74
PROLOGUE TO THE
currents, shallows, and sandbanks; the exact place of the sun, the age of the moon, and for the complete art of piloting, there was not his equal between Hull and Carthage. He was a brave, and prudent man; whose beard many a tempest had shaken. He was intimate with every harbour from Gothland to Cape Finisterre, and every creek in Spain and Brittany. His ship was called the Magdalen.
There was a Doctor of Physic with us. No one was like him for discoursing on medicine and surgery; for he was well grounded in astronomy. He kept his patients principally by his magic, and could render them fortunate by the ascendant of his images. He was a skilful practitioner, and knew the cause of every malady; whether it were cold, heat, moisture, or drouth; where it originated, and from what humour;—the cause and root of his
- ↑ obscure, I think is intended to convey a sly little irony;—for the poet, after saying,
'Of nice conscience toke he no kepe,'adds,'If that he faught and hadde the higher hand,In other words I conceive the meaning to be, that he drowned his prisoners.
By water he sent hem home to every land.'