When mass has been said and the books laid away, the crystal turns into glass as it was before.
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Book of the heavenly cow translation windows#
When the monks go to mass, all the glass windows turn into bright crystal to give the monks more light. No one asks for drink but takes his fill freely. The lark, stewed and powdered with cloves and cinnamon, light down into man’s mouth. Geese roasted on the spit fly to that abbey, God knows, and call “Geese, all hot! All hot!” They come with plentiful garlic, the best prepared that man may see. The birds are many and of various kinds: the thrush and nightingale, lark and woodpecker, and countless others that never cease singing merrily day and night. There are the sapphire, pearl, carbuncle, astriune, emerald, chrysaprase, beryl, onyx, topaz, amethyst, crysolite, chalcedony, and hepatite. There are four wells in the abbey, of treacle, healing water, balm and mead, ever-flowing streams from a bed of precious stones and gold. 5 The red roses and lovely lilies never fade and are a sweet sight Its flowers are choice nutmegs, the bark sweet-smelling cinnamon, and its fruit delicious cloves there was no lack of peppercorns. In the meadow is a beautiful tree, with roots of ginger and sweet cypress and shoots of zedoary. All the pillars are of crystal, with base and capital of green jasper and red coral. The cloister is fair and light, broad and long, a lovely sight. All may be rightfully eaten without blame, for it is shared in common by young and old, strong and stern, meek and bold.
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The shingles on the church, cloisters, bowers and hall are wheat cakes, and the pinnacles are fat puddings, rich enough for princes and kings. There is a fair abbey for monks, white and grey, 4 and its chambers and halls have walls made of pies filled with fish and rich meats, the most delicious man can eat. There are many kinds of fruit, and all is enjoyment and delight. There are fine, great rivers of oil, milk, honey, and wine water serves no purpose except as a sight and for washing. There is no blindness, and all is games, joy, and play. There is no thunder, sleet, hail, rain, storm or wind. There is no filth, and the land is filled with other goodness: no flies, fleas or lice in clothing or bed, town or house, and no vile worms or snails. There is no sheep, swine or goat, and no studs or places for breeding horses. There is no serpent, wolf, fox, nor horse, nag, cow nor ox. There is no lack of food or clothing, and no man or woman is ever wroth. There is no quarrelling or strife, no death but ever life. There are many sweet sights it is always day, never night. I swear this land has no peer under heaven or on earth for such joy and bliss.
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The meat is choice and the drink is clear at every meal: noon, afternoon and evening. In Cokaygne food and drink are had without worry, trouble or toil. Only two men, Elijah and Enoch, are there, and live sorrowfully alone. There is no hall, bower or bench, and only water to quench man’s thirst. What is there in Paradise but grass and flowers, and green branches? Though there is joy and great pleasure, fruit is the only food. Paradise is merry and bright, but Cokaygne is a fairer sight. 1įar across the sea, west of Spain, is a land called Cokaygne, the richest under heaven. The poem is written in doggerel-like verse, as seen in the opening lines:īecause of the difficulty in replicating the doggerel, it is translated into prose here to avoid the contortions needed to create the end rhyme, which can transform the flow of the original into artificiality. It draws on a parodic tradition going back as early as Lucian, and is an example of the way in which authors appropriated existing material such as myth, lore, tradition and literature and adapted it for their own purposes: here, to criticize cloistered clergy.
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The poem begins lightheartedly but becomes more caustic, then vicious, and finally condemnatory in the penultimate scatological stanza. On a larger scale, the poet accuses the monks of many charges brought against all friars: opulence, gluttony, hedonism, and sexual misconduct. That order’s rule called for poverty, austerity, obedience, and strict dietary laws that excluded meat, all of which are violated in the poem. Amidst the copious antifraternal attacks, the poet takes a swipe at cloistered monks, possibly Cistercians in Kildare. This highly satirical poem is theorized to have been written in the early to mid-fourteenth century by a Franciscan friar, possibly in Kildare, based on internal and manuscript evidence. MIDDLE ENGLISH COMPLAINT LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION