“Some layde theyr bookys on theyr kne,
And rad so long they myght nat se:
‘Allas! myne hede woll cleve on thre,’[39]
Thus seyth another certayne.
“Then cometh oure owner lyke a lorde,
And speketh many a royall worde,
And dresseth hym to the hygh borde
To see all thyng be well.
“Anone he calleth a carpentere
And biddyth hym bryng with hym hys gere[40]
To make the cabans here and there,
With many a febyll cell.
“A sak of strawe were there ryght good,
For som must lyg[41] them in theyr hood:
I had as lefe be in the wood,
Without mete or drynk.
“For when that we shall go to bedde,
The pumpe was nygh our beddes hede,
A man were as good to be dede,
As smell thereof the stynk.”[42]
CHAPTER VIII
THE PERIOD OF COLUMBUS
It is curious to observe, as one reads history, that many an invention, or a practical idea belonging to modern times, has really existed for century and century, though in an undeveloped condition. The modern liquid compass is an excellent instance.
“Ere men the virtue of the magnet found,
The ocean scarcely heard a human sound.”