V 



OF APPLES 



"Also in that country and in others also, men find 

 long Apples to sell, in their season, and men clepe them 

 Apples of Paradise ; and they be right sweet and of 

 good savour. And though ye cut them in never so 

 many gobbets or parts, over-thwart or endlong, ever- 

 more ye shall find in the midst the figure of the Holy 

 Cross of our Lord Jesu. 



• » • • • 



" And men find there also the Apple of the tree of 

 Adam, that have a bite at one of the sides ; and there 

 be also small Fig trees that bear no leaves, but Figs 

 upon the small branches ; and men clepe them Figs of 

 Pharoah." 



Sir John, on his constant look out lets no oddment 

 pass him by, and the more peculiar the better. It 

 appears he would rather see a well in a field — " that 

 our Lord Jesu Christ made with one of his feet, when 

 he went to play with other children " — than many 

 things political or notable to the country. And he 

 will never come to a country but he will mention the 

 state of its trees and fruits, these, naturally, being 

 important items to the traveller of his day who might 

 at any moment have to fall back on the natural fruits 

 of the field for his food. So, when he goes by the 

 desert to the valley of Elim, he notes the seventy-two 



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