Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/468

 432 Readings in European History 173. An example of English in the thirteenth century. (From A Metrical Version of Genesis.) Modernized version. all the Northumbrians to York, and the townsmen made peace with him. And King William came from the south with all his force, and ravaged the town, and slew many hun- dred men. And the aetheling went back again to Scotland. By the middle of the thirteenth century English begins to look pretty familiar, although at first glance a word may be disguised by the spelling. In the four- teenth century the language became a literary vehicle -of great force and beauty, especially in the verse of Chaucer and the prose of Wycliffe. Examples of the language as used by the latter will be found in a succeeding chap- ter (see below, pp. 498 sqq.). And Aaron held up his hond To the water and the more lond ; Tho cam thor up schwilc froschkes here The dede al folc Egipte dere ; Summe woren wilde, and summe tame, And tho hem deden the moste schame ; In huse, in drinc, in metes, in bed, It cropen and maden hem for-dred. . . . And Aaron held up his hand To the water and the greater land ; Then came there up such host of frogs That did all Egypt's folk harm ; Some were wild, and some were tame, And those caused them the most shame ; In house, in drink, in meats, in bed, They crept and made them in great dread,. . . B. French The oath taken by Louis the German at Strasburg in 842 1 furnishes the first example which has been preserved of the language which was destined to develop into modern 1 See History of Western Europe, pp. 94 sq.