Harvard Classics, vol 38 | Page 7

was the King's Lieutenant in that army; all the same, the honour of
finding it belonged to me.
I saw one very strange thing, which was this: a soldier in my presence
gave one of his fellows a blow on the head with a halbard, penetrating
to the left ventricle of the brain; yet the man did not fall to the ground.
He that struck him said he heard that he had cheated at dice, and he had
drawn a large sum of money from him, and was accustomed to cheat.
They called me to dress him; which I did, as it were for the last time,
knowing that he would die soon. When I had dressed him, he returned
all alone to his quarters, which were at the least two hundred paces
away. I bade one of his companions send for a priest to dispose the
affairs of his soul; he got one for him, who stayed with him to his last
breath. The next day, the patient sent for me by his girl, dressed in
boy's apparel, to come and dress him; which I would not, fearing he
would die under my hands; and to be rid of the matter I told her the
dressing must not be removed before the third day. But in truth he was
sure to die, though he were never touched again. The third day, he
came staggering to find me in my tent, and the girl with him, and
prayed me most affectionately to dress him, and showed me a purse
wherein might be an hundred or sixscore pieces of gold, and said he
would give me my heart's desire; nevertheless, for all that, I put off the
removal of the dressing, fearing lest he should die then and there.
Certain gentlemen desired me to go and dress him; which I did at their
request; but in dressing him he died under my hands in a convulsion.
The priest stayed with him till death, and seized his purse, for fear
another man should take it, saying he would say masses for his poor
soul. Also he took his clothes, and everything else.
I have told this case for the wonder of it, that the soldier, having
received this great blow, did not fall down, and kept his reason to the
end.
Not long afterward, the camp was broken up from diverse causes: one,
because we were told that four companies of Spaniards were entered

into Perpignan: the other, that the plague was spreading through the
camp. Moreover, the country folk warned us there would soon be a
great overflowing of the sea, which might drown us all. And the
presage which they had, was a very great wind from sea, which rose so
high that there remained not a single tent but was broken and thrown
down, for all the care and diligence we could give; and the kitchens
being all uncovered, the wind raised the dust and sand, which salted
and powdered our meats in such fashion that we could not eat them;
and we had to cook them in pots and other covered vessels. Nor was the
camp so quickly moved but that many carts and carters, mules and
mule drivers, were drowned in the sea, with great loss of baggage.
When the camp was moved I returned to Paris.

THE JOURNEY TO LANDRESY. 1544
The King raised a great army to victual Landresy. Against him the
Emperor had no fewer men, but many more, to wit, eighteen thousand
Germans, ten thousand Spaniards, six thousand Walloons, ten thousand
English, and from thirteen to fourteen thousand horse. I saw the two
armies near each other, within cannon-shot; and we thought they could
not withdraw without giving battle. There were some foolish gentlemen
who must needs approach the enemy's camp; the enemy fired on them
with light field pieces; some died then and there, others had their arms
or legs carried away. The King having done what he wished, which was
to victual Landresy, withdrew his army to Guise, which was the day
after All Saints, 1544; and from there I returned to Paris.
A little while after, we went to Boulogne; where the English, seeing our
army, left the forts which they were holding, Moulanabert, le petit
Paradis, Monplaisir, the fort of Chastillon, le Portet, the fort of
Dardelot. One day, as I was going through the camp to dress my
wounded men, the enemy who were in the Tour d' Ordre fired a cannon
against us, thinking to kill two men-at-arms who had stopped to talk
together. It happened that the ball passed quite close to one of them,
which threw him to the ground, and it was thought the ball had touched
him, which it did not; but only