today valuable illustrations of the social and industrial life of the
time. The following is part of the conversation between the Teacher
and the Plowman:--

"_Teacher_. What have you to say, plowman? How do you carry on
your work?

"_Plowman_. O master, I work very hard; I go out at dawn, drive
the oxen to the field, and yoke them to the plow. There is no storm
so severe that I dare to hide at home, for fear of my lord, but when
the oxen are yoked, and the share and coulter have been fastened to
the plow, I must plow a whole acre or more every day.
* * * * *
"_Teacher_. Oh! oh! the labor must be great!

"_Plowman_. It is indeed great drudgery, because I am not free."[32]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.--This is the first history of any branch
of the Teutonic people in their own tongue. The _Chronicle_ has come
down to us in several different texts, according as it was compiled or
copied at different monasteries. The _Chronicle_ was probably begun in
Alfred's reign. The entries relating to earlier events were copied
from Bede's _Ecclesiastical History_ and from other Latin authorities.
The _Chronicle_ contains chiefly those events which each year
impressed the clerical compilers as the most important in the history
of the nation. This work is a fountainhead to which writers of the
history of those times must turn.

A few extracts (translated) will show its character:--