Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-10-24
CEDRIC THE WISE.

In that town of our dear land of Eng
land, in the which l was born and grew UP
to manhood, the folk are wont to tell many
tales anent the good King Alfred. Albeit
those who dwelt at the same time as that
good king have had sons and daughters,
and these in their turn children, and these
again yet other children, and SO on till the
years be many that lie betwixt our time
and his, yet does the renown of King Al
fred last among us, and is spoken Of even
now. He it was who fought the wicked
Danes and beat them, driving them all out
of our country to their own, save only
those whom he slew so that they could
work no more wo; and this, indeed is the
only sure way to forefend against q Dane
doing ill, for they are of a truth bad men
and given to all manner of knavery and
sin.
Now my father has often told to me how
that when King Alfred had driven out the
Danes he ruled so wisely and SO well that
men could hang chains of gold and jewels
by the roadside, and there they would stay
untouched save by him who owned them.
And this was so not because there were no
evil men in the land-for these are every
where to be found save in the kingdom Of
our Lord alone-but because doomsmen
were set up by the king, before whom were
hailed all who did not righteously, and &C
cording to their faults they were doomed.
1t followed in its course that among these
doomsmen some were wiser than others
and more even handed; but among them
all was none to be found more righteous
and more blameless in his findings than
Cedric the son of Hend.
In Reading Yves his dwelling, and over
the men Of that borough he sat in the
doomsman's chair every day in the church
yard, setting straight that which was crook
ed and uplifting the small against the
great, the feeble folk against the strong
Now the talk of his righteousness spread,
as when stone drops in mere the ripples
of it spread until they touch the shore, SO
that even to the kings ears came the name
of Doomsman Cedric, the son of Hend.
And the king said unto himself: "Per-
chance these be but fond tidings which are
told to me, and yet again there may be
truth in them; but strange it is that a man
should be not only SO righteous but SO
wise that none make plant touching any
of the dooms he gives FORTH" and he
SO pondered over this thing that in the end
he habited himself like unto simple
KNIGHT ttU dEUlS, tuG IOuC lOIUu IIOlll AOll-
don, taking the high road to Reading to
see for himself what manner of man this
Cedric might be. Ditton he passed and
Windsor also, and wherever be tarried for
the night as folk ate their supper he heard
them talk as they quaffed their ale or
mead of Cedric the Doomsman and the
wonder of his wisdom and his rightful-
ness, until the king began to grow hot
of he ap6IacS hahhIa nc If
seemed to him, concerning the worthiness
of this one man.
So he rode until he came to Staines, and
as he was about to pass over the bridge he
saw, lying in the dust at the wayside, a
beggar, habited in rags, and begging aims
from the passers by.
"Help me, oh, strangerr' said the beggar.
''With all my heart" answered the king,
and took from his pouch three pennies,
which he gave to the beggar.
"Help me, oh, strangerH quoth once
more the beggar.
"Thou art a greedy varletr' said the
king; what more dost thou want?"
II am old and weak" answered the beg,
gar. "Wilt thou not set me behind thee
on thy horse and carry me to Reading
town?'
"With all my hearth replied once more
the king, and straightway set him foul as
he was upon his horse, and in that wise
rode over the bridge and along the high
road into the town of Reading. AS they
went down the High street the king said
to the beggar, "Where wilt thou that set
thee DOWN."
To which made answer the other: 'Nay,
but rather where wilt thou that set thee
DOWN."
"Thou art a saucy varlet," quoth the
king; land it would be using thee not I'M
scurrily were I to pitch thee off my horse
into the runnel there by the side of u.s."
''Hast thou the face to call it thy horse?'
quoth the beggarman. tThou shameless
thing! thou knowest we'll the horse belongs
to me''
"Thy horse?" shouted the king.
Gay! NINE" said the beggar.
''We will see about that" said the king.
1--WE truly WILL" said the beggar, and
with that he made a loud goutcry, calling
aloud: "Thiefl thiefr' so that they who
passed by stopped and, wondering at the
noise, asked who might be the thief, and in
what the beggar, who was foreigner to
them all, had been wronged
Then both the beggar and the king told
each his tale. Now the tale of the beggar
was in this wise: That he, riding toward
the town of Reading, had met the king,
albeit he knew not, nor did the Reading
men, that he was a king, but thought him
simple wayfarer, and seeing he was
afoot and weary, had offered to him to
ride before him on his horse. 'The
which," said the beggar, 'does he now,
with foul threats and evil knocks, try to
take by force from me, saying it is his
own, though it is plain to be seen that
am old and weak and he is young and
lusty."
And after the king had told his truthful
tale, how that it was he who had been rid
ing toward the town and had in kindness
set the beggar behind him and holpen him
on his way with but scurvy payment for
his pains, the men of Reading were sore
beset in their minds as to which of the
twain might be the truth teller and which
the liar. After some had talked this way
and some that, an elder among them said:
'sLet us hale them both and also the horse
before Cedric, our doomsman, and he will
tell us which we shall believe"
Nothing loath was the king, nor did the
beggar dare to say them nay, and so it
came to pass that in no great while they
stood before Cedric the son of Hend, in
the church yard where his seat was. But
they were not the first corners, and so had
to wait until two trials had been held. The
first was a quarrel between a scrivener and
hedger concerning woman. The scriv-
ener said that she was his wife, and had
been taken from him by the hedger, and
the hedger, indeed, said no; that she had
always been his wife, and that the scriven-
er had no lawful right to her. The woman
said nothing, whereat all merveled. When
each had told his tale Cedric pondered and
said: "Leave the woman here and return,
each of you, on the morrow" and they
went away leaving the woman.
Next came a aesher and miller, the
miller holding in his hand asum of money.
IT went" said he, sat noon to the flesher
to buy meat for my household, and when
the time came for me to pay him drew
from my pouch these coins of silver, the
which, when the fesher saw, he made as if
to clutch and took me by the wrist, so that
both of us are now come before you. hold
ing my silver and he clutching my wrist.
He says the silver is his. I say it is mine.
Yet do make oath that to me and not to
him does it belong"
i L. a