Beryn agrees to release his heirship and honours to Fawnus for 5
ships laden with merchandise.
The deed of
Release, and
Bond, are
executed,
and deposited
as an escrow with a third person.
Fawnus and
Rame rejoice at the bargain.
Fawnus gets the ships ready,
gives Beryn seisin (that is, possession) of
them, and gets the Release.
But fynallich[e], to the ende of hir' acordement,
ffawnus had so goon a-bout, I-turned & I-went,
That he had brou3t his sone to-fore pe Emperour,
To relese his heritage, & [eke] al his honour'
That he shuld have aftir his day, for shippis fyue, & fuH
I-led of Marchaundise, of lynnyn, & of woH,
And of othir thingis, þat were I-vsid tho.
Engrosid was the covenaunte be-twen hem [bothe] to,
In presence of pe Emperour,-in opyn, & no roun),-- 1529
To-fore the grettest Cenatours, & eldest of pe town).
So when the relese selid was, with a syde bonde,
They were I-leyde both [right] in a meen[e] honde, 1532
In-to the tyme pat Beryn fullich [i]sesid were
In the fyve Shippis, þat I 3ew tolde ere.
But who was glad but ffawnus? & to his wyff [he] went,
And seyd[e]: "nowe, my hertis swete, al pyn hole entent
Is vttirlich perfourmyd! vs lakkith nowe no more, 1537
But marchandise & Shippis, as I told to-fore."
"That shall nat faiH," quod Rame, & began to daunce;
And aftirward they speken of þe purveaunce.
(Allas! this fals[e] world! so ful of trechery!
In whom shuld the sone have trust & feith sikirly,
If his ffadir faylid hym? wheþir my3t he go
ffor to fynde a sikir ffrend, þat he my3t trist[en] to?) 1544
So when these .v. shippis were rayid & [i-]dizte,
ffawnus & his sone to pe Emperour/ ful rizte
They went, & many a grete man for þe same case,
To see both in possessioune, as hir' covenaunte wase. 1548
Beryn first was sesid in the Shippis fyve;
And ffawnus had the relese, & bare it to his wyff; [leaf 201]
And Eche held hem payde, & Rame best of aH;
ffor she had conquerd thing, þat causid most hir gaH. 1552
Now leve I ffawnys & his wyff: & of pe governaunce
Of Beryn I woH speke, & also of his chaunce.
When lodismen, & maryneris, in al ping redy was,
This Beryn in-to Alisaundir (yf God wold send hym grace, Beryn sets sail
That wynde hym wold[e] serve,) he wold. so on a day
The wynde was good; & [tho] they seylid on hir/ wey
Too dayis fullich, & a nyght ther'-with-ał,
And had wedir at wiH; tiH atte last gan fa
For 3 days thick darkness
Such a myst a-mong hem, þat no man my3t se othir;
That wele was hym pat had[de] pere pe blessing of his modir.
ffor thre dayis dessantly1 þe derknes a-mong hem was,
That no shipp my3te se othir; wherfor, ful offt "alas!"
The[y] seyd; & to pe hize God þey made hir preyere, 1565 greatly.
That he wold, of his grace, hem govern) & stere,
So þat hire lyvis my3te I-savid be;
ffor þey were cleen in dispeyr/, be-cause þey my3t nat se
is on them, and they fear
The loder, wherby these Shipmen her cours toke echon).
So atte last, þe ferth day, makeing þus hir moon,
The day gan clere; & pen such wynde a-rose,
That blew hir' Shippis els-wher' pen was hir/ first purpose.
The tempest was so huge, & [was] so strong also,
That wel was hym þat coude bynd[en] or ondo
Any rope with-in the Shipp, pat longit to be crafft:
Euery man shewid his connyng, to-fore pe Shipp, & bafft.
On the 4th day a fierce wind blows,
every one prepares for death,
The wynd a-wook; the see to-brast; it blew so gresly sore, the sea bursts,
That Beryn & all his company, of synnys las &
Eche man round a-boute, shroff hym-selff to othir;
And put in goddis gowernaunce, lyff, [&] Shipp, & strothir2.
ffor pere nas3 Shippis meyne, for auzt [pat] þey coude hale,
That my3te a-bate[n] of the Shipp pe piknes of a skale;
The wedir was so fervent of wynd & eke of thundir, 1583
That euery shipp from othir was blowe of sizte a-sondir/; and all the ships
And durid so al day & ny3te; tyl on the morowe, [If 201, bk]
I trow It was no questioune wheþer þey had Ioy or sorowe.
So aftirward, as god wold, the wynd was somwhat sofft:
Beryne clepid a Maryner/, & bad hym "sty on lofft, 1588
And weyte aftir' our four Shippis, [p] aftir vs doith dryve;
ffor it is butte grace of God, yf þey be [now] alyve."
'Urry prints' incessantly.'
All Beryn's five ships are safe,
A marynere anoon with that, ry3t as Beryn bad,
Styed in-to the topcasteH, & brou3t hym tydingis glad:
Sir," he seith, "beth mery! yeur Shippis comyth echone Saff & sound[e] sayling, as yee shul se a-noon; 1594
and land is near. And eke sir ferpermore, lond also I sigħ :
Beryn orders
the lodesman to steer to land.
Beryn takes
counsel with his men;
and they agree to his landing
to see what kind of town they
Now in this town dwell the falsest
Let draw our/ corse estward; pis tyde wol bryng' vs ny." "Blessid be God!" quod Beryn, "pen, wer' our' Shippis com, .] 1598
Wee have no nede to dout[e] werr, ne molestacioun ;
ffor pere nys within our shippis no ping of spoliacioun),
But all trewe marchaundise. wherfor, sir1 lodisman,
Stere onys in-to pe Costis, as wel as [evir] powe can. 1602
When our/ Shippis been I-com, þat we mow pas in fere,
Lace on a bonet 2 or tweyn, þat wee mowe saille nere.”
And when they were the Costis nyze, was noon of hem al
That wist what lond it was. pen Beryn gan to cał
Out of euery Shipp a-noon a marynere or tweyne,
ffor to take counsel; & pus he gan to seyne:
"The ffrountis of pis ilch[e] toun) been wondir feir withał :
Me pinkith it is pe best[e] rede, what þat evir be-fal,
That I, my selff aloon, walk in-to the toun),
And here, & se, both here & pere, vpward & doun), 1612
And [eke] enquere fullich of hir' governaunce.
What sey yee, sirs? wol yee sent3 [vn]to pis ordenaunce?"
AH they accordit wel perto, & held it for þe best;
"ffor pus, yf it be profitabiH, we mowe a-hide & rest, 1616
And yf [that] it be othir-wise, pe rathir shał we go;
ffor aftir þat ye spede, wee wol[len] worch & do."
But nowe mowe yee here, rizt a wondir þing':
and most deceitful In al the world[e] wyde, so fals of hir' lyving
Was no pepit vndir sonne, ne noon so desseyvabiH,
As was the pepit of this town), ne more vnstabiH; [leaf 202]
And had a cursid vsage of soti ymaginacioune,
That yff so were the Shippis of any straunge nacioun
Were come in-to the porte, a-noon þey wold hem hyde
When shipmen come, the townsmen hide,
With-in hir own[e] howsis, & no man go, ne ryde, 1626
In no strete of al the town); ascaunce þat þey were lewde, as if they knew
And coude no skill of marchandise: a skiH it was, a shrewde, merchandise.
As yee shul here aftir, of hir/ wrong & falshede:
But zit it fiH, as worthy was, oppon hir/ owne hede. 1630
Beryn arayd hym fresshly, as to A marchand longith,
And set hym on a palfrey wel be-sey & hongit,
And a page rennyng by his hors[e] feet:
Beryn rides into Falsetown,
He rode endlong þe town, but no man coud he mete;
The dorrys were I-closid in both too sidis;
Wherof he had merveH. 3it ferpermor he ridis;
And waytid on his ry3thond a mancipilis plase,
AH ffressh & newe, & pidir gan he pase;
The gatis were wyde vp, & pidir gan he go;
ffor purh-out pe longe town) [ne] he fond so no mo.
Ther-in dwellid a Burgeyse, pe most[e] scliper man
Of al the town purh-out; & what so [that] he wan
With trechery & gile,—as doith [now] som ffreris,—
Right so must he part[en it] with his [false] comperis. 1644
Beryn list down on his hors, & inward gan he dres,
And fond the good man of þe house pleying' atte ches2
With his neyzbour/, as trewe as he, pat dwellid hym fast by.
But as sone as this Burgeyse on Beryn cast his eye, 1648
Sodenly he stert vp, & put the ches hym fro,
And toke Beryn by the hond, & seyd these wordis tho:
"Benedicite! what manere wynd hath I-brouzt zewe here? and is welcomed
Now wold to God I had wherof I3 coude make
zew cher!
But yee shał lowe my good wiH, & take such as pere is,
And of yeur/ gentiH paciens suffir þat is a-mys." 1654
ffor wel he wist by his aray, & by his contenaunce,
That of the Shippis þat were I-com, he had som gouern-
Wherfor he made hym chere, semeyng AmyabiH, [if 202, bk]
I-colerid all with cawtelis, & wondir desseyvabiH.
2 MS 'dise'. Urry prints 'chess': see 3 lines on.
3 MS'or'.
finds the man
playing at chess,
(The man sees Beryn is well off.)
The Burgess of
Falsetown is
delighted to
see Beryn,
and offers him anything he wants ;
asks his mate to amuse Beryn, while he sees to Beryn's horse,
and then he'll broach his best pipe of wine.
He bracyd hym by the Middil, & preyd hym sit a-down),
And lowly, with much worshipp, dressid his cosshon).
"Lord God!" seyd this Burgeyse, "I pank pis ilk[e] day,
That I shuld see 3ewe hole & sounde here in my contray;
And yff yee list to telle the cause of yeur/ comyng',
And yff yee have nede to eny maner thing',
And it be in my power/, & pouze I shuld it seche,
It shuld go rizt wondir streyte, I sey 3ew sikirlich,
But yee it had in hast, pere-with zewe to plese;
ffor nowe I se zewe in my house, my hert is in grete ese.'
The todir burgeyse rose hym vp, for to make Rouse', And axid of his felawe, þat lord was of the house, "Whens is this worshipful man?" with wordis end & lowe, "ffor it semeth by the manere, þat ye hym shuld[e] knowe, And have sey hym to-fore pis tyme." "I have seen hym!"
"3e, I-wis an .C. sithis! & rizt as to my brothir
I wold do hym plesaunce, in al that evir I can;
ffor trewlich in his contray he is a worshipful man.'
"ffor soth, Sir/, & for yeur love, A M in this town)
Wold do hym worshipp, & be rizte feyne & bown)
To plese hym, & a-vaiH, to have ponk of zewe,
I woot wele; God hem zeld! so have pey offt or nowe.'
And arose vp ther-with-aH, & with his felaw spak
Of such maner mater, þat faylid nevir of lakk.
So when hir/ counsel was I-do, this burgeyse preyd his fere
To sit a-down) be Beryn, & do hym sporte & chere:
"And in the [mene] while, I wołł se to his hors ;
ffor every gentiH hert, a-fore his owne cors,
Desirith that his ryding best be servid & I-dizte
Rathir then hym-selff. wherfor with al my my3te
I woH have an ey perto; & sith[ens] perce2 wyyn,
Wich tonne or pipe is best, & [eke] most fyne."
Beryn was al a-basshid of his soden chere;
But nethirles the Burgeyse sat hym som-what nere,
2 Urry prints 'sich parte'.
|