After this was done, grace after meat was said, and the elders first departed, the great master taking Martin back with him into his cell.
“And now, my son, what dost thou come to Oxford for?”
“To learn that I may afterwards teach.”
“And what dost thou desire to become?”
“One of your holy brotherhood, a brother of Saint Francis.”
“Dost thou know what that means, my son? Scanty clothing, hard fare, the absence of all that men most value, the welcoming of perils and hardships as thy daily companions, that thou mayst take thy life in thy hand, and find the sheep of Christ amongst the wolves.”
“All this I have been told.”
“Well, my son, thou art yet new to the world. At Oxford thou will see it, and will make thy choice better when thou knowest both what thou rejectest and what thou seekest. Meanwhile, guard thy youthful steps; avoid quarrelling, fighting, drinking, dicing; mortify thine own flesh—”
“Do these temptations await me in Oxford?”
“The air has been full of them, since Henry brought the thousand students from the gay university of Paris hither. Thou wilt soon see, and gauge thy power of resisting temptation. I would not say, stay indoors. The virtue which has never been tested is nought.”