The Wake (3 page)

thu will haf my wifman to answer to if this does not cum up i saes to this gebur. my wifman she colde spin flax from all of angland so micel linen does she mac if there is no flax i will haf no scyrte and thu will haf no hands a blue feld i wants to see two month from now. asger he saes naht to this only locs at me. to be triewe to him i wolde haf to sae that asger is a good man though with no wifman and no cildren thus he must worc for me but his hus is not the wyrst still he is a gebur and dumb lic a hund

there was a barn by my hus and ofer the winter sum timber had gan rotin and i was needan to see to this. i was about to be leafan this asger to his luc when i hierde the sound of folc from the path what cum ofer the fenn from the ham

buccmaster cums this call buccmaster and ecceard is cuman up to me under the welig and alor treows from the west and not alone. ecceard has with him two men from the wapentac of course i is thincan they is cuman to put sum thing on me

this is my ground ecceard i saes and there is naht thu has on me. i can find twentig oath helpers in one daeg to spec agan what efer thu puts on me do not cum here with these men to afryht me on my own ground my grandfathers sweord is in my hus i is a free man

ecceard cums to me with these two ealdors eadbert it is from crugland where there is a great abbodrice and also lidmann of the holt by durwins water. these is high men of the wapentac nefer has i seen them near this ham befor

buccmaster of holland saes ecceard thu is thincan wrong now loc thu cnawan these men. he is right i cnawan these men lic them i has a seat on the wapentac as a great man i greets them well now as i seen they is cum in freondscipe

buccmaster saes ecceard how is it thu is worcan on thy ground lic it is any daeg

thy ham is all afeart saes this lidmann all hams in these parts is

sum thing is cuman saes ecceard this is what thu saed buccmaster thu spac to me of sum fugol and i mocced thu well it colde be this was wrong of me

it cannot be seen from this ground saes eadbert he is locan to the heofon all these treows

lic him i locs to the heofon then and my geburs they locs too

the fugol is baec i saes does thu smerc now ecceard

no saes ecceard no there is no fugol cum with me we moste go a lytel way. he walcs then ofer to my hus and past my hus and my barn we gan beyond the ox hege and to the east of the strips to the ecg of the holt where i has my swine

now loc saes ecceard and i locs baec ofer to where these geburs sceolde be sawan my flax but they has cum with me and i cannot harm them now for the heofon has sum thing greater for all of us and it is scinan lic another sunne efen in the daegs bryhtness

what is this fuccan thing i saes

this is a haeric star saes lidmann buccmaster of holland it is cum to spec to us

we is telt thu seen sum other sign before saes eadbert a fugol

this is triewe i saes it was wid lic a hus it spac to me it breathed fyr it saed buccmaster of holland sum thing is cuman

this fugol spac thy name saes eadbert in sum wundor. of course i colde haf saed mor but loc at this haeric star. the daeg was high and clere but this star it was bright lic the mona as if it was mid night and lic the mona it cum ofer the heofon and from it a tael lic fethras

we has spoc to the preost saes eadbert he has hierde from the biscop this haeric star it is bad for angland

the preost i saes thu might as well spec to my oxen

buccmaster thu will not spec these things to the men of the wapentac saes ecceard and he specs to me lic it is a warnan

it is the cyng saes lidmann then and he specs lic a man what is dragged from water

what saes ecceard

it is this cyng the crist is agan him

spec not this way of our cyng saes eadbert

well there is none to hiere in this fenn the biscop specs thus when there is none to hiere. this cyng he is not of cyngs blud he brings the frenc man and the dene on us for his corona now there is this haeric star the crist is tellan us our cyng has synned

harald godwineson is our cyng saes ecceard gifan the corona by a witan of triewe anglisc men. who wolde thu haf as thy cyng there is none other he is an anglisc man a man of wessex not to be tacan from his place by ingengas

the crist will tac him if he ceoses saes lidmann there has not been a thing lic this in angland that any lifan has seen. fugols specan to thy socman here now this haeric star in the heofon

sum thing is cuman i saes i has telt thu

then it may be sige saes ecceard sige for angland

thu will lysten next time ecceard i saes

this is from the deoful saes lidmann it is from the deoful

so thu seen what men was lic in these lands thu seen they was not ready for what was cuman. i saes men but they was mor lic wifmen sum of them runnan lic cycens round their ground not ready for fuccan their wifmen not ready for what was cuman all afeart of sum star. but who wants to see what is cuman who wants to see if what is cuman is blaec lic the graef. none wants to see all wants to haro and plough and drinc and fucc lic the blaec will nefer cum

lif is a raedel for dumb folc but the things i has seen it is not lic they sae. the bocs and the preosts the bells the laws of the crist it is not lic they sae

to the cros road i walc to the wilde cros road by the wilde grene holt where there is no hus of man and at the cros road a man hangs from a pal for crimes agan his folc by law of the wapentac after ordeal and beneath this pal is an other man and this man he lifs

this man capd he is in grene and he wers upon his heafod a wid hat and until i is near i can not see his nebb. and then he teorns to me he locs at me with his one eage one beornan eage

upon the pal then there is a raefen

from the holt then a wulf calls to an other

this man then he specs to me he saes only one word

it is lic my grandfather saed to me lic what i saed to ecceard to these wapentac men this hwit crist he lies. it is hard to sae these things they moste be saed in thy hus only if thu is hierde the preost and the thegn and the gerefa and the wapentac they will tac thu down. but it is lic my grandfather saed before the crist cum our folcs gods was of anglisc wind and water now this ingenga god from ofer the sea this god he tacs from us what we is. there is sum of us saes my grandfather still cepan alyf the eald gods of angland efen in these times and he wolde spec to me of these things when my father was not lystnan a thrall was he to those who wolde tac from him what macd him man

this is not of what i was specan not of my father of him i does not spec but it seems to me thu moste cnaw it was the crist and the bastard what toc from me what i was what i is for men of all places was afeart of both. all is afeart in this world is not fear what cepes the gebur from cwellan the thegn who cepes him down is not fear what cepes us from slittan the throtas of the preosts when they tells us we is born to die that we synns by fuccan or drincan is not fear what macs us hyd lic hunds liccan our beallucs when we is telt

angland was not in synn angland was in fear

now the bastard he grows fatt on it

sum daegs it was after this time sum daegs after the haeric star. folcs in the ham was runnan around cloccan lic cycens for all the time this star was in the heofon and for ecceard at last there was sum thing to do in cepan these men stille for there was lytel worc done while this star was with us. my geburs they was moanan lic the ox in the lihtnen storm they muttered and loced to the heofon all the daeg lic this star wolde fall on them lic the crist wolde cum up abuf the alor treows to stric me down and tac them from their worc to his fathers hus

well the crist nefer cum for them as the crist nefer cums for no man. the haeric star it beorned for one wice but the cyng was still the cyng by the end and angland was still angland and my gebur asger was still dumb lic my swine and the sunne it cum up as it cum up for my grandfather but still i cnawan this was not the end of this thing for had there not been sum time betweon the cuman of the fugol and the cuman of this star and had not that time seemed lic ten years past or ten years to cum. yes and all was well but all was soon not to be well and i colde see this colde feel this colde feel this lic i colde feel the regn cuman. i colde feel things what other men was too dumb to see this is how i still lifs while others from that ham is rottan in the ground this is why i was cyng of the grene holt lic my sistor wolde sae my brothor thu is not lic other men

i is not specan neither of my sistor to thu these is not things to be specan to thu

but loc after one wice this star was gan. i cum out of my hus early in the daeg the grasses is wet with dew lic hwit silc ofer my land the sunne risan to the heofon the fugols callan the treows wacan all is fresh and grene and open no man is to be seen or hierde only the greatness of the fenn and all its lif

so i cum out one wice or mor after this star was in the heofon and i locs for this star as i had efry daeg since it cum and this star is gan and all is as it was in the heofon and on the land. and i has my swine to loc to and there is madder to be sawan but i is wantan to cnaw if there is any men in the ham has not hyd in their hus or run to the holt for fear of this star so leafan the hus to my wifman and my cildren i walcs the path to the ham

in the ham i was hopan to see all those cycan men runnan i wolde haf smerced at this i wolde haf thought ah buccmaster of holland safe thu is on thy land and strong while these lytel men is runnan from stars but this was not what i seen. there was a stillness in the ham on this mergen the mergen after the haeric star had gan from angland a stillness lic the fenn in winter lic a curse was gan from the land

our ham was lytel it was not sum great tun there was six hus on the straet and sum four mor hus set baec from it around fenn and feld but no mor than this a lytel place only and what was good it had no circe. a preost there was who cum oft to lie to us for there is no part of angland now can hyd from these things but there was no hus of the crist. efry sunnandaeg men of this ham must go ofer three miles of fenn to the circe at bacstune there to be sung to of hel and of all the things that they moste do efry daeg to cepe them selfs from it. many lic ecceard and others on the wapentac seen that i was not at the circe on many daegs and this did not mac them blithe and sum there was talcced of ordeal for me and saed this was not right and that sum thing moste be done for the crist was mocced. and i belyf sum thing might haf been done i belief sum thing was cuman for me that the men of the crist was cuman for me wolde do sum thing to cepe me down in the eages of the folc to cepe the eald gods down but then the beornan cum and all was broc

so in the ham on this daeg in the bright mergen there was sum stillness and i seen why as i cum to the gathran place where the straet from the west cum in. the folc of the ham had stopped worc though in this ham there was little worc done on any daeg this was why my geburs was so weac. there is sum thing in this fenn macs sum men weac. esols they is here cycan men it is best to cepe awaeg from them. but on this mergen they is gathered round sum other folc all is there efen ecceard as i cum up he locs up lic he does not want me there

buccmaster he saes buccmaster of holland it is early to see thu

what of it ecceard i saes

he saes naht gretans that is all my freond

the star is gan ecceard

the star is gan buccmaster and sum thing has cum

saltmen

they has cum with tidans

the star did not beorn for saltmen this fugol did not call for saltmen

well loc buccmaster they is here

saltmen has cum on this mergen to the ham from the pans at offerthun on the saltpath from the east. they pans salt from the wid sea and they tacs it all across holland they cuts it efry man cnawan this they is not to be trusted but still it is bought to cepe the mete of the swine through the winter

there is two saltmen i cnawan i has seen them before but now there is sum other man i has not seen before and it is this one what is specan and all is gathred round him. he is a thynne fello eald in his loc a long cenep but no beard he is lic sum ghast. nebb long and hwit haer thynne he is not yonge and i sees cwic that he is no saltman neither though he has cum with them. this is a gleoman a teller of tales bringer of tidans from other places

if this gleoman does bring tidans he first has dumb folc to spec to so i moste stand and lysten to his rot and his raedels or they will be restless for they is dumb folc in this ham and to laugh is all they wants they wolde be blithe to haf naht but laughter and fuccan and ealu all their lytel lifs

ah i is a freond to all wifmen saes this gleoman he is holdan this lytel throng with his words

my stem is hard he saes in a bed it is standan proud

all these esols they laughs hard at this

i is haeric under neath

coughan and spittan

and now sum girl she tacs me in her hand she holds me hard she runs her hwit hand along my hard stem

they is almost ceocan now

and she peels me and she tacs my heafod in her mouth

the gleoman is blithe with himself here. it moste be the same in all hams all ofer angland when he specs this raedel. sum of these geburs they is almost rollan on the ground it is hard not to cicc them

and lo i will mac that girls eages water

a pintel cries sum dumb gebur thu is a pintel

thu is dumb saes his freond this is what thu is meant to thinc it is a raedel

a hund saes sum other is it a hund

a fuccan hund thu is a hund

i is saes the gleoman puttan an end to this with a roll of his eald heafod a leac

a leac a leac saes all these fools as if they had always cnawan. well i will not listan to mor of this scit i is a socman with three oxgangs

gleoman i saes does thu bring tidans

this gleoman then he locs at me and his eages is strong this one he is not a dumb man

tidans i saes what of this haeric star what of angland