Thornton Manuscripts

THE PROSE LIFE OF ALEXANDER.

The Bishop of the Jews' dream.

after, when the Bischoppe hadd made his sacrafice, and was lyand in prayers, he fell on slomeryng and ane Angellle appered un-till hym, and sayd, 'Be noghte ferd,' quoth he, 'bot swythe 4 gere araye honestly all the stretis of (the) citee, and caste open the gates, and warne all the folke that thay aray tham in whitte clethynge, and thi-selfe & alle the prestis reuestes yow solempnely, and to-morne arely wendes furthe of the citee agaynes Alexander 8 in processioun. For hym by-houes * regne & be lord of alle the werlde. But at the laste the wrethe of godd sall falle apon hym.' When the bischoppe wakened of his slepe, he called till hym the iewes and talde tham his reuelacion, and bad tham do 12 all als the Angelle hade schewed hym. And they did so. For they arayed the stretes of the cetee and cledde tham in whitte clethynge, and the bischope & the prestis reueste tham, and bathe thay and alle the folke went furthe of the citee till a place 16 whare the temple & all the citee may be seen. And there thay habade the comynge of Alexander. And when Alexander come near this foresaid place, and saw be-for hym swilke a multitude of folke, cledd alle in whitte, and the prestes arrayed solempnely 20 in riche vestymentis, and the byschope also in his pontyfycales and a mytre on his heued, and thare-apon a plate of golde, whare-one was wretyn the name of grete godd Tetragramaton, he commauded all his men that thay shulde halde tham by-hynd 24 hym, and habyde till he com to tham. And he lighte off his horse, and went bi hym ane to the iewes, And knelid down to the erthe and wirchippede the hye name of godd, that he saw thare wretyn apon the bischopes heued. And than alle the iewes 28 knelid doun & salute Alexander and cried all wit a voyce: 'lyff, lyffe,' quoth thay, ' grete Alexander, lyffe, lyffe the gretteste Emperour of the werlde, lyffe he that sall ouer-com all men and noghte be ouercomen. Prynce maste gloryous and maste worthy 32 of all the princes that regnes apon erthe.' When the kynges of Surry saw this, thay hadd grete wonder thare-off. And a prynce of Alexanders, that highte Parmenon, said un-till Alexander: ' Mi lorde the Emperour,' quoth he, ' we mervelle us gretely that 36 thou, wham all men wirchippes and lowtes, wirchippes here the bischope of the Iewes.' And Alexander ansuered, ' I wirchipe noghte hym,' this quoth he, 'Bot Godd whase state he presentes. For when I was in Macedoyne, and umbithoghte me, on what 2 – 2

(From the Latin) Alexander and Darius. 47

the palace, because, as the gods say sooth, ere long the palace shall be mine.' And going in, Darius and Alexander lay by a table, and the daintiest feast was laid out. And Darius' The Feast 4 marshall gazed hard at Alexander face to face. And the table was wreathed in cleanest gold. But the Persians, seeing Alexander's shape, yet knew nothing of what wisdom, doughtiness, and strength lurked in this small body. The dishes and tables 8 and seats were wrought of the finest gold. The cup-bearers bore cups in golden vessels and rarest jewels. And when a cup was handed to Alexander, he hid it in his breast. And another cup was brought to him and he did the same, and thus too with 12 a third. And those who bore the cups, seeing this, gave the news to the Emperor Darius. And he, hearing of it, rose up, saying : ' Friend, what is this that thou doest, hiding the cups in thy breast ? ' And Alexander : ' In our king's feasts the 16 guests are wont, whenever they will, to take their drinkingvessels. But, as this seemeth to you unworthy, I will give them back forthwith.' And with these words he save them back to the cup-bearers. But the Persians who sate at the 20 feast said each to each, ' a good custom, indeed, and one to be praised.' And some lords, too, praised this way and exalted it. But one of the Princes of Darius, called Anapolus, sitting at the feast, gazed hard at Alexander and his face. For he had seen 24 him when, at Darius' bidding, he went into Macedonia to take tribute of Philip. He, knowing his voice and looking on his face, began to think to himself and say : ' Is this not Alexander ? ' And rising at once he drew near to Darius, saying : 28 ' This messenger whom thou beholdest is Alexander, the son of Philip of Macedon.' And Alexander, seeing them with each other in talk, knew they were speaking of him and he was known. And at this he rose up from his place and leapt away 32 from the board. And taking a blazing torch from a Persian's hand, himself mounted his palfrey, which he found ready outside Darius's palace, and fled in the swiftest flight. And the Persians seeing this, taking weapons, mounted their steeds with 36 a mighty stir, and quickly followed after Alexander. And in the darkness of the nightfall, they began to stray, some scratched their faces by the tree-boughs, some falling into ditches. But Alexander, bearing his blazing torch in hand, fared straight

48 Alexander s Flight — His harangue to his men.

forward. Now, Darius sat on his throne and thought of Alexander and how great his daring was. He saw a statue of gold of Xerxes the Persian king, who sat below the high-seat in the hall. And at once the statue broke and was all scattered assunder. And Darius seeing this was smitten with heaviness of heart and began to weep sorely and long. And he said: ' This foretokeneth the wasting of my life, and the utter downfall of the Persian kingdom.' Alexander, however, coming to the river Grancus, found it swollen, and leapt athwart it. But ere he was over the stream burst its banks, and swept his horse away ; with great hardship Alexander escaped and met Eumulus, his lord. And thus he went back to his army and told them of Darius, how he had dealt with him, and the torch with which he had fled away.

HOW ALEXANDER PUT HEART INTO HIS HOST ANEW.

And on the following day, he gathered his army, which told two hundred and twenty thousand of weaponed men. And he went up

*on a high place & comforthed his men and said un-to tham: 'The multitude of the persienes,' quoth he, 'may noghte be euend to the multitude of the greckes. For sewrly we are ma than thay. And if thay were one hundredth sythes maa then wee, late noghte your hertis faile tharefore. For I telle you a greete multitude of flyes may do na harme till a fewee waspes.' And when the Oste had herde thire wordes thay commendide him haleley wit a voyce.

Than the emperour Darius remowed his oste, and come to the river of Graunt on the nyghte, and went ouer on the yss, and thar he luged hym. The Oste of Darius was wonder grete and strange. For thay hadd in thaire oste X ͫ cartes ordaynd For the waerre, and grete multitude of Olyfantes, wit towres of tree on tham, stuffed wit feghtyng men. And sone after appon a day thir twa kynges wit thaire ostes mett samen on a faire felde, Darius wit his men, and Alexander wit his men.

Adventures with wild beasts and wondrous folk, 75

als slaw als a snyle. And, in his oute - come, he slew twa They come

knyghtis of Alexander. This like beste niy3te J^ay on na wyse moras?and

perche wit ]?aire speres. Bot wit mellis of yreii) J)ay slew it. meet a

4 * And fra f»eine |?ay trauelde thritty day io«riie5 and come to beast.

]?e vttermaste iles of Inde, & ]?are ]?ay luged* J?am) beside5 a tothe°^"^^

ryuere j^at es callede in J^at langage of Inde Hemmahurer. And uttermost

aboute J?e EleuendT houre f)ar come owte of \>e wodde^ a grete India.

8 mrtltitude of Olyphante^ & come apon) f)am) wtt a gret birre & ^ great^™^

J?aire groynes opyfD. And onane AXeyiander lepe apon) his horse multitude

Buktiphalas and busked^ hym agaynes J^am) and badd \>q mace- phants

doynes \}at J^ay solde tak )?aire horse and ilk a man) a swyne in ^fem^ But

12 a bande, & wende agaynes be olyphantis. And when) be oli- Alexander

\ . . - overcomes

phantes saw pain), pay come gapande wit paire groyne5 redy te them by a

tak f)am). And when) f>e Macedoynes saw j^at f>ay ware fered? ^^° '

and durste no^te go to fiam). And AXeyiander saide vn-to fam, He bids his

i6'My wirchipfutt knyghtes,' qud\> he, ' bese of gud comforthe ^^e^ ^ and drede^ 50W na-thynge. For, and 56 will gare ^oure swyne against crye faste * 56 schall see alt Jjir Olyphantes flee anon).' And Leaf 31. alsone als be Olyphantes herde be crye of be swyne, and be tliem and

20 noyse of )?aire trompes, J)ay fledd' and durste no^te habyde. swine And Alexanc?er & his men) pitrsued? tham), and what wit nettis, ^^^®^^' whatt wit swerdes & speres, fay slewe of ]:>am) a grete mttltitude, and come agayne to thaire tentis.

24 2 Anojier day ]?ay removed )?eine, and trauelde thurgh the same They wodde5 of ^Inde. And Jjay fande ])are womefD with berdis thence rechande downn) to p»aire pappes, & J^aire heuede^ playne Jh^^fbf^t abownTie, and ]?ay ware cledd att in skynnes. pay chasede thir of India

28 women) and sum of J?am) j^ay tuke & broghte ]?am) tilt AJexam^^r. upon wild And he gart spirre )5am in the langage of Inde, how f>ay liffed ^?-^®j^ in thase woddes, whare na duellyng was of men). And ]?ay beards, ansuered* & said, ' We lyffe atl,' qwoj* f)ay, ' wit venyson) Jjat we

3 a take in thir woddes thurgt huntynge.'

* When) |?ay ware passed oute of thir wodde^ f)ay come in-tilt a And they faire felde vn-titt a place whare this forsaid riuere ran). And ot^er^tribes f>are J)ay fande bath raefO & women) att naked. And J)ay ware of wild men

* Four lines with red capital A and ^ pnde altered into Inde.

small a beside it in margin. * Four lines with red capital W and

* Four lines with capital A in red, and small w written in the margin beside, small a beside.