CHAPTER VII.
Curiosities of the Gesta—Byrkes’ Epitaph—The Lay of the Little Bird—Of the Burdens of this Life—Ancient Fairs—Winchester—Modern Continental Fairs—Russia—Nischnei-Novgorod.
“We confess ourselves conquered,” said Herbert, when the next evening was come; “your old monk’s learning is too recondite for us.”
“First, then, comes ‘I have expended’: what?—my life—in judgment, in advice, in authority. ‘I have given’—equipments to my servants and warriors, charity to the needy. ‘I have kept’—exact justice. ‘I have possessed’—a generous and true heart. ‘I do possess’—a hand to bestow, to protect, to punish. ‘I have lost’—my folly, the friendship of my foes, the desires of the flesh. ‘I am punished’—for my sins.”
“So far, so good; but the most abstruse remains unexplained,” said Thompson; “on the front of the sarcophagus was written: ‘What I have expended, I have; what I gave away, I have.’ How do you read these sayings?”
“I am afraid I cannot help you,” rejoined Lathom; “the story seems to be defective at this point, and we must fall back on the suggestions of the translator, of whom I have spoken before. Mr. Swan refers the words ‘What I have expended, I have’ to a judicious outlay of property, by which various benefits are reaped by the expender in the persons of his descendants; whilstthe other words, ‘What I have given away, I have,’ he explains of the thanks of the poor and the blessings of heaven consequent on charitable gifts.”
“Your story reminds me of the old epitaph in Doncaster Church,” said Herbert, “which Gough gives in these words:
“‘Howe, howe, who is heare?I, Robert of Doncaster, and Margaret my feare (wife),That I spent, that I had;That I gave, that I have;That I left, that I lost:A.D.1579.Quoth Robertus Byrkes,Who in this worldeDid reygne threeScore yeares and sevenAnd yet lived not one?’”
“‘Howe, howe, who is heare?I, Robert of Doncaster, and Margaret my feare (wife),That I spent, that I had;That I gave, that I have;That I left, that I lost:A.D.1579.Quoth Robertus Byrkes,Who in this worldeDid reygne threeScore yeares and sevenAnd yet lived not one?’”
“‘Howe, howe, who is heare?I, Robert of Doncaster, and Margaret my feare (wife),That I spent, that I had;That I gave, that I have;That I left, that I lost:A.D.1579.Quoth Robertus Byrkes,Who in this worldeDid reygne threeScore yeares and sevenAnd yet lived not one?’”
“‘Howe, howe, who is heare?
I, Robert of Doncaster, and Margaret my feare (wife),
That I spent, that I had;
That I gave, that I have;
That I left, that I lost:
A.D.1579.
Quoth Robertus Byrkes,
Who in this worlde
Did reygne three
Score yeares and seven
And yet lived not one?’”
“The three centre lines of his epitaph, indeed, bear a curious likeness to some of the inscriptions on the sarcophagus; perhaps the wise man who composed the epitaph may have seen your old monk’s book, or heard its moralities in many an old pulpit exhortation in his early days,” said Thompson.
“Coincidences are oftentimes just as remarkable as plagiarisms,” said Herbert. “But come, Sir Tale-teller, What entertainment have you for us this evening?”
“A little poetry, not of my own, but so closely resembling the old tale of the Gesta, that I prefer this poetic version, of The Lay of the Little Bird, to my own stiff prose.”