And falleth on his owne feet whanne he falleth out of highe place...
"... a beste of uncerteyn heare (hair) and colour. For some catte is whyte, some reed, and som black, som scowed (piebald or calico) and spenked in the feet and in the eeren... And hath a gret mough and sawe teeth and scharpe and longe tonge and pliaunt, thynne, and sotile. And lapeth therwith whanne he drynketh... And he is a ful leccherous beste in youthe, swyfte, plyaunt, and mery. And lepeth and reseth (rusheth) on alle thyng that is tofore him and is yladde by a strawe and pleyeth therwith. And is a wel heuy beste in eelde (old age) and ful slepy. And lith sliliche in awayte for mys and is ware where they ben more by smelle than by sight. And hunteth and reseth on hem in priuey place. And whanne he taketh a mous he pleyeth therwith, and eteth him after the pleye. And is as it were wylde, and goth aboute in tyme of generacioun. Among cattes in tyme of loue is hard fightynge for wyues, and oon cracceth and rendeth the other greuousliche with bytyng and with clawes. And he maketh a reweliche noyse and horrible whan oon profreth to fighte with another. And is a cruel beste whanne he is wilde and wonyeth in wodes and hunteth thanne smale wilde bestes, as conynges and hares. And falleth on his owne feet whanne he falleth out of highe place..."
Bartholomew de Glanville, who is better known as Bartholomew the Englishman, completed a widely used encyclopaedia in about 1240. . . . translated from Latin into English late in the 14th-century by John Trevisa:
3 comments:
Puddle! You combine two of my favorite things in this post; Middle English and cats! And, you introduce me to a writer I'd not previously known, Bartholomew the Englishman. Though my concentration in grad school was in Medieval lit., there's still a very great deal I missed. Thanks.
Friend Bartholomew has got it right, too. Cats certainly *do* make a whacking great noise when fighting, or mating, or in the case of our little Angel, when feeling less than fully appreciated.
I love your blog. You always find such interesting things to post.
♥
hi, catreona ~~ lol! always run your cursor over the title: it's often a link. . . . in this case, to a gorgeous picture of a russian blue [being as how i can't post pictures from this computer. . . . ]
you asked on the sunshine blog about where posts go when they drop off of the front page -- archives, on the link side of the blog. . . .
Oh Puddle, what a sweety! Though, there must be something ascue with my color balance, because she looked sort of purple. I'm a pushover for kitties!
As to the archive: DUH! *smacks forehead and groans* Idiot. Thanks for explaining the obvious.
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