"EVERYMAN"

The pageants of the old English town-guilds, along with the other mysteries and interludes that follow, still have a unique vibrancy if we approach them in the spirit they were originally performed. Their role as the foundation for the greater literary drama that followed and their significance as early records have been thoroughly examined since Sharp wrote his Dissertation on the Coventry Mysteries in 1816. However, they have not yet resonated with the average reader who seeks engagement rather than literary origins and connections in what they read. This is unfortunate, as these old plays conceal beneath their outdated language the human interest that all dramatic art, no matter how simple, can evoke when it resonates with our genuine emotions and feelings. They are not just primitive religious dramas, born from the church and its celebrations; they authentically represent the town life of the English people when it was still lived with a sense of joy and community. As we read them, even if it’s in a detached way, we are transported out of our books and placed in the street or market square alongside the "common folks and countrymen," just as in the days when Whitsuntide or Corpus Christi brought the annual celebrations to Chester, Coventry, York, and other towns.

Of the plays that follow, six come from the old town pageants, showcasing their variety and the contemporary impact of the cycles they were taken from. They are all representative and illustrate how the scenes and characters of the East were blended with the everyday lives of the English craftsmen and townsfolk who performed them, and for whom they were written. However, they only provide a glimpse of the full interest and scope of these plays. We can see their popularity through the number of performances in one town and the many places where regular cycles, or individual pageants, were staged each year. The surviving York plays alone number forty-eight; Chester has around twenty-four or twenty-five; Wakefield counts thirty-two or thirty-three. Even these figures don't reflect the complete list. Mr. E. K. Chambers, in an appendix to his Mediæval Stage, provides a list of eighty-nine different episodes covered in various sets of the English and Cornish cycles. Additionally, there were many other places where these plays were traditionally performed: Beverley had a cycle of thirty-six; Newcastle-on-Tyne and Norwich each had one of twelve; while the village and parish plays were nearly countless. In Essex alone, the list includes twenty-one towns and villages, although it should be noted that this was a particularly active county. In Lydd and New Romney, records show groups of players from fourteen nearby towns and villages from a year or so before to eight years after the 15th century.

Mrs. J. R. Green, in her history of Town Life during that century, illustrates how the townspeople blended their workday activities with their holiday celebrations, their serious responsibilities with what seemed like an "endless series of festivities." Almost every town had its own unique play, performed in the town hall or the parish churchyard, with "the mayor and his associates present in a formal manner." In 1411, a major play, From the Beginning of the World, was staged in London at Skinner's Well. It ran for seven consecutive days and attracted many of the lords and gentry of England. No copy of this play survives, but we have a pretty good idea of its nature from various other Creation plays that have been passed down from the northern regional cycles. In the best of them, the destined Adam is created in a way that both recalls Giotto's depiction in the medallion in Florence and reflects his features as an English medieval archetype:--

But to surprise the English medieval blacksmith, carpenter, cobbler, or bowyer, when they become an audience member at Whitsuntide, attending a play that reflects both themselves and its biblical characters, we need to look at later episodes. The Deluge in the Chester pageant, which opens this volume, includes many sensations from Noah's Ark, some of which are quite challenging to recreate on the pageant wagon, capturing a typical reminder of the shipbuilder and ark creator. God tells Noah:--

In the York Noah's Ark pageant, which appears to be the original play of its kind in England, this craftsman's scene is greatly expanded. "Make it out of boards," God says, "and use rods in between!"

Then, after getting more instructions, Noah starts to work in front of the spectators, first shaping a plank, then checking it with a line, and connecting it using a gynn or gin. He says:--

To complete the background of this scene, we need to look at the old poem, the "Cursor Mundi," which was written in the fourteenth century, a time when the northern miracle plays were taking definite form. It seems to have been a reference for the writers of those plays. The following passage is closely related to one in the York miracle play:--

The resemblance we see is striking: so close to the other that it almost implies a shared authorship.

As for the pastoral plays in the same towns, we see that the shepherds and country folks were just as well equipped with raw depictions of life. The most genuine and straightforward, and certainly not the least charming among them, is probably the Chester play featuring the three shepherds. It wasn't performed by countrymen but by townspeople, similar to the other plays in the town cycles, in this instance being the "Paynters and Glasiors" play. The first shepherd who introduces it talks about the "bower" or shelter he wants to build, his "sheep to protect," his "handsome wethers to keep:"--

In the Death of Abel, another play by Chester, Cain enters with a plow and says:--

In the next incident where Cain is supposed to offer corn for his sacrifice, we can clearly hear the voice of the English farmer in the corn market blending with the biblical line: "This standing corn that was eaten by beasts," will work:

So throughout the plays, the everyday life of their time, their traditions and the way they talk, continually come to life within the biblical setting.

In trying to understand how the miracle plays were produced and performed, the best source is Chester. This was a relatively late account. Archdeacon Rogers, who saw them in 1594, noted that they had been happening for about three centuries by then. From his account (in the Harleian Miscellany), it seems the Chester plays were performed on Whit-Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

"The way these plays were done was that each company had its own stage or set, a tall scaffold with two levels, one higher and one lower, mounted on four wheels. In the lower level, they got dressed, and in the upper level, they performed, which was all open on top so that everyone watching could hear and see them." They were performed, he continues, in every street:

They started at the abbey gates, and when the first performance was over, it was moved to the high cross in front of the mayor, and then to every street. Each street hosted a performance at the same time until all the scheduled performances for the day were completed. When one performance was wrapping up, news was spread from street to street so people could take their place orderly, allowing all the streets to have their performances at once, showcasing which plays attracted the largest crowds. Additionally, scaffolds and stages were set up in the streets at the locations chosen for the performances.

The same writer explains elsewhere that these plays were divided into twenty-four pageants, based on the number of city companies, and that each company produced its own pageant.

At York, which Miss L. Toulmin Smith edited plays for in 1887, we can refer to Davies's two books⁵ and the local records to enhance the Chester description. Today, when people travel to York by train and get off, as many of us have done, to walk through the city to the cathedral, they'll find that the railway station now occupies the former site of Pageant Green. Nearby was another type of station, where houses were rented to store the pageants between shows each year. Remember that "pageant" (from the Latin pagina, meaning plank) originally referred to the stage or two-story cart before it came to mean the show performed on it. As we explore York today, Davies helps us identify where the old pageants were staged in 1399 at twelve predetermined locations. The first station was at the gates of the Priory of the Holy Trinity on Mickle Gate, and the pageants were moved in sequence to spots at Skelder Gate end, North Street, Conyng Strete, Stane Gate, and the gates of the Minster, all the way to the end of Girdler Gate; the very last one was "upon the pavement." However, these stations could change, and there was significant competition among wealthy homeowners (one of whom might have been the Robert Harpham listed in a 1417 record) to have the pageant performed in front of their windows. The highest bidder won the desired privilege.

Before the actual day arrived, a town crier went around the city to announce the "banes" or banns.⁶ Weapons were not allowed: "We command that no man goes armed in this city with swords or halberds, disturbing the king's peace and the play, or obstructing the Corpus Christi procession, and that they leave their weapons in their inns, except for knights and respected squires who should have swords carried after them!" The plays started early. We read that in York, the performers had to be ready "at the halfway point between the 4th and 5th hour of the morning." Finally, for the performers themselves, care was taken to secure good ones for the various roles. Sometimes an actor played multiple characters in the same play.

Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, miracle plays were regularly or irregularly performed in most English towns and larger villages. One of the smaller cycles was in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, staged during Corpus Christi starting in 1426. The Three Kings of Cologne is mentioned in 1536, which the goldsmiths, plumbers, glaziers, and others were supposed to perform. Here, the pageants weren’t movable but were held at specific locations. Some of the spots associated with the Whitsuntide "shuggy-shows" (as I remember them in my time) were likely originally showgrounds for the town pageants as well. Only one play from the Newcastle series has survived, and fittingly, given Tyneside's shipbuilding history, it is a shipwrights' play. Unfortunately, it has been so modernized that no trace of the local flavor or Tyneside dialect remains.

We now turn to the date and origin of these town pageants. The earliest reference to the three main cycles is found in Chester, tentatively dating back to 1268. According to one source, Sir John Arnway was the mayor that year; however, his name appears more firmly in 1327-8, around the time when Randall Higgenet, a monk from Chester Abbey, wrote the plays. However, the text we have preserved is much more modern in style and likely dates later than the Towneley or York series.

There's no doubt about the true origin of these plays. They started in churches as liturgical plays performed during Christmas, Easter, and other festivals, primarily showcasing the birth, life, death, and passion of Christ. We owe Professor Skeat for recovering some Latin fragments of these liturgical plays, which Professor Manly has republished in his Specimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama. The earliest example dates back to around 967, which is an essential milestone for us, as it's often believed that there are no dramatic records in these islands that predate the Norman Conquest. With another generation or two of research, like the pioneering work of Dr. Furnivall and the Early English Text Society has made possible, we can clearly identify the two lines of development—French and Norman, English and Saxon—that led to the town pageants and folk plays of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It will also become clear how the English pastoral merged with the church play once it was brought out into the town or marketplace. Additionally, one will recognize how filled with potential dramatic life was the mind of the person who wrote that four-line interlude in "The Three Queens and the Three Dead Men," capturing the essence of a thousand moralities.

These breathe, not a Norman, but an Anglo-Saxon fantasy, and they speak for themselves. However, there are many revealing documents that highlight the simultaneous development of Norman and English influences in English medieval literature, which was evident in church and guild plays, just as it was in the towns themselves. Ultimately, it finds its typical expression in an interlude like the Coventry Nativity play, reprinted in this volume. Long before the miracle play took the form we know today, around the time when William of Rouen, after much trouble with his son Robert culminating in the battle of Gerberoi, was about to return to England, the new openings in the church here became an opportunity for struggling foreign students with some ambition. Among these was a graduate from the University of Paris, a man named Geoffrey, now known as Geoffrey of St. Albans. He had been offered the position of master of the abbey school there, but when he arrived after some delays—possibly caused by attending a mystery play in Paris—he found the position already filled. He then traveled to Dunstable, where he demonstrated his initiative by organizing a miracle play of "Sancta Katarina." He borrowed robes from St. Albans to dress the actors; unfortunately, a fire broke out, and the costumes were destroyed. As a result, he seems to have taken it upon himself to atone for their loss, because he became a monk. In 1119, he was elected abbot, and if we estimate that it took him about twenty-one years to rise to that position, we can date the St. Katharine play to around 1098 or 1099. This account from that time provides insight into the further history of religious plays in England. Geoffrey’s effort to present one in Dunstable, likely a copy of one he had seen in France, is an example of the naturalization process that gradually took place.

The major shift in the history of the miracle play that transformed it from a church event into a town celebration happened around the late thirteenth century. It moved from being performed inside the church to the churchyard, or the nearby area or street, and eventually to the town itself. The clergy still had a role in its organization, but the emergence of town guilds gave it a new identity, a new connection to everyday life, and more resources. The friendly competition among the guilds and the pride of artisans in outperforming other trades boosted the town play until an elaborate cycle was created that started at sunrise on a June morning and continued until the torchbearers were called out at dusk to stand at the foot of the pageant.

The earliest miracle plays that we can identify in the town cycles date back to the early years of Edward III. The last one performed in London, according to Prynne, was Christ's Passion, which took place during the reign of James I. It was staged "at Ely House, Holborn, when Gundomar was there on Good Friday night, with thousands in attendance." This was a late survivor, brought back to life by a final burst of court favor during the state visit of a Spanish ambassador. This spans an extreme range of over three centuries, and the old religious drama was still being performed in a more and more uncertain and sporadic manner throughout the dramatic era of Shakespeare.

The ten plays that follow in this volume briefly showcase the last remnants of early drama, saved just as it was finishing its primitive development, soon to be replaced by plays written with a deliberate artistic sense of the stage. They begin with the great and straightforward tragic masterpiece, where they say their final word: the morality play Everyman, the noblest interlude of death that the religious imagination of the Middle Ages has brought to the stage. The next two Old Testament plays, The Deluge and the Sacrifice of Isaac, are the third and fourth pageants in the Chester series; performed respectively by the Water-Leaders and Drawers of the River Dee, and by the Barbers and Wax-Chandlers. The next play is from Coventry, a Nativity play performed by the Shearmen and Tailors. From the Wakefield series, preserved in the Towneley collection, we have three plays: the famous second shepherds' play, along with the Crucifixion and the Harrowing of Hell, or extraction of souls from Hell (Extractio Animarum ab Inferno). Two Cornish mysteries of the Resurrection are included: The Three Maries at the Tomb and Mary Magdalen Bringing the News to the Apostles. Following these is Bishop Bale's prophetic play God's Promises, which is essentially a series of seven interludes linked by one central idea and one main character, the Pater Cœlestis.

In these religious and moral interludes, the dramatic elements, while somewhat simplistic, are genuine and heartfelt. The humor from broad folk comedy consistently breaks through the scriptural framework in the guild plays, like those featuring Noah the shipbuilder or the three shepherds. Noah's reluctant wife in the Chester Deluge, and Mak's clever wife in the Wakefield shepherd's play, where the sheep-stealing scenes highlight a natural Yorkshire humor, present a pair of chatty characters that are hard to beat for rough comedy. Mak's wife, like the shepherd's wife in the same pastoral, shares proverbs with nearly every breath: "A woman's advice helps in the end!" "The pot goes to the water so long that it eventually comes back broken!"

And her play on the old northern saying, "I'll eat my kid,"--

(the child being the stolen sheep), must have made both the townspeople and villagers burst out laughing. Mak's wife is certainly unforgettable in her own right, much like the Wife of Bath, Dame Quickly, or Mrs. Gamp.

There is nothing so vividly depicted in the Coventry Nativity. But there you have a strikingly realistic approach combined with an emotional lyricism of the simplest charm:

and—

In this Coventry play, we have almost all the elements—foreign, liturgical, or familiar English—of the combined miracle play brought together. It shows evidence of many contributors and reveals in the dialogue of the main characters the highlighted lines of the church play it was based on. The key characters live, move, and perform their well-known roles with the same certainty as the characters in a nursery tale. Herod outdoes himself with an over-the-top Blunderbore performance:—

"Fee, fi, fo, fum!" could be the chant of this giant. The other types are clearly marked. The shepherds are drawn from real life and contrast nicely with the pompous and somewhat exhausting prophets. The scenes at the baby's crib, where the shepherds present gifts like a pipe, an old hat, and mittens, are both amusing and heartwarming.

The tragic counterparts of these scenes are those where the Three Executioners carry out their ruthless task at the Crucifixion, or where the Three Marys go to the tomb afterward in the Cornish mystery, or where Isaac asks his father to blindfold him so he won't see the sword. For a long time, it was common to say, as Sir Walter Scott did, that these plays lacked poetic life or human interest. But at their best, they are genuinely filled with essential emotions—humor, terror, sorrow, pity, depending on the situation. Dramatically, they are much more alive right now than the English drama of the mid-nineteenth century.

In the Cornish mysteries, we miss out on a lot by relying on a translation. However, something of the spirit and energy remains despite this, and a separate excerpt from another play, the Crucifixion, is included in the appendix, which holds up well when compared to how it's presented in other miracle plays. You will also find an interesting note from Norris's Ancient Cornish Drama in the Appendix, discussing how the Cornish mysteries were performed, along with a brief overview by Mr. Jenner of the trilogy presented in that work.

There’s also John Bayle's play God's Promises. The author was born in the doomed coastal town of Dunwich in Suffolk in 1495. Aiming for the church, he showed his rebellious nature early by getting married despite his clerical vows. He had a mix of luck and misfortune as a protégé of Thomas Cromwell and had to flee the country after Cromwell's death. He returned when the new regime was established and became Bishop of Ossory, but had to face exile again during Mary's reign due to his beliefs. He eventually found refuge in Canterbury, where he died. He claimed to have written over twenty plays, with God's Promises, Life of John the Baptist, and King John—a historically significant play as a pioneer—being the most recognized. He referred to God's Promises as a tragedy, but apart from the idea of Sodom in balance as Abraham calculates the diminishing number of the righteous there, or David presenting himself before the Pater Cœlestis as the supreme judge, there’s hardly any true dramatic or tragic emotion. However, Bayle's rhetoric often teetered on the edge of suspense, as seen in the opening of his seventh act where he poses the dramatic question in the last line: --

And what could be better than the way he presents the antiphon, O Oriens Splendor, at the end of the second act?

Switching from Bayle's play to the heart-wrenching realities of Everyman feels like going from a book full of overly moralistic sermons to the final chapters of one of the gospels. There's not enough space here to dive into the complicated history of the early connections between Dutch and English writers and printers. The Dutch version of Everyman—Elckerlijk—was probably the original for the English version and was definitely printed a few years earlier. Richard Pynson, who first printed the English play at the Sign of the George in Fleet Street, had been operating his press there since the early years of the sixteenth century. The play itself may have been written and first performed in English, just like in Dutch, a generation or more beforehand.

It was definitely written, like most of the plays in this collection, by a churchman; and he must have been a person of deep imagination and the most compassionate human spirit imaginable. His religious background becomes clear before the end of the play, where he tells Everyman to go and confess his sins. Like many of the more powerful scenes and passages in the miracle plays that follow, this morality play also makes you appreciate how great the plain English of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was.

The connection between the various miracle plays included here and the town cycles they come from can be quickly seen by looking at the pageant tables in the Appendix. It’s safe to say that all these town and country plays are adaptations of frequently used and often updated texts, which must have gone through numerous changes over time. The aim of the latest editors is to make them accessible to today’s average reader, taking the place of the medieval audience at a Corpus Christi festival. These editors followed in the footsteps of Tudor scribes who periodically revised the prompt books. In this process, aside from some spelling updates, only minimal changes have been made to ensure the text is reasonably understandable today. Old words familiar from Malory, Shakespeare, the Bible, Border Ballads, North Country literature, Walter Scott, or the modern Yorkshire dialect are generally kept as they are, and words necessary for maintaining the rhyme are left unchanged. However, particularly difficult words that might hinder understanding are explained. One Towneley play, the Extractio Animarum, another lively example of the "Harrowing of Hell," a mystery that captivated audiences long ago, is provided in its original spelling to illustrate the changes made in the other texts. Additionally, the Appendix includes a later example of a St. George and the Dragon Christmas play from Cornwall, which, in slightly different versions, has been performed in various regions from Wessex to Tyneside within living memory. This demonstrates the final form of the traditional mystery and the English folk play as it evolved when local talents and amateur playwrights took over, without the guidance of a trained parson or scholar. There may be opportunities to showcase other earlier drama forms, including the Welsh interludes of Twm o'r Nant, in a future book that accompanies this one. Here, only what might interest the reader—who is primarily looking for entertainment—is provided, shining a light on some of the darker aspects of the old British drama.

Finally, huge thanks go out to everyone who worked on these plays, including Mrs. C. Richardson, M.A., Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Roberts, Miss Hawkins, G. R., and Mr. Ezra Pound; and to the various editors of the "Early English Text Society" who made this book possible. Special recognition should be given to Dr. Furnivall for allowing us to use the Society's texts and for his interest in this uncertain effort to reach a broader audience and draw them into the timeless literature he's dedicated so many days of his life to.

E.R.

Everyman: a moral play also known as: A Treatise on how the high father of heaven sends death to summon every creature to come and give an account of their lives in this world], translated from the Dutch play, Elckerlijk, 1520 (?); published in Dodsley's Select Collection of Old English Plays, etc., vol. I., 1874; reprint of one of Skot's editions, collated with his other edition and those of Pynson, Ed. H. Logeman, 1892; with an introduction by F. Sidgwick, 1902; reprinted by W. W. Greg from the Edition by John Skot preserved at Britwell Court, 1904; set to music by H. Walford Davies, etc. (with historical and analytical notes), 1904; J. S. Farmer, Six Anonymous Plays (Early English Dramatists), 1905; with designs by Ambrose Dudley, 1906; in Broadway Booklets, 1906; with introduction, note-book, and word list, J. S. Farmer (Museum Dramatists), 1906.

Miracle Plays: Towneley Mysteries, ed. by Surtees Society, 1836; Pollard, Early English Text Society, 1897. York Mysteries, ed. Lucy Toulmin Smith, 1885. Chester Mysteries, ed. Th. Wright, Shakespeare Society, 1843-47; Deimling, Early English Text Society, 1893, etc.; T. H. Markland (two plays), Roxburghe Club, 1818. Coventry Mysteries, ed. Halliwell, Shakespeare Society, 1841. See also Sharp, Dissertation on the Coventry Mysteries. For other Mysteries see Davidson, Modern Language Notes, vii.; E. Norris, Ancient Cornish Drama, 1859.

Selections or Individual Plays: Harrowing of Hell, edited by Halliwell, 1840; Collier, Five Miracle Plays, 1867; Dr. E. Mall, 1871; A. W. Pollard, English Miracle Plays, 1895; Specimens of the Pre-Shakespearean Drama, 1897, 2 volumes (a third volume to come), Prof. Manly. See J. H. Kirkham (Inquiry into Sources, etc.), 1885. Abraham and Isaac, edited by L. Toulmin Smith (Brome Hall MS.), 1886; R. Brotanek (Dublin MS.), Anglia, xxi.

General Literature: Ward, History of English Dramatic Literature, 1875-76; Payne Collier, The History of English Dramatic Poetry, 1879; K. Hase, Miracle Plays, translated by A. W. Jackson, 1880; C. Davidson, Studies in English Mystery Plays, 1892; A. W. Pollard, English Miracle Plays, Moralities, and Interludes, Specimens of Pre-Elizabethan Drama, etc., 1895; K. Chambers, The Medieval Stage, 1903; a complete bibliography is provided in F. H. Stoddard, References for Students of Miracle Plays and Mysteries, 1887.

Messenger. I ask you all to pay attention,
And listen to this matter with respect,
It's a moral play in essence—
It's called Summoning of Everyman,
Which shows our lives and their end,
How fleeting we are every day.
This subject is incredibly valuable,
But its meaning is even more profound,
And good to take with you.
The story says—Man, from the start,
Look closely, and be mindful of the end,
No matter how cheerful you are!
You may find sin at the start quite sweet,
But in the end, it will make your soul weep,
When the body lies in the ground.
Here you will see how Fellowship and Jollity,
And Strength, Pleasure, and Beauty,
Will fade from you like flowers in May.
For you will hear how our heavenly king
Calls Everyman for a final accounting:
Pay attention, and listen to what he says.

God. I see here in my greatness,
How all creatures are ungrateful to me,
Living without fear in worldly success:
People are so spiritually blind,
Drowned in sin, they don't recognize me as their God;
Their minds are consumed with worldly wealth,
They don't fear my righteousness, the sharp consequences;
They completely forget the law I showed when I died for them;
They disregard my blood that was shed;
I hung between two, that's undeniable;
To give them life, I suffered death;
I healed their feet, while my head was pierced with thorns:
I couldn't do more than what I truly did,
And now I see that the people have completely abandoned me.
They indulge in the seven deadly sins, those damnable ones;
Like pride, greed, wrath, and lust,
Now in the world, these sins are seen as acceptable;
And thus they turn away from the heavenly company of angels;
Everyman lives only for his own pleasure,
And yet they're uncertain about their own lives:
The more I endure them,
The worse they become year after year;
All that lives deteriorates⁷ quickly,
So I will urgently
Hold Everyman accountable,
Because if I leave the people like this,
In their lives and wicked ways,
They will surely become worse than beasts;
Now people would devour each other out of envy;
They completely forget about charity.
I had hoped that Everyman
Would make his home in my glory,
And for that, I had chosen them all;
But now I see, like traitors deflated,
They don’t thank me for the good I intended for them,
Nor for the existence I granted them;
I offered the people a great abundance of mercy,
And few genuinely ask for it;
They are so burdened by worldly wealth,
That I must deliver justice upon them,
On every man living without fear.
Where are you, Death, you mighty messenger?

Death. God, I’m here to do your will,
Your command to fulfill.

God. Go to Everyman,
And show him in my name
A journey he must undertake,
From which he cannot escape;
And that he bring with him a clear account
Without delay or any hesitation.

Death. Lord, I will roam the world,
And ruthlessly search both the great and the small;
I will confront every man who lives in sin,
Ignoring God’s laws and fearing nothing foolish:
He who loves wealth, I will strike with my dart,
To blind his eyes and banish him from heaven,
Unless his good deeds are a true friend to him,
In hell to dwell forever and ever.
Look, I see Everyman walking;
He thinks so little about my arrival;
His mind is on earthly pleasures and his wealth,
And it will cause him great pain to endure
Before the King of Heaven.
Everyman, stop; where are you going
So cheerfully? Have you forgotten your Maker?

Everyman. Why are you asking?
Would you know?⁸

Death. Yes, sir, I will show you;
I'm in a big hurry to come to you
From God in all his glory.

Everyman. What, got a message for me?

Death. Yeah, definitely.
Even if you've forgotten him here,
He thinks about you in the heavenly realm,
As, before we leave, you'll understand.

Everyman. What does God want from me?

Death. I will show you;
He will demand an accounting
Without any further delay.

Everyman. I need more time to sort things out;
This confusing situation is messing with my mind.

Death. You must embark on a long journey:
So bring your account book with you;
For you cannot return in any way,
And be sure to know your calculations:
For before God, you will have to answer and show
Your many bad deeds and only a few good;
How you have spent your life, and in what manner,
Before the highest lord of paradise.
Be aware that we are on that path,
For, know this well, you will make no excuses.⁹

Everyman. I’m not prepared to face this judgment.
I don’t know you: what kind of messenger are you?

Death. I am Death, whom no man fears.
I come for everyone, and no one escapes;
For it is God's decree
That all must obey me.

Everyman. Oh Death, you show up when I least expect it;
You have the power to save me,
Yet out of my goodwill, I’ll give you whatever you want, if you can be nice,
Yes, you shall have a thousand pounds,
And put this off until another day.

Death. Everyman, it’s not going to happen in any way;
I don’t care about gold, silver, or wealth,
Nor about the pope, emperor, king, duke, or princes.
Even if I were to receive great gifts,
I could gain the world;
But my approach is completely different.
I offer you no delay: come here, and don’t linger.

Everyman. Oh no, will I have no more time?
I can say Death gives no warning:
Thinking about you makes my heart heavy,
Because my account isn't ready at all.
If I had twelve more years,
I would make my record so clear,
That I wouldn't have to fear my judgment.
So, Death, I ask you, for God's sake,
Spare me until I find a solution.

Death. There's no use in crying, weeping, or praying:
But hurry up and make sure you’re ready for the journey,
And see who your friends really are if you can.
Because, you know well, time waits for no one,
And in this world, every living creature
Must die because of Adam's sin.

Everyman. Death, if I go on this journey,
And face my end for real,
Please show me, for the sake of charity,
Will I not return soon?

Death. No, Everyman; once you get there,
You may never come back here,
Trust me truly.

Everyman. O gracious God, in the heavenly seat,
Have mercy on me in this time of need;
Will I have no one from this earthly realm
Of my friends to guide me on my way?

Death. Yes, if anyone is brave enough,
To accompany you and keep you company.
Hurry up and go to God's greatness,
To give your account before him.
What, do you think your life is yours,
Along with your worldly possessions too?

Everyman. I had gone so, really.

Death. No, no; it was just borrowed from you;
For as soon as you leave,
Someone else will have it, and then they’ll go too,
Just like you have done.
Everyman, you are crazy; you have your senses,
And here on earth you won't change your ways,
Because I will come unexpectedly.

Everyman. O miserable wretch, where should I go,
To escape this never-ending pain?
Now, kind Death, please spare me until tomorrow,
So I can make things right
With careful thought.

Death. No, I will not agree to that,
Nor will I delay any man,
But I will strike to the heart suddenly
Without any warning.
And now I will hurry out of your sight;
Make sure you’re ready quickly,
For you can say this is the day
That no one alive can escape.

Everyman. Oh, I could really cry with deep sighs;
Now I have no one to keep me company
On this journey and to support me;
And my writing is completely unprepared.
How can I excuse myself now?
I wish to God I had never been born!¹⁰
It would have been a huge benefit to my soul;
Because now I fear great and terrible pain.
Time is passing; Lord, help me to get it all done;
For even if I grieve, it doesn’t help.
The day is going by, and it's almost over;
I don’t really know what to do.
Who should I complain to?
What if I talk to Fellowship about this sudden turn of events?
Because in him I have all my trust;
We have been good friends for many days
Sharing in fun and games.
I see him over there, for sure;
I believe he will keep me company;
So I will speak to him to ease my sorrow.
Good to see you, Fellowship, and good morning!

Fellowship speaks. Everyman, good morning today.
Sir, why do you look so sadly?
If something is wrong, please tell me,
So I can help to fix it.

Everyman. Yes, good Fellowship, yes,
I am in real danger.

Friendship. My real friend, share your thoughts with me;
I won't abandon you for the rest of my life,
In the spirit of good company.

Everyman. That was well said and with love.

Fellowship. Sir, I need to know what’s bothering you;
I feel sorry to see you in any trouble;
If someone has wronged you, you will get your revenge,
Even if I’m killed on the ground for you,--
Even though I know I might die for it.

Everyman. Truly, Fellowship, thank you.

Fellowship. Nonsense! Your thanks mean nothing to me.
Show me your pain, and that's all I need to hear.

Everyman. If my heart were to break for you,
And then you turned away from me,
And wouldn’t comfort me when you hear me speak,
Then I would be ten times sorrier.

Fellowship. Sir, I mean what I say and will prove it through my actions.

Everyman. So, be a good friend when it matters:
I have seen your loyalty here before.

Friendship. And so it shall always be;
For, truly, even if you go to Hell,
I will not abandon you on the way!

Everyman. You speak like a true friend; I trust you completely;
I will earn it, and I might.

Friendship. I'm not talking about deserving, not today.
For someone who talks a lot but doesn’t act
Is not worthy to be among good company;
So share with me the troubles on your mind,
As a friend who is caring and kind.

Everyman. Let me explain how it is;
I've been told to go on a journey,
A long, tough, and risky one,
And to give a clear account without delay
Before the high judge Adonai.¹¹
So I ask you, please accompany me,
As you have promised, on this journey.

Fellowship. That's important! Keeping promises is a responsibility,
But if I were to embark on such a journey,
I know it would bring me suffering:
It also makes me quite afraid, to be honest.
But let's discuss this as best as we can,
Because your words would frighten even a strong man.

Everyman. Well, you said that if I ever needed you,
You would never abandon me, alive or dead,
Even if it meant going to hell for real.

Fellowship. So I said, sure,
But let's put those pleasures aside, to be honest:
And also, if we go on such a journey,
When would we return?

Everyman. No, not ever again until Judgment Day.

Fellowship. In faith, I won’t be going there!
Who brought you this news?

Everyman. Yes, Death was with me here.

Fellowship. Now, by God that everyone has bought,
If Death were the messenger,
For no man who is alive today
I won't take that dreaded journey--
Not for the father who brought me into this world!

Everyman. You promised otherwise, I swear.

Friendship. I know I speak the truth;
And still, if you want to eat, drink, and have a good time,
Or hang out with women, enjoying the lively company,
I wouldn’t abandon you while the day is nice,
Trust me, really!

Everyman. Yes, you would be eager for that;
To go to fun, comfort, and games,
Your mind will be quicker to jump
Than to keep me company on my long journey.

Fellowship. Now, honestly, I won’t go that route.
But if you want to murder or kill someone,
I’ll support you with all my heart!

Everyman. Oh, that’s really straightforward advice!
Kind friend, help me in my time of need;
We have cared for each other for a long time, and now I need you,
And now, kind Fellowship, don't forget me.

Fellowship. Whether you have loved me or not,
By Saint John, I will not go with you.

Everyman. But I ask you, please put in the effort and do this for me
To help me out, for the sake of kindness,
And support me until I leave the town.

Fellowship. No, even if you gave me a new dress,
I won’t go a step with you;
But if you had stayed, I wouldn’t have left you like this.
And now, good luck on your journey,
Because I’m leaving you as quickly as I can.

Everyman. Where are you going, Fellowship? Are you going to abandon me?

Fellowship. Yes, by my faith, I commit you to God.

Everyman. Goodbye, dear Fellowship; this pains my heart;
Farewell forever, I won’t see you again.

Fellowship. In faith, Everyman, goodbye for now at the end;
I will remember that saying goodbye is like mourning.

Everyman. Oh no! Are we really going to part like this?
Our Lady, please help, without any more comfort,
Look, Fellowship is abandoning me when I need it most:
In this world, where else can I turn for help?
Fellowship used to bring me joy;
And now he shows little concern for my sorrow.
It’s said that in good times, people find friends,
Who in hard times can be really unkind.
Now where should I go for help,
Since Fellowship has left me behind?
I will turn to my family,
Asking them to support me in my time of need;
I believe they will come through,
For family ties will endure even when they seem weak.
I will go let them know, for I see them over there.
Where are you now, my friends and family?

Kindred. We're here now at your command.
Cousin, please share your intentions
In any way, and don't hold back.

Cousin. Yeah, Everyman, and tell us
If you’re planning to go anywhere,
Because you know, we will live and die together.

Kindred. In good times and bad, we will stand by you,
For a man can be brave over his family.

Everyman. Thank you, my friends and family.
Now I’m going to share the sorrow in my heart:
I received a message from a messenger,
Who is a high king's chief officer;
He told me to go on a pilgrimage to my suffering,
And I know I will never return;
Also, I need to make an account quickly,
Because I have a powerful enemy waiting for me,
Who intends to obstruct me.

Kindred. What report do you need to give?
I want to know that.

Everyman. Of all my works, I need to show
How I have lived and the days I’ve spent;
Also the wrongdoings I’ve committed
In my time, since life was given to me;
And all the virtues that I have ignored.
So I ask you to come with me,
To help me make my account, for the sake of charity.

Cousin. What, to go there? Is that the issue?
No, Everyman, I would rather eat bread and water
for all of these five years and more.

Everyman. Oh, how unfortunate that I was ever born!¹²
For now I will never be happy
If you abandon me.

Kindred. Ah, sir; you're quite the cheerful guy!
Stay positive and don't complain.
But one thing I want to make clear, by Saint Anne,
You will go alone as far as I'm concerned.

Everyman. My Cousin, will you not come with me?

Cousin. No, I swear, I have a cramp in my toe.
Don't rely on me, because, honestly,
I will let you down when you need me the most.
Kindred. It's no use trying to persuade us.
You can have my maid with all my heart;
She loves going to parties, dressing up,
Dancing, and going out:
I will let her help you with that trip,
If you and she can get along.

Everyman. Now show me what you're really thinking.
Will you come with me, or stay behind?

Kindred. Stay behind? Yes, I will and I can!
So, goodbye until another day.

Everyman. How can I be happy or joyful?
They make beautiful promises to me,
But when I need them the most, they abandon me.
I feel betrayed; that makes me sad.

Cousin. Cousin Everyman, goodbye now,
Because I truly won’t go with you;
I also have an unfinished accounting
I need to settle; that’s why I’m delaying.
Now, may God watch over you, for I’m leaving.

Everyman. Ah, Jesus, has everyone come here?
Look, sweet words make fools pretend;
They promise, but nothing is for sure.
My relatives promised me they would stay
With me faithfully,
And now they quickly run away:
Just like Fellowship promised me.
Which friend should I rely on now?
I'm wasting my time staying here longer.
Yet there’s something on my mind;--
All my life, I’ve loved wealth;
If my riches could help me now,
They would lift my spirits.
I will talk to him in this crisis.--
Where are you, my Goods and riches?

Goods. Who's calling me? Everyman? What are you in such a rush for?
I'm lying here in corners, piled up so high,
And locked tightly in chests,
Also stuffed in bags, you can see with your eyes,
I can't move; I lie in packs.
What do you want, just say it plainly.

Everyman. Come here, Good, as fast as you can,
Because I need your advice.

Goods. Sir, if you or anyone else in the world is facing trouble or hardship,
I can help you fix that quickly.

Everyman. I have another problem that troubles me;
In this world, it's not, I swear.
I've been called to go a different way,
To give a straightforward account,
Before the highest Jupiter of all;
And throughout my life, I have found joy and pleasure in you.
So I ask you to come with me,
For maybe, before God Almighty,
You can help me make my reckoning clean and pure;
For it's always said among people,
That money can fix everything that's wrong.

Goods. No, Everyman, I have a different tune to sing,
I don’t follow anyone on such journeys;
If I went with you,
You would end up much worse off because of me;
Because you have put your trust in me,
Your account is confused and unclear,
So you can’t keep your records straight;
And that is what you get for loving me.

Everyman. That would upset me greatly,
When I have to face that terrifying answer.
Come on, let's go there together.

Goods. No, that's not right, I'm too fragile, I can't take it;
I won't follow any man an inch, that's for sure.

Everyman. Oh, I have loved you and found great joy
Throughout my life in wealth and riches.

Things. That is to your ruin without a doubt,
For my love is different from eternal love.
But if you had loved me moderately,
By giving part of me to the needy,
Then you wouldn’t be in this pain,
Nor in this great sorrow and worry.

Everyman. Look, now was I deceived or I was aware,
And all I can blame¹³ is my wasting of time.

Goods. What, do you really think I belong to you?

Everyman. I had to go.

Goods. No, Everyman, I decline;
For a time I was given to you,
You had me in comfort for a season;
My purpose is to destroy men's souls;
If I save one, I bring down a thousand;
Do you think I will follow you?
No, definitely not from this world.

Everyman. I should have gone another way.

Goods. So for your soul, Good is a thief;
Because when you're dead, this is my disguise
To trick another in the same way
As I've done to you, all for their soul's relief.

Everyman. O false Good, cursed are you!
You traitor to God, who has deceived me,
And trapped me in your snare.

Goods. Wow, you really took on a lot,
And I'm glad you did,
I just have to laugh, I can’t be sad.

Everyman. Ah, Good, you have long had my sincere love;
I gave you what should belong to the Lord above.
But will you not come with me for real?
I ask you to tell me the truth.

Goods. No, so help me God,
So goodbye, and have a great day.

Everyman. Oh, who can I turn to for help
To accompany me on this difficult journey?
First Fellowship said he would come with me;
His words were really nice and cheerful,
But then he left me all alone.
So I turned to my relatives in despair,
And they offered me kind words,
They didn’t hold back on the nice talk,
But in the end, they all abandoned me.
Next, I approached my Goods that I treasured most,
Hoping for comfort, but found the opposite;
For my Goods harshly told me
That they lead many to hell.
Then I felt ashamed of myself,
And I know I deserve to be blamed;
I can’t help but hate myself.
Who should I turn to for guidance now?
I fear I won’t find success
Until I reach my Good-Deed,
But sadly, she is so weak,
That she can neither move nor speak;
Yet I’ll take a chance on her now.--
My Good-Deeds, where are you?

Good-Deeds. Here I lie cold in the ground;
Your sins have me tightly bound,
So I cannot move.

Everyman. Oh, Good-Deeds, I'm terrified;
I need to ask you for advice,
Because I really need help right now.

Good Deeds. Everyman, I understand
That you have been called to give an account
Before Messiah, the King of Jerusalem;
And you can count on me¹⁴ for that journey, whatever¹⁵ you decide to take.

Everyman. So, I come to you to express my sorrow;
I ask you, please come with me.

Good-Deeds. I really want to, but I honestly can't stand it.

Everyman. Why, is there anything wrong with you?

Good-Deeds. Yes, sir, I owe you my thanks;
If you had truly encouraged me,
Your account book would now be completely ready.
Look, the records of your actions and deeds too;
Oh, see how they lie beneath your feet,
Bringing heaviness to your soul.

Everyman. Lord Jesus, help me!
I can't see one letter here.

Good-Deeds. There's a blind calculation in times of trouble!

Everyman. Good-Deeds, please help me in this time of need,
Or else I'm truly doomed for all eternity;
So assist me in making my account clear
Before the redeemer of everything,
That king who is, was, and always will be.

Good-Deeds. Everyman, I'm sorry to see you in this situation,
And I really want to help you, if I can.

Everyman. Good-Deeds, I ask for your advice.

Good-Deeds. I will definitely do that;
Even if I can’t walk on my own,
I have a sister who will be with you too,
Called Knowledge, who will stay with you,
To help you face that terrifying accounting.

Knowledge. Everyman, I will go with you and be your guide,
In your time of need, I will be by your side.

Everyman. I’m feeling great about everything right now,
And I’m completely satisfied with this good thing;
Thanks be to God, my Creator.

Good-Deeds. And when he has brought you there,
Where you can heal from your pain,
Then go with your account and your Good-Deeds together
To bring joy to your heart
Before the blessed Trinity.

Everyman. My Good-Deeds, thank you;
I am truly happy,
With your kind words.

Knowledge. Now let's go together affectionately,
To Confession, that purifying river.

Everyman. I weep for joy; I wish we were there;
But, please tell me, where can I find that holy man, Confession?

Knowledge. In the house of salvation:
We will find him in that place,
That will comfort us by God's grace.
Look, this is Confession; kneel down and ask for mercy,
For he is in good standing with God almighty.

Everyman. O glorious fountain that clears all impurities,
Wash away the stains of my dirty sins,
So that no wrongdoing may be seen in me;
I come with Knowledge for my redemption,
Repenting with sincere and full regret;
For I am called to go on a pilgrimage,
And to give a serious account before God.
Now, I ask you, Shrift, mother of salvation,
Assist my good deeds for my desperate plea.

Confession. I understand your pain well, Everyman;
Because with Knowledge you come to me,
I will comfort you as best as I can,
And I will give you a precious gift,
Called penance, a wise way to avoid hardship;
With this, your body will be disciplined,
Through abstinence and persistence in God’s service:
Here you will receive that strong punishment from me,
Which is the tough penance that you must endure,
To remember your Savior was scourged for you
With sharp whips and suffered it patiently;
So you must do, or you’ll escape that painful journey;
Knowledge, keep him on this path,
And by the time Good-Deeds will be with you.
But definitely, be sure of mercy,
For your time is running out, and you will be saved;
Ask God for mercy, and He will truly grant it,
When a person binds himself with the whip of penance,
Then he will find the oil of forgiveness.

Everyman. Thank God for His amazing work!
Now I will start my penance;
This has brought joy and light to my heart,
Even though the struggles inside are tough and painful.

Knowledge. Everyman, make sure you complete your penance,
No matter how difficult it may be for you,
And Knowledge will give you guidance whenever you need,
On how to clearly manage your accounts.

Everyman. O eternal God, O heavenly being,
O path of righteousness, O beautiful vision,
Who came down in a pure virgin
Because He wanted to redeem Everyman,
Which Adam lost through his disobedience:
O blessed Godhead, chosen and divine,
Forgive my serious offense;
Here I plead for mercy in Your presence.
O spiritual treasure, O rescuer and redeemer
Of all the world, hope and guide,
Mirror of joy, and source of mercy,
Who enlightens heaven and earth with Your light,
Hear my desperate plea, even though it’s late;
Accept my prayers; though I’m unworthy in this difficult life,
A sinner most vile,
Let my name be written in Moses' book;
O Mary, pray to the Creator of all things,
For me to help at my end,
And save me from the grasp of my enemy,
For Death attacks me fiercely;
And, Lady, let it be through your prayer
That I may share in your Son's glory,
Through His suffering I ask for this,
I beg you, help save my soul.--
Knowledge, grant me the whip of penance;
With it, my flesh shall find relief:
I will now begin, if God gives me grace.

Knowledge. Everyman, may God give you time and space:
So I leave you in the care of our Savior,
May you ensure your accounting is clear.

Everyman. In the name of the Holy Trinity,
My body will be severely punished:
Take this body for the sins of the flesh;
You also enjoy living lavishly and carefreely,
And you led me down the path to damnation;
So now endure these strikes and punishments.
Now I will go through penance to cleanse myself,
To save me from purgatory, that intense fire.

Good-Deeds. I thank God, now I can walk and move;
And I’m free from my illness and pain.
So with Everyman I will go, and not hold back;
I will help him showcase his good deeds.

Knowledge. Now, Everyman, be joyful and happy;
Your Good-Deeds are here now; you shouldn't be down;
Now your Good-Deeds are complete and strong,
Walking steadily on the ground.

Everyman. I'm feeling great, and I always will;
Now I will hit harder than I did before.

Good Deeds. Everyman, traveler, my dear friend,
Blessed be you forever;
For you, eternal glory is prepared.
You have made me whole and healthy,
So I will stand by you at all times.¹⁶

Everyman. Welcome, my Good-Deeds; now I hear your voice,
I cry from the overwhelming sweetness of love.

Knowledge. Don't be sad any longer, but always rejoice,
God sees your life from His throne above;
Wear this garment for your own good,
Which is soaked with your tears,
Otherwise, you might miss it before God,
When you reach the end of your journey.

Everyman. Gentle Knowledge, what do you call it?

Knowledge. It's a heavy load:
It often comes from pain;
It's about being sorry,
That brings you forgiveness;
It pleases God greatly.

Good-Deeds. Everyman, will you take it for your well-being?

Everyman. Now blessed be Jesus, Mary's Son!
For I have true remorse now.
And let's go without delay;
Good-Deeds, have we settled our accounts?

Good-Deeds. Yeah, I definitely have it here.

Everyman. Then I hope we don't need to be afraid;
Now, friends, let's not go our separate ways.

Knowledge. No, Everyman, we won't.

Good-Deeds. But you must bring along
Three people of great strength.

Everyman. Who should they be?

Good-Deeds. Discretion and Strength they are called,
And your Beauty should not be left behind.

Knowledge. You also need to remember
Your Five-wits as your advisors.

Good-Deeds. You should always have them prepared.

Everyman. How am I going to get them here?

Knowledge. You need to gather them all together,
And they will hear you right away.

Everyman. My friends, come here and be with me
Discretion, Strength, my Five-wits, and Beauty.

Beauty. We're all ready here at your command.
What do you want us to do?

Good-Deeds. That you would go with Everyman,
And help him on his journey,
Will you join him or not on that journey?

Strength. We will bring him all there,
To his aid and comfort, you can trust me.

Discretion. So we’ll all go with him together.

Everyman. Almighty God, you are so loved,
I thank you that I have brought along
Strength, Discretion, Beauty, and Five-wits; I lack nothing;
And my Good-Deeds, along with Knowledge clear,
Are all here with me at my command;
I need nothing more for my purpose.

Strength. And I, Strength, will stand by you in times of trouble,
Even if you choose to fight on the battlefield.

Five-wits. And even if we traveled around the world,
We won't leave for anything sweet or sour.

Beauty. I won't let anything happen until my last hour,
No matter what comes my way.

Discretion. Everyman, let me advise you first;
Make your choices wisely and thoughtfully;
We are all giving you valuable guidance
That everything will turn out fine.

Everyman. My friends, listen to what I have to say:
I pray God rewards you in His heavenly realm.
Now listen, everyone who is here,
For I will make my will
Here in front of all of you.
I will give half of my wealth to charity
With good intentions, by my own hands,
And the other half will stay
Quietly to return where it needs to go.
I'm doing this to defy the devil of hell
To completely escape his danger
From now on and from this day forward.

Knowledge. Everyman, listen to what I say;
Go to a priest, I recommend,
And receive from him, in any case,
The holy sacrament and anointment together;
Then quickly come back here;
We will all wait for you here.

Five-Wits. Yes, Everyman, you should get ready,
There’s no emperor, king, duke, or baron,
Who has a commission from God,
Like the least priest in the world does;
For he carries the keys of the blessed sacraments, pure and kind,
And has the responsibility
For man's redemption, which is always certain;
God gave it to us for our soul's healing
From His heart with great pain;
Here in this temporary life, for you and me,
There are seven blessed sacraments,
Baptism, confirmation, a good priesthood,
And the sacrament of God's precious flesh and blood,
Marriage, the holy extreme unction, and penance;
These seven are good to remember,
Gracious sacraments of high divinity.

Everyman. I would really like to receive that holy body
And humbly go to my spiritual father.

Five-wits. Everyman, that is the best you can do:
God wants to bring you to salvation,
For priesthood surpasses everything else;
They teach us Holy Scripture,
And lead people away from sin to reach heaven;
God has given them more power
Than any angel in heaven;
With just five words, they can consecrate
God's body into flesh and blood,
And hold their creator in their hands;
The priest binds and looses all ties,
Both on earth and in heaven;
You administer all seven sacraments;
Even if we kissed your feet, you would be worthy;
You are the healer that cures deadly sin:
We find no remedy under God
Except for priesthood alone.
Everyman, God gave priests that honor,
And placed them among us to act in his stead;
Thus, they are above angels in rank.

Knowledge. If priests are truly good, it's definitely the case;
But when Jesus was crucified in great pain,
He gave, from his blessed heart,
The same sacrament despite the suffering:
He didn't sell it to us, that all-powerful Lord.
That's why Saint Peter the apostle says
That Jesus' curse falls on all who
Buy or sell their God, their Savior,
Or take or tell for any amount of money.
Sinful priests set a bad example for sinners;
Their children sit by the fires of others, I've heard;
And some keep company with women,
Living unclean lives, driven by lust and desire.
These people are blind because of their sins.

Five-wits. I hope we don’t come across anything like that;
So let’s honor the priesthood,
And follow their teachings for the well-being of our souls;
We are their flock, and they are our shepherds
Who keep us all safe.
Calm down, because I see Everyman approaching,
Who has made genuine amends.

Good-Deeds. I think it is him indeed.

Everyman. Now Jesus be our greatest help.¹⁷
I've received the sacrament for my salvation,
And then my last rites:
Blessed are all those who advised me to take it!
And now, friends, let's not wait any longer;
I’m grateful to God that you have stayed with me this long.
Now each of you put your hand on this rod,
And let’s follow me quickly:
I’ll go ahead, that's where I want to be; God lead us.

Strength. Everyman, we won't leave you,
Until you have completed this long journey.

Discretion. I, Discretion, will stand by you too.

Knowledge. And even though this journey is incredibly intense,
I will never separate you from:
Everyman, I will stand by you
As surely as I ever did by Judas Maccabee.

Everyman. Oh no, I’m so weak I can’t stand,
My legs are giving out beneath me;
Friends, let’s not go back to this place,
Not for all the riches in the world,
For I must crawl into this cave
And sink into the ground to sleep.

Beauty. What, into this grave? Alas!

Everyman. Yes, that's where you'll spend more and less.

Beauty. And what, should I suffocate here?

Everyman. Yes, I swear, I will never show up again.
In this world, we won't live any longer,
But in heaven, before the highest Lord of all.

Beauty. I cross all of this out; goodbye to Saint John;
I take my cap in my lap and leave.

Everyman. What, Beauty, where will you go?

Beauty. Peace, I'm deaf; I don't look back,
Not even if you offered me all the gold in your chest.

Everyman. Oh, who can I trust?
Beauty fades away so quickly;
She promised to stay with me through life and death.

Strength. Everyman, I will also abandon and reject you;
I don't like your game at all.

Everyman. Why will you all abandon me then?
Sweet Strength, please stay a little longer.

Strength. No, sir, by the grace of God
I will get away from you quickly,
Even if you cry until your heart breaks.

Everyman. You said you would always stay by my side.

Strength. Yes, I've conveyed you far enough;
You're old enough, I get it,
To start your journey;
I regret coming here.

Everyman. Strength, I’m the one to blame for upsetting you;
Are you going to break a promise that’s like a debt?

Strength. In faith, I don’t care;
You’re just a fool to complain,
You waste your words and tire your brain;
Go bury yourself in the ground.

Everyman. I thought for sure I would find you.
Whoever trusts in their Strength
Is ultimately deceived by it.
Both Strength and Beauty have abandoned me,
Even though they promised me so sweetly.

Discretion. Everyman, I'm going to leave after Strength,
As for me, I will leave you by yourself.

Everyman. Why, Discretion, will you abandon me?

Discretion. Yeah, honestly, I will leave you,
For when Strength moves ahead,
I’ll always follow after.

Everyman. But please, for the sake of the Trinity,
Take a sorrowful look in my grave.

Discretion. No, I won't come that close.
Goodbye, everyone!

Everyman. Everything fails, except for God alone;
Beauty, Strength, and Wisdom;
Because when Death sounds his call,
They all flee from me really fast.

Five-wits. Everyman, I’m taking my leave of you now;
I’m going to follow the other one, because I’m leaving you behind.

Everyman. Oh! Now I can only cry and mourn,
Because I believed you were my closest friend.

Five-wits. I won't keep you any longer;
So goodbye, and that's that.

Everyman. Oh Jesus, help, everyone has abandoned me!

Good-Deeds. No, Everyman, I will stay with you,
I will not abandon you for sure;
You will find me a true friend in times of need.

Everyman. Thank you, Good-Deeds; now I may see true friends;
They have all abandoned me;
I valued them more than my Good-Deeds alone.
Knowledge, will you abandon me too?

Knowledge. Yeah, Everyman, when you face death:
But not yet for any kind of danger.

Everyman. Gramercy, Knowledge, wholeheartedly.

Knowledge. No, I won't leave here yet,
Until I see where you will go.

Everyman. I think, unfortunately, that I have to go,
To settle my accounts and pay my debts,
Because I see my time is almost gone.
Take this as a lesson, all of you who hear or see,
How those I loved the most are abandoning me,
Except my Good-Deeds that remain steadfast.

Good-Deeds. All worldly things are just vanity:
Beauty, Strength, and Wisdom, people abandon,
Foolish friends and relatives, who speak kindly,
Everything fades away except Good-Deeds, and that’s who I am.

Everyman. Have mercy on me, all-powerful God;
And support me, you Mother and Virgin, holy Mary.

Good-Deeds. Don't worry, I'll speak for you.

Everyman. Here I ask for God's mercy.

Good-Deeds. Let's keep our end brief and reduce our suffering;
Let's leave and not come back.

Everyman. Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my soul;
Please take it, Lord, so it won't be lost;
As you redeemed me, protect me,
And save me from the devil's pride,
So that I can stand with that blessed group
Who will be saved on the Day of Judgment.
In manus tuas--of greatest power
Forever--commendo spiritum meum.

Knowledge. Now he has allowed us all to endure;
The Good-Deeds will make everything certain.
Now he has brought it to an end;
I think I hear angels singing
And making great joy and music,
Where Everyman's soul will be received.

Angel. Come, outstanding chosen partner of Jesus:
You shall ascend up there
Because of your unique virtue:
Now the soul has left the body;
Your account is crystal-clear.
Now you will enter the heavenly realm,
Where all of you will go
Who live well before the day of judgment.

Doctor. This lesson might resonate with you;
Listeners, take it to heart, regardless of your age,
And let go of pride, as it deceives you in the end,
And remember Beauty, Five-wits, Strength, and Discretion,
They all ultimately abandon Everyman,
Except for Good-Deeds, that's where he finds support.
But be cautious, for they might be few
Before God, he has no assistance at all.
No excuses are available for Everyman:
Alas, how will he manage then?
For after death, no one can make amends,
At that point, mercy and compassion abandon him.
If his account isn’t clear when he arrives,
God will say—ite maledicti in ignem æternum.
And he who has his account clean and true,
Shall be crowned high in heaven;
May God bring us all to that place
So we can live together, body and soul.
To this, help us the Trinity,
Amen, say you, for saint Charity.

THUS ENDS THIS MORAL PLAY OF EVERYMAN.

God. I, God, who created the entire world
Heaven and Earth, and everything from nothing,
I see my people, in actions and thoughts,
Are deeply caught in sin.
  My spirit will not reside in any person
Who, driven by fleshly desires, is my enemy,¹⁸
But for six score years I will wait
To see if they will change.¹⁹
  The humans that I created I will destroy,
Along with beasts, worms, and birds that fly,
For they annoy me on this earth,
The people who are there.
  For it hurts me deeply
The wickedness that multiplies now,
That it grieves me internally,
That I ever made man.
  Therefore Noah, my faithful servant,
You are a righteous man, as I see,
You shall soon build a ship,
From dry and light trees.
  Make small chambers inside it
And also take bindings
Inside and out, do not slack
To seal it with all your strength.
  It shall be three hundred cubits long,
And its width must be strong,
Its height must be made appropriately,
Thus measure it all around.
  Make one window through your efforts;
One cubit in length and width,
On the side, a door shall fit
For coming in and going out.
  You shall also make eating places,
Three roofed chambers, one or two:
For I plan to drown
The people I made.
  The entire world shall be destroyed,
Except for you, your wife, and three sons,
And all their wives, with you,
Shall be saved for your sake.

Noah. Oh, Lord! I thank you, loud and clear,
That you are willing to save me here,
And spare my family from disaster,
As I truly see now.
  I will obey your command, Lord,
And never again will I make you sad or annoyed²³
For such grace has been shown to me
Among all of humanity.
  Have all of you men and women finished?
Help with anything that may happen,
To build this ship, chamber, and hall,
As God has commanded us to do.

Shem. Dad, I'm already ready,²⁴
I've got an axe, trust me!
It's as sharp as any in this whole town
To go over there.

Ham. I have a sharp hatchet,
It cuts well, as you can see,
I believe there isn't a better one
In this whole town.

Japhet. I can easily make a pin,
And with this hammer drive it in;
Go and work without any fuss;
And I'm all set to go.²⁴

Noah's Wife. And we will bring wood too,
For women have nothing else to do
Women are too weak to handle
Any great hardship.

Shem's Wife. Here is a good tool;
With this you must carve and strike:
No one should be lazy in this group,
And no one can afford to fail now.

Ham's Wife. And I will go to gather slich,²⁵
The ship needs to be cleaned and pitched;
It must be anointed, every stitch,
Board, tree, and pin.

Japhet's Wife. And I will gather some sticks here
To make a fire for you, out of fear,
And to prepare²⁶ your dinner,
Before you come in.

Here, they gesture as if they are using various tools.

Noah. Now, in the name of God, I will start,
To build the ship we’ll be in,
So we can be ready to float,
When the flood comes.
  I’m putting these boards together,
To keep us safe from the elements
So we can travel here and there
And be safe from this flood.
  I’ll use this tree for the mast,
Secured with strong beams that will last,
With a sail yard for each gust
And everything else in its place.
  With a tall topmast and bowsprit.
With cords and ropes, everything is right
To set sail at the next dawn²⁷
This ship is complete.
In this vessel, we shall stay safe:
I want my children and you to jump in!

Noah's Wife. Honestly, Noah, I would have preferred if you had slept, despite your generous hospitality,²⁸
Because I won't follow your advice.²⁹

Noah. Good wife, please do as I ask.

Noah's Wife. By Christ, not that I see more need,
Even if you stand and rant all day.

Noah. Lord, why do women always have to be so grumpy?
And they're never gentle, I can tell you that.
I'm seeing this clearly today
With all of you as witnesses.
  Good wife, let's stop all this fuss
About the beer you’re brewing here,
Because everyone thinks you’re in charge;
And you really are, I swear!

God. Noah, gather your family
And get into the ship quickly,
For there isn’t a man as righteous as you
Living on earth anymore.
  Take seven pairs of every clean animal
Or you’ll be in trouble.
Make sure to have a male and female
So they can reproduce quickly.
  For unclean animals, take two of each,
One male and one female, no more;
Also, take seven pairs of clean birds,
Male and female together.
  For unclean birds, just take two, no more;
And for animals, as I said before:
Those will be saved according to my instructions
Before I send the flood.
  Make sure to gather all the food
Needed for the ship,
So nothing is forgotten
And do all this quickly.³¹
  To sustain both humans and animals inside,
Until the waters recede.³²
This world is filled with sin
And that's clear to see.
  You have seven more days,
You’ll have time to gather them in;
After that, I plan to bring
My judgment on mankind.
  For forty days and forty nights,
Rain will pour down for their wrongs;
And I have created this with my power,
Now I intend to destroy.

Noah. Lord, I’m ready to obey your command,³³
Since no other grace will help,
I’ll gladly do it,
For I find you gracious.
  I’ve been stuck on this ship for a hundred and twenty winters:
If any mercy could come to humanity
Through improvement.
  Everyone, listen up.
Hurry, before the water comes,
So that every animal is in its pen
And brought onto the ship.
  There will be seven of the clean animals;
Two of the unclean, as God instructed me;
This flood is near, we can see that,
So don’t wait any longer.

Shem. Sir, here are lions, leopards in,
Horses, mares, oxen, and pigs,
Goats, calves, sheep, and cattle,
Here sitting³⁴ you can see.

Ham. Camels, donkeys, people may find;
Buck, doe, deer and hind,
And all kinds of animals.
Here they are, it seems to me.

Japhet. Take these cats and dogs too,
Otter, fox, and weasel also;
Hares, hopping happily, can you
Have kail here to eat?

Noah's Wife. And here are bears, wolves all set,
Apes, owls, marmosets;
Weasels, squirrels, and ferrets
Here they eat their meat.

Shem's Wife. There are even more animals in this house!
Here come the cats in a whole group,³⁵
Here’s a rat and here’s a mouse;
They’re all close together.

Ham's Wife. And here are birds of all kinds,
Herons, cranes, and bitterns;
Swans and peacocks, have them all!
Food for this season.

Japhet's Wife. Here are roosters, buzzards, crows,
Rooks, ravens, in many rows;
Cuckoos, curlews, who knows,
Each one in its kind.
  And here are doves, ducks, drakes,
Redshanks, running through the lakes,
And each bird that speaks,
In this ship, people may find.

[In the stage direction, Noah's sons are instructed to loudly announce the names of the animals that enter; a depiction of this, painted on parchment, is to be carried by the actors.]

Noah. Wife, come in, why are you standing there?
You're always eager, I swear that's true:
Come on, for God's sake, it’s time to move,
For fear that we might drown.

Noah's Wife. Yes, sir, raise your sail
And set out with bad intentions,
Because, without a doubt,
I won't leave this town.
  But I have my friends all around,
I won’t step even an inch further;
They won't drown, I swear by St. John!
If I can save their lives.
  They cared for me deeply, I swear!
But you’ll let them into your chest,
Otherwise, go on, Noah, wherever you want,
And find yourself a new wife.

Noah. Shem, some love your mother, that's true;
Honestly, I don’t know anyone else like that!

Shem. Dad, I’m going to help her in, I promise,
No doubt about it.
  Mom, my dad wants you to come,
And asks you to go to that ship over there,³⁶
Look up and check the wind,
Because we're ready to set sail.

Noah's Wife. Son, go back to him and say
I won’t be coming in today!

Noah. Come in, wife, in any way you can,
Or just stay outside.

Ham. Should we all go get her?

Noah. Yes, sons, with Christ's blessing and mine,
I wish you would hurry up,
Because I’m worried about this flood.

Japhet. Mom, we all pray to you,
Because we’re here, your kids;
Get on the ship to avoid the bad weather,
For the love that you paid for!

Noah's Wife. I won't come just because you ask,
But if all my friends are here, then I will.

Gossip. The flood rushes in quickly,
Spreading rapidly all around;
I'm terrified of drowning:
Good gossip, let me join in!
  Or let’s drink before we leave,
Because we've often done that;
For at one point you drink a quart,
And I will too before I go.

Shem. Truly, mother, you will,
Whether you like it or not!

She’s leaving.

Noah. Welcome aboard, my wife!

Noah's Wife. And remember that for your note!³⁷

And give it up.³⁸

Noah. Aha! Wow, this is intense!
It's nice to be calm.
My kids! I think this boat is moving!
Staying here is really bothering me!
The water is spreading over the land!
God, do what you will!
  Ah, great God, you are so good!
Now the whole world is flooded
As I can clearly see.
  I’m going to close this window soon,
And I’ll head into my room
Until this immense water
Is calmed by your power.

Noah, as stated in the stage directions, is now to close the windows of the ark and take a short break. He is then to sing the psalm, Salva me, Domine! and afterwards open them and look outside.

Now forty days have passed.
I'll send a raven soon;
If there’s anything on earth, a tree, or stone,
That is dry in any place.
  And if this bird doesn't return
It’s a sign, truly said,
That it’s dry on hill or plain,
And God has shown some grace.

A raven is now sent.

Ah, Lord! wherever this raven lies,
Somewhere I see a dry well;
But still, a dove, by my means³⁹
I will send after.
You will return to me
For of all the birds that can fly
You are the most gentle and kind.⁴⁰

[The stage direction indicates that another dove should be prepared with an olive branch in its beak, which is to be lowered by a cord into Noah's hand.]

Ah Lord! blessed be You always,
That You've comforted me like this today!
From this sight, I can clearly say
This flood is starting to fade.
  My sweet dove has brought to me
A branch of olive from somewhere;
This means God has shown us some favor,
And is a sign of peace.
  Ah, Lord! You must be honored!
I see all the earth drying up now;
But still, until You tell me to go,
I won't leave here.
  All this water is gone,
So as soon as I can,
I will make a sacrifice with faith⁴¹
To You devoutly.

God. Noah, take your wife right away,
And your children, every one,
Out of the ship you shall go,
And they all with you.
  Animals and all that can fly,
They shall hurry out at once,
To grow and multiply on earth:
I will that it be so.

Noah. Lord, I thank you for your power,
Your will shall be done on high,⁴²
And as quickly as I can prepare⁴³
I will honor you.
  And I will offer you a sacrifice,
For this is the wise thing to do,
From these animals that are yours,
I will offer this one.⁴⁴

Then, after leaving the ark with his entire family, he will gather the animals and birds, make an offering from them, and continue his journey.

Lord God, in your greatness,
I’m grateful for the grace you’ve shown me,
When everything was brought safely to be,
So now I am ready.⁴⁵
  My wife, my kids, my friends,
I make this sacrifice to honor you,
With animals and birds, as you can see,
I’ll offer them here very soon.

God. Noah, you are truly capable,
And your sacrifice is welcome,
For I've found you to be honest and reliable,
On you now I will depend.⁴⁶
I will no longer curse the earth
For the sorrow caused by man's sin,
Because since ancient times,
People have been prone to sin.
  You shall now grow and multiply,
And improve the earth,
Every beast and bird that flies
Will be afraid of you.
  And the fish in the sea that swim
Will sustain you—I promise you⁴⁷
That you should not eat anything unclean.⁴⁸
  Just as you have eaten before
Grasses and roots since you were born,
Of both clean and unclean beasts,
I give you permission to eat.
  But do not eat blood or carrion,
Or anything dead and wrong,
You must avoid those things completely,
For you shall always refrain from that.⁴⁹
  You must also avoid murder,
For that is not acceptable to me,
Anyone who sheds blood,
Should be punished among mankind.
  Whoever sheds blood, their blood will be
Required as vengeance; this will be evident to all;
So now be careful, you all,
To fall into that sin.
And now I make a covenant with you
And all your descendants, for your sake,
To prevent such vengeance,
For now I have my will.
  Here I promise you a sign,⁵⁰
That no man, woman, bird, or beast
Will be wiped out by water for as long as the world lasts.
  My bow will be in the sky
As a sign between you and me,
So you can see⁵¹
That such vengeance will end.
  No man or woman will ever again
Be destroyed by water, as happened before,
But because of the sins that deeply hurt,
This vengeance came to be.
  Where the clouds gather in the sky,
That bow will always be visible,
As a sign that my anger or punishment
Will never again do this harm.
  The bow is turned towards you,
And directed towards me,
That such weather will never occur,
And this I grant to you.
  My blessing I now give to you here,
To you, Noah, my dear servant;
For vengeance will no longer arise;
And now goodbye, my beloved!

INTRODUCTION

Messenger. All peace, everyone present,
And listen now with good intent,
How Noah left us,
  With all his people;
And Abraham, by God's grace,
Has come to this place,
And you will give him room and space
  To share his story.
This play, indeed, he shall begin,
In honor of the Trinity,
So that you may all hear and see
  What will happen today.
My name is Gobbet-on-the-Green,
I can't stay here any longer,
Farewell, everyone, all in the hall⁵²
  For your attention⁵³ to the play.

Exit.

[Enter Abraham.]

Abraham. Ah! You, high God, giver of grace
Who has neither end nor beginning,
I thank you, Lord, for granting me
  Victory today.
Lot, my brother, who was taken,
I have restored him in this situation,
And brought him home to his place
  Through your strength and power.
To worship you, I will not delay,⁵⁴
For today you have handed over
  Four kings from foreign lands,
And a great wealth of riches.
Therefore, from all that I can gain,
I will start by giving you a tenth,
When I enter the city soon
  And share with you my bounty.
Melchisedec, who is the king here
And also God's priest, I know,
The tenth I will give him from this,
  As is right, for what I do.
God, who has granted me victory
Over four kings graciously,
With him I will share my spoils,
  When I arrive in the city.

Lot. Abraham, brother, thank you,
For today you’ve rescued me
From the hands of my enemies, and their plots,⁵⁵
  And saved me from suffering!
So, I will give a tenth
Of my belongings while I’m alive,
And now, from what he sent,
  I will also give a tenth.

[i]Then comes a knight to Melchisedec.[/i]

Knight. My lord, the king's news is here
To bring you joy and cheer:
Abraham has defeated in battle
  Four kings since he set out.
He'll be here tonight,
And he'll have plenty of riches with him.
I heard him thank God Almighty
  For the grace He granted him.

Melchisedec (stretching his hand to heaven). Ah! blessed be the one God!
I will approach Abraham
With great respect, and then soon,
  To fulfill my duty,
I will offer him bread and wine,
For God's grace is within him;
My love drives me forward!
  For this is God's will.

Knight (with a cup). Sir, here is wine without any worries,⁵⁶
And also bread, both white and fresh,
To present him properly
  Who has helped us so much.

Melchisedec. To God, I know he is very precious,
For in everything his prayer
He has, without any risk,
  And especially great grace.

Melchisedec (coming to Abraham and offering him a cup
  of wine and bread on a plate). Abraham, you must be so welcome,
God's grace is completely in you,
Blessed you will always be
  For what enemies can create.
I have brought, as you can see,
Bread and wine for your honor;
Receive this gift now from me,
  And I ask you, please, take it.⁵⁷

Abraham. Sir king, welcome! I'm glad to see you.
Your gift is appreciated because of what I've earned.
God has helped me today
  Even though I didn't deserve it.
He will receive a share of the spoils
That I've gained since I left.
So I offer you here
  A tenth of what I have.

He brings a fully loaded horse to the King.

Melchisedec. And I accept your gift, sir,
And honor it sincerely,
For it may have great significance
  In the time ahead.
So, horse, harness, and peryé,⁵⁸
As befitting my status,
I take a portion from you,
  And accept your offering.

Abraham gets the bread and wine, and Melchisedec receives the heavy horse as a tithe from Lot.

Lot. I will offer with good intentions
The gifts that God has sent my way
To Melchisedec here today,
  As it's God's will, I say.
Abraham, my brother, has made an offering;
And so will I, with God's blessing:
This royal cup before you now,
  Please receive it from me.

Lot offers the wine and bread, which Melchizedek accepts.

Melchisedec. Sir, your offering is welcome,
And I know for sure, I really do,
That it is entirely God's will
  That is fulfilled today.
Let's go together to my city,
And now let’s heartily thank God
Who always helps us through His power,⁵⁹
  For we can do so very well.

Expositor (riding). Lords, what could this mean,
I will explain openly
So that everyone standing here
  Can understand what this is about.
This offering, I truly say,⁶⁰
Represents the new Testament,
That is now practiced with good intent
  Throughout all of Christianity.
In the old law without lying,⁶¹
When these two good men were alive,
All their offerings were of beasts
  And also their sacrament.
But since Christ died on the cross,
We worship him with bread and wine,
And on Shrove Thursday in his washing⁶²
  Was his commandment.
But this should be used
Afterward as we do now,
In significance, believe me,
  Melchisedec did the same;
And the giving of tithes, as you see here,
Came from Abraham's beginning.
Therefore he was very dear to God,
  And so were they both too.
By Abraham, I can understand
The father of heaven in good faith,⁶³
Melchisedec a priest to his pay
  To administer that sacrament
That Christ ordained on Shrove Thursday
In bread and wine to honor him always;
This signifies, to tell the truth,
  Melchisedec's presence.

God. Abraham, my servant, I say to you,
I will be your help and support,
For your good deeds please me greatly,
  I tell you for sure.

Abraham. Lord, there's one thing I want to ask,
And I do so with a sincere heart,
Please grant me, Lord, through your power:⁶⁴
  Some offspring!
I have no child, good or bad,
Except for my Nurry⁶⁵ to be my heir,
And that makes me very distressed.⁶⁶
  Have mercy on me, Lord!

God. My friend, Abraham, leave me.
Your Nurry will not be your heir,
But I will send you one son,
  Begotten from your body.
Abraham, do as I say:
Look up and tell,⁶⁷ and if you can,
The stars scattered in the sky;
  That would be impossible.
You will no longer need to,
Count the number of your descendants
That you will have without fear,
  You are so dear to me.
So, Abraham, free servant,
Make sure you are true to me,
And here I promise you
  Your descendants will multiply.
You will be much greater,
Kings will come from your lineage,
And one child of great importance
  Will bless all mankind.⁶⁸
From now on, I want
Every boy's child on the eighth day
To be circumcised, as I say,
  And you yourself as soon as possible;
And anyone who is not circumcised
Will be forsaken by me, I assure you;
For that person is disobedient,
  So make sure this is done.

Abraham. Lord, already in good faith⁶⁹
Blessed be You, now and always;
For what people truly know may
  Your people from others,
They shall all be circumcised
Quickly for whatever may happen.
I thank You, Lord, Your servant,
  Kneeling on my knees.

Expositor. Lords, understand this well
What this commandment means:
At one time, it was a sacrament
  In the old law, truly taken.
As it follows now, for real,⁷⁰
So it was in the old Testament;
But when Christ came, it went away,
  And baptism then started.
God also promises here
To Abraham, his beloved servant,
So much offspring that in no way
  Could it be numbered.
And one offspring, humanity to save,
That was Jesus Christ for sure⁷¹
For from his lineage was our Lady,
  And so he was too.

God. Abraham, my servant Abe.

Abraham. I'm here, Lord.

God. Take Isaac, your son by name
Whom you love the most of all
And offer him as a sacrifice to me
On that hill, next to you.
Abraham, I want it to be this way
No matter what may happen.

Abraham. My lord, I intend
To always be obedient to you,
The son you have sent to me,
  I will offer to you.
And I will fulfill your command
With all my heart, as I know how,
High God, Lord Almighty,
  Your will shall be done.
My household⁷² and my children are at home,
All of them staying behind,
Except for Isaac, who will come
  With me to a nearby hill.

[Enter Isaac.]

Abraham. Get ready, my love,
For we have a small task to do.
Carry this wood on your back,
  We can't stay here long.
I'll take a sword and some fire,
Because I have a sacrifice to make;
I won’t ignore God’s command,
  But will always be obedient.

Isaac. Dad, I’m all set
To follow your instructions quietly,
I’m ready to carry this wood,
  Just as you asked me.

Abraham. Oh Isaac, Isaac, my beloved,
I’m giving you my blessing now.
Pick up this bundle with joy,
  And carry it on your back,
And I will join you with the fire.

Isaac. I won't ignore your request,
Father, I will never back down⁷³
  From fulfilling your wish.

Isaac grabs the wood and they head out towards the hill.

Abraham. Now Isaac, son, let's make our way
To that mountain over there, if we can.

Isaac. My dear father, I will try
  To follow you gladly.

Abraham. Oh! my heart will break in three,
To hear your words, I feel so sorry.
As you wish, Lord, so it must be:
  To you, I will bring sorrow.
Put down your wood, my dear son!

Isaac. I'm all set, Dad, it's right here.
But why do you look so worried?
  Are you feeling scared?
Dad, if it’s what you want,
Where’s the animal we’re going to sacrifice?

Abraham. There's no one, son, on this hill
  That I can see here in this place.

Isaac. Dad, I'm really scared
To see you holding that naked sword.
I hope with all my heart⁷⁴
  You won’t kill your child.

Abraham. Don't be afraid, my child, I see that
Our Lord will send a creature from his divine nature
To take your place,
  Either a domesticated one or a wild one.

Isaac. Dad, tell me, or I'm leaving,
Am I going to be okay or not?

Abraham. Ah, dear God, how I suffer!
  You break my heart in pieces.

Isaac. Dad, can you tell me about this situation,
Why you have your sword drawn,
And why it’s exposed here;
  I’m really curious about it.

Abraham. Isaac, son, peace! Please,
You break my heart into a million pieces.

Isaac. Please, father, don’t hold anything back from me,
  But tell me what you’re thinking.

Abraham. Oh Isaac, Isaac, I have to kill you.

Isaac. Oh no! Dad, is that really what you want,
To sacrifice your own child here,
  On the edge of this hill?
If I’ve done something wrong in any way,
You can punish me;
Just put away your sword, if that’s what you want,
  Because I’m just a kid.

Abraham. Oh, my son! I’m sorry
To put you through this great pain,
I must follow God's command,
  His actions are always kind.

Isaac. I wish my mom were here with me!
She would be on her knees,
Begging you, Dad, if possible,
  To save my life.

Abraham. Oh, beautiful being, though I must kill you,
I greatly disappoint my God, and that’s very painful:
I cannot act against His will
  But must always be obedient.
O Isaac, son, I tell you:
God has commanded me today
To sacrifice you—there’s no denying it—
  To offer your body.

Isaac. Is it God's plan for me to be killed?

Abraham. Yes, son, it’s not for me to hide;⁷⁵
I will serve his request,⁷⁶
  Always to please him.
But if I don’t go through with this sad task,
My Lord will not free⁷⁷ me from my reward.⁷⁸

Isaac. Seriously, Dad, God forbid
  But you should make your offering.
Dad, at home you’ll find your sons
That you must love by nature.
Once I’m out of your thoughts,
  Your sadness might fade quickly,
But you have to follow God’s will.
Dad, don’t tell my mom anything.

Abraham. Out of sorrow, I wring my hands,
  I can't please your mother.
Oh Isaac, may you be blessed!
I'm almost losing my mind for you,
The blood of your body so freely
  I really don't want to shed.

Isaac. Dad, since you have to do this,
Let it go easily and quickly;
Kneeling down with both knees,
  Please give me your blessing!

Abraham. My blessing, dear son, I give to you
And your mother's with an open heart;
The blessing of the Trinity,
  My dear son, shine upon you!

Isaac. Dad, I ask you to shield my eyes
So I don’t have to see your sharp sword;
I don’t want to witness your strike,
  For fear I might shudder at it.

Abraham. My dear son Isaac, don't say anymore,
Your words are hurting my heart deeply.

Isaac. Oh dear father, why, why?
Since I have to die,
There's one thing I ask of you:
Since I have to face death today,
Please make it as quick as possible,
When you take my head.

Abraham. Your humility, child, worries me;⁷⁹
My song might be "What a pity!"

Isaac. Oh, dear father, please stop
  All this loud complaining!
Really, father, this talking
Is just making things take longer.
I beg you, come and finish up
  And let me be on my way!

Abraham. Come here, my dear, who is so lovely:
You must be tied up now, hands and feet.

[Binding of Isaac.

Isaac. Ah, Father! We can’t meet anymore
  As far as I can see,
But do with me as you wish,
I must obey, and that’s what matters,
To fulfill God’s command,
  For it has to be this way.
With the plan you’ve set,
Honestly, Father, I won’t stop you,
But I’ll always bow to you,
  As long as I can.
Father, please say hi to my younger siblings,
And ask my mother for her blessing,
I won’t come back under her care:
  Farewell forever and always!
But, Father, I ask for your forgiveness,
For any wrongs I’ve done to you,
I hope you can forgive me,
  Until Judgment Day.

Abraham. My dear son, please stop your sighing;
My child, you’ve only upset me once.
Blessed be your body and bones,
  And I forgive you now.
Look, my dear son, here you will lie;
I must get back to my work,
I would rather die myself
  Than see you, my darling dear, gone.

Isaac. Dad, if you could be kind to me,
Wrap a cloth around my head,
And let me fade from your thoughts,
  I wish I could be done with this quickly.

Abraham. Goodbye, my dear son of grace!

Isaac. Please, father, turn my face away
Just for a moment, while you have time,
  For I am very much afraid.

Abraham. I'm sorry to have to do this.

Isaac. Yes, Lord, I call out to you and cry:
Have mercy on my soul,
  I earnestly pray to you.

Abraham. Lord, I really want to do your will.
This young innocent who lies so still
I would be very reluctant to kill him
  By any means necessary.

Isaac. My dear father, I ask you,
Let me take off my clothes,
Because I've gotten blood on them today,
  At my final moment.

Abraham. Heart! if you want to break into three,
You will never control me,
I won't let⁸¹ for you anymore,
  My God, I can't be sad.

Isaac. Oh, please, dad! Why are you taking so long?
Just cut off my head and let me go!
I’m begging you to free me from my suffering;
For now I'm saying goodbye.

Abraham. Oh, son! My heart will break into three
To hear you say such things to me.
Jesus, have mercy on me
  For that is what I care about the most!

Isaac. Now, Dad, I realize that I'm going to die,
Almighty God in majesty,
I offer my soul to you:
  Lord, please be kind to it.

[Abraham picks up the sword, ready to kill his son, when two angels show up. One of them grabs the tip of the sword and says,]

Abraham, my dear servant!

Abraham. Look, Lord! I'm right here.

1st Angel. Don't harm your son, Isaac!
  Please don't cause him any trouble!
You fear God; I see that,
So can't you show some mercy
  By obeying His command?

2nd Angel. And for his command, you always comply,
And you hold back nothing, whether out of fear or fight,
To sacrifice your son today,
  Isaac, whom you love so dear,
That’s why God has sent me as a messenger,⁸²
A lamb that is both good and cheerful
Right here, as you can see,
  Look! It is right here.

Abraham. Ah, Lord of heaven and king of joy!
I will do as you command, I promise.
A sacrifice has been sent here to me
  And all, Lord, by your grace.
I see a horned ram here,
Tied up among the brambles,
It will be offered to you
  Shortly, right in this spot.

Let Abraham sacrifice the ram.

God. Abraham, I swear by myself,
For you have been obedient always,
And you didn’t hold back your beloved son,
To carry out my command,
You will be blessed, you are worthy,
I will multiply your descendants,
Like the stars and sand, countless as they are,⁸³
From your lineage.
You will have power over your enemies,
And others will fear your bloodline,
For you have been humble and faithful⁸⁴
To do as I asked of you.
And all nations will honor you,
Blessed forever will they be
Through the offspring that will come from you,
And saved through your lineage.

Expositor. Friends, the meaning
Of this act of devotion,
If you want, it is shown,
  Can lead to a lot of good for you.
This act you see performed here,
As an example of what Jesus did,
To earn grace for humanity
  He was sacrificed on the cross.
From Abraham, you can understand
The Father in heaven who could find⁸⁵
With his son’s blood to break the bond
  The devil had trapped us with.
From Isaac, I may understand
Jesus, who was always obedient,
To carry out his father's will
  And to undergo his death.

1st Shepherd. Lord! These weather conditions are cold, and I’m feeling unwell;
I’ve been napping for so long that I’m about to give up;
My legs are stiff, my fingers are chapped,
It’s not how I’d like it to be, as I’m completely wrapped
  In sorrow.
In storms and tempests,
Now in the east, now in the west,
Woe to those who never get to rest,
  Neither day nor tomorrow.
But we foolish shepherds, who walk on the moor,
Honestly, we’re pretty close to being out the door;
No surprise, given our state, that we are poor,
Because the land we farm is as unused as the floor,
We are so weary,
So burdened and ashamed,
We’ve become so tame,
  With these gentlemen.
They take our rest from us, May our Lady warn them,
These men who are wealthy,⁸⁷ make the plow stall.
What people claim is for the best, we see it the other way,
Thus are farmers⁸⁸ oppressed, about to fail,
  In life.
Thus they keep us down,
Thus they lead us to mistakes,
It would be a wonder,
  If we could ever thrive.
For it seems if he gets a fancy sleeve,⁸⁹ or a brooch these days,
Woe to anyone who grieves or dares to say,
No one can relieve him, no matter what he claims,
And yet no one believes a word that he says--
  No letter.
He can make arrangements,
With boasting and bragging,⁹⁰
And all through connections,
  Of men who are powerful.
There will come a worker, as proud as a peacock,⁹¹
He’ll need to borrow my cart, my plow as well,
Then I would gladly agree before he leaves.
Thus we live in pain, anger, and woe,
  Day and night;
He has to have what he desires
If I should refuse⁹² it,
I’d rather be hanged
  Than once say no to him.
It feels good to walk like this on my own,
Talking about this world in a complaining tone
To my sheep I will go and listen soon
There I’ll stay on a ridge, or sit on a stone
  Very soon.
For I believe, indeed!
True friends if they are,
We’ll have more company
  Before it’s noon.

2nd Shepherd. "Beniste"⁹³ and "Dominus!" what could this mean?
Why is the world like this? We’ve often seen worse.
Lord, this weather is awful,⁹⁴ and it's really cold;
And the frost is so brutal it makes my eyes water,
  No joke.
Now it’s dry, now it's wet,
Now it’s snowing, now it’s sleeting,
When my shoes freeze to my feet
  It’s not easy at all.
But as far as I know, or as long as I’ve been around,
We poor married men endure a lot of pain;⁹⁵
We have sorrow here and there, it often happens,
Poor hen, our silly bird, clucks back and forth
  She cackles,
But if she starts to croak,
To groan or to cluck,
Woe is our rooster,
  For he’s in chains.
These married men don’t always get their way,
When they are in tough spots,⁹⁶ they stay quiet;
God knows they are led very harshly and poorly,
In the bedroom or anywhere, they don't say much
  At this time.
I’ve found my role,
I’ve learned my lesson,
Woe to those who are trapped,
  For they must endure.
But now, late in life, it’s a marvel to me,
That I feel my heart breaking,⁹⁷ to see such wonders,
What destiny drives it to be this way,
Some men have two wives, and some men three,
  In plenty.
Some feel sorry for having any;
But as far as I know,
Woe to the man with many,
  For he feels it deeply.
But young men in love, for God's sake,
Be careful about marriage, and think it over
"Had I known" does you no good;
A lot of mourning comes from marriage,
  And grief,
With many sharp tears,
For you may catch something in an hour
That will turn sour
  For as long as you live.
For as I read in the letter, I have one to fear
As sharp as a thorn, as rough as a bramble.⁹⁸
She looks as prickly as a brush with a sour demeanor;
If she ever wet her whistle, she could sing quite clearly
  Her pater-noster.
She’s as big as a whale,
She harbors a lot of bitterness;
By Him who died for us all!
   I wish I had run away before losing her.

1st Shepherd. God watch over the flock; you stand there quietly.

2nd Shepherd. Yeah, the devil in your mouth!--so annoying,⁹⁹
  Did you see anything of Daw now?

1st Shepherd. Yeah, on a meadow
I heard him blowing, he’s coming this way,
  Not far;
Stay put.

Second Shepherd. Why?

1st Shepherd. I hope he comes here.

2nd Shepherd. He'll trick us both,
  But we can be cautious.

3rd Shepherd. May Christ’s cross protect me, and Saint Nicholas!
I definitely need that, things are worse than before.
If only people would pay attention and let the world go,
It’s always in fear and fragile like glass,
  And slippery,¹⁰⁰
This world has never been like this,
With more and more wonders,¹⁰¹
Now in good times, now in bad,
  And everything withers away.
Since Noah's flood, there have never been such floods seen,
Winds and rains so fierce, and storms so fierce,
Some stuttered, some doubted, as I think,
Now may God turn everything to good, that’s what I truly mean,
  To consider.
These floods are drowning
Both in fields and in towns,
They bring everything down,
  And that is a wonder.
We who walk at night to watch over our cattle,
We see sudden sights while others are asleep:
Yet it seems my heart lifts, I see creatures peeking,
You are two, all people,¹⁰² I will give my sheep
  A chance.
But I have meant it very poorly,
As I walk on this path,¹⁰³
I might easily regret it,
  If I stumble.
Ah, sir, God save you, and my master!
I would really like a drink and something to eat.

1st Shepherd. Seriously, my dude, you're such a lazy guy. ¹⁰⁴

2nd Shepherd. What, the boy is raving. Wait until later¹⁰⁵
  We’ve made it.
I’ll get you next time!
Even though the jerk came late,
He’s still in good shape
  To eat if he had it.

3rd Shepherd. Workers like me, who sweat and toil,
Eat our bread with nothing on it, and it feels wrong;
We’re often soaked and tired when the masters relax,
Yet meals and drinks are served late,
  But tidily.
Both our lady and our guy,
When we’ve slogged through the mud,
They can complain about our pay,¹⁰⁶
  And settle up late.
But listen to me, master, for the food you provide
I'll put in the effort for what I get;
I'll do a bit of work, sir, and try, but still fall short,
For I’ve never had my dinner settle in my stomach
  In the fields.
What should I argue?¹⁰⁷
With my staff, I can jump,
And people say "it's a light load
  Easily given up."¹⁰⁸

1st Shepherd. You were a bad guy, to go chasing after girls
With a man who didn’t have much money.

2nd Shepherd. Calm down, kid! I’m telling you: no more arguing,
Or I’ll scare you, I swear on the heavens!
  With your nonsense;
Where are our sheep, kid, that we don’t care about?

3rd Shepherd. Sir, this same day in the morning,
I left them in the corn,
  When they sang praises;
They have good pasture, they can't go wrong.

1st Shepherd. That’s right by the cross, these nights are long,
Yet I would, or we went,¹⁰⁹ one gave us a song.

2nd Shepherd. So I thought as I stood, to bring us joy. ¹¹⁰

3rd Shepherd. I agree.

1st Shepherd. Let me sing the tenor.

2nd Shepherd. And I the high treble.

3rd Shepherd. Then it's my turn;
Let's see how you sing.

[Mac enters, wearing a cloak over his smock.]

Mac. Now, God, for your seven names, that created both the moon and stars¹¹¹
Much more than I can even: your will, God, of my troubles;
I am all out of sorts, often changing my mind,¹¹²
Now I wish I were in heaven, because there are no children who cry
  So quietly.

1st Shepherd. Who is that playing such a sad tune?

Mac. I wish you knew how I'm doing!
Look, a man who walks on the moor,
  And doesn't get everything he wants.

2nd Shepherd. Mac, where have you gone? Give us some news.

3rd Shepherd. Has he arrived? Then everyone should pay attention to their belongings.

Takes his cloak away.

Mac. What, I'm a farmer, I tell you, for the king;
The same person, sent from a great lord,
  And such.¹¹³
Shame on you, get out of here,
Leave my sight,
I deserve respect,
  Why, who am I?¹¹⁴

1st Shepherd. Why are you making it so strange? Mac, you’re in the wrong.

2nd Shepherd. But, Mac, listen, you saint? I think you sang.

3rd Shepherd. I bet the jerk can actually paint, may the devil hang him!

Mac. I will file a complaint and make you all regret it.¹¹⁵
  Just a word,
And I’ll explain exactly what you’re doing.

1st Shepherd. But, Mac, is that true?
Now take out that southern tooth,
  And put in a tord.

2nd Shepherd. Mac, the devil in your eye,¹¹⁶ I’d give you a smack.

3rd Shepherd. Mac, don't you recognize me? I swear, I could fill you in.

Mac. Wow, look at you all three, I thought I had seen you before.
You make a great group.

Can you complain now?

2nd Shepherd. Hey, stop joking!¹¹⁷
At this late hour,
What are people going to think?
And you have a bad reputation¹¹⁸
  For stealing sheep.

Mac. And I am as reliable as they come, all men wait,
But I feel unwell, it's got me completely off,¹¹⁹
My stomach isn’t doing well, it’s not right.

3rd Shepherd. The devil rarely lies dead by the gate.

Mac. So
I feel really sore and unwell,
If I just stand still;
I haven't eaten a needle¹²⁰
  For over a month.

1st Shepherd. How is your wife doing? Seriously, how is she?

Mac. Lies everywhere! By the cross! By the fire, look!
And a house full of kids,¹²¹ she drinks a lot too,
But what good she does, let’s hope it’s not bad;
  But still
Eats as fast as she can,
And each year that comes to man,
She brings forth a blanket,¹²²
  And some years two.
But if I weren’t more gracious and way richer,
I’d be completely depleted of home, and harbor,
Yet she is a terrible person if you get close.
No one thinks, nor knows, of a war¹²³
  Like I do.
Now you will see what I offer,
To give everything in my chest
Tomorrow to offer,
  Her head for a penny.

2nd Shepherd. I know there's no one else awake in this county:
I would sleep if I didn't take my job so seriously.

3rd Shepherd. I'm cold and bare, and I need a fire.

1st Shepherd. I am tired from raking,¹²⁵ and stuck in the mud.
  Wake up!

2nd Shepherd. No, I’m going to lie down,
Because I really need to sleep.

3rd Shepherd. I was as good a man's son as any of you.
  But, Mac, come here, you'll lie between us.

Mac. Then can I stay you here: what you’re about to say,--
  No fear.
From my head to my toe
I'll commend my thoughts to you,
Pontius Pilate.¹²⁷
  May Christ's cross guide me,

[i]He gets up while the shepherds are sleeping and says:[/i]

Now it's time for a man who wants what he doesn't have,
To sneak quietly into a group,
And especially to get things done without being too brash,
He might stick to the deal if it were shared
  At the end.
Now it's time to celebrate;
But he needs some good advice
If he hopes to do well,
  And has only a little to spend.

Mac casts a spell on them.

But about you a circle, as round as the moon,
Until I finish what I will, until it’s noon,
That you lie completely still, until I have done,
And I will say good things there until I’m done¹²⁸
  High above;
I lift my hand over your heads,
Out go your eyes, to take away your sight,
But I still need to do better,
  And make it right.
What, Lord? They’re sleeping hard! You can all hear;
Was I never a shepherd? But now I will peer¹²⁹
If the flock is scared, I’ll still be nearby,
Who is coming this way will brighten our spirits,
  From sorrow:
A fat sheep, I dare say,
A good fleece, I can lay,
White again when I can,
  But this I will borrow.

He takes a sheep and goes home.

Mac (at his own door). Hey, Gill, are you here? Bring us some light.

His Wife. Who's making such noise at this time of night?
I’m ready to spin: I hope I won’t
Have to earn a penny: I’m annoyed by it all.
  So goes
A housewife who has been
Caught up like this between:
No one can notice
   For such small tasks.¹³⁰

Mac. Good wife, open the door.¹³¹ Don't you see what I have?

Wife. I might let you open the door. Ah! come in, my darling.

Mac. Yeah, you don't care about my long history.

Wife. By your bare neck, you look like you should be hung.

Mac. Leave me alone:
I deserve what I get,
Because I can manage
More than those who toil¹³² and sweat
  All day long,
So it turned out for me, Gill, I was lucky like that.

Wife. It would be a terrible stain to be hanged for this.

Mac. I've escaped, Jelott, many times as tough as glass.

Wife. "But if you keep sending the pot to the water," people say,
"Eventually it comes back home broken."