Brendans Fabulous Voyage | Page 5

sea--it will be noticed that the periods in
this story are nearly always of forty days. At the end of this time they
come to a very high and rocky island, with streams falling down the
cliffs into the sea. They search for a landing-place for three days, and
then find a narrow harbour, between steep walls of rock. On landing,
they are met by a dog, which they follow to a town or fort, but see no
inhabitants. They go into a great hall set with couches and seats, and
find water prepared for washing the feet. The walls are hung with
vessels of divers kinds of metal, and bridles, and horns mounted with
silver. Brendan warns the brethren against theft, especially the three
who had come last. They find a table laid, and spread with very white
bread and fish. They eat and lie down to sleep. In the night Brendan
sees a fiend in the shape of an Ethiopian child tempting one of the three
last comers with a silver bridle. In the morning they find the table again
spread, and so remain for three days and nights. Then they prepare to
leave, and Brendan denounces one of the brethren as a thief. On this the
guilty brother draws the silver bridle out of his breast, and cries out,
'Father, I have sinned: forgive it, and pray for my soul that it perish
not.' The devil is cast out, but the brother dies and is buried on the
island. As they are on the point of embarking, a lad brings them a
basket of bread and a vessel (_amphora_) of water, which he gives to

them with a blessing.
They start again upon the ocean, and are carried hither and thither,
eating once every two days. At last, on Maundy Thursday, they reach
another island, where are many abundant springs full of fish, and flocks
of white sheep as large as cattle, sometimes so thick as to conceal the
earth. There they remain until the morning of the Eve of Easter, when
they take, and apparently kill and dress, one sheep and one lamb
without blemish. The reference is evidently to an identity of custom
with that which still prevails in all the southern countries of Europe, of
preparing the flesh of a lamb on Holy Saturday, in honour of the
Paschal Lamb, which flesh is blessed on the Saturday, and used to
break the fast of Lent on the next day.[3] When all is ready there comes
to them a man with a basket of bread baken on the coals--evidently
meaning Passover bread. This man now becomes a regular although
occasional feature in the narrative, and is called their provider
(_procurator_). He foretells their journey for some time, and how they
will be until a week after Pentecost in a place which is called the Eden
of Birds.
[Footnote 3: In Italy at least, in order as far as possible to combine the
strict fast of the Saturday with a fulfilment of the words of Ex. xii. 8,
'And they shall eat the flesh in that night.' It is usual to have an image
of a lamb in sugar or other confectionary, which is also blessed during
the day, and eaten at supper.]
Thus furnished, they go to an island close by, which he has pointed out
to them as the place where they are to remain until the following noon.
This island is destitute of grass, and with but scanty vegetation, and
there is no sand upon its shores. All goes well until the next day, when
they light a fire to boil the pot, whereupon the island becomes restive,
and finally sinks into the sea, although they all manage to escape into
the ship. '"Brethren," saith Brendan, "ye wonder at that which this
island hath done." "Father," say they, "we wonder sorely, and great
dread hath taken hold upon us." He said unto them, "Little children, be
not afraid, for God hath this night shown unto me the secret of this
thing. Where we have been was not an island but the first fish of all that

swim in the ocean, and he seeketh ever to bring his tail unto his mouth,
but he cannot, because of his length. Jasconius is his name."'
This is the only incident in the whole romance which is actually
grotesque. But from the solemnity with which it is narrated, it is
evident that it did not appear to be grotesque to the author. It seems to
have taken the fancy of the early and mediæval public, and even of the
iconographic public in a special degree. The word whale has commonly
been applied to the beast, and as the same episode occurs in the story of
Sinbad the Sailor, Jubinal