iliar with the vocabulary of an earlier age than his own, and had not listened in vain to the passing minstrel. He seems, as we read him between the lines of the Prologue and Epilogue, to have sincerely loved his mistress, and to have regretted her loss with real affection. The uneven jog of his lines, and the abundance of cumbrous rhyme-tags, hinder our enjoyment of his poem. If we forgive him these faults, we must admit that he gave his lady a not unworthy rendering of his original. What that original was, I give a hint, by printing at the foot of the page the story as it occurs in Vincent of Beauvais. The prayer of Asenath was omitted in that abridgment, along with certain minor details, such as Potiphar's reasonable desire to have his daughter married from his own door; but the phraseology of the Speculum is elsewhere reproduced by the English writer with such exact fidelity, that, except for the suppressions above noted, we must consider the Vincentian narrative an accurate copy of the earlier Latin text. Of this Historia Assenech, as Vincent calls his authority, I know no copy in existence; and leave the question to those more familiar than myself with the history of Hebrew literature. The Storie of Asneth exists, so far as I know, only in the volume known as the Ellesmere MS. No. 4, folios 121a-132a. The MS. contains Lydgate's Wikked Tong, Ram's Horn, So as the Crabbe, and Daunce of Machabree, and Hoccleve's De Regimine Principum, all very good texts of the first half of the fifteenth century. In a different hand, though of not much later date, occurs our poem. The writing is penned with monastic care, the letters small and clear, and the abbreviations scrupulously marked. The "p" is made like "y", and the "n" like "u", while "G" is very like "S". The divisions of the tale are marked by letters illuminated in a ribbon design, not ill drawn. The vellum is marked with a plummet for writing, 43 lines to the page, enclosed by vertical and horizontal lines the full way of the page. The quires of the small quarto are unmarked for the binder, or if marked originally, have been clipped. The catalogue of Lord Ellesmere's collection at Bridgewater House, soon to be published, will contain a more complete description of the MS. than here needs to be given. I am indebted to the librarian at Bridgwater House, Mr. Strachan Holme, for his kindness in arranging, after permission had been obtained from the Earl of Ellesmere, for the photographing of the MS. My text is copied from these photographs, such alterations as I make being chiefly insertions necessary to the sense of the line, and clearly indicated. The exact MS. reading is given in such cases in footnotes. I have in half-a-dozen instances supplied translations of rare words. The numerous archaic words in the poet's dialect make one suspect in him an intentional affectation of an obsolete style. For a bibliography of the four-text edition of the Greek original, and the Syriac, Ethiopic, Slavic, and Armenian translations, one may consult the excellent article by the Rabbi of Temple Beth-El, Dr. Kohler Kaufman, in the Jewish Encyclopedia, under Asenath. Dr. Kaufman points out the pronouncedly Christian character of the cross upon the honey, and the reference to bread of life. He gives an admirable summary of the story, too long to quote here. Most important for this paper, however, are his translations from the original of Asenath's prayer, which show that the English translator followed his lost Latin original at that point with the same fidelity observable in the passages covered by Vincent's version. The heroine's name is in the original Greek "Aove0", from a Hebrew Asenath. Thus the English version has a nearer resemblance to the original than Vincent's Assenech. THE STORY OF ASNETH. PROLOGUE. As I on hilly halkes logged me late, La bele me desired in englysh to translate The latyn of that lady, Asneth putifar. 5 And I answered, "ma bele, langage I lakke, To parfourme youre plesir, for yt ys ful straunge That broken tuskes shold wel harde nuttis crakke, And kerue out the kernelis, to glade with yowre graunge; For lame and vnlusty, now age hath me left, 10 Mi spiritis are spended, I lakke sapience, Dulled I am with dotage, my reson ys me reft, 1 MS. The. He plesed neuer lady wel þat lakked corage, And as able ys be asse to danielis dremys, 20 As pe cukkou with crochetis ony countour to close." And when daunger deynusly here desire refused, Labele ful benignely sayde to me pan, "That seruant ys not to blame, but fully excused, That meketh hym to his maystresse, & doth as he can." 25 Concluded pus with gentilnesse, I toke on me pe cure, Asneth storie to translate after my cunyng, Fro latyn into englysh as god me sendeth oeure. Gyde pis werke, gracious lord, and graunte it good endyng, 30 Hit is nuyus, but þe sentence I schal sue in trace, THE STORY. Pharao the famus kyng of egipt land aboute, The firste yeer of seven yeeris of plentevus abundance, 35 The fifthe day, in pe secunde monthe, he sende Ioseph oute To purveie wete for pe peple of his obeisance; And in the ferthe monthe, pe eyhtethe day, to make pur veance Ioseph cam into pe cuntre of helinpoleos, And gadered whete of that region, nobeli sprang his loos. 40 And in pat cite pere was a prince of Pharao the kynges, That was wondir noble and riche, and of gret prudence, Sad of conseyl, meke, and wise, in alle maner thyngys; Chief cunseilour to Pharao for his intelligence. Above alle princes he was preferred for his excellence; 45 Of Helinpoleos preest, Putifar, so men did hym calle, Honoured in alle egipt of gret and of smalle. This prince hadde a dowter dere, Asneth was her name, Of eyhtene yeer age sche was, withoute ony blame, Vincenti Bellovacensis Speculum Historiale ex Libro vjto., capitulis cxviii-cxxiiii. exviii. De sublimacione eiusdem (Josephi) et arrogancia Assenech. Joseph XXX annorum erat cum stetit coram pharaone somnoque eius exposito, sublimatus & dux egipti constitutus .s. anno iacob cxxi, ut postea potebit ac pro hoc anno tercie etatis .cclxxxvi. mundi uero secundimillesimo .cc. et .xxix. Dedit autem ei pharao uxorem assenech filiam putifar uirginem ex qua nati sunt ei filii manasses & effraim. Inter hec autem apis rex argiuorum in egipto menphin condidit. Ex historia Assenech. In primo autem anno .vii. annorum pubertatis misit pharao ioseph ut congregaret frumenta, qui uenit in fines elyopoleos, cuius regionis princeps erat putifar sacerdos princeps satraporum, & consiliarius pharaonis huius filia erat assenech pulcra super omnes uirgines terre per omnia similis filiabus hebreorum. elata & superba. despiciens omnes virorum quam etiam nullus unquam uiderat uirorum. Erat enim turris coniuncta domni putifaris magna Of stature semeli as sair, specious as rebekke, 55 Fair formed of feturis, assemblyng to rachel. Her cors was ful comely of hue, hed & nekke. And praysed here in alle pat lande, so noble was here fame, 60 That bataile among princes children was ioyned for pat dame. But when pat pharaois eldist child, his sone & his heir, Herde telle of this ladi, to his fadir he wente right, And said, "graunte me to my wyf asneth the feyr." But pharao denyed hym, and answered to the knyght, 65 "Thu schalt haue to pin astate a ladi of more myght, The kyngis dowter of moab, of noble alliance, A comeli quene, fair and free, evene to pi plesance." But asneth, þat was so feir, soleyn she was with al, Dispisyng eche man deynusly, and prowd of here corage. 70 A ful high tour was bild for here, of werk þat was rial, Ioynyng to hire fadir hous, and aboue it vpon stage Ten chambres for here wer bild, of precious parage. The firste was fair and large, with porfereit stonis walled, Poudred with precious polimites, of diuerse colours called. 75 With carpettis of cloth of gold hit was laid abowte, And in the wallis here egipt godis sette in sundry wyse, & excelsa. super quam erat cenaculum, habens Thalamos x. quorum primus magnus & decorus lapidibus porfireticis stratus. parietes lapidibus preciosis induti loquearia aurea & erant intus egipciorum (decorum) aurei & argentei quos colebat assenech & timebat & quotidie eis immolabat. Secundus Thalamus seruabat ornatus assenech in auro & argento & lapidibus et lintheaminibus preciosis. Intercio Thalamo erant omnia bona terre erat enim promptuarium assenech. reliquae vii.vii. uirginum erant quae illi seruiebant pulcre uirgines quibus locutus non erat uir. neque puer masculus. In Thalamo assenech erant tres fenestre. prima magna ualde perspiciens ad orientem. |