Alphabet of tales : an English 15th century translation of the Alphabetum narrationum of Etienne de Besançon, from Additional MS. 25,719 of the British Museum / by Etienne de Besançon

About this Item

Title
Alphabet of tales : an English 15th century translation of the Alphabetum narrationum of Etienne de Besançon, from Additional MS. 25,719 of the British Museum / by Etienne de Besançon
Author
Etienne de, Besançon, d. 1294
Editor
Banks, Mary Macleod
Publication
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co., Ltd.
1904, 1905
Rights/Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials are in the public domain. If you have questions about the collection, please contact [email protected]. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact [email protected].

DPLA Rights Statement: No Copyright - United States

Link to this Item
http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AlphTales
Cite this Item
"Alphabet of tales : an English 15th century translation of the Alphabetum narrationum of Etienne de Besançon, from Additional MS. 25,719 of the British Museum / by Etienne de Besançon." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/AlphTales. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2025.

Pages

CCCCXXV.
Labor manuum est necessarius.

Arsenius aƚƚ his life-tyme he vsid̛ at sitt & wurk a crafte with his handis, & he had evur so mekiƚƚ þoght of þe Passion̛ of our̛ Lord̛, þat he had alway in his bosom̛ a clothe to wype his ene with, he wepid̛ so when̛ he thoght þeron̛. And aƚƚ þe night he wolde be in his prayers & slepe nott, & in þe mornyng when̛ he was wery for wakyng & liste slepe, þan̛ he walde say þus; "Com̛, þou vnthrifti servand̛, slepe!" And so sittand̛ he wold̛ slepe a while, and þan̛ onone he wolde rise & say; "Itt sufficis vnto a monk̘, & he had neuer so grete labur, to hafe a nyght slepe ans in a yere, or ilk nyght to hafe ane howr̛ slepe."

Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.