maysters? Me. Ye, but I neuer hard tell of pryor
posterior before. Ogy. Dyd you neuer learne
youre gramere before. Me. Yis I know prior
posterior amogst the fygures. Ogy. That same
is it. It is he that is nexte to the prioure,
for there priour is posterior. Me. You speake
apon the supprioure. Ogy. That same dyd entertayne
me very gently, he told me what greate labure had
be abowt ye readynge of thos verses, & how many dyd
rubbe thayr spectakles abowt thaym. As oft as
any old ancyent doctor other of deuynyte or of the
lawe, resorted thyder, by and by he was broght to that
table, some sayd that thay were lettres of Arabia,
some sayd thay were faynyd lettres. Well || at
the last came one that redde the tytle, it was wryten
in laten with greate Romayne lettres, ye Greke was
wryten with capytale lettres of Greke, whiche at the
fyrst syght do apere to be capytale late lettres,
at thayr desyer I dyd expownde ye verses in laten,
traslatynge thaym word for word. But wha thay
wold haue gyuyn me for my labour, I refusyd it, seynge
that ther was nothynge so hard that I wold not doo
for our blessyd ladyes sake, ye thogh she wold commaud
me to bere this table to Hierusale. Me. What
nede you to be her caryoure, seynge that she hathe
so many angelles bothe at her hedde and at her fette.
Ogy. Than he pullid owt of hys purse a pece
of wodde, that was cutt owte of the blokke that our
ladye lenyd apon. I perceyuyd by and by thorow
the smell of it, that it was a holy thynge. Than
whan I sawe so || greate a relyque, putt of my cappe,
and fel down flatte, & very deuoutly kyssyd it .iij.
or .iiii tymes, poppyd it in my pursse. Me.
I pray you may a man see it? Ogy. I gyue you
good leue. But if you be nat fastynge, or if
you accompanyed with yowre wyffe the nyght before,
I conceyle you nat to loke apon it. Me. O blessed
arte thou that euer thou gotte this relyque. Ogy.
I may tell you in cowncell, I wold nat gyue thys litle
pece for all ye gold that Tagus hathe, I wyll sett
it in gold, but so that it shall apere thorow a crystall
stone. And than the Supprioure wha he sawe that
I dyd take the relyque so honorably, he thoght it
shuld nat be lost, in case he shuld shew me greater
mysteries, he dyd aske me whether I hadde euer sene
our ladyes secretes, but at that word I was astonyed,
yet I durst nat be so so bold as to demande what thos
|| secretes were. For in so holy thynges to speake
a mysse is no small danger. I sayd that I dyd
neuer se thaym but I sayd that I wold be very glade
to see thaym. But now I was broght in, and as
I had be inspired with the holy ghost, than thay lyghted
a couple of taperes, & set forthe a litle ymage, nat
couryously wroght, nor yet very gorgeous, but of a
meruelous virtue. Me. That litle body hathe
smale powre to worke myrakles. I saw saynt Christopher
at Parise, nat a carte lode, but as moche as a greate
hylle, yet he neuer dyd myrakles as farre as euer I