So That No Man May Get Of That Gold,
But By Great Sleight.
And therefore when it is great heat, the
pismires rest them in the earth, from prime of the day
Into noon.
And then the folk of the country take camels, dromedaries, and
horses and other beasts, and go thither, and charge them in all
haste that they may; and after that, they flee away in all haste
that the beasts may go, or the pismires come out of the earth. And
in other times, when it is not so hot, and that the pismires ne
rest them not in the earth, then they get gold by this subtlety.
They take mares that have young colts or foals, and lay upon the
mares void vessels made there-for; and they be all open above, and
hanging low to the earth. And then they send forth those mares for
to pasture about those hills, and with-hold the foals with them at
home. And when the pismires see those vessels, they leap in anon:
and they have this kind that they let nothing be empty among them,
but anon they fill it, be it what manner of thing that it be; and
so they fill those vessels with gold. And when that the folk
suppose that the vessels be full, they put forth anon the young
foals, and make them to neigh after their dams. And then anon the
mares return towards their foals with their charges of gold. And
then men discharges them, and get gold enough by this subtlety.
For the pismires will suffer beasts to go and pasture amongst them,
but no man in no wise.
And beyond the land and the isles and the deserts of Prester John's
lordship, in going straight toward the east, men find nothing but
mountains and rocks, full great. And there is the dark region,
where no man may see, neither by day ne by night, as they of the
country say. And that desert and that place of darkness dure from
this coast unto Paradise terrestrial, where that Adam, our formest
father, and Eve were put, that dwelled there but little while: and
that is towards the east at the beginning of the earth. But that
is not that east that we clepe our east, on this half, where the
sun riseth to us. For when the sun is east in those parts towards
Paradise terrestrial, it is then midnight in our parts on this
half, for the roundness of the earth, of the which I have touched
to you of before. For our Lord God made the earth all round in the
mid place of the firmament. And there as mountains and hills be
and valleys, that is not but only of Noah's flood, that wasted the
soft ground and the tender, and fell down into valleys, and the
hard earth and the rocks abide mountains, when the soft earth and
tender waxed nesh through the water, and fell and became valleys.
Of Paradise ne can I not speak properly. For I was not there. It
is far beyond. And that forthinketh me. And also I was not
worthy. But as I have heard say of wise men beyond, I shall tell
you with good will.
Paradise terrestrial, as wise men say, is the highest place of
earth, that is in all the world. And it is so high that it
toucheth nigh to the circle of the moon, there as the moon maketh
her turn; for she is so high that the flood of Noah ne might not
come to her, that would have covered all the earth of the world all
about and above and beneath, save Paradise only alone. And this
Paradise is enclosed all about with a wall, and men wit not whereof
it is; for the walls be covered all over with moss, as it seemeth.
And it seemeth not that the wall is stone of nature, ne of none
other thing that the wall is. And that wall stretcheth from the
south to the north, and it hath not but one entry that is closed
with fire, burning; so that no man that is mortal ne dare not
enter.
And in the most high place of Paradise, even in the middle place,
is a well that casteth out the four floods that run by divers
lands. Of the which, the first is clept Pison, or Ganges, that is
all one; and it runneth throughout Ind or Emlak, in the which river
be many precious stones, and much of lignum aloes and much gravel
of gold. And that other river is clept Nilus or Gison, that goeth
by Ethiopia and after by Egypt. And that other is clept Tigris,
that runneth by Assyria and by Armenia the great. And that other
is clept Euphrates, that runneth also by Media and Armenia and by
Persia. And men there beyond say, that all the sweet waters of the
world, above and beneath, take their beginning of the well of
Paradise, and out of that well all waters come and go.
The first river is clept Pison, that is to say in their language
Assembly; for many other rivers meet them there, and go into that
river. And some men clepe it Ganges, for a king that was in Ind,
that hight Gangeres, and that it ran throughout his land. And that
water [is] in some place clear, and in some place troubled, in some
place hot, and in some place cold.
The second river is clept Nilus or Gison; for it is always trouble;
and Gison, in the language of Ethiopia, is to say, trouble, and in
the language of Egypt also.
The third river, that is dept Tigris, is as much for to say as,
fast-running; for he runneth more fast than any of the tother; and
also there is a beast, that is clept tigris, that is fast-running.
The fourth river is clept Euphrates, that is to say, well-bearing;
for there grow many goods upon that river, as corns, fruits and
other goods enough plenty.
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