smelled foully, and it went
around the wheel, burning the souls to a very fine powder. The wheel
that runs thus is for the punishment of covetousness that now reigns
everywhere. The covetous man has never enough gold or silver or even
ploughs until Death fells him. The fiends said to the knight, "Thou
hast been covetous of winning land and men; upon this wheel thou shalt
be placed unless thou wilt return at once to thine own country." When
he refused, the fiends seized him, bound him fast upon the revolving
wheel, and cast him in the midst. When the hooks tore him and the fire
burned him, he thought of Jesus Christ. An angel bore him from the
wheel, and all the fiends there could do him no harm.
Further he was led in great pain, until they came to a mountain that
was red as blood. Men and women stood on it, in misery, it seemed, for
they cried as if they were mad. The fiends then said to the knight,
"Thou art wondering about these men who make such doleful cheer. They
have deserved the wrath of God; soon they shall have such a drink as
they will not think pleasant." No sooner had he spoken than there came
a blast of wind that took fiends and souls and knight up almost into
the firmament, and then cast them down into a foul-smelling river that
ran under the mountain of fire as an arrow from a cross-bow. It was
as cold as ice, and no one can describe the pain that he suffered.
Owain was almost drowned in the water, and became so frenzied and
faint that he was well-nigh lost. As soon as he could think upon God
he was brought out of the water and carried to land. That pain is the
punishment of wrath and envy. Envy was the blast of wind which cast him
into the smelling water. Let every man beware of it.
They led him forth quickly until they came to a hall whose like he had
never seen before; out of the hall came such heat that the knight began
to sweat. He saw so foul a smoke that he stopped, and when the fiends
perceived it they were pleased. "Turn again," they began to cry, "thou
shalt die, unless thou dost withdraw." When he came to the hall door
he saw misery, a half of which he had never imagined. The hall was a
place of torments; those folk who were in that prison were stripped of
all happiness, for the floor of the hall was full of pits, round and
filled to the top with brimstone, brass, copper, and other metals all
molten. Men and women stood in these, screaming and crying as if they
were mad; some stood up to the waist, others to the breast, and some to
the chin. Each man according to his guilt was fixed in that torment,
to suffer that great heat. Some bore around their necks bags full of
pennies glowing with fire, and such meat they ate. These were usurers
in this life. Beware, men and women, lest such sin hinder you. And many
souls there walked upright, bearing false measures and false weights,
which fiends sat upon. The fiends said to the knight, "Thou must bathe
in this lead before thou go hence; because of thy usury and thy sin,
thou must wash thyself somewhat." Owain feared that torment, and called
upon God Omnipotent and His mother Mary. He was borne out of the hall,
from the pains and all the fiends, when he made that outcry.
Soon he was frightened by seeing a flame of fire, mighty and thick,
spring out of the earth, like coal and pitch. Of seven colors was this
fire, and some of the souls burning in it were yellow, some green, some
black, some blue, and some like adders. They were woful indeed. The
fiends took the knight to the pit, and said, "Now, Owain, thou mayst
find solace, for thou shalt shake with our fellows in the pit of hell.
These are our birds in our cage, and this is our court and our castle
tower. Dost thou think, Sir Knight, that to those who are brought here
anything is sharp? Now turn again, ere it be too late, before we thrust
thee into hell gate, for thou shalt never issue out of it by means of
any crying or calling upon Mary, or by any other trick." The knight was
firm, so the fiends seized and bound him, and cast him far down into
that dark, evil, reeking prison. The farther down they thrust him the
hotter it was, and he suffered cruelly. With good will and steadfast
heart he called upon God Omnipotent to help him out of that torment,
and he was borne up out of the pit, otherwise he would have been lost
until the day of his death. That suffering, which lasts forever, is for
the foul sin of pride.
Outside the pit he realized how God had rescued him. His clothes were
torn to pieces, his body was burned all over, and he knew not which
way to go. He changed color when he saw more fiends, none of whom he
recognized in that strange place. Some of them had sixty eyes that were
loathsome and grisly, some had sixty hands. They said, "Thou shalt not
be alone, but shalt have us for company, to teach thee the new laws,
as before thou didst learn them in that spot where thou wast among our
fellows." The fiends then led the knight towards a foul-smelling body
of water, such as he had never seen. It was many miles in breadth and
black as pitch. Owain saw passing over it a very strong but narrow
bridge. The fiends said, "Lo, Sir Knight, seest thou this? This is the
bridge of paradise; across this thou must go, and we shall hurl stones
at thee, and the wind shall blow thee over and work thee woe. Thou wilt
never pass over this without falling into the midst of our fellows to
dwell forevermore. When thou hast fallen down, then all our company
will come and wound thee with their hooks. We shall teach thee a new
sport, for thou hast served us many a day, and we will lead thee into
hell."
Owain beheld the bridge and the water under it, so black and dreadful,
and began to be sore afraid because of one thing he noted: never did
motes dance in the sunbeam thicker than that company of fiends. The
bridge[28] was as high as a tower and as sharp as a razor; narrow
it was, and the water running underneath burned with lightning and
thunder. He was exceedingly woful. There is no clerk who may write with
ink, nor no man who can think, nor no master who can divine, one half
of the torment there is under the bridge of paradise. We are told that
there is the true entrance to hell. Saint Paul bears witness. Whosoever
falls down from the bridge will never have redemption in any degree.
The fiends then said to the knight, "There is no need for thee to cross
this bridge. Flee pain, sorrow, and woe, and we will lead thee fairly
back to that place from which thou didst come." Owain began to recall
from how many of the tricks of the fiends God had saved him, so he set
his foot upon the bridge, and felt no sharp edge, nor was he at all
afraid. When the fiends saw that he was more than half over, they began
to cry aloud, "Alas, alas, that he was born, this knight we have lost
from our prison!"
When he was safely across the bridge, he thanked God Omnipotent and
His mother Mary, who had sent him such grace, that he was delivered
out of torment into a better region. A cloth of gold was brought to
him, he knew not how except that God sent it. That cloth he put on, and
at once all his wounds from being burned were whole, and he thanked
the Trinity. Looking ahead, he saw what seemed to be a stone wall. He
gazed far and near, but could see no end of this, which shone all of
red gold. Farther on he saw a gate, a fairer one may never be in this
world. It was made, not of wood nor of steel, but of red gold and of
precious stones, created by God out of nothing. Jasper, topaz, crystal,
pearls, and coral, rich sapphires, rubies, chalcedonies, onyxes, and
diamonds were wrought into tabernacles. Richer they might not be; they
had pillars small and beautifully fashioned, with arches of carbuncles,
knots of red gold, and pinnacles of crystal. Inasmuch as our Savior
is more skilful than any goldsmith or painter in any land, so are the
gates of paradise more richly wrought than any other.
The gates unfastened themselves, and a fragrance like balm came forth,
of such sweetness that the knight took fresh strength and thought that
now he would be a thousand times better prepared to suffer pain and woe
and to fight against all the fiends if he had to go back the way he
came. He went near the gate and saw approaching a procession of folk
with gracious countenances, bearing tapers and candlesticks of gold
and crosses and banners. Popes there were, of great dignity, and many
cardinals, kings and queens, knights, abbots superior, monks, canons,
and preaching friars, and bishops who bore crosses. Minorite friars and
Jacobins, Carmelites and Austin friars, black and white nuns—all manner
of religious orders went in that procession. The order of wedlock came
also, with many men and women who thanked God for sending his grace to
deliver the knight from torment by the fiends, and to bring him alive
to that spot. When the praises had thus been sung, two archbishops came
out of the midst of that company, bearing palms of gold. They advanced
to the knight, and, taking him between them, led him up and down, and
showed him still greater joys and also much melody. Merry were their
carols of joy and minstrelsy. They went carolling with a joy no man can
divine, singing and praising God; angels guided them with harps and
fiddles and psaltery, and bells rang merrily. No man may carol there
except him who is clean from sin and who has given up all folly. Now
may God and His mother Mary, in memory of Thy wounds, grant that we
may carol in that hall. This same joy is granted for love and charity
towards God and all mankind. Whosoever lets earthly love alone and
loves God in Trinity may carol thus.
Other joys he saw in abundance: high trees, with many branches, on
which the birds of heaven sat and sang their notes with merry glee,
some low, some intermediate, and some high. He thought indeed that with
the song of those birds he might live happily there until the end of
the world. Then he saw the tree of life, because of which Adam and his
wife went to hell. Fair were the arbors, there, with flowers,—roses and
lilies of many colors, primroses and periwinkle, mint, featherfoy and
eglantine, columbine, and many others, more than man can think. Herbs
of other kinds than on earth grow there, though that is the least of
the praises of the place. Forever they spring up green, sweeter than
licorice, unchanging in winter and summer.
There are wells in that spot, with water sweeter than any mead, and out
of the chief one which Owain saw, run the four streams of paradise.
Pison, they call one stream that gleams brightly, because men find gold
there; Gihon is another that is much praised for the precious stones in
its bed; the third stream is named Euphrates, it runs straight along;
and the fourth is Tigris, in all the world is there none other with
stones so bright. Whosoever loves to live in purity shall have that
same bliss and see that same sight. More Owain saw there, under God's
glory on high; blessed be His might!
Some souls he saw apart by themselves, and some in groups of ten or
twelve; and when they met together they made as much rejoicing as
sister does with brother. Some he saw going about in scarlet red, some
in purple well wrought, and others in thin silk. They wore tunics and
albs, like what the priest wears at mass, some covered with gold work.
The knight knew well by their clothing in what state they were, and
what deeds they had done when they were men's companions. I will tell
you a fair similitude drawn from the clear stars; inasmuch as one star
is brighter to the sight and of more power than three others, so is it
with the joys of paradise. They are not all alike, yet he who has the
least joy thinks he has the most of all and calls himself very rich.
The bishops came again and, taking him between them, led him up and
down and said, "Brother, God be praised, thy wish is fulfilled. Now
listen to our counsel. Thou hast seen with thine eyes both the joys and
the pains. We will tell thee ere thou dost pass hence, of our common
fate. That land that is so full of sorrow, evening and morning, where
thou as well as many other souls didst suffer sorely, is called by men
purgatory. And this land, where thou now art, so wide and spacious and
so full of bliss, is called paradise. No man may come here until he
has been purged and made clean there. When they come hither, we lead
them into joy, sometimes by groups of twelve and ten. And some are so
bound, that they know not how long they must endure the heat; but if
their friends who are left on earth have masses sung, or else give food
or some other kind of alms, all the better will these folk speed and
will come out of their misery into this paradise, where joy and bliss
ever are, and will live here in perfect peace. Just as they come out
of purgatory, so pass we on to God's glory, which is the high kingdom
of the celestial paradise, wherein enter only Christian folk to a joy
unequalled. When we come out of the fire of purgatory we cannot pass
at once into that place nor see God's face, but must dwell here a long
time. Even the child born tonight must pass through that pain before he
can enter heaven, and how much harder is it for an old man who has been
long in sin to come hither!"
Forth they went until they saw a very high mountain where all was
pleasure. Finally they came to the top, and saw all its joys. There
were all manner of bird songs; much delight was there and evermore
shall be. There is more joy in a bird's mouth than in any harp or
fiddle or crouth,[29] whether on land or sea. That land so fair is
called the terrestrial paradise; the other paradise, which is the
kingdom of God, is above the air and has joys unequalled. (In the
earthly paradise Owain was, which Adam had lost, and if Adam had done
according to the will of God, neither he nor his offspring would have
had to depart out of that joy. Yet, since Adam broke God's commandment
so soon, God made him delve with pick and spade in the earth, to help
his wife and himself. God was very wroth with him. An angel of stern
countenance, bearing a sword of fire, came and made them sore afraid,
and drove them out into the world, where they lived evermore in sorrow
and woe. And when he died he came to hell, as did all his descendants,
until the Son of God was born, by whose passion and death man was
brought out of that prison.)[30]
The bishops commanded the knight to tell them whether heaven seemed
white or gray, blue or red, yellow or green. The knight answered,
"Methinks it is a thousand times brighter than any gold." "Yet,"
said the bishop, "that very place which is so bright is only the
entrance, and every day, to make us blithe, we are refreshed by a sweet
fragrance, which is food to our soul." Anon the knight was aware that
a flame of fire issued out from heaven's gate, and he thought that it
flew all over paradise, giving forth a sweet smell. The Holy Ghost, in
form of fire, alighted then upon the knight, by whose virtue he lost
all his earthliness; and for this he thanked God's grace.
Then the bishop said, "God feeds us each day with His bread, but we
have no such knowledge of His grace, nor such a vision of His face as
have those who are on high. The souls who are at God's feast have joy
that lasts without end. Now thou, because of our common fate, must
return again the way thou didst come. Keep thyself from mortal sin, so
that when thou art dead thou mayst be led by angels into the joy that
has no end."
Then Owain wept bitterly and prayed for God's mercy that he might
dwell there and might not behold again the strong pains of hell. From
his prayer he got no gain; so he took his leave and departed, although
he was very sorrowful. Fiends he saw—ten thousand flying from him fast
as arrows from a cross-bow. When he came to the hall he found the
thirteen men therein. They all held up their hands, and thanked the
mercy of Jesus Christ a thousand times and more, and bade Owain not to
rest until he had returned to Ireland as quickly as he could go. And,
as I find in the story, the prior of the purgatory had a token that
night that Owain had overcome his woes and would appear on the morrow,
through grace of God Almighty.
Then the prior, at the head of a procession with cross and banner, went
at once to the hole where Owain had gone, and soon they saw a gleam of
light like a bright fire burning; then in the midst of the light came
Owain, the knight of God. Then they knew well that Owain had been in
paradise and in purgatory, and that he was a holy man. They led him
into holy church, to do God's office and to say his prayers. On the
fifteenth day, the knight took staff and scrip and sought the holy
place where Christ bought us so dearly upon the cross and where He rose
from death to life through the virtue of His five wounds. Blessed may
He be! And Bethlehem, too, he visited, where Christ was born of Mary,
His mother like the flower of the thorn. At last, returning to Ireland,
Owain took the monk's habit and lived there seven years. When he died
he entered, truly, into the high joys of paradise, through the help
of God's grace. Now for the love of Saint Owain, may God grant us the
bliss of heaven above, in the presence of His sweet face! Amen!
Translated by M. H. S.
SAINTS' LIVES
THE LIFE OF SAINT BRANDON
THE LIFE OF SAINT MARGARET
THE LIFE OF SAINT BRANDON[31]
Saint Brandon, the holy man, was a monk and born in Ireland, and there
he was abbot of a house wherein were a thousand monks, and there he had
a full strait and holy life in great penance and abstinence, and he
governed his monks full virtuously. And then within short while after
there came to him an holy abbot, that hight Birinus, to visit him, and
each of them was joyful of other. And then Saint Brandon began to tell
to the Abbot Birinus of many wonders that he had seen in divers lands,
and when Birinus heard that of Saint Brandon, he began to sigh and sore
weep, and Saint Brandon comforted him in the best wise that he could,
saying, "Ye come hither for to be joyful with me, and therefore for
God's love leave your mourning, and tell me what marvels ye have seen
in the great sea ocean that compasseth all the world about and all
other waters come out of him, which runneth in all parts of the earth."
And then Birinus began to tell to Saint Brandon and to his monks the
marvels that he had seen, full sore weeping, and said: "I have a son,
his name is Mervok, and he was a monk of great fame, which had great
desire to seek about by ship in divers countries to find a solitary
place wherein he might dwell secretly out of the business of the world
for to serve God quietly with more devotion. And I counselled him to
sail into an island far in the sea beside the Mountain of Stones,
which is full well known; and then he made him ready and sailed thither
with his monks. And when he came thither he liked the place full well,
where he and his monks served our Lord full devoutly."
And then Birinus saw in a vision that this monk Mervok was sailed right
far eastward in the sea, more than three days' sailing, and suddenly,
to his seeming, there came a dark cloud and over-covered them, that a
great part of the day they saw no light, and, as our Lord would, the
cloud passed away and they saw a full fair island, and thitherward they
drew. In that island was joy and mirth enough, and the earth of that
island shined as bright as the sun; and there were the fairest trees
and herbs that ever any man saw, and there were many precious stones
shining bright, and every herb there was full of flowers, and every
tree full of fruit, so that it was a glorious sight and a heavenly joy
to abide there.
And then there came to them a fair young man, and full courteously he
welcomed them all, and called every monk by his name, and he said that
they were much bound to praise the name of our Lord Jesu, that would,
of His grace, shew to them this glorious place where is ever day and
never night. And this place is called Paradise Terrestrial. By this
island is another island wherein no man may come, and this young man
said to them: "Ye have been here half a year without meat, drink, or
sleep," and they supposed they had not been there the space of half
an hour, so merry and joyful they were there. And the young man told
them that this is the place that Adam and Eve dwelt in first, and ever
should have dwelled here if that they had not broken the commandment of
God.
Then the young man brought them to their ship again and said they
might no longer abide there; and when they were all shipped, suddenly
this young man vanished away out of their sight. And then within short
time after, by the purveyance of our Lord Jesu Christ, they came to
the abbey where Saint Brandon dwelled, and then he with his brethren
received them goodly and demanded them where they had been so long, and
they said: "We have been in the Land of Behest, tofore the gates of
paradise, whereas is ever day and never night." And they said all that
the place is full delectable, for yet all their clothes smelled of the
sweet and joyful place.
And then Saint Brandon purposed soon after for to seek that place by
God's help, and anon began to purvey for a good ship and a strong, and
victualled it for seven years. And then he took his leave of all his
brethren and took twelve monks with him, but, ere they entered into
the ship, they fasted forty days and lived devoutly, and each of them
received the sacrament. And when Saint Brandon with his twelve monks
were entered into the ship, there came other two of his monks and
prayed him that they might sail with him, and then he said: "Ye may
sail with me, but one of you shall go to hell ere you come again." But
for all that they would go with him.
And then Saint Brandon bade the shipmen to wind up the sail, and forth
they sailed in God's name, so that on the morrow they were out of
sight of any land. And forty days and forty nights after they sailed
plat east, and then they saw an island far from them; and they sailed
thitherward as fast as they could, and they saw a great rock of stone
appear above all the water; and three days they sailed about it ere
they could get into the place, but at the last, by the purveyance of
God, they found a little haven and there went aland every each one. And
then suddenly came a fair hound, and fell down at the feet of Saint
Brandon and made him good cheer in his manner. And then he bade his
brethren be of good cheer, "For our Lord hath sent to us his messenger
to lead us into some good place." And the hound brought them into a
fair hall, where they found the tables spread, ready set full of good
meat and drink. And then Saint Brandon said graces, and then he and his
brethren sat down and ate and drank of such as they found, and there
were beds ready for them wherein they took their rest after their long
labour.
And on the morn they returned again to their ship, and sailed a long
time in the sea after, ere they could find any land, till at last, by
the purveyance of God, they saw far from them a full fair island, full
of green pasture, wherein were the whitest and greatest sheep that ever
they saw; for every sheep was as great as an ox. And soon after came to
them a goodly old man, which welcomed them and made to them good cheer,
and said: "This is the Island of Sheep. And here is never cold weather
but ever summer, and that causeth the sheep to be so great and white:
they eat of the best grass and herbs that is anywhere." And then this
old man took his leave of them and bade them sail forth right east, and
within short time, by God's grace, they should come into a place like
paradise wherein they should keep their Eastertide.