Saint Christopher Cynocephalus
"He was of a right great stature, and had a terrible and fearful cheer and countenance. And he was twelve cubits of length. (…) It came in his mind that he would seek the greatest prince that was in the world, and him would he serve and obey. And so far he went that he came to a right great king, of whom the renomee generally was that he was the greatest of the world. (…) Upon a time a minstrel sang tofore him a song in which he named oft the devil, and the king, which was a christian man, when he heard him name the devil, made anon the sign of the cross in his visage. (…) And then departed from this king, and hasted him for to seek the devil. And as he went by a great desert, he saw a great company of knights, of which a knight cruel and horrible came to him and demanded whither he went, and Christopher answered to him and said:
I go seek the devil for to be my master.
And he said: I am he that thou seekest.
And then Christopher was glad, and bound him to be his servant perpetual, and took him for his master and Lord. And as they went together by a common way, they found there a cross, erect and standing. And anon as the devil saw the cross he was afeard and fled, and left the right way, and brought Christopher about by a sharp desert. And after, when they were past the cross, he brought him to the highway that they had left. And when Christopher saw that, he marvelled, and demanded whereof he doubted, and had left the high and fair way, and had gone so far about by so aspre a desert. (…) Wherefor the devil was constrained to tell him, and said:
There was a man called Christ which was hanged on the cross, and when I see his sign I am sore afraid, and flee from it wheresoever I see it. (…)
And when he had long sought and demanded where he should find Christ, at last he came into a great desert, to an hermit that dwelt there, and this hermit (…) said to him:
This king whom thou desirest to serve, requireth the service that thou must oft fast.
And Christopher said to him: Require of me some other thing, and I shall do it, for that which thou requirest I may not do.
And the hermit said: Thou must then wake and make many prayers.
And Christopher said to him: I wot not what it is; I may do no such thing.
And then the hermit said to him: Knowest thou such a river, in which many be perished and lost?
To whom Christopher said: I know it well.
Then said the hermit, Because thou art noble and high of stature and strong in thy members, thou shalt be resident by that river, and thou shalt bear over all them that shall pass there, which shall be a thing right convenable to our Lord Jesu Christ whom thou desirest to serve, and I hope he shall show himself to thee.
Then said Christopher: Certes, this service may I well do, and I promise to him for to do it.
Then went Christopher to this river, and made there his habitacle for him, and bare a great pole in his hand instead of a staff, by which he sustained him in the water, and bare over all manner of people without ceasing. And there he abode, thus doing, many days. And in a time, as he slept in his lodge, he heard the voice of a child which called him and said:
Christopher, come out and bear me over. (…)
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And then Christopher went into the city of Lycia, and understood not their language. Then he prayed our Lord that he might understand them, and so he did. And as he was in this prayer, the judges supposed that he had been a fool, and left him there. And then when Christopher understood the language, he covered his visage and went to the place where they martyred christian men, and comforted them in our Lord. And then the judges smote him in the face, and Christopher said to them:
If I were not christian I should avenge mine injury.
And then Christopher pitched his rod in the earth, and prayed to our Lord that for to convert the people it might bear flowers and fruit, and anon it did so. And then he converted eight thousand men.
And then the king sent two knights for to fetch him to the king, and they found him praying, and durst not tell to him so. And anon after, the king sent as many more, and they anon set them down for to pray with him. And when Christopher arose, he said to them: What seek ye? And when they saw him in the visage they said to him: The king hath sent us, that we should lead thee bound unto him. And Christopher said to them:
If I would, ye should not lead me to him, bound ne unbound.
And they said to him: If thou wilt go thy way, go quit, where thou wilt. And we shall say to the king that we have not found thee.
It shall not be so, said he (...)."
