Brother Thomas Plans A Trip

Brother Thomas was a curious person… Not that he was a curiosity, but that he had curiosity. For his time, which was the 12^th Century, he would have been considered educated. But education can only take a fellow so far. What Tom lacked was wisdom.

Of course, wisdom comes with age and experience, or so people have been led to believe, and I won’t contradict them. Tom had not much of either wisdom or experience in his young life.

Tom became a monk, and learned the skill of the scribe. Books were not plentiful in the age before printing came along three centuries later. Books were hand written, and often illuminated…illustrated with pictures drawn and colored by the scribe or others. They were worth a lot of money, and provided income to the monastery. Tom could both write and draw/color, so his skill set, to the extent that anyone knew or cared about, fit him for his exalted task. Here, he inscribed and illustrated most often the Bible, and had done this 3 times so far, satisfying the Father Abbot and the benefactors with his results and thus earning his bread and board at the Monastery.

Did any of the Wisdom of Solomon in the Proverbs, or the faith and nobility found in the psalms, find a path into his heart and soul? Could Tom not be contented with his expertise at his craft and the respect of his peers and Father Abbott?

For a few years it looked as if Tom would get along and be content with his lot. But after a little while longer, the repetitive nature of his work and the dull sameness of his companions began to gnaw at his vitals. When people work closely with those with whom they also live, little things, peculiarities, idiosyncrasies, the small foibles of individuals can begin to irritate one more and more. The ghastly snoring in the next cell to his, emanating nightly from Brother George; The overlong prayers by the lector at Matins, when people are very weary and only want to return to bed; The boring conversation of Brother Jude, who wants to go on and on at meal time about his old campaigns in the Crusades, always acting as if he had never before told that same ancient chestnut about how he pulled a Prince out of a river.

Tom decided that he needed to make a plan for his future so that it would be as different as possible from his past. But how to begin?

As he worked, he thought and daydreamed about what he would do. He thought that he would have an adventure, but was not sure how to begin it. He probably needed a horse, well, if he was riding anywhere... Maybe to London. Why to London? Maybe he would take a sea voyage. He decided that before he could make up his mind, he had to try to divine the future. He looked into the Library restricted section and found a raft of books about divination, sooth saying, reading the future, and began to study them closely; He learned to cast his horoscope, throw the I-Ching, and read the excrement of dogs. He knew that he should not read or practice this material, because doing so was very much against the rules; Yet he could not help himself, for he wished to guarantee himself as much safety as possible on his journey. What did the stars tell him? What sea voyage could he take? Who or what did he want to see?

He finally decided that he wanted to go to Spain and see the King. He heard from some of the more traveled monks that the King of Spain had the most gorgeous court in Europe, and the most beautiful robes, and jewel encrusted crowns and coronets for the court ladies...and such ladies!! So he decided that he had to go to Spain.

Tom snuck out of the monastery and ran to the hut of an old witch named Bedel. He gave her some drawings he made; very valuable ones, very beautiful, and she agreed then to divine for him the future of his travels. She told him that if he went at Christmastide, he would have safe travel, and to look for a ship marked with an S to sail on. He would meet two companions who would share his adventure, but to be careful, for one of the companions would betray him and the other one would try to steal from him. The traitor would be wearing the yellow belt. After all of his adventures, Thomas would return to England a very wealthy and admired man, loved and esteemed by women, and he would never have to inscribe another book…And so she filled his head with one prediction after another until she became quite weary withal, and sent him away.

Tom’s thoughts and daydreams continued to gain strength, as this purpose took him over and consumed his life. His work began to decline and his superiors were taking notice. They returned his work for him to do over, and he would snatch it back with disgust, thinking all the time, “Soon, I will be out of this dreary, cold, dull trap, and be gone on my wonderful journey!”

Tom planned out every detail, seeing everything so clearly in his mind…how he would ride his horse and find the boat, sailing over the channel to France and thence to Spain, and how he would put on a very fine suit of clothes so that he could sneak into the palace to see the splendors, the ladies, the King and all the finery!

He secretly continued all of his preparations until Christmastide was upon him, and he was ready to start out. He told nobody about his plans. Tom took his purse out from behind a stone…against the rules of the Monastery he had withheld a portion of his riches when he joined. His horse was ready for him at a nearby stable. Tom took only enough time to change out of his monk's robes for a fine suit of traveling clothes, covered his tonsure with a wig, and snuck out of the Monastery. He walked to the village to pick up his horse, and set out down the road toward the port, where he hoped to find the ship with the name of S. And there was such a ship waiting there to take passengers across the Channel.

Unfortunately, Tom, in his finery and carrying his purse, was set upon two miles from the Monastery by vagabonds, who cut him up and killed him, took his horse, his purse and all of his gear, and absconded.

The next day the Father Abbot inquired about Tom. “Where is he, Brother James? Brother Thomas is just the fellow I need to send to Spain on this business with the King.” The business was to deliver for the devotions of the Queen a beautifully illuminated Bible.