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2 8• A BISHOP DREAMS OF THE HOLY SHOEMAKER rMARCO POLO
FB V of God to a bishop who was a very good Christian •servant of God, and a man of very v holy life. He says, O Bishop, I come from God who has heard thy prayers and of all the TA people ; and that you may not be killed by this wicked people now go thou in the morning FB VA to such a Christian shoemaker who has one eye ; and he told him the name and the z VB house of the shoemaker, •whose name is not told[ here because it is not known ; • a man acceptable to God, and he by his faith shall fulfil the Gospel and save you from the plots of the calif. FB v And to him you shall say that he make prayer to God • when the time set you shall FB come, that the mountain be moved, and that of his goodness God would fulfil the prayer VA which they had made, for the holiness of the shoemaker ; and the mountain will be moved v v at once ; and this said he disappeared. And of this shoemaker of whom the angel had spoken to the bishop I shall tell you what man he was and his life. Now you may VB know indeed that he was a very honourable and very pure man and of singular faith ; • FB V FB VB and he fasted much and did no sin ; and he went every day to the Church and holy FB places, and he continued always at prayer and to hear the Mass. He gave each day of FB the bread which he had, of his silver, of his gain, for God. He [13a] was a man of so good a sort and of so holy life that one would not find a better neither near nor far. Moreover I shall tell you a thing that he did that one would say of him FB that he is a good man of good faith and of good life. The reason why he had only VA one eye was this.• He had himself pulled out the right eye for the reason which I shall tell VA VA LT you. It was true that he had many times heard said and read and preached. the word LT FB which the Lord had said, in Holy Gospel of Blessed[Mark] • in the Church, that it said FB FB that if the eye without' trips thee up to sin in the conscience within that thou must pull FB Z it from the head immediately • and cast it from thee or make it blind so that it make VB thee not to sin, because it is better to go to Paradise with one eye than with two to hell. • vA This shoemaker could not read nor write and was of a good simplicity and believed that that FB word was understood as it sounded, nor could he think of other meaning in that word.• And z V he did so.•And what ?• While this shoemaker was in his shop before this thing was, namely v that the calif had made that command, it happened that one day while the said man was VA standing in his shop, a fair young woman came to the house of this shoemaker to buy vs v a pair of shoes. The master seeing her so fair wished to see her leg and foot to see what shoes would be good for her. And then he made her show the leg and the VA VB foot, and the woman took off her shoes and• lifting her skirt shows them immediately-FB to take the measure. And no mistake they were so beautiful, the leg and the foot, that you ask for nothing more beautiful. And when the master, who was so good as I have told you, has seen the leg and the foot of this woman he was all tempted |
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