The Book of Margery Kempe (31 page)

The said creature and her companions entered their ship on the Thursday in Passion Week,
¹
and God sent them fair wind and weather that day and on the Friday. But on the Saturday, and Palm Sunday also, our Lord – turning his hand as he liked, trying their faith and their patience – sent them on those two nights such storms and tempests that they all thought they would perish. The storms were so severe and terrible that they could not control their ship. They knew no better expedient than to commend themselves and their ship to the guidance of our Lord; they abandoned their skill and their cunning, and let our Lord drive them where he would. The said creature had sorrow and care enough; she thought she never had so much before. She cried to our Lord for mercy and for the preserving of her and all her company. And she thought in her mind, ‘Ah, Lord, for your love I came here, and you have often promised me that I should never perish on land or on water or through storms. People have many times cursed me for the grace that you have worked in me, desiring that I should die in misfortune and great distress; and now, Lord, it is likely that their cursing is coming into effect, and I, unworthy wretch, am deceived and cheated of the promise that you have many times made to me, who have always trusted in your mercy and your goodness, unless you soon withdraw these storms and show us mercy. Now may my enemies rejoice and I may sorrow, if they have their intent and I be deceived. Now, blissful Jesus, remember your manifold mercy, and fulfil your promises that you have promised me. Show you are truly God, and no evil spirit, that has brought me here into the perils of the sea, whose counsel I have
trusted and followed for many years, and shall do, through your mercy, if you deliver us from out of these grievous perils. Help us and succour us, Lord, before we perish or despair, for we may not long endure this sorrow that we are in without your mercy and succour.'

Our merciful Lord, speaking in her mind, blamed her for her fear, saying, ‘Why do you fear? Why are you so afraid? I am as mighty here on the sea as on the land. Why will you mistrust me? All that I have promised you I shall truly fulfil, and I shall never deceive you. Suffer patiently for a while, and trust in my mercy. Do not waver in your faith, for without faith you may not please me. If you would truly trust me and doubt nothing, you may have great comfort within yourself, and might comfort all your companions, whereas you are all now in great fear and grief.'

With such manner of converse, and much more high and holy than I could ever write, our Lord comforted his creature, blessed may he be. Holy saints that she prayed to conversed with her soul with our Lord's permission, giving her words of great comfort. At last our Lady came and said, ‘Daughter, be comforted. You have always found true what I have told you, and therefore don't be afraid any longer, for I tell you truly, these winds and storms shall soon cease, and you will have fair weather.'

And so, blessed may God be, a short time afterwards her ship was driven towards the Norwegian coast, and there they landed on Good Friday, and remained there Easter Eve, Easter Day and the Monday after Easter. And on that Monday all who belonged to the ship received communion on the ship.

On Easter Day, the master of the ship and the said creature, and the most part of the company, went on land and heard the service at the church. After the custom of the country, the cross was raised at about noon,
²
and she had her meditation and her devotion with weeping and sobbing as well as if she had been at home. God did not withdraw his grace from her either in church, on the ship, on the sea, or in any other place that she went to, for she always had him in her soul.

When they had received the sacrament on Easter Monday, as is
written before, our Lord sent them a fair wind that brought them away from that country and blew them home to Germany as they desired. The said creature found such grace in the master of the ship that he provided her with food and drink and everything that she needed as long as she was on the ship, and he was as gentle with her as if she had been his mother. He covered her while on board ship with his own clothes, for otherwise she might have died of cold, as she was not prepared like the others were. She went at the bidding of our Lord, and therefore her Master, who bade her go, provided for her so that she managed as well as any of her company – worship and praise be to our Lord for it.

The said creature remained in Danzig in Germany for about five or six weeks, and was warmly welcomed by many people for our Lord's love. There was no one so much against her as was her daughter-in-law, who was most obliged and beholden to have comforted her, if she had been kind.

Then this creature rejoiced in our Lord that she was so kindly received for his love, and intended to stay there longer. Our Lord, speaking to her thought, commanded her to leave that country. She was then in great distress and doubt as to how she should do the bidding of God, which she would in no way withstand, and yet had neither man nor woman to accompany her. She would not travel by sea, because she had been so frightened at sea on her way there; and she could not travel easily by land, because there was a war going on in the country she would pass by.
¹
So for one reason and another she was in great distress, not knowing how things would improve for her. She went into a church and prayed that our Lord, since he commanded her to go, should send her help, and company with whom she could travel.

And suddenly, a man came to her and asked if she would like to go on pilgrimage to a place far distant from there called Wilsnack,
²
where the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is venerated, which came by a miracle from three Hosts, the sacrament of the altar. These three Hosts and precious blood are held in great veneration there to this day, and visited by pilgrims from many countries.

She happily said she would go there if she had good company, and if she knew of any honest man who might afterwards take her to England. And he promised her that he would go on pilgrimage with her to the said place at his own expense, and afterwards, if she would completely pay his expenses to England, he would come with her until she was on the coast of England, where she could find companions from her own country.

He obtained a small ship in which they should sail towards the holy place, but then she could not get permission to leave that country because she was an Englishwoman,
³
and so she had great trouble and much hindrance before she could get permission from one of the Teutonic Knights to leave there. At last, through the direction of our Lord, a merchant from Lynn heard tell of it, and he came and comforted her, promising her that he would help her to get away from there, either secretly or openly. And this man with great effort got her permission to go where she wished.

Then she took ship, with the man who had provided for her, and God sent them calm wind, which pleased her very well, for there rose not a wave on the water. Her company thought they were making no progress, and were gloomy and grumbling. She prayed to our Lord, and he sent them enough wind that they sailed on a great way and the waves rose. Her companions were glad and cheerful, and she was miserable and sorrowful for fear of the waves. When she looked at them she was always frightened. Our Lord, speaking to her spirit, ordered her to lay her head down, so that she would not see the waves, and she did so. But she was always frightened, and she was often criticized for that. And so they sailed on to a place which is called Stralsund.
⁴
(If the names
of the places are not correctly written, let no one be surprised, for she concentrated more on contemplation than the names of the places, and he who wrote them never saw them, and therefore do excuse him!)

When they had come to Stralsund they landed, and so the said creature, with the previously mentioned man, went towards Wilsnack in great fear, and passed many dangers. The man who was her guide was always afraid, and would continually have liked to abandon her. Many times she spoke as nicely to him as she could, that he should not abandon her in those unfamiliar parts and in the midst of her enemies, for there was open war between the English and those countries. Therefore her fear was much the greater, and in the midst of it our Lord always spoke in her mind, ‘Why are you afraid? No man shall harm you or anyone that you travel with. Therefore comfort your man, and tell him no man shall hurt him or harm him while he is in your company. Daughter, you well know that a woman who has a handsome man for her husband, if she love him, will go with him wherever he wants. And daughter, there is no one so handsome or so good as I. Therefore, if you love me, you shall not fear to go with me wherever I will have you. Daughter, I brought you here, and I shall bring you home again to England in safety. Do not doubt it, but well believe it.'

Such holy dalliance and speeches in her soul caused her to sob very violently, and weep most abundantly. The more she wept, the more her man was irked by her company, and busied himself to go from her and leave her alone. He went so fast that she could not keep up without great effort and distress. He said that he was afraid of enemies and of thieves; that they would take her away
from him perhaps, and beat him and rob him as well. She comforted him as well as she could, and said she dared undertake that no men should beat them or rob them, or say a bad word to them.

And soon after she had said this, a man came out of a wood, a tall man with good weapons, and well-armed to fight, as it seemed to them.

Then her man, being in great fear, said to her, ‘Look, what do you say now?'

She said, ‘Trust in our Lord God, and fear no man.'

The man came by them, and did not say a bad word to them, and so they passed on towards Wilsnack with great effort. She could not endure such long day's journeys as the man could, and he had no pity on her and would not wait for her. And therefore she struggled on for as long as she could, until she fell ill and could go no further. It was a great marvel and miracle that a woman unaccustomed to walking, and also about sixty years of age,
¹
could manage each day to keep pace on her journey with a vigorous man.

On Corpus Christi Eve,
²
they happened to come to a little hostelry far from any town, and there they could get no bedding but a little straw. And the said creature rested upon it that night and the next day until it was evening again. Our Lord sent thunder and lightning, and rain nearly all the time, so that they did not dare do anything outdoors. She was very glad of this, for she was very ill and she well knew that, if the weather had been fine, the man who travelled with her would not have waited for her, he would have left her. Therefore she thanked God who gave him occasion to wait, although it was against his will.

In the meantime, because of her illness, a wagon was provided, and so she was carried on to the Holy Blood of Wilsnack, with great distress and discomfort. The women of the district as they went along, having compassion on her, said many times to this man that he deserved great blame because he tormented her so dreadfully. Desiring to be rid of her, he took no notice of what
they said, and never spared her any more because of it. In this way, through thick and thin, through the help of our Lord, she was brought to Wilsnack and saw that precious blood, which by a miracle came out of the blessed sacrament of the altar.

They did not stay long in the said place, but within a short time began to make their way towards Aachen, riding in wagons until they came to a river where there was a great gathering of people, some going towards Aachen and some to other places, among whom was a monk, a very negligent and misdirected man, and in his company were some young men who were merchants.

The monk and the merchants knew the man well who was the said creature's guide, and called him by his name, and were very friendly to him. When they had crossed the water and were travelling on land (the monk with the merchants, and the said creature with her man, altogether in a party in wagons), they came past a house of Friars Minor, and were very thirsty. They told the said creature to go in to the friars and get them some wine. She said, ‘Sirs, you will excuse me, for if it were a house of nuns I would very gladly go, but because they are men, I shall not go, by your leave.'

So one of the merchants went to fetch them a measure of wine. Then the friars came to them and asked them to come and see the blessed sacrament in their church, for it was within the Octave
¹
of Corpus Christi, and it stood open in a crystal container, so that people could see it if they wished.

The monk and the men went with the friars to see the precious sacrament. The said creature thought she would see it as well as them, and followed after, as though it were against her will. And when she beheld the precious sacrament, our Lord gave her so
much sweetness and devotion that she wept and sobbed amazingly bitterly and could not restrain herself from doing so. The monk and all her parry were angry because she wept so bitterly, and when they had come back to their wagons they scolded her and rebuked her, calling her a hypocrite, and said many a wicked word to her. She, to excuse herself, quoted scripture against them, verses of the Psalter, ‘
Qui seminant in lacrimis
' etc., ‘
euntes ibant et flebant
' etc.,
²
and such others. Then they were even angrier, and said that she should no longer travel in their company, and persuaded her man to abandon her.

She meekly and gently begged them that they would, for God's love, allow her to travel on in their company, and not leave her alone where she knew nobody and nobody knew her, wherever she went. With great prayer and urging she did travel on with them until they came to a fine town, in the Octave of Corpus Christi. And there they said absolutely that she should not for anything go with them any longer. He who was her guide and had promised to take her to England abandoned her, giving her back such gold and other things of hers that he had in safekeeping, and promised to lend her more money if she had wanted. She said to him, ‘John, I did not want your money; I would rather have had your company in these strange countries than all the money you have, and I believe you would please God more to go with me as you promised me in Danzig, than if you went to Rome on foot.'

Thus they ejected her from their company and let her go where she wished. She said then to him who had been her guide, ‘John, you abandon me for no other reason than that I weep when I see the sacrament, and when I think of our Lord's Passion. And since I am forsaken for God's cause, I believe that God shall provide for me and bring me forth as he would himself, for he never deceived me, blessed may he be.'

So they went on their way and left her there still. Night fell around her, and she was very miserable, for she was alone. She did not know whom she could rest with that night, nor with whom she could travel the next day. Priests of that country came to her where she was lodged. They called her an Englishwoman with a
tail,
³
and spoke many filthy words to her, giving her indecent looks, and offering to lead her about if she liked. She had great fear for her chastity and was very wretched.

Then she went to the good wife of the house, asking her to have some of her maids who could sleep with her that night. The good woman let her have two maids, who were with her all that night, yet she did not dare sleep for fear of being violated. She stayed awake and prayed nearly all that night that she might be preserved from all uncleanness and meet with some respectable companions who might help her on her way to Aachen. Suddenly, she was commanded in her soul to go to church early on the next day, and there she would meet with companions.

Early the next day, she paid for her lodging, inquiring of her hosts if they knew of any party travelling towards Aachen. They said ‘no'. Taking her leave of them, she went to the church to find and prove if her feeling were true or not When she came there, she saw a company of poor folk. Then she went up to one of them, inquiring where they were intending to go. He said, ‘To Aachen.' She asked him to allow her to travel in their company.

‘Why, lady,' he said, ‘don't you have any man to go with you?'

‘No,' she said, ‘my man has left me.'

So she was received into a company of poor people, and when they came to any town, she bought her food and her companions went about begging. When they were outside the towns, her companions took off their clothes, and, sitting about naked, picked themselves for vermin. Need compelled her to wait for them and prolong her journey, and be put to much more expense than she would otherwise have been.

This creature was afraid to take off her clothes as her fellows did, and therefore, through mixing with them, she caught some of their vermin and was dreadfully bitten and stung both day and night, until God sent her other companions. She remained in their company with great anguish and discomfort, and much delay, until the time that they reached Aachen.