at
Brussels, many men and women who wished to be married at the first Mass,
which is said between four and five o'clock; and amongst others who
wished to enter this sweet and happy condition, and promise before the
priest to live honestly and uprightly, were a young man and a young
woman who were not rich, who were standing near each other, waiting for
the priest to call them to marry them.

Near them were an old man and an old woman, who had great possessions
and wealth, but who, out of covetousness and the desire to have more,
had also promised troth to one another, and were also waiting to be
married at this first Mass.

The priest came and recited this much-desired Mass, and at the end
thereof, as is the custom, had ranged before him those who wished to
be married, of whom there were many, without counting the four I have
mentioned.

Now you must know that the good priest who was standing ready before the
altar to accomplish the wedding rites, was blind of one eye, having lost
an eye by some mischance a little time before. Also there was hardly any
light in the chapel or on the altar, and, as it was winter, it was very
dark. So he could not see the couples properly, and when he came to
marry them, he took the rich old man and the poor, young girl, and
joined them together with the wedding ring.

On the other hand, he also took the poor, young man and married him to
the rich, old woman,--without any of those in the church noticing it,
either men or women--which was very strange, especially on the part of
the men, for they dare to raise their heads and their eyes when they are
on their knees before the priest, whilst the women who are modest and
shy, always look down on the ground.

It is the custom on leaving the church for the friends of the bride to
meet her, and conduct her to her husband's house. So it was that the
poor, young girl was taken to the house of the rich man, and also the
rich, old woman was escorted to the cottage of the young man.

When the young bride found herself in the court, and then in the great
hall of the house of the man she had married by mistake, she was much
astonished, and knew well that was not the house she had left that
morning. When she was in the dressing-room, which was hung round with
rich tapestries, she saw a large fire, a table well covered, on which a
good breakfast was all ready, and a handsome sideboard, well garnished
with vessels of all sorts, and was more astonis