The Old English Physiologus | Page 2

following texts have been split into small sections based on the pagination of the original. These sections alternate as follows, each section being separated from its neighbors by rows of asterisks: Old English verse; Modern English verse translation; Modern English prose translation. While this fragments each version, it facilitates comparison in parallel.]
I
THE PANTHER
Monge sindon geond middangeard?unr[=i]mu cynn, [_t[=a]ra_] te w[=e] ?telu ne magon?ryhte [=a]reccan n[=e] r[=i]m witan;?t?s w[=i]de sind geond wor[_u_]l[d] innan?5 fugla and d[=e]ora foldhr[=e]rendra
wornas widsceope, sw[=a] w?ter bib[=u]gee?tisne beorhtan b[=o]sm, brim grymetende,?sealt[=y]pa geswing.
W[=e] bi sumum h[=y]rdon?wr[=?]tl[=i]c[um] gecynd[_e_] wildra secgan,?10 f[=i]rum fr[=e]am[=?]rne, feorlondum on,
eard weardian, [=e]eles n[=e]otan,??fter d[=u]nscrafum. Is t?t d[=e]or Pandher?bi noman h[=a]ten, t?s te nitta bear[n],

Of living creatures many are the kinds?Throughout the world--unnumbered, since no man?Can count their multitudes, nor rightly learn?The ways of their wild nature; wide they roam,?These beasts and birds, as far as ocean sets?A limit to the earth, embracing her?And all her sunny fields with salty seas?And toss of roaring billows.
We have heard?From men of wider lore of one wild beast,?Wonderful dweller in a far-off land?Renowned of men, who loves his native glens?And dusky caverns. Him have wise men called

Many, yea numberless, are the tribes throughout the world whose natures we can not rightly expound nor their multitudes reckon, so immense are the swarms of birds and earth-treading animals wherever water, the roaring ocean, the surge of salt billows, encompasses the smiling bosom of earth.
We have heard about one marvelous kind of wild beast which inhabits, in lands far off, a domain renowned among men, rejoicing there in his home amid the mountain-caves. This beast is called panther, as the learned

w[=i]sf?ste weras, on gewritum c[=y]ta[_e_]?15 bi t[=a]m [=a]nstapan.
S[=e] is [=?][_g_]hw[=a]m fr[=e]ond, duguea [=e]stig, b[=u]tan dracan [=a]num;?t[=a]m h[=e] in ealle t[=i]d andwr[=a]e leofat,?turh yfla gehwylc te h[=e] ge?fnan m?g.?D?t is wr[=?]tl[=i]c d[=e]or, wundrum sc[=y]ne,?20 h[=i]wa gehwylces. Sw[=a] h?lee secgae,
g[=?]sth[=a]lge guman, t?tte I[=o]s[=e]phes?tunece w[=?]re telga gehwylces?bl[=e]om bregdende, t[=a]ra beorhtra gehwylc,?[=?]ghw?s [=?]nl[=i]cra, [=o]trum l[=i]xte?25 dryhta bearnum, sw[=a] t?s d[=e]ores h[=i]w,
bl[=?]c, brigda gehw?s, beorhtra and sc[=y]nra?wundrum l[=i]xee, t?tte wr[=?]tl[=i]cra?[=?]ghwylc [=o]trum, [=?]nl[=i]cra g[=i]en?and f[=?]gerra, fr?twum bl[=i]cee,?30 symle sell[=i]cra.
H[=e] hafae sundorgecynd,

The panther, and in books have told of him,?The solitary rover.
He is kind,?A bounteous friend to every living thing?Save one alone, the dragon; but with him?The panther ever lives at enmity,?Employing every means within his power?To work him evil.
Fair is he, full bright?And wonderful of hue. The holy scribes?Tell us how Joseph's many-colored coat,?Gleaming with varying dyes of every shade,?Brilliant, resplendent, dazzled all men's eyes?That looked upon it. So the panther's hues?Shine altogether lovely, marvelous,?While each fair color in its beauty glows?Ever more rare and charming than the rest.?His wondrous character is mild, and free

among the children of men report in their books concerning that lonely wanderer.
He is a friend, bountiful in kindness, to every one save only the dragon; with him he always lives at enmity by means of every injury he can inflict.
He is a bewitching animal, marvelously beautiful with every color. Just as, according to men holy in spirit, Joseph's coat was variegated with hues of every shade, each shining before the sons of men brighter and more perfect than another, so does the color of this beast blaze with every diversity, gleaming in wondrous wise so clear and fair that each tint is ever lovelier than the next, glows more enchanting in its splendor, more rare, more beauteous, and more strange.
He has a nature all his own, so gentle and so calm is

milde, gemetf?st. H[=e] is montw[=?]re,?lufsum and l[=e]oft?l: nele l[=a]tes wiht?[=?][ng]um ge?fnan b[=u]tan t[=a]m [=a]ttorsceatan,?his fyrngeflitan, te ic [=?]r fore s?gde.?35 Symle, fylle f?gen, tonne f[=o]ddor tigee,
?fter t[=a]m gereordum r?ste s[=e]cee,?d[=y]gle st[=o]we under d[=u]nscrafum;?e[=?]r se t[=e]o[d]wiga tr[=e]onihta f?c?swifee on swe[_o_]fote, sl[=?]pe gebiesga[d].?40 Tonne ellenr[=o]f [=u]p [=a]stondee,
trymme gewelga[d], on tone triddan d?g,?sn[=e]ome of sl[=?]pe. Sw[=e]ghl[=e]otor cymee,?w[=o]ta wynsumast, turh t?s wildres m[=u]e;??fter p?re stefne stenc [=u]t cymee?45 of t[=a]m wongstede-- wynsumra st[=e]am,
sw[=e]ttra and sw[=i]tra, sw?cca gehwylcum,?wyrta bl[=o]stmum and wudubl[=e]dum,?eallum ?tel[=i]cra eortan fr?tw[um].

From all disturbing passion. Gracious, kind,?And full of love, he meditates no harm?But to that venomous foe, as I have told,?His ancient enemy.
Once he has rejoiced?His heart with feasting, straight he finds a nook?Hidden among dim caves, his resting-place.?There three nights' space, in deepest slumber wrapped,?The people's champion lies. Then, stout of heart,?The third day he arises fresh from sleep,?Endowed with glory. From the creature's mouth?Issues a melody of sweetest strains;?And close upon the voice a balmy scent?Fills all the place--an incense lovelier,?Sweeter, and abler to perfume the air,?Than any odor of an earthly flower?Or scent of woodland fruit, more excellent

it. Kind, attractive, and friendly, he has no thought of doing harm to any save the envenomed foe, his ancient adversary of whom I spoke.
When, delighting in a feast, he has partaken of food, ever at the end of the meal he betakes himself to his resting-place, a hidden retreat among the mountain-caves; there