(Jehan now runs toward her, takes her and throws her into a nearby well.
He then destroys his chapel and wanders throughout the forest for seven days.
One morning, a ray of sun reminds him of God. He repents and decides to go
to Rome and to confess to the pope. The pope refuses to absolve Jehan:
if he had only committed rape, he could be forgiven; but the act of murder
is not forgivable. Jehan's subsequent visit to a hermit leads to the same
failure, as the latter can do no more than the pope. After three years of
wandering, Jehan finds himself back in the forest where he had lived earlier.)
1520 Jehan looks up to heaven,
With many sighs and tears.
It is time for the Holy Spirit to assist him!
Great was his misdeed.
He turns toward the east
1525 And prays to God loudly:
"Father, who knows and sees everything,
You know that my ordeal
May bring me penance.
The pope and the hermit
1530 Have rejected my confession.
They refused to hear me.
Lord, I want to acknowledge my sin before You.
You are above all priests.
You counseled
1535 Adam, when he ate the apple.
There was then no pope at Rome,
No cardinal, bishop or priest,
To whom Adam could talk of his condition
Because of the fruit which makes everyone suffer.
1540 I want to confess to You.
You see and You know throughout
All thoughts and hearts.
Lord, you know of all misdeeds.
I will now attempt to carry
1545 A very difficult and painful burden:
On my hands and knees
I will enter this forest
And will never utter
One more word,
1550 Whatever the constraint,
Except words of prayer
So that I can be redeemed by You.
And I also now declare
That I will never use my hands
1555 To feed myself,
But that I will graze like the animals.
Yet I will not drink directly from the rivers,
But from a vessel,
So as not to imitate the animals,
1560 And to be able to go to heaven.
I promise you to do this as my penance.
In this ordeal, I will live,
And I will die in the name of the Trinity,
If You do not absolve me before."
1565 Jehan now blesses the forest,
Which he enters on his hands and knees.
He penetrates through the big trees,
Braving the thickets and the sweet bears,
The thorns and the stones.
1570 His progress is very painful.
His skin is deeply hurt.
His vestment is torn,
Caught in the brambles.
But he pays no attention
1575 And never tries to save his clothes.
The skin of his hands and knees is broken
As he advances on the thorns.
He would eat fruit and roots
Whenever he could find some,
1580 Grasping them with his teeth like an animal.
The winter would hurt him deeply
With frosts and snow,
Since he had no blanket
And no clothing left.
1585 His body was gaunt and wasted
Much like the body of a kite.
The greater was his poverty,
The more he would thank God for it,
In his desire to go to heaven.
1590 On Easter day one year,
The king and the queen were in Toulouse
-Whose daughter
Had died at the hands of Jehan,
As you have heard earlier,
1595 And been abandoned in a well.
The king asked his huntsmen
To be ready the following morning,
As he had decided to go hunting
And to kill a wild boar.
1600 That morning, they entered the forest
Where Jehan had settled
To do his penance.
The huntsmen went into the woods
And started hunting.
1605 All morning long, the king hunted
Until the hour of noon.
They went throughout the forest
But could find neither boar nor any kind of animal.
Great was their dismay.
1610 They divided into three groups,
Going this way and that,
Until they found the holy man
Praying under a tree.
Surrounding him, the hounds started barking
1615 And making much noise.
The other huntsmen, who were tired
And anguished by their lack of luck,
Knew at once that a prey had been found.
Hearing the hounds, they arrived at the place
1620 And saw God's servant
Under the tree, above a mound,
As hairy as a bear.
Looking at him, the huntsmen wondered
What kind of beast it was
1625 Of which the hounds were so afraid.
One of the huntsmen stared
At the holy hermit in prayers,
Wondering what kind of animal
Could frighten the hounds in this way.
1630 He dismounted carefully
And approached him as close as he could,
And noticed that the hairy man was motionless
And was making no attempt to defend himself.
He grabbed Jehan by his hair
1635 And threw the net over him.
He then called his companions
With great joy and pleasure:
"I have discovered the most fierce creature
Ever found by a living man."
1640 Hearing him, the others came over
And dismounted,
Taking Jehan by the arms,
Which were hairy and skinny.
He remains quiet, shows no resistance.
1645 They examine him from the waist upward,
Look at him, and see his head,
His nose, eyes and ears.
"Goodness!" say they, "what a surprising thing!
This creature is made like a man."
1650 They now examine him from the waist down,
See his private parts,
His legs, feet and toes:
"This creature surpasses all known beasts.
No one has ever captured one like that.
1655 It would be a shame not to Lake him!
Let us bring him to the king, that he see him."
They mount their horses
And carry the hermit away
Across a saddle, at a great speed.
1660 Jehan suffers greatly but says nothing.
Looking everywhere for the king,
They finally reach him.
When he sees them, he asks:
"What have you found?"
1665 And they reply happily:
"Lord, the wildest creature
Ever seen by any man."
"Show this to me, I want to see."
Those who were carrying Jehan
1670 Now throw him on the ground Like a bale of corn.
Jehan, who suffers greatly,
Continues his prayers.
The huntsmen say to the king:
1675 "Lord, it is indeed obvious,
As you can see for yourself,
That this creature is built like a man."
As if Jehan was a dead animal,
They now turn him over
1680 To show the natural member
That every man is born with.
"Men," says the king,
"I want the queen to see that."
They at once return to the city,
1685 Carrying the holy man with them.
And they do not stop until they reach
The royal court.
They blow their horn to announce the catch.
A servant runs to the room
1690 Where the queen was
Surrounded with her ladies in waiting.
"Young man," says she, "tell me about the hunt:
Did my lord Lake a boar or a wild pig?"
"My lady," he replies, "come and see
1695 The creature captured by my lord.
I could not describe it to you.
But this I can tell
That it is built like a man."
Hearing this, the queen leaves her chamber
1700 And hastens to see
What she has just heard talked about.
And here come the servants
Who were carrying the holy man.
To please the queen,
1705 They throw him on the ground.
And everyone, cleric or lay,
Gather around the creature.
The queen is indeed pleased,
And so are her maidens
1710 Cloaked in furs and ermines.
They have never known the kind of poverty
Endured by Jehan in his thicket.
The queen now boasts:
"Let us examine
1715 This very strange creature."
When the huntsmen hear her command,
One of them puts Jehan on his back,
Pulls his arms and legs apart,
And reveals
1720 His masculinity.
All the witnesses break into laughter,
And the ladies joke among themselves:
"Do you see this little something
That makes man a man?" "Yes, indeed!
1725 How come this beast is thus endowed?"
One says: "It is a bear."
Another "It is a werewolf."
Jehan, the good and simple man,
Was all that time continuing his prayers.
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