Sarai Being Barren Gives Hagar to Abram
| 948 ðat ðogte abram wel iwel don, | |
| kagte iſ wei, quan it waſ nigt, ðo cam on him vgging and frigt; | Abram drove them away. Then came on him fear and fright. |
| A michel fier he ſag, and an brigt, 952 gliden ðor twen ðo doles rigt. | A great and bright fire he saw glide down between the pieces. |
| God ſeide him ðor a ſoðe drem ðe timinge of iſ beren-tem, And hu he ſulde in pine ben, 956 And uten erdes ſorge ſen; fowre hundred ger ſulden ben gon, | In a dream God showed Abram the future condition of his descendants. |
| Hor he ſulden wel cumen a-gon, oc ſiðen ſulde in here hond, 960 bi-cumen ðat hotene lond. | Canaan is promised as his inheritance. |
| ðo wiſte abram wel michel mor Quat waſ to cumen ðan he wiſte or. | Then knew Abram much more of what was to come than he ever knew before. |
| Siðen bi-fel ðat ſarrai, 964 for ghe waſ longe untuderi, | Sarai, being barren, gives Hagar to Abram. |
| Ghe bitagte abre maiden agar; Ghe wurð wið childe and hem two bar; forð ſiðen ghe bi abram ſlep, | [Fol. 19b.] |
| 968 Of hire leuedi nam ghe no kep; And ſarrai wuldet nogt ðolen ðat agar wore ðuſ to-bolen; | Hagar having conceived, despised her mistress. |
| Ghe held hire hard in ðralleſ wune, 972 And dede hire ſorge and anger mune; | Sarai afflicts her thrall. |
| ðo fleg agar fro ſarray, wimman wið childe, one and ſori, In ðe diſerd, wil and weri, 976 And an angel cam ðor hire bi, wiſte hire drogen ſori for ðriſt, | Hagar flees from Sarai into the desert homeless and weary. |
| At a welle quemede hire liſt, And bad hire ſone wenden agen, 980 And to hire leuedi buxum ben; | An angel commands her to return and be buxom to her lady. |
| And ſeide ghe ſulde ſunen wel And timen, and clepen it ſmael,136 | He tells her of her child. |
Notes
136 A metrical licence for “iſmael.”