find no haven because of little depth in some place, and in some place
were great rocks. But at the last they went upon an island, weening
to them that they had been safe, and made thereon a fire for to dress
their dinner, but Saint Brandon abode still in the ship. When the fire
was right hot and the meat nigh sodden, then this island began to move,
whereof the monks were afeard, and fled anon to the ship and left
the fire and meat behind them, and marvelled sore of the moving. And
Saint Brandon comforted them and said that it was a great fish named
Jasconye, which laboureth night and day to put his tail in his mouth
but for greatness he may not.
And then anon they sailed west three days and three nights ere they
saw any land, wherefore they were right heavy, but soon after, as
God would, they saw a fair island full of flowers, herbs, and trees;
whereof they thanked God of His good grace, and anon they went on land.
And when they had gone long in this, they found a full fair well, and
thereby stood a fair tree full of boughs, and on every bough sat a fair
bird, and they sat so thick on the tree that unnethe any leaf of the
tree might be seen. The number of them was so great and they sang so
merrily that it was an heavenly noise to hear, wherefore Saint Brandon
kneeled down on his knees and wept for joy, and made his prayers
devoutly to our Lord God to know what these birds meant. And then anon
one of these birds fled from the tree to Saint Brandon, and he with
flickering of his wings made a full merry noise like a fiddle, that
him seemed he heard never so joyful a melody. And then Saint Brandon
commanded the bird to tell him the cause why they sat so thick on the
tree and sang so merrily. And then the bird said: "Sometime we were
angels in heaven. But when our master Lucifer fell down into hell for
his high pride, we fell with him for our offences, some higher and some
lower, after the quality of the trespass, and because our trespass is
but little, therefore our Lord hath set us here, out of all pain, in
full great joy and mirth, after His pleasing, here to serve Him in
this tree in the best manner we can. The Sunday is a day of rest from
all worldly occupation, and therefore this day all we be made as white
as any snow for to praise our Lord in the best wise we may." And then
this bird said to Saint Brandon: "It is twelve months passed that ye
departed from your abbey, and in the seventh year hereafter ye shall
see the place that ye desire to come to. And all these seven years, ye
shall keep your Easter here with us every year, and in the end of the
seventh year ye shall come unto the Land of Behest."
And this was on Easter Day that the bird said these words to Saint
Brandon; and then this fowl flew again to his fellows that sat on
the tree, and then the birds began to sing evensong so merrily that
it was an heavenly noise to hear. And after supper Saint Brandon and
his fellows went to bed and slept well; and on the morn they arose
betimes, and then those birds began matins, prime, and hours, and all
such service as Christian men use to sing. And Saint Brandon with his
fellows abode there eight weeks, till Trinity Sunday was passed.
And they sailed again to the Island of Sheep, and they victualled them
well, and took their leave of that old man and returned again to ship.
And then the bird of the tree came again to Saint Brandon and said:
"I am come to tell you that ye shall sail from hence into an island,
wherein is an abbey of twenty-four monks, which is from this place
many a mile, and there ye shall hold your Christmas and your Easter
with us, like as I told you." And then this bird flew to his fellows
again.
Then Saint Brandon and his fellows sailed forth in the ocean, and soon
after fell a great tempest on them in which they were greatly troubled
long time and sore for-laboured. And after that they found, by the
purveyance of God, an island that was far from them, and then they
full meekly prayed our Lord to send them thither in safety, but it was
forty days after ere they came thither; wherefore all the monks were so
weary of that trouble that they set little price by their lives, and
cried continually to our Lord to have mercy on them, and bring them to
that island in safety. And, by the purveyance of God, they came at the
last into a little haven, but it was so strait that unnethe[32] the
ship might come in; and after, they came to an anchor, and anon the
monks went to land. And when they had long walked about, at the last
they found two fair wells: one was fair and clear water, but the other
was somewhat troubly and thick. And then they thanked our Lord fully
humbly that had brought them thither in safety; and they would fain
have drunken of that water, but Saint Brandon charged them they should
not take without licence: "For if we abstain us awhile, our Lord will
purvey for us in the best wise." And anon after came to them a fair
old man with hoar hair, and welcomed them full meekly and kissed Saint
Brandon, and led them by many a fair well till they came to a fair
abbey, where they were received with great honour and solemn procession
with twenty-four monks all in royal copes of cloth of gold, and a royal
cross was before them. And then the abbot welcomed Saint Brandon and
his fellowship, and kissed them full meekly, and took Saint Brandon
by the hand and led him with his monks into a fair hall, and set them
down arow upon the bench, and the abbot of the place washed all their
feet with fair water of the well that they saw before, and after, he
led them into a fraitour[33] and there set them among his convent. And
anon there came one, by the purveyance of God, which served them well
of meat and drink, for every monk had set before him a fair white loaf
and white roots and herbs which were right delicious, but they wist not
what roots they were. And they drank of the water of the fair clear
well which they saw before when they came first aland, which Saint
Brandon forbade them.
And then the abbot came and cheered Saint Brandon and his monks and
bade them eat and drink for charity: "For every day our Lord sendeth a
goodly old man that covereth this table and setteth our meat and drink
tofore us, but we know not how it cometh, ne we ordain never no meat
ne drink for us, and yet we have been eighty years here, and ever our
Lord, worshipped may He be, feedeth us. We be twenty-four monks in
number, and every ferial[34] day of the week He sendeth to us twelve
loaves, and every Sunday and feast day twenty-four loaves, and the
bread that we leave at dinner we eat at supper. And now at your coming
our Lord hath sent unto us forty-eight loaves, for to make you and us
merry together as brethren. And always twelve of us go to dinner while
other twelve keep the quire, and thus have we done these eighty years,
for so long have we dwelled in this abbey. We came hither out of the
abbey of Saint Patrick in Ireland, and thus as ye see our Lord hath
purveyed for us, but none of us knoweth how it cometh but God alone to
whom be given honour and laud, world without end. Here in this land
is ever fair weather, and none of us hath ever been sick sith we came
hither. And when we go to mass or to any other service of our Lord in
the church, anon seven tapers of wax be set in the quire and be lighted
at every time without man's hand, and so burn day and night at every
hour of service, and never waste ne minish as long as we have been
here, which is eighty years."
Then Saint Brandon went to the church with the abbot of the place,
and there they said evensong together full devoutly, and then Saint
Brandon looked upward towards the crucifix and saw our Lord hanging
on the cross, which was made of fine crystal and curiously wrought.
And in the quire were twenty-four seats for twenty-four monks, and
the seven tapers burning, and the abbot's seat was made in the midst
of the quire. Then Saint Brandon demanded of the abbot how long they
had kept that silence, that none of them spake to other, and he said:
"This twenty-four years we spake never one to another." And then Saint
Brandon wept for joy of their holy conversation. And then Saint Brandon
desired of the abbot that he and his monks might dwell there still with
him. To whom the abbot said: "Sir, that may ye not do in no wise, for
our Lord hath shewed to you in what manner ye shall be guided till the
seven years be fulfilled, and after that term thou shalt with thy monks
return into Ireland in safety, but one of the two monks that came last
to you shall dwell in the Island of Ankers,[35] and that other shall go
quick to hell."
And as Saint Brandon kneeled in the church, he saw a bright shining
angel come in at the window, and lighted all the lights in the church,
and then he flew out again at the window unto heaven. Then Saint
Brandon marvelled greatly how the light burned so fair and wasted not.
Then the abbot said, "It is written that Moses saw a bush all on afire
and yet it burned not, and therefore marvel not hereof, for the might
of our Lord is now as great as it ever was."
And when Saint Brandon had dwelled there from Christmas even till the
twelfth day was passed, then he took his leave of the abbot of the
convent and returned with his monks to his ship. And he sailed from
thence with his monks toward the abbey of Saint Illaries; but they had
great tempests in the sea from that time till Palm Sunday.
And then they came to the Island of Sheep and there were received of
the old man, which brought them to a fair hall and served them. And on
Shere Thursday[36] after supper he did wash all their feet and kissed
them, like as our Lord did to His disciples, and there they abode
till Saturday, Easter Even; and they departed and sailed to the place
where the fish lay; and anon they saw their cauldron upon the fish's
back, which they had left there twelve months tofore. There they kept
the service of the resurrection, on the fish's back, and after, they
sailed that same day by the morning to the island whereas the tree of
birds was, and then the said bird welcomed Saint Brandon and all his
fellowship, and went again to the tree and sang full merrily. And
there he and his monks dwelled from Easter till Trinity Sunday, as they
did the year before, in full great joy and mirth. And daily they heard
the merry service of the birds sitting on the tree.
And then the bird told to Saint Brandon that he should return again at
Christmas to the abbey of monks, and at Easter thither again, and the
other deal of the year labour in the ocean in full great perils, and
from year to year till the seven years be accomplished. "And then shall
ye come to the joyful place of paradise and dwell there forty days in
full great joy and mirth. And after, ye shall return home into your
own abbey in safety, and there end your life and come to the bliss of
heaven to which our Lord bought you with His precious blood."
And then the angel of our Lord ordained all thing that was needful
to Saint Brandon and to his monks in victuals and all other things
necessary, and then they thanked our Lord of His great goodness He had
shewed to them oft in their great need, and sailed forth in the great
sea ocean, abiding the mercy of our Lord in great trouble and tempests.
And soon after came to them an horrible fish which followed the ship
long time, casting so much water out of his mouth into the ship that
they supposed to have been drowned, wherefore they devoutly prayed
God to deliver them of that great peril. And anon after, came another
fish, greater than he, out of the west sea, and fought with him, and
at the last clave him into three pieces, and then returned again. And
then they thanked meekly our Lord for their deliverance from this
great peril, but they were in great heaviness because their victuals
were nigh spent. But, by the ordinance of our Lord, there came a bird
and brought to them a great branch of a vine full of red grapes, by
which they lived fourteen days, and then they came to a little island,
wherein were many vines full of grapes. And they there landed and
thanked God, and gathered as many grapes as they lived by forty days
after, alway sailing in the sea in many storms and tempests.
And as they thus sailed, suddenly came flying towards them a great
grip[37] which assailed them and was like to have destroyed them.
Wherefore they devoutly prayed for help and aid of our Lord Jesu
Christ. And then the bird of the tree of the island where they had
holden their Easter tofore came to the grip and smote out both his eyes
and after slew him, whereof they thanked our Lord.
And then they sailed forth continually till Saint Peter's day, and then
sang they solemnly their service in the honour of the feast. And in
that place the water was so clear that they might see all the fishes
that were about them, whereof they were full sore aghast, and the monks
counselled Saint Brandon to sing no more, for all the fishes lay then
as they had slept. And then Saint Brandon said: "Dread ye not, for ye
have kept by two Easters the feast of the resurrection upon the great
fish's back, and therefore dread ye not of these little fishes." And
then Saint Brandon made him ready and went to mass and bade his monks
to sing the best way they could, and then anon all the fishes awoke and
came about the ship so thick that unnethe they might see the water for
the fishes, and when the mass was done, all the fishes departed so as
they were no more seen. And seven days they sailed always in that clear
water.
And then there came a south wind and drove the ship northward, whereas
they saw an island full dark and full of stench and smoke, and there
they heard great blowing and blasting of bellows, but they might see
nothing, but heard great thundering, whereof they were sore afraid
and blessed them oft. And soon after, there came one starting out all
burning in fire and gazed full ghastly on them with great staring eyes,
of whom the monks were aghast, and at his departing from them he made
the horriblest cry that might be heard. And soon there came a great
number of fiends and assailed them with hooks and burning iron malles,
which ran on the water, following their ship fast, in such wise that
it seemed all the sea to be on fire. But by the pleasure of our Lord,
they had no power to hurt nor grieve them nor their ship: wherefore
the fiends began to roar and cry and threw their hooks and malles at
them. And they then were sore afeard and prayed to God for comfort and
help, for they saw the fiends all about the ship, and them seemed then
all the island and the sea to be on fire. And with a sorrowful cry all
the fiends departed from them and returned to the place that they came
from. And then Saint Brandon told to them that this was a part of hell,
and therefore he charged them to be steadfast in the faith, for they
should yet see many a dreadful place ere they came home again.
And then came the south wind and drove them further to the north, where
they saw an hill all of fire, and a foul smoke and stench coming from
thence, and the fire stood on each side of the hill, like a wall, all
burning. And then one of his monks began to cry and weep full sore, and
said that his end was come and that he might abide no longer in the
ship; and anon he leapt out of the ship into the sea, and then he cried
and roared full piteously, cursing the time that he was born and also
father and mother that begat him, because they saw no better to his
correction in his young age, "for now I must go to perpetual pain." And
then the saying of the blessed Saint Brandon was verified that he said
to him when he entered. Therefore it is good a man to do penance and
forsake sin, for the hour of death is uncertain.
And then anon the wind turned into the north and drove the ship into
the south, which sailed seven days continually, and they came to a
great rock standing in the sea, and thereon sat a naked man in full
great misery and pain, for the waves of the sea had so beaten his body
that all the flesh was gone off, and nothing left but sinews and bare
bones. And when the waves were gone, there was a canvas that hung over
his head which beat his body full sore with the blowing of the wind;
and also there were two ox-tongues and a great stone that he sat on
which did him full great ease.
And then Saint Brandon charged him to tell him what he was. And he
said: "My name is Judas, that sold our Lord Jesu Christ for thirty
pence, which sitteth here thus wretchedly, howbeit I am worthy to be
in the greatest pain that is. But our Lord is so merciful that He hath
rewarded me better than I have deserved, for of right my place is in
the burning hell, but I am here but certain times of the year, that
is, from Christmas to Twelfth Day, and from Easter till Whitsuntide
be past, and every feastful day of our Lady, and every Saturday noon
till Sunday that evensong be done. But all other times, I lie still
in hell, in full burning fire, with Pilate, Herod, and Caiaphas;
therefore accursed be the time that ever I knew them."
And then Judas prayed Saint Brandon to abide still there all that
night, and that he would keep him there still, that the fiends should
not fetch him to hell. And Saint Brandon said, "With God's help thou
shalt abide here all this night." And then he asked Judas what cloth
that was that hung over his head, and he said that it was a cloth that
he gave to a leper, which was bought with the money that he stole from
our Lord when he bare His purse. "Wherefore, it doth to me full great
pain now in beating my face with the blowing of the wind, and these two
ox-tongues that hang here above me, I gave them sometime to two priests
to pray for me; them I bought with mine own money, and therefore they
ease me, because the fishes of the sea gnaw on them and spare me. And
this stone that I sit on lay sometime in a desolate place where it
eased no man, and I took it thence, and laid it in a foul way, where it
did much ease to them that went by that way, and therefore it easeth me
now, for every good deed shall be rewarded and every evil deed shall be
punished."
And the Sunday, against even, there came a great multitude of fiends,
blasting and roaring, and they bade Saint Brandon go thence that they
might have their servant Judas, "For we dare not come in the presence
of our master but if we bring him to hell with us." And then said Saint
Brandon: "I let not you to do your master's commandment, but by the
power of the Lord Jesu Christ, I charge you to leave him this night
till tomorrow." They said: "How darest thou help him that so sold his
master for thirty pence to the Jews, and caused Him also to die the
most shameful death upon the cross?" And then Saint Brandon charged
the fiends by His passion that they should not noy him that night. And
then the fiends went their way, roaring and crying, towards hell to
their master the great devil. And then Judas thanked Saint Brandon so
ruthfully that it was a pity to see. And on the morrow the fiends came
with a horrible noise, saying that they had that night suffered great
pain because they brought not Judas, and said that he should suffer
double pain the six days following; and they took then Judas, trembling
for fear, with them to pain.
And after, Saint Brandon sailed southward three days and three nights,
and on the Friday they saw an island, and then Saint Brandon began
to sigh, and said: "I see the island wherein Saint Paul the hermit
dwelleth and hath dwelled there forty years without meat and drink
ordained by man's hand." And when they came to the land, Saint Paul
came and welcomed them humbly. He was old and foregrown[38] so that no
man might see his body. Of whom Saint Brandon said, weeping: "I see a
man that liveth more like an angel than a man, wherefore we monks may
be ashamed that we live not better." Then Saint Paul said to Saint
Brandon: "Thou art better than I, for our Lord hath shewed to thee more
privities than he hath done to me; wherefore, thou oughtest to be more
praised than I."
To whom Saint Paul said: "Some time I was a monk of Saint Patrick's
abbey in Ireland and was warden of the place whereas men enter into
Saint Patrick's Purgatory, and on a day there came one to me and I
asked him what he was, and he said: 'I am your abbot, Patrick, and
charge thee that thou depart from hence tomorn early to the sea-side,
and there thou shalt find a ship into which thou must enter, which
God has ordained for thee, whose will thou must accomplish.' And so
the next day I arose and went forth, and found the ship, in which I
entered, and, by the purveyance of God, was I brought into this island
the seventh day after. And then I left the ship and went to land, and
there I walked up and down a good while, and then, by the purveyance
of God, there came an otter, going upon his hinder feet, and brought
me a flint stone and an iron to smite fire with, in the two foreclaws
of his feet, and also, he had about his neck great plenty of fish,
which he cast down before me and went his way. And I smote fire, and
made a fire of sticks, and did seethe the fish, by which I lived three
days. And then the otter came again and brought me fish for other three
days, and thus he hath done this fifty-one years, through the grace of
God. And there was a great stone out of which our blessed Lord made to
spring fair water clear and sweet, whereof I drink daily. And thus have
I lived one and fifty years. I was forty years old when I came hither,
and am now an hundred and eleven years old, and abide till it please
our Lord Jesu Christ to send for me; and if it pleased Him, I would
fain be discharged of this wretched life."
And then he bade Saint Brandon to take of the water of the well and to
carry it into his ship, "for it is time that thou depart, for thou hast
a great journey to do, for thou shalt sail to an island which is forty
days' sailing hence, where thou shalt hold thine Easter like as thou
hast done tofore, whereas the tree of birds is. And from thence thou
shalt sail into the Land of Behest, and shalt abide there forty days,
and after return home into thy country in safety."
And then these holy men took leave each of other, and they wept both
full sore, and kissed each other. Then Saint Brandon entered into the
ship, and sailed forty days even south, in full great tempest, and on
Easter Even they came to their procurator, which made to them good
cheer, as he had beforetime. And from thence they came to the great
fish whereon they said matins and mass on Easter Day, and when the mass
was done, the fish began to move and swam forth fast into the sea,
whereof the monks were sore aghast which stood upon him, for it was
a great marvel to see such a fish, so great as all a country, for to
swim so fast in the water, but, by the will of our Lord, this fish set
all the monks aland in the Paradise of Birds, all whole and sound, and
then returned to the place he came from. And then Saint Brandon and his
monks thanked our Lord of their deliverance of the great fish, and kept
their Eastertide till Trinity Sunday, like as they had done beforetime.
And after this they took their ship and sailed east forty days, and at
the forty days' end it began to hail right fast, and therewith came a
dark mist which lasted long after, which feared Saint Brandon and his
monks, and they prayed to our Lord to keep and help them. And then anon
came their procurator and bade them to be of good cheer, for they were
come into the Land of Behest.
And soon after, that mist passed away, and anon they saw the fairest
country eastward that any man might see, and it was so clear and
bright that it was a heavenly sight to behold, and all the trees were
charged with ripe fruit, and herb full of flowers. In which land they
walked forty days, but they could not see none end of that land, and
there was always day and never night, and the land temperate, ne too
hot ne too cold.