The prose life of Alexander

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8 Death of Anectanabus, and the finding of Bucephalus.
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8 Death of Anectanabus, and the finding of Bucephalus.

wreche,' quoth he, 'that presume to tell things that ere to come, reghte als thou were a prophet, and knew the prewatey of heven. Now may thou see that thou liey, And thare-fore thou arte worthy to hafe swilke a dede.' And than Anectanabus ansuered, & said: ' I wyste wele ynoghe,' quoth he, 'that I scholde die swylke a dede. Talde I noghte lange are to the, that myn awenn son schulde slae me?' ' Whi, ame I thi son?' Than quoth Alexandire: ' Yaa, for sothe,' quoth Anectanabus, 'I gat the.' And wit that word, he yalde the gaste. And than Alexander hert tendird on his Fader, And he tuke hym vp on his bakke, and bare hym to the palace. And when his moder Olympias saw hym, Scho said vn-till hym. 'Son,' quoth scho, 'what es that? ' 'All thi foly hase made it,' quoth he, 'so it es.' And then he gert bury him worshipfully.

^ 1 In the meantime, a prince of Macedoyne brought the king a horse untamed, a great and a faire; & he was tied on each side with chains of Iron, for he walde wery men and ete them. This ilke horse was called Buktiphalas , because of his ugly looking, For he had a head like a bull, & nodules in his front, as they had been the beginning of horns. And when the king saw the beauty of this horse, he said to his servants, 'Take this horse and put him in a stable, and make bars of iron before him, that thieves and other misdoers, that shall be done to dede, may be put into him, to be slain of him. And they did so. In the meantime the king Philippe had any answere of his goddess, that he should reign next after him, the whilke might ride that wild horse without harm. So it fell that Alexander the whilke was then twelve ere aide, were strange & right hardy, & was wise and discrete; for he was well learned & connand in all the seven sciences, the whilke twa philosophers had taught him: that is to say, Aristotle & Calistene. And one a day, as Alexander passed for-by the place there all the foresaide stood, he looked in between the bar of iron and saw, before the horse, men's hands and feet, & other of their members, liggand scattered here & there, and he had great wonder thereof. And he put in his

Last edit 7 months ago by Meesharie27
9  The winning of Bucephalus, and the encounter with the king.
Complete

9 The winning of Bucephalus, and the encounter with the king.

The winning of Bucephalus, and the encounter with the king. 9

hande bitwene the barres, And the horse * stretkede oute his nekke, als ferre als he myghte, and likked Alexander hand; and he knelid doun on his kneesse, and bi-helde Alexander in the vesage langly. And Alexander vnderstood wele the will of the horse, and opynd the barres, and went into the horse, and straked him softly on the bakke wit his right hand; And belyfe the horse was wonderly meke till Alexander; and righte as a honde will 8 couche when his maister biddes hym, so dide he till Alexander; and Alexander looked beside him, & saw a saddle & a bridle hung there; and he took & dyd them on him, & leapt on his back; & rode further on him. And when the king Philippe saw him do so, he said unto him 'My son Alexander' quoth he: 'All the answers of our gods are fulfilled in thee! For when I am dead, thou must reign after me' And Alexander answered & said 'I pray thee, Father,' quoth he, 'ordain me horse & men, for I gaa seek dede3 or arms.' 'Foresooth,' quoth the king with a glad cheer, 'Take the hundreth horse, and xl thosandes pounds of gold; and take with the of the worthiest knights that lange3 to me, and wendis furthe.' And he did so.

And he took with him also a philosopher that highte Eu- festius, which he traced mekill in, And twelve children that he chose to be his players, and went him furthe, and come unto a country that is called Polipone. And when the king of the land heard tell, that swilke men ware entred into his rewme in swilke araye, he raised a great Oste, and come against Alexander for to fight with him. And when he come near him, he said unto him. ' Tell me ' quoth he 'what thou art?' And Alexander answered 'I am Alexander' quoth he 'The son of Philippe, the king of Macedoyne.' ' And what hopes thou that I be ? ' quoth the king to him. And Alexander answered. ' Thou art king of Arridouns' quoth he. ' Nevertheless, if all I do the that worship that I call the king, empride the nathynge thereof. For men see oftimes men that are in heghe estate come to law degree, & men that are in law degree, come to heghe estate.' ' Thou sayest right well ' quoth the king. 'Take heed to thine own self! ' And Alexander answered & said 'Go, heathen, away from me ' quoth he ' for thou can say naught to me, and I have naught to do with thee. And then the king was worder wrath, And said to Alexander

Last edit 7 months ago by Meesharie27
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Alexander's first encounter, and victory.

' Look on me ' * quoth he 'that speaks to them: For I swear the be my Father hele, & I anes spit in thy face, thou shall die' And with that he spit at Alexander, & said: 'Take the there, thou bitch whelp, that the seems to have.' And Alexander stepped further, & said unto him. 'For thou' quoth he 'has despised me, because I am little; I swere thee, by the pete of my Father, & by my mother's womb, in the whilke I was consayued of god Amon, that thou shall see me, are oughte lange, in thy room, ready to fight with them; and other I shall win thy room with dint of sword, & bring it under my subjection, or thou shall make me subject un-to them.' And there they assigned day of Batelle; and other of them went hame fra other. And against the day of Batelle, Alexander, by ascent & ordinance of king Philippe, gathered a great Oste, & went to the place there the Batelle was assigned, and found already there, king Nicoll and his oste. And they trumped up upon both the parties, and began to fight, & many men were slain on both sides. But at the last, Alexander had the field & took king Nicholl, & gart smytte of his head, & went unto his land, and conquered it ; and his knights went and crowned him king thereof. And sythen he went hame to his father, king Philippe, and found him sitting at the mete at a bridale : For he had put away from him his wife Olympias, Alexander's mother, and taken him another that highte Cleopatra; And Alexander went into the hall, and said unto the king Philipp : 'Father,' quoth he, ' I pray now, that for a reward of my first journey that I have now made, thee grant me to take my Mother Olympias again unto now, & do to her as ought to be done to a queen, rather than I give her to another king; so that I be not your enemy forever. For this wedding that we have now made here is unlawful! ' When he had said thir words, any of them that sat at the king's burde, whose name was Lesias, answered & said to the king : ' lord' quoth he 'thou shall have a son of Cleopatra, and he shall reign after thee!' Alexander, then, was greatly grieved at his words, and with a wardrere that he had in his hand, he went

Last edit about 3 years ago by Ben W. Brumfield
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to him and killed him. When king Philippe saw this, he was greatly stirred, and rose up, & got a sword * & ran toward Alexander, to smite him. But onane he fell down; and ay the nerre Alexander that he drew, the mare he felle to the earth right as he bene feared. And than Alexander said unto him: 'Philippe' quoth he 'how is it so, that thou, that has won with dint of sword all of Greece, has now not strength to stand on thy feet.' And then all the hall was troubled, and the brydale letted. And Alexander went about the hall, and keste doun the bourde3 wit the mead, & the drink that were upon them, and took Cleopatra, and shut her out at the hall door. And the king Philippe, for sorrow that he took till, felle grefe seke. And a little afterward, Alexander went to him for to visit him & comfort him, and said unto him ' Philippe, quoth he, 'if all it be not seemly, that I called thee by thy proper name; nevertheless, not as thy son, but as thy good friend, I shall tell thee mine advice. It is fully my counsel that thou reconcile again unto thee, my lady, my Mother Olympias, and at thou grief the na-thynge at the death of Lesias, nor take na heuynes to thee therefore. For unkindly methink that thou did, and ungoodly, that thou drew thy sword for to smite me therewith.' And when Philippe heard their words, his heart tendered, & he began to weep. And then Alexander went to his Mother Olympias, and said unto her : 'Be not afraid,' quoth he 'nor be not hevy to my father, for if all thy trespass be privy, & not known, nevertheless thou art in party to blame.' And when he had said thus, he led her further to the king Philippe. And he took & kissed her, and thus was so reconciled un-to him again.

After this, there come messengers Fra Darius, the emperor of Persia, to king Philippe, and asked him tribute And Alexander answered to their messengers, & said, 'Saise to Darius, our lord,' quoth he, 'that since the time that Philippe son was waxen of age the hen that ay is waxen barayne & consumed

Last edit about 3 years ago by Ben W. Brumfield
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The First Eastern luars ; murder of Philip.

away, and so is Darius pryuecle of his tribute.' And [when] thir messengers herd thir wordes ; thay hade grete wounder of tham & of the witt & the wisedome of Alexander. In the mene tyme tythynge3 come to kyng Philippe, that Ermonye, 4 the whilke bi-fore was suget un-till hym, was rebelle & raysse agaynes hym. And he garte * semble a grete Oste, and sent Alexander thedir thare wit to feghte wit tham, and to putt tham agayne under his subieccionn. Alexander than went wit this Oste 8 till Ermony & broghte it agayne in subieccion, as it was bi-fore. An in the mene tyme, whils he was thare, a lorde of Macedoyne the whilke highte Pansamy, a strange man & a balde, suget un-to Philippe, and hade of lange tyme covette for to hafe the quene 12 Olympias, conspirede agaynes the kynge, and come with a grete multytude of folke appon the kynge, to for-do hym. And when tythynge3 here of come to kyng Philippe, he went to mete hym in the felde wit a fewe men3ee. And when he sawe the grete multi- 16 tude that Pansamy hade wit hym, he turned & fledd, and Pansamy persued after hym, and overhied hym, and strake hym thurghe wit a spere, and 3itt ife all he were grevosely wonded, he dyed no3te alsone, bot he laye halfe dede in the waye. And than 20 the Macedoynes, that wenede he hade bene dede, made mekill sorowe. And when this iowrnee was done Pansamy was gretly empridede thare offe, & went in to the kynges palace for to take the qwene Olympias oute of it and hafe hir with hym. 24 And even the same tyme, Alexander come fra Hermony, & sawe^1 swylke trouble & styrrynge in the rewme, and hyed hym faste towarde the kynges palace, and when Olympias herd telle that Alexander hir son had the victorye of his enemys, 28 & was comande nere, Scho went furthe of the palace at a prevee posterne to mete hir son, and to welcome hym hame. And alsone als scho come nere hym, scho criede appon hym & said. 'A A, my son Alexander, whare es the grace & the fortune 32 that oure goddes highte the, that es to say, that thou scholde alwaye overcome thynn enemys & no3te be overcomen, that Pansamy hase one this wyse slaen thi Fader.' And alsone the worde come to Pansamy that Alexander was comen, and he 36 went furthe of palace for to mete hym. And also faste als Alexander sawe hym, he oute wit a swerd and clafe his heued

^ MS. blotted at sawe.

Last edit about 3 years ago by Gigi
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