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Now, since she was not slain at feast we saw, Who kept her that she drowned not in the sea? But who kept Jonah in the fish's maw Till he was spewed forth there at Nineveh? Well may men know it was no one but He Who saved the Hebrew people from drowning When, dryshod, through the sea they went walking. Who bade the four great spirits of tempest, That power have to harry land and sea, "Not north, nor south, nor yet to east, nor west Shall ye molest the ocean, land, or tree"? Truly, the Captain of all this was He Who from the storm has aye this woman kept, As well when waking as in hours she slept. Where might this woman get her drink and meat? Three years and more, how lasted her supply? Who gave Egyptian Mary food to eat The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales 101In cave desert? None but Christ, say I. Five thousand folk, the gospels testify, On five loaves and two fishes once did feed. And thus God sent abundance for her need. Forth into our own ocean then she came, Through all our wild white seas, until at last, Under a keep, whose name I cannot name, Far up Northumberland, her ship was cast, And on the sands drove hard and stuck so fast That thence it moved not, no, for all the tide, It being Christ's will that she should there abide. The warden of the castle down did fare To view this wreck, and through the ship he sought And found this weary woman, full of care; He found, also, the treasure she had brought. In her own language mercy she besought That he would help her soul from body win To free her from the plight that she was in. A kind of bastard Latin did she speak, But, nevertheless, these folk could understand; The constable no longer thought to seek, But led the sorrowing woman to the land; There she knelt down and thanked God, on the sand. But who or what she was, she would not say, For threat or promise, though she died that day.

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She said she'd been bewildered by the sea, And had lost recollection, by her truth; The warden had for her so great pity, As had his wife, that both they wept for ruth. She was so diligent to toil, in sooth, To serve and please all folk within that place, That all loved her who looked upon her face. This warden and Dame Hermengild, his wife, Were pagans, and that country, everywhere; But Hermengild now loved her as her life, And Constance has so long abided there, And prayed so oft, with many a tearful prayer, That Jesus has converted, through His grace, Dame Hermengild, the lady of that place. In all that land no Christian dared speak out All Christians having fled from that country, For pagan men had conquered all about The regions of the north, by land and sea; To Wales was fled the Christianity Of the old Britons dwelling in this isle; That was their refuge in the wild meanwhile. Yet ne'er were Christian Britons so exiled But some of them assembled, privately, To honour Christ, and heathen folk beguiled; And near the castle dwelt of such men three. But one of them was blind and could not see, The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales 102Save with the inner optics of his mind, Wherewith all men see after they go blind. Bright was the sun upon that summer's day When went the warden and his wife also, And Constance, down the hill, along the way Toward the sea, a furlong off, or so, To frolic and to wander to and fro; And in their walk on this blind man they came, With eyes fast shut, a creature old and lame. "In name of Christ!" this blind old Briton cried, "Dame Hermengild, give me my sight again." But she was frightened of the words, and sighed, Lest that her husband, briefly to be plain, Should have her, for her love of Jesus, slain; Till Constance strengthened her and bade her work The will of God, as daughter of His kirk. The warden was confounded by that sight, And asked: "What mean these words and this affair?" Constance replied: "Sir, it is Jesus' might That helps all poor folk from the foul Fiend's snare." And so far did she our sweet faith declare That she the constable, before 'twas eve, Converted, and in Christ made him believe. This constable, though not lord of that place Where he'd found Constance, wrecked upon the sand, Had held it well for many a winter's space, For Alla, king of all Northumberland, Who was full wise and hardy of his hand Against the Scots, as men may read and hear, But I will to my tale again give ear.