The Old English Physiologus | Page 6

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f[=æ]ger
þæt word þe gecwæð wuldres Ealdor:

5 'In sw[=a] hwylce tiid sw[=a] g[=e] mid tr[=e]owe t[=o] m[=e]
on hyge hweorfað, and g[=e] hellfirena
sweartra gesw[=i]cað, sw[=a]

ic symle t[=o] [=e]ow
mid siblufan s[=o]na gecyrre
þurh milde
m[=o]d; g[=e] b[=e]oð m[=e] siþþan
[Footnote 1: The partridge (like the cuckoo) broods the eggs of other
birds. When they are hatched and grown, they fly off to their true
parents. So men may turn from the devil, who has wrongfully gained
possession of them, to their heavenly Father, who will receive them as
his children.]
[Footnote 2: Gap in the manuscript, probably of considerable length.]

About another creature have I heard
A wondrous [tale.] [There is] a
bird [men call
The partridge. Strange is she, unlike all birds
In field
or wood who brood upon their eggs,
Hatching their young. The
partridge lays no eggs,
Nor builds a dwelling; but instead, she steals

The well-wrought nests of others. There she sits,
Warming a
stranger brood, until at last
The eggs are hatched. But when the stolen
chicks
Are fledged, they straightway fly away to seek
Their proper
kin, and leave the partridge there
Forsaken. In such wise the devil
works
To steal the souls of those whose youthful minds
Or foolish
hearts in vain resist his wiles.
But when they reach maturer age, they
see
They are true children of the Lord of lords.
Then they desert the
lying fiend, and seek
Their rightful Father, who with open arms

Receives them, as he long since promised them.[1]]
Fair is that word
the Lord of glory spoke:
'In such time as you turn with faithful hearts

To me, and put away your hellish sins,
Abominable to me, then
will I turn
To you in love for ever, for my heart
Is mild and
gracious. Thenceforth you shall be
[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied, on the basis of other versions.]

So, too, I have heard tell a wondrous [tale[1]] about a certain bird.[2] ...
fair the word[3] spoken by the King of glory: 'At whatsoever time ye

turn to me with faith in your soul, and forsake the black iniquities of
hell, I will turn straightway to you with love, in the gentleness of my
heart; and thenceforth ye shall be reckoned to
[Footnote 1: Conjecturally supplied.]
[Footnote 2: Gap in the manuscript, probably of considerable length.]
[Footnote 3: Cf. 2 Cor. 6.17,18; Isa. 55.7; Heb. 2.10,11.]

10 torhte, t[=i]r[=e]adge, talade and r[=i]mde,
beorhte gebr[=o]þor on bearna st[=æ]l.'
Uton w[=e] þ[=y] geornor
Gode [=o]liccan,
firene f[=e]ogan, friþes earnian,
duguðe t[=o]
Dryhtne, þenden [=u]s dæg sc[=i]ne,
15 þæt sw[=a] æþelne
eardw[=i]ca cyst
in wuldres wlite wunian m[=o]tan.
Finit.

Refulgent, glorious, numbered with the host
Of heaven, and, instead
of children, called
Bright brethren of the Lord.'
Let us by this
Be taught to please God better, hating sin,
And strive
to earn salvation from the Lord,
His full deliverance, so long as day

Shall shine upon us, that we may at last
Inhabit heavenly mansions,
nobler far
Than earthly dwellings, gloriously bright.
Finit.

me as glorious and renowned, as my illustrious brethren, yea, in the
place of children.'

Let us therefore propitiate God with all zeal, abhor evil, and gain
forgiveness and salvation from the Lord while for us the day still shines,
so that thus we may, in glorious beauty, inhabit a dwelling excellent
beyond compare. Finit.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Old English Physiologus, by Albert S.
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