Page 2

"As I went through the
waste of this world, I came to a place where there was a den, and I laid down in it to sleep.  While I slept, I had a dream, and lo! 

I saw a man whose clothes were in rags, and he stood with his face from his own house, with a book in his hand, and a great load on his back. I saw him read from the leaves of the book, and as he read, he wept and shook with fear; and soon he broke out with a loud cry, and said, "What shall I do to save my soul?"

     So in his plight he went home, and as long a he could he held his peace, that his wife and babes should not see his grief. But at length he told them his mind, and said, "O my dear wife, and you my babes, I your dear friend, am full of woe, for a load lies hard on me; and more that this, I have been told that our town will be burnt with fire; in which I, you my wife, and you my sweet babes, shall be lost, if means are not found to save us."

 This sad tale struck all who heard him with awe, not that they thought what he said to them was true, but that they had fears that some great weight must be on his mind; so as night now drew near, they hoped that sleep and rest might soothe his brain, and with all haste they go him; in to bed.