CHAPTER X
THE BARBARY COAST
Poor Plaerdemavida, raw naked, continually called on Our Lady,
the Mother of God, imploring her to bring her some good person
who would help her. She continued to walk nearly half a league
until she came upon some fishing boats. She went into a hut and
found two sheepskins, and she tied them together with a thin
string and put them on, one in front and one in back, and in this
way she found some protection from the cold. Then she lay down
to sleep a little while, for she was completely fatigued by her
travails in the ocean.
When she awoke, finding herself alone, she began to weep and
lament, tears streaming from her eyes, which did harm to her eyes
and her voice, making her so hoarse that she could barely speak.
Then, with timorous steps, she began to search out the roads of
cruel fortune. Dawn began to break and she heard a Moor coming
along, singing. She hid near the road so that he would not see
her, and when he had passed she saw his pure white beard and
thought that perhaps this old Moor would give her counsel.
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