The Old English Physiologus | Page 5

of his innoþe, þætte
[=o]þre þurh þone,
s[=æ]fisca cynn, beswicen weorðaþ.
Swimmað sundhwate þ[=æ]r se
sw[=e]ta stenc
[=u]t gew[=i]t[e]ð. H[=i] þ[=æ]r in farað,
unware
weorude, oþþæt se w[=i]da ceafl
60 gefylled bið; þonne f[=æ]ringa
ymbe þ[=a] hereh[=u]þe hlemmeð t[=o]gædre
grimme g[=o]man.

Sw[=a] biþ gumena gehw[=a]m
se þe oftost his unwærl[=i]ce,
on
þ[=a]s l[=æ]nan t[=i]d, l[=i]f bisc[=e]awað:
65 l[=æ]teð hine
besw[=i]can þurh sw[=e]tne stenc,
l[=e]asne willan, þæt h[=e] biþ leahtrum f[=a]h
wið Wuldorcyning.
Him se [=a]wyrgda ong[=e]an
æfter hins[=i]þe helle ont[=y]neð,

þ[=a]m þe l[=e]asl[=i]ce l[=i]ces wynne
70 ofer ferh[ð]gereaht
fremedon on unr[=æ]d.
Þonne se f[=æ]cna in þ[=a]m fæstenne
gebr[=o]ht hafað, bealwes
cræftig,

His monstrous lips; and from his cavernous maw
Sends an entrancing
odor. This sweet scent,
Deceiving other fishes, lures them on
In
swiftly moving schools toward that fell place
Whence comes the
perfume. There, unwary host,
They enter in, until the yawning mouth

Is filled to overflowing, when, at once,
Trapping their prey, the
fearful jaws snap shut.
So, in this fleeting earthly time, each man

Who orders heedlessly his mortal life
Lets a sweet odor, some
beguiling wish,
Entice him, so that in the eyes of God,
The King of
glory, his iniquities
Make him abhorrent. After death for him
The
all-accursed devil opens hell--
Opens for all who in their folly here

Let pleasures of the body overcome
Their spirits' guidance. When the
wily fiend
Into his hold beside the fiery lake

whereupon there issues a ravishing perfume from his inwards, by which
other kinds of fish are beguiled. With lively motions they swim to
where the sweet odor comes forth, and there enter in, a heedless host,
until the wide gorge is full; then, in one instant, he snaps his fierce jaws
together about the swarming prey.
Thus it is with any one who, in this fleeting time, full oft neglects to
take heed to his life, and allows himself to be enticed by sweet

fragrance, a lying lure, so that he becomes hostile to the King of glory
by reason of his sins. The accursed one will, when they die, throw wide
the doors of hell to those who, in their folly, have wrought the
treacherous delights of the body, contrary to the wise guidance of the
soul. When the deceiver, skilful in wrongdoing, hath brought into that
fastness,

æt þ[=a]m [_[=a]_]dwylme, þ[=a] þe him on cleofiað,
gyltum
gehrodene, and [=æ]r georne his
75 in hira l[=i]fdagum l[=a]rum
h[=y]rdon,
þonne he þ[=a] grimman g[=o]man bihlemmeð,
æfter feorhcwale,
fæste t[=o]gædre,
helle hlinduru. N[=a]gon hwyrft n[=e] swice,

[=u]ts[=i]þ [=æ]fre, þ[=a] [_þe_] þ[=æ]r in cumað,
80 þon m[=a] þe
þ[=a] fiscas, faraðl[=a]cende,
of þæs hwæles fenge hweorfan m[=o]tan.
Forþon is
eallinga . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
dryhtna Dryhtne, and
[=a] d[=e]oflum wiðsace
85 wordum and weorcum, þæt w[=e]
Wuldorcyning
ges[=e]on m[=o]ton. Uton [=a] sibbe t[=o] him,
on þ[=a]s hw[=i]lnan
t[=i]d, h[=æ]lu s[=e]can,
þæt w[=e] mid sw[=a] l[=e]ofne in lofe
m[=o]tan
t[=o] w[=i]dan feore wuldres n[=e]otan.

With evil craft has led those erring ones
Who cleave to him, sore
laden with their sins,
Those who in earthly life have hearkened well

To his instruction, after death close shut
He snaps those woful jaws,
the gates of hell.
Whoever enters there has no relief,
Nor may he
any more escape his doom
And thence depart, than can the swimming
fish
Elude the monster.
Therefore it is [best
And[1]] altogether [right for each of us
To

serve and honor God,[1]] the Lord of lords,
And always in our every
word and deed
To combat devils, that we may at last
Behold the
King of glory. In this time
Of transitory things, then, let us seek

Peace and salvation from him, that we may
Rejoice for ever in so
dear a Lord,
And praise his glory everlastingly.
[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied.]

the lake of fire, those that cleave to him and are laden with guilt, such
as had eagerly followed his teachings in the days of their life, he then,
after their death, snaps tight together his fierce jaws, the gates of hell.
They who enter there have neither relief nor escape, no means of flight,
any more than the fishes that swim the sea can escape from the clutch
of the monster.
Therefore is it by all means [best for every one of us to serve[1]] the
Lord of lords, and strive against devils with words and works, that so
we may come to behold the King of glory. Let us ever, now in this
fleeting time, seek from him grace and salvation, that so with the
Beloved we may in worship enjoy the bliss of heaven for evermore.
[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied.]

III
THE PARTRIDGE[1]
H[=y]rde ic secgan g[=e]n bi sumum fugle

wundorl[=i]cne[2]. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . .