Et si laide, que cil doutast
Que entre deus oilz l’esgardast.
The sacristan, encouraged by his success—for it must be understood that his art was a sudden inspiration (as he had not been an artist before)—continued his work till it was completed, and then “it was so horrible and so ugly, that all who saw it affirmed upon their oaths that they had never seen so ugly a figure either in sculpture or in painting, or one which had so repulsive an appearance, or a devil which was a better likeness than the one this monk had made for them”—
Si horribles fu et si lez,
Que trestouz cels que le véoient
Seur leur serement afermoient
C’onques mès si laide figure,
Ne en taille ne en peinture,
N’avoient à nul jor véue,
Qui si éust laide véue,