Confessio Amantis - Tales Of The Seven Deadly Sins, 1330-1408 A.D. - Incipit Liber Septimus.

Omnibus in causis sapiens doctrina salutem     Consequitur, nec habet quis nisi doctus opem.     Naturam superat doctrina, viro quod et ortus     Ingenii docilis non dedit, ipsa dabit.     Non ita discretus hominum per climata regnat,     Quin magis ut sapiat, indiget ipse schole.     I Genius the prest of love,     Mi Sone, as thou hast preid above     That I the Scole schal declare     Of Aristotle and ek the fare     Of Alisandre, hou he was tauht,     I am somdel therof destrauht;     For it is noght to the matiere     Of love, why we sitten hiere     To schryve, so as Venus bad.     Bot natheles, for it is glad,     10     So as thou seist, for thin aprise     To hiere of suche thinges wise,     Wherof thou myht the time lisse,     So as I can, I schal the wisse:     For wisdom is at every throwe     Above alle other thing to knowe     In loves cause and elleswhere.     Forthi, my Sone, unto thin Ere,     Though it be noght in the registre     Of Venus, yit of that Calistre    20     And Aristotle whylom write     To Alisandre, thou schalt wite.     Bot for the lores ben diverse,     I thenke ferst to the reherce     The nature of Philosophie,     Which Aristotle of his clergie,     Wys and expert in the sciences,     Declareth thilke intelligences,     As of thre pointz in principal.     Wherof the ferste in special        30     Is Theorique, which is grounded     On him which al the world hath founded,     Which comprehendeth al the lore.     And forto loken overmore,     Next of sciences the seconde     Is Rethorique, whos faconde     Above alle othre is eloquent:     To telle a tale in juggement     So wel can noman speke as he.     The laste science of the thre     40     It is Practique, whos office     The vertu tryeth fro the vice,     And techeth upon goode thewes     To fle the compaignie of schrewes,     Which stant in disposicion     Of mannes free eleccion.     Practique enformeth ek the reule,     Hou that a worthi king schal reule     His Realme bothe in werre and pes.     Lo, thus danz Aristotiles        50     These thre sciences hath divided     And the nature also decided,     Wherof that ech of hem schal serve.     The ferste, which is the conserve     And kepere of the remnant,     As that which is most sufficant     And chief of the Philosophie,     If I therof schal specefie     So as the Philosophre tolde,     Nou herkne, and kep that thou it holde.     60     Of Theorique principal     The Philosophre in special     The propretees hath determined,     As thilke which is enlumined     Of wisdom and of hih prudence     Above alle othre in his science:     And stant departed upon thre,     The ferste of which in his degre     Is cleped in Philosophie     The science of Theologie,        70     That other named is Phisique,     The thridde is seid Mathematique.     Theologie is that science     Which unto man yifth evidence     Of thing which is noght bodely,     Wherof men knowe redely     The hihe almyhti Trinite,     Which is o god in unite     Withouten ende and beginnynge     And creatour of alle thinge,        80     Of hevene, of erthe and ek of helle.     Wherof, as olde bokes telle,     The Philosophre in his resoun     Wrot upon this conclusioun,     And of his wrytinge in a clause     He clepeth god the ferste cause,     Which of himself is thilke good,     Withoute whom nothing is good,     Of which that every creature     Hath his beinge and his nature.        90     After the beinge of the thinges     Ther ben thre formes of beinges:     Thing which began and ende schal,     That thing is cleped temporal;     Ther is also be other weie     Thing which began and schal noght deie.     As Soules, that ben spiritiel,     Here beinge is perpetuel:     Bot ther is on above the Sonne,     Whos time nevere was begonne,     100     And endeles schal evere be;     That is the god, whos mageste     Alle othre thinges schal governe,     And his beinge is sempiterne.     The god, to whom that al honour     Belongeth, he is creatour,     And othre ben hise creatures:     The god commandeth the natures     That thei to him obeien alle;     Withouten him, what so befalle,        110     Her myht is non, and he mai al:     The god was evere and evere schal,     And thei begonne of his assent;     The times alle be present     To god, to hem and alle unknowe,     Bot what him liketh that thei knowe:     Thus bothe an angel and a man,     The whiche of al that god began     Be chief, obeien goddes myht,     And he stant endeles upriht.        120     To this science ben prive     The clerkes of divinite,     The whiche unto the poeple prechen     The feith of holi cherche and techen,     Which in som cas upon believe     Stant more than thei conne prieve     Be weie of Argument sensible:     Bot natheles it is credible,     And doth a man gret meede have,     To him that thenkth himself to save.    130     Theologie in such a wise     Of hih science and hih aprise     Above alle othre stant unlike,     And is the ferste of Theorique.     Phisique is after the secounde,     Thurgh which the Philosophre hath founde     To techen sondri knowlechinges     Upon the bodiliche thinges.     Of man, of beste, of herbe, of ston,     Of fissch, of foughl, of everychon        140     That ben of bodely substance,     The nature and the circumstance     Thurgh this science it is ful soght,     Which vaileth and which vaileth noght.     The thridde point of Theorique,     Which cleped is Mathematique,     Devided is in sondri wise     And stant upon diverse aprise.     The ferste of whiche is Arsmetique,     And the secounde is seid Musique,    150     The thridde is ek Geometrie,     Also the ferthe Astronomie.     Of Arsmetique the matiere     Is that of which a man mai liere     What Algorisme in nombre amonteth,     Whan that the wise man acompteth     After the formel proprete     Of Algorismes Abece:     Be which multiplicacioun     Is mad and diminucioun        160     Of sommes be thexperience     Of this Art and of this science.     The seconde of Mathematique,     Which is the science of Musique,     That techeth upon Armonie     A man to make melodie     Be vois and soun of instrument     Thurgh notes of acordement,     The whiche men pronounce alofte,     Nou scharpe notes and nou softe,        170     Nou hihe notes and nou lowe,     As be the gamme a man mai knowe,     Which techeth the prolacion     Of note and the condicion.     Mathematique of his science     Hath yit the thridde intelligence     Full of wisdom and of clergie     And cleped is Geometrie,     Thurgh which a man hath thilke sleyhte,     Of lengthe, of brede, of depthe, of heyhte    180     To knowe the proporcion     Be verrai calculacion     Of this science: and in this wise     These olde Philosophres wise,     Of al this worldes erthe round,     Hou large, hou thikke was the ground,     Controeveden thexperience;     The cercle and the circumference     Of every thing unto the hevene     Thei setten point and mesure evene.     190     Mathematique above therthe     Of hyh science hath yit the ferthe,     Which spekth upon Astronomie     And techeth of the sterres hihe,     Beginnynge upward fro the mone.     Bot ferst, as it was forto done,     This Aristotle in other thing     Unto this worthi yonge king     The kinde of every element     Which stant under the firmament,     200     Hou it is mad and in what wise,     Fro point to point he gan devise.     Tofore the creacion     Of eny worldes stacion,     Of hevene, of erthe, or eke of helle,     So as these olde bokes telle,     As soun tofore the song is set     And yit thei ben togedre knet,     Riht so the hihe pourveance     Tho hadde under his ordinance     210     A gret substance, a gret matiere,     Of which he wolde in his manere     These othre thinges make and forme.     For yit withouten eny forme     Was that matiere universal,     Which hihte Ylem in special.     Of Ylem, as I    am enformed,     These elementz ben mad and formed,     Of Ylem elementz they hote     After the Scole of Aristote,        220     Of whiche if more I schal reherce,     Foure elementz ther ben diverse.     The ferste of hem men erthe calle,     Which is the lowest of hem alle,     And in his forme is schape round,     Substancial, strong, sadd and sound,     As that which mad is sufficant     To bere up al the remenant.     For as the point in a compas     Stant evene amiddes, riht so was     230     This erthe set and schal abyde,     That it may swerve to no side,     And hath his centre after the lawe     Of kinde, and to that centre drawe     Desireth every worldes thing,     If ther ne were no lettyng.     Above therthe kepth his bounde     The water, which is the secounde     Of elementz, and al withoute     It environeth therthe aboute.     240     Bot as it scheweth, noght forthi     This soubtil water myhtely,     Thogh it be of himselve softe,     The strengthe of therthe perceth ofte;     For riht as veines ben of blod     In man, riht so the water flod     Therthe of his cours makth ful of veines,     Als wel the helles as the pleines.     And that a man may sen at ije,     For wher the hulles ben most hyhe,        250     Ther mai men welle stremes finde:     So proveth it be weie of kinde     The water heyher than the lond.     And over this nou understond,     Air is the thridde of elementz,     Of whos kinde his aspirementz     Takth every lifissh creature,     The which schal upon erthe endure:     For as the fissh, if it be dreie,     Mot in defaute of water deie,     260     Riht so withouten Air on lyve     No man ne beste myhte thryve,     The which is mad of fleissh and bon;     There is outake of alle non.     This Air in Periferies thre     Divided is of such degre,     Benethe is on and on amidde,     To whiche above is set the thridde:     And upon the divisions     There ben diverse impressions     270     Of moist and ek of drye also,     Whiche of the Sonne bothe tuo     Ben drawe and haled upon hy,     And maken cloudes in the Sky,     As schewed is at mannes sihte;     Wherof be day and ek be nyhte     After the times of the yer     Among ous upon Erthe her     In sondri wise thinges falle.     The ferste Periferie of alle    280     Engendreth Myst and overmore     The dewes and the Frostes hore,     After thilke intersticion     In which thei take impression.     Fro the seconde, as bokes sein,     The moiste dropes of the reyn     Descenden into Middilerthe,     And tempreth it to sed and Erthe,     And doth to springe grass and flour.     And ofte also the grete schour    290     Out of such place it mai be take,     That it the forme schal forsake     Of reyn, and into snow be torned;     And ek it mai be so sojorned     In sondri places up alofte,     That into hail it torneth ofte.     The thridde of thair after the lawe     Thurgh such matiere as up is drawe     Of dreie thing, as it is ofte,     Among the cloudes upon lofte,     300     And is so clos, it may noght oute,-     Thanne is it chased sore aboute,     Til it to fyr and leyt be falle,     And thanne it brekth the cloudes alle,     The whiche of so gret noyse craken,     That thei the feerful thonder maken.     The thonderstrok smit er it leyte,     And yit men sen the fyr and leyte,     The thonderstrok er that men hiere:     So mai it wel be proeved hiere    310     In thing which schewed is fro feer,     A mannes yhe is there nerr     Thanne is the soun to mannes Ere.     And natheles it is gret feere     Bothe of the strok and of the fyr,     Of which is no recoverir     In place wher that thei descende,     Bot if god wolde his grace sende.     And forto speken over this,     In this partie of thair it is     320     That men fulofte sen be nyhte     The fyr in sondri forme alyhte.     Somtime the fyrdrake it semeth,     And so the lewed poeple it demeth;     Somtime it semeth as it were     A Sterre, which that glydeth there:     Bot it is nouther of the tuo,     The Philosophre telleth so,     And seith that of impressions     Thurgh diverse exalacions        330     Upon the cause and the matiere     Men sen diverse forme appiere     Of fyr, the which hath sondri name.     Assub, he seith, is thilke same,     The which in sondry place is founde,     Whanne it is falle doun to grounde,     So as the fyr it hath aneled,     Lich unto slym which is congeled.     Of exalacion I finde     Fyr kinled of the fame kinde,     340     Bot it is of an other forme;     Wherof, if that I schal conforme     The figure unto that it is,     These olde clerkes tellen this,     That it is lik a Got skippende,     And for that it is such semende,     It hatte Capra saliens.     And ek these Astronomiens     An other fyr also, be nyhte     Which scheweth him to mannes syhte,     350     Thei clepen Eges, the which brenneth     Lik to the corrant fyr that renneth     Upon a corde, as thou hast sein,     Whan it with poudre is so besein     Of Sulphre and othre thinges mo.     Ther is an other fyr also,     Which semeth to a mannes yhe     Be nyhtes time as thogh ther flyhe     A dragon brennende in the Sky,     And that is cleped proprely    360     Daaly, wherof men sein fulofte,     "Lo, wher the fyri drake alofte     Fleth up in thair!" and so thei demen.     Bot why the fyres suche semen     Of sondri formes to beholde,     The wise Philosophre tolde,     So as tofore it hath ben herd.     Lo thus, my Sone, hou it hath ferd:     Of Air the due proprete     In sondri wise thou myht se,        370     And hou under the firmament     It is ek the thridde element,     Which environeth bothe tuo,     The water and the lond also.     And forto tellen overthis     Of elementz which the ferthe is,     That is the fyr in his degre,     Which environeth thother thre     And is withoute moist al drye.     Bot lest nou what seith the clergie;    380     For upon hem that I have seid     The creatour hath set and leid     The kinde and the complexion     Of alle mennes nacion.     Foure elementz sondri ther be,     Lich unto whiche of that degre     Among the men ther ben also     Complexions foure and nomo,     Wherof the Philosophre treteth,     That he nothing behinde leteth,        390     And seith hou that thei ben diverse,     So as I schal to thee reherse.     He which natureth every kinde,     The myhti god, so as I finde,     Of    man, which is his creature,     Hath so devided the nature,     That non til other wel acordeth:     And be the cause it so discordeth,     The lif which fieleth the seknesse     Mai stonde upon no sekernesse.    400     Of therthe, which is cold and drye,     The kinde of man Malencolie     Is cleped, and that is the ferste,     The most ungoodlich and the werste;     For unto loves werk on nyht     Him lacketh bothe will and myht:     No wonder is, in lusty place     Of love though he lese grace.     What man hath that complexion,     Full of ymaginacion        410     Of dredes and of wrathful thoghtes,     He fret himselven al to noghtes.     The water, which is moyste and cold,     Makth fleume, which is manyfold     Foryetel, slou and wery sone     Of every thing which is to done:     He is of kinde sufficant     To holde love his covenant,     Bot that him lacketh appetit,     Which longeth unto such delit.    420     What man that takth his kinde of thair,     He schal be lyht, he schal be fair,     For his complexion is blood.     Of alle ther is non so good,     For he hath bothe will and myht     To plese and paie love his riht:     Wher as he hath love undertake,     Wrong is if that he be forsake.     The fyr of his condicion     Appropreth the complexion        430     Which in a man is Colre hote,     Whos propretes ben dreie and hote:     It makth a man ben enginous     And swift of fote and ek irous;     Of contek and folhastifnesse     He hath a riht gret besinesse,     To thenke of love and litel may:     Though he behote wel a day,     On nyht whan that he wole assaie,     He may ful evele his dette paie.     440     After the kinde of thelement,     Thus stant a mannes kinde went,     As touchende his complexion,     Upon sondri division     Of dreie, of moiste, of chele, of hete,     And ech of hem his oghne sete     Appropred hath withinne a man.     And ferst to telle as I began,     The Splen is to Malencolie     Assigned for herbergerie:        450     The moiste fleume with his cold     Hath in the lunges for his hold     Ordeined him a propre stede,     To duelle ther as he is bede:     To the Sanguin complexion     Nature of hire inspeccion     A propre hous hath in the livere     For his duellinge mad delivere:     The dreie Colre with his hete     Be weie of kinde his propre sete     460     Hath in the galle, wher he duelleth,     So as the Philosophre telleth.     Nou over this is forto wite,     As it is in Phisique write     Of livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen,     Thei alle unto the herte ben     Servantz, and ech in his office     Entendeth to don him service,     As he which is chief lord above.     The livere makth him forto love,     470     The lunge yifth him weie of speche,     The galle serveth to do wreche,     The Splen doth him to lawhe and pleie,     Whan al unclennesse is aweie:     Lo, thus hath ech of hem his dede.     And to sustienen hem and fede     In time of recreacion,     Nature hath in creacion     The Stomach for a comun Coc     Ordeined, so as seith the boc.    480     The Stomach coc is for the halle,     And builleth mete for hem alle,     To make hem myghty forto serve     The herte, that he schal noght sterve:     For as a king in his Empire     Above alle othre is lord and Sire,     So is the herte principal,     To whom reson in special     Is yove as for the governance.     And thus nature his pourveance    490     Hath mad for man to liven hiere;     Bot god, which hath the Soule diere,     Hath formed it in other wise.     That can noman pleinli devise;     Bot as the clerkes ous enforme,     That lich to god it hath a forme,     Thurgh which figure and which liknesse     The Soule hath many an hyh noblesse     Appropred to his oghne kinde.     Bot ofte hir wittes be mad blinde    500     Al onliche of this ilke point,     That hir abydinge is conjoint     Forth with the bodi forto duelle:     That on desireth toward helle,     That other upward to the hevene;     So schul thei nevere stonde in evene,     Bot if the fleissh be overcome     And that the Soule have holi nome     The governance, and that is selde,     Whil that the fleissh him mai bewelde.     510     Al erthli thing which god began     Was only mad to serve man;     Bot he the Soule al only made     Himselven forto serve and glade.     Alle othre bestes that men finde     Thei serve unto here oghne kinde,     Bot to reson the Soule serveth;     Wherof the man his thonk deserveth     And get him with hise werkes goode     The perdurable lyves foode.    520     Of what matiere it schal be told,     A tale lyketh manyfold     The betre, if it be spoke plein:     Thus thinke I forto torne ayein     And telle plenerly therfore     Of therthe, wherof nou tofore     I spak, and of the water eke,     So as these olde clerkes spieke,     And sette proprely the bounde     After the forme of Mappemounde,        530     Thurgh which the ground be pourparties     Departed is in thre parties,     That is Asie, Aufrique, Europe,     The whiche under the hevene cope,     Als ferr as streccheth eny ground,     Begripeth al this Erthe round.     Bot after that the hihe wrieche     The water weies let out seche     And overgo the helles hye,     Which every kinde made dye     540     That upon Middelerthe stod,     Outake Noe5 and his blod,     His Sones and his doughtres thre,     Thei were sauf and so was he;-     Here names who that rede rihte,     Sem, Cam, Japhet the brethren hihte;-     And whanne thilke almyhty hond     Withdrouh the water fro the lond,     And al the rage was aweie,     And Erthe was the mannes weie,    550     The Sones thre, of whiche I tolde,     Riht after that hemselve wolde,     This world departe thei begonne.     Asie, which lay to the Sonne     Upon the Marche of orient,     Was graunted be comun assent     To Sem, which was the Sone eldeste;     For that partie was the beste     And double as moche as othre tuo.     And was that time bounded so;     560     Wher as the flod which men Nil calleth     Departeth fro his cours and falleth     Into the See Alexandrine,     Ther takth Asie ferst seisine     Toward the West, and over this     Of Canahim wher the flod is     Into the grete See rennende,     Fro that into the worldes ende     Estward, Asie it is algates,     Til that men come unto the gates     570     Of Paradis, and there ho.     And schortly for to speke it so,     Of Orient in general     Withinne his bounde Asie hath al.     And thanne upon that other syde     Westward, as it fell thilke tyde,     The brother which was hote Cham     Upon his part Aufrique nam.     Japhet Europe tho tok he,     Thus parten thei the world on thre.     580     Bot yit ther ben of londes fele     In occident as for the chele,     In orient as for the hete,     Which of the poeple be forlete     As lond desert that is unable,     For it mai noght ben habitable.     The water eke hath sondri bounde,     After the lond wher it is founde,     And takth his name of thilke londes     Wher that it renneth on the strondes:        590     Bot thilke See which hath no wane     Is cleped the gret Occeane,     Out of the which arise and come     The hyhe flodes alle and some;     Is non so litel welle spring,     Which ther ne takth his beginnyng,     And lich a man that haleth breth     Be weie of kinde, so it geth     Out of the See and in ayein,     The water, as the bokes sein.     600     Of Elementz the propretes     Hou that they stonden be degres,     As I have told, nou myht thou hiere,     Mi goode Sone, al the matiere     Of Erthe, of water, Air and fyr.     And for thou saist that thi desir     Is forto witen overmore     The forme of Aristotles lore,     He seith in his entendement,     That yit ther is an Element    610     Above the foure, and is the fifte,     Set of the hihe goddes yifte,     The which that Orbis cleped is.     And therupon he telleth this,     That as the schelle hol and sound     Encloseth al aboute round     What thing withinne an Ey belongeth,     Riht so this Orbis underfongeth     These elementz alle everychon,     Which I have spoke of on and on.     620     Bot overthis nou tak good hiede,     Mi Sone, for I wol procede     To speke upon Mathematique,     Which grounded is on Theorique.     The science of Astronomie     I thinke forto specefie,     Withoute which, to telle plein,     Alle othre science is in vein     Toward the scole of erthli thinges:     For as an Egle with his winges    630     Fleth above alle that men finde,     So doth this science in his kinde.     Benethe upon this Erthe hiere     Of alle thinges the matiere,     As tellen ous thei that ben lerned,     Of thing above it stant governed,     That is to sein of the Planetes.     The cheles bothe and ek the hetes,     The chances of the world also,     That we fortune clepen so,     640     Among the mennes nacion     Al is thurgh constellacion,     Wherof that som man hath the wele,     And som man hath deseses fele     In love als wel as othre thinges;     The stat of realmes and of kinges     In time of pes, in time of werre     It is conceived of the Sterre:     And thus seith the naturien     Which is an Astronomien.    650     Bot the divin seith otherwise,     That if men weren goode and wise     And plesant unto the godhede,     Thei scholden noght the sterres drede;     For o man, if him wel befalle,     Is more worth than ben thei alle     Towardes him that weldeth al.     Bot yit the lawe original,     Which he hath set in the natures,     Mot worchen in the creatures,     660     That therof mai be non obstacle,     Bot if it stonde upon miracle     Thurgh preiere of som holy man.     And forthi, so as I began     To speke upon Astronomie,     As it is write in the clergie,     To telle hou the planetes fare,     Som part I thenke to declare,     Mi Sone, unto thin Audience.     Astronomie is the science        670     Of wisdom and of hih connynge,     Which makth a man have knowlechinge     Of Sterres in the firmament,     Figure, cercle and moevement     Of ech of hem in sondri place,     And what betwen hem is of space,     Hou so thei moeve or stonde faste,     Al this it telleth to the laste.     Assembled with Astronomie     Is ek that ilke Astrologie     680     The which in juggementz acompteth     Theffect, what every sterre amonteth,     And hou thei causen many a wonder     To tho climatz that stonde hem under.     And forto telle it more plein,     These olde philosphres sein     That Orbis, which I spak of err,     Is that which we fro therthe a ferr     Beholde, and firmament it calle,     In which the sterres stonden alle,        690     Among the whiche in special     Planetes sefne principal     Ther ben, that mannes sihte demeth,     Bot thorizonte, as to ous semeth.     And also ther ben signes tuelve,     Whiche have her cercles be hemselve     Compassed in the zodiaque,     In which thei have here places take.     And as thei stonden in degre,     Here cercles more or lasse be,    700     Mad after the proporcion     Of therthe, whos condicion     Is set to be the foundement     To sustiene up the firmament.     And be this skile a man mai knowe,     The more that thei stonden lowe,     The more ben the cercles lasse;     That causeth why that some passe     Here due cours tofore an other.     Bot nou, mi lieve dere brother,        710     As thou desirest forto wite     What I finde in the bokes write,     To telle of the planetes sevene,     Hou that thei stonde upon the hevene     And in what point that thei ben inne,     Tak hiede, for I wol beginne,     So as the Philosophre tauhte     To Alisandre and it betauhte,     Wherof that he was fulli tawht     Of wisdom, which was him betawht.    720     Benethe alle othre stant the Mone,     The which hath with the See to done:     Of flodes hihe and ebbes lowe     Upon his change it schal be knowe;     And every fissh which hath a schelle     Mot in his governance duelle,     To wexe and wane in his degre,     As be the Mone a man mai se;     And al that stant upon the grounde     Of his moisture it mot be founde.    730     Alle othre sterres, as men finde,     Be schynende of here oghne kinde     Outake only the monelyht,     Which is noght of himselve bright,     Bot as he takth it of the Sonne.     And yit he hath noght al fulwonne     His lyht, that he nys somdiel derk;     Bot what the lette is of that werk     In Almageste it telleth this:     The Mones cercle so lowe is,        740     Wherof the Sonne out of his stage     Ne seth him noght with full visage,     For he is with the ground beschaded,     So that the Mone is somdiel faded     And may noght fully schyne cler.     Bot what man under his pouer     Is bore, he schal his places change     And seche manye londes strange:     And as of this condicion     The Mones disposicion    750     Upon the lond of Alemaigne     Is set, and ek upon Bretaigne,     Which nou is cleped Engelond;     For thei travaile in every lond.     Of the Planetes the secounde     Above the Mone hath take his bounde,     Mercurie, and his nature is this,     That under him who that bore is,     In boke he schal be studious     And in wrytinge curious,     760     And slouh and lustles to travaile     In thing which elles myhte availe:     He loveth ese, he loveth reste,     So is he noght the worthieste;     Bot yit with somdiel besinesse     His herte is set upon richesse.     And as in this condicion,     Theffect and disposicion     Of this Planete and of his chance     Is most in Burgoigne and in France.     770     Next to Mercurie, as wol befalle,     Stant that Planete which men calle     Venus, whos constellacion     Governeth al the nacion     Of lovers, wher thei spiede or non,     Of whiche I trowe thou be on:     Bot whiderward thin happes wende,     Schal this planete schewe at ende,     As it hath do to many mo,     To some wel, to some wo.    780     And natheles of this Planete     The moste part is softe and swete;     For who that therof takth his berthe,     He schal desire joie and merthe,     Gentil, courteis and debonaire,     To speke his wordes softe and faire,     Such schal he be be weie of kinde,     And overal wher he may finde     Plesance of love, his herte boweth     With al his myht and there he woweth.        790     He is so ferforth Amourous,     He not what thing is vicious     Touchende love, for that lawe     Ther mai no maner man withdrawe,     The which venerien is bore     Be weie of kinde, and therefore     Venus of love the goddesse     Is cleped: bot of wantounesse     The climat of hir lecherie     Is most commun in Lombardie.        800     Next unto this Planete of love     The brighte Sonne stant above,     Which is the hindrere of the nyht     And forthrere of the daies lyht,     As he which is the worldes ije,     Thurgh whom the lusti compaignie     Of foules be the morwe singe,     The freisshe floures sprede and springe,     The hihe tre the ground beschadeth,     And every mannes herte gladeth.        810     And for it is the hed Planete,     Hou that he sitteth in his sete,     Of what richesse, of what nobleie,     These bokes telle, and thus thei seie.     Of gold glistrende Spoke and whiel     The Sonne his carte hath faire and wiel,     In which he sitt, and is coroned     With brighte stones environed;     Of whiche if that I speke schal,     Ther be tofore in special        820     Set in the front of his corone     Thre Stones, whiche no persone     Hath upon Erthe, and the ferste is     Be name cleped Licuchis;     That othre tuo be cleped thus,     Astrices and Ceramius.     In his corone also behinde,     Be olde bokes as I finde,     Ther ben of worthi Stones thre     Set ech of hem in his degre:        830     Wherof a Cristall is that on,     Which that corone is set upon;     The seconde is an Adamant;     The thridde is noble and avenant,     Which cleped is Ydriades.     And over this yit natheles     Upon the sydes of the werk,     After the wrytinge of the clerk,     Ther sitten fyve Stones mo:     The smaragdine is on of tho,        840     Jaspis and Elitropius     And Dendides and Jacinctus.     Lo, thus the corone is beset,     Wherof it schyneth wel the bet;     And in such wise his liht to sprede     Sit with his Diademe on hede     The Sonne schynende in his carte.     And forto lede him swithe and smarte     After the bryhte daies lawe,     Ther ben ordeined forto drawe     850     Foure hors his Char and him withal,     Wherof the names telle I schal:     Erithe
s the ferste is hote,     The which is red and schyneth hote,     The seconde Acteos the bryhte,     Lampes the thridde coursier hihte,     And Philoge
s is the ferthe,     That bringen lyht unto this erthe,     And gon so swift upon the hevene,     In foure and twenty houres evene     860     The carte with the bryhte Sonne     Thei drawe, so that overronne     Thei have under the cercles hihe     Al Middelerthe in such an hye.     And thus the Sonne is overal     The chief Planete imperial,     Above him and benethe him thre:     And thus betwen hem regneth he,     As he that hath the middel place     Among the Sevene, and of his face    870     Be glade alle erthly creatures,     And taken after the natures     Here ese and recreacion.     And in his constellacion     Who that is bore in special,     Of good will and of liberal     He schal be founde in alle place,     And also stonde in mochel grace     Toward the lordes forto serve     And gret profit and thonk deserve.        880     And over that it causeth yit     A man to be soubtil of wit     To worche in gold, and to be wys     In every thing which is of pris.     Bot forto speken in what cost     Of al this erthe he regneth most     As for wisdom, it is in Grece,     Wher is apropred thilke spiece.     Mars the Planete bataillous     Next to the Sonne glorious     890     Above stant, and doth mervailes     Upon the fortune of batailes.     The conquerours be daies olde     Were unto this planete holde:     Bot who that his nativite     Hath take upon the proprete     Of Martes disposicioun     Be weie of constellacioun,     He schal be fiers and folhastif     And desirous of werre and strif.     900     Bot forto telle redely     In what climat most comunly     That this planete hath his effect,     Seid is that he hath his aspect     Upon the holi lond so cast,     That there is no pes stedefast.     Above Mars upon the hevene,     The sexte Planete of the sevene,     Stant Jupiter the delicat,     Which causeth pes and no debat.        910     For he is cleped that Planete     Which of his kinde softe and swete     Attempreth al that to him longeth;     And whom this planete underfongeth     To stonde upon his regiment,     He schal be meke and pacient     And fortunat to Marchandie     And lusti to delicacie     In every thing which he schal do.     This Jupiter is cause also     920     Of the science of lyhte werkes,     And in this wise tellen clerkes     He is the Planete of delices.     Bot in Egipte of his offices     He regneth most in special:     For ther be lustes overal     Of al that to this lif befalleth;     For ther no stormy weder falleth,     Which myhte grieve man or beste,     And ek the lond is so honeste     930     That it is plentevous and plein,     Ther is non ydel ground in vein;     And upon such felicite     Stant Jupiter in his degre.     The heyeste and aboven alle     Stant that planete which men calle     Saturnus, whos complexion     Is cold, and his condicion     Causeth malice and crualte     To him the whos nativite    940     Is set under his governance.     For alle hise werkes ben grevance     And enemy to mannes hele,     In what degre that he schal dele.     His climat is in Orient,     Wher that he is most violent.     Of the Planetes by and by,     Hou that thei stonde upon the Sky,     Fro point to point as thou myht hiere,     Was Alisandre mad to liere.    950     Bot overthis touchende his lore,     Of thing that thei him tawhte more     Upon the scoles of clergie     Now herkne the Philosophie.     He which departeth dai fro nyht,     That on derk and that other lyht,     Of sevene daies made a weke,     A Monthe of foure wekes eke     He hath ordeigned in his lawe,     Of Monthes tuelve and ek forthdrawe     960     He hath also the longe yeer.     And as he sette of his pouer     Acordant to the daies sevene     Planetes Sevene upon the hevene,     As thou tofore hast herd devise,     To speke riht in such a wise,     To every Monthe be himselve     Upon the hevene of Signes tuelve     He hath after his Ordinal     Assigned on in special,     970     Wherof, so as I schal rehersen,     The tydes of the yer diversen.     Bot pleinly forto make it knowe     Hou that the Signes sitte arowe,     Ech after other be degre     In substance and in proprete     The zodiaque comprehendeth     Withinne his cercle, as it appendeth.     The ferste of whiche natheles     Be name is cleped Aries,    980     Which lich a wether of stature     Resembled is in his figure.     And as it seith in Almageste,     Of Sterres tuelve upon this beste     Ben set, wherof in his degre     The wombe hath tuo, the heved hath thre,     The Tail hath sevene, and in this wise,     As thou myht hiere me divise,     Stant Aries, which hot and drye     Is of himself, and in partie    990     He is the receipte and the hous     Of myhty Mars the bataillous.     And overmore ek, as I finde,     The creatour of alle kinde     Upon this Signe ferst began     The world, whan that he made man.     And of this constellacioun     The verray operacioun     Availeth, if a man therinne     The pourpos of his werk beginne;     1000     For thanne he hath of proprete     Good sped and gret felicite.     The tuelve Monthes of the yeer     Attitled under the pouer     Of these tuelve Signes stonde;     Wherof that thou schalt understonde     This Aries on of the tuelve     Hath March attitled for himselve,     Whan every bridd schal chese his make,     And every neddre and every Snake     1010     And every Reptil which mai moeve,     His myht assaieth forto proeve,     To crepen out ayein the Sonne,     Whan Ver his Seson hath begonne.     Taurus the seconde after this     Of Signes, which figured is     Unto a Bole, is dreie and cold;     And as it is in bokes told,     He is the hous appourtienant     To Venus, somdiel descordant.     1020     This Bole is ek with sterres set,     Thurgh whiche he hath hise hornes knet     Unto the tail of Aries,     So is he noght ther sterreles.     Upon his brest ek eyhtetiene     He hath, and ek, as it is sene,     Upon his tail stonde othre tuo.     His Monthe assigned ek also     Is Averil, which of his schoures     Ministreth weie unto the floures.    1030     The thridde signe is Gemini,     Which is figured redely     Lich to tuo twinnes of mankinde,     That naked stonde; and as I finde,     Thei be with Sterres wel bego:     The heved hath part of thilke tuo     That schyne upon the boles tail,     So be thei bothe of o parail;     But on the wombe of Gemini     Ben fyve sterres noght forthi,    1040     And ek upon the feet be tweie,     So as these olde bokes seie,     That wise Tholome
s wrot.     His propre Monthe wel I wot     Assigned is the lusti Maii,     Whanne every brid upon his lay     Among the griene leves singeth,     And love of his pointure stingeth     After the lawes of nature     The youthe of every creature.     1050     Cancer after the reule and space     Of Signes halt the ferthe place.     Like to the crabbe he hath semblance,     And hath unto his retienance     Sextiene sterres, wherof ten,     So as these olde wise men     Descrive, he berth on him tofore,     And in the middel tuo be bore,     And foure he hath upon his ende.     Thus goth he sterred in his kende,        1060     And of himself is moiste and cold,     And is the propre hous and hold     Which appartieneth to the Mone,     And doth what longeth him to done.     The Monthe of Juin unto this Signe     Thou schalt after the reule assigne.     The fifte Signe is Leo hote,     Whos kinde is schape dreie and hote,     In whom the Sonne hath herbergage.     And the semblance of his ymage    1070     Is a leoun, which in baillie     Of sterres hath his pourpartie:     The foure, which as Cancer hath     Upon his ende, Leo tath     Upon his heved, and thanne nest     He hath ek foure upon his brest,     And on upon his tail behinde,     In olde bokes as we finde.     His propre Monthe is Juyl be name,     In which men pleien many a game.     1080     After Leo Virgo the nexte     Of Signes cleped is the sexte,     Wherof the figure is a Maide;     And as the Philosophre saide,     Sche is the welthe and the risinge,     The lust, the joie and the likinge     Unto Mercurie: and soth to seie     Sche is with sterres wel beseie,     Wherof Leo hath lent hire on,     Which sit on hih hir heved upon,     1090     Hire wombe hath fyve, hir feet also     Have other fyve: and overmo     Touchende as of complexion,     Be kindly disposicion     Of dreie and cold this Maiden is.     And forto tellen over this     Hir Monthe, thou schalt understonde,     Whan every feld hath corn in honde     And many a man his bak hath plied,     Unto this Signe is Augst applied.    1100     After Virgo to reknen evene     Libra sit in the nombre of sevene,     Which hath figure and resemblance     Unto a man which a balance     Berth in his hond as forto weie:     In boke and as it mai be seie,     Diverse sterres to him longeth,     Wherof on hevede he underfongeth     Ferst thre, and ek his wombe hath tuo,     And doun benethe eighte othre mo.    1110     This Signe is hot and moiste bothe,     The whiche thinges be noght lothe     Unto Venus, so that alofte     Sche resteth in his hous fulofte,     And ek Saturnus often hyed     Is in this Signe and magnefied.     His propre Monthe is seid Septembre,     Which yifth men cause to remembre,     If eny Sor be left behinde     Of thing which grieve mai to kinde.     1120     Among the Signes upon heighte     The Signe which is nombred eighte     Is Scorpio, which as feloun     Figured is a Scorpioun.     Bot for al that yit natheles     Is Scorpio noght sterreles;     For Libra granteth him his ende     Of eighte sterres, wher he wende,     The whiche upon his heved assised     He berth, and ek ther ben divised    1130     Upon his wombe sterres thre,     And eighte upon his tail hath he.     Which of his kinde is moiste and cold     And unbehovely manyfold;     He harmeth Venus and empeireth,     Bot Mars unto his hous repeireth,     Bot war whan thei togedre duellen.     His propre Monthe is, as men tellen,     Octobre, which bringth the kalende     Of wynter, that comth next suiende.     1140     The nynthe Signe in nombre also,     Which folweth after Scorpio,     Is cleped Sagittarius,     The whos figure is marked thus,     A Monstre with a bowe on honde:     On whom that sondri sterres stonde,     Thilke eighte of whiche I spak tofore,     The whiche upon the tail ben bore     Of Scorpio, the heved al faire     Bespreden of the Sagittaire;        1150     And eighte of othre stonden evene     Upon his wombe, and othre sevene     Ther stonde upon his tail behinde.     And he is hot and dreie of kinde:     To Jupiter his hous is fre,     Bot to Mercurie in his degre,     For thei ben noght of on assent,     He worcheth gret empeirement.     This Signe hath of his proprete     A Monthe, which of duete    1160     After the sesoun that befalleth     The Plowed Oxe in wynter stalleth;     And fyr into the halle he bringeth,     And thilke drinke of which men singeth,     He torneth must into the wyn;     Thanne is the larder of the swyn;     That is Novembre which I meene,     Whan that the lef hath lost his greene.     The tenthe Signe dreie and cold,     The which is Capricornus told,    1170     Unto a Got hath resemblance:     For whos love and whos aqueintance     Withinne hise houses to sojorne     It liketh wel unto Satorne,     Bot to the Mone it liketh noght,     For no profit is there wroght.     This Signe as of his proprete     Upon his heved hath sterres thre,     And ek upon his wombe tuo,     And tweie upon his tail also.     1180     Decembre after the yeeres forme,     So as the bokes ous enforme,     With daies schorte and nyhtes longe     This ilke Signe hath underfonge.     Of tho that sitte upon the hevene     Of Signes in the nombre ellevene     Aquarius hath take his place,     And stant wel in Satornes grace,     Which duelleth in his herbergage,     Bot to the Sonne he doth oultrage.        1190     This Signe is verraily resembled     Lich to a man which halt assembled     In eyther hand a water spoute,     Wherof the stremes rennen oute.     He is of kinde moiste and hot,     And he that of the sterres wot     Seith that he hath of sterres tuo     Upon his heved, and ben of tho     That Capricorn hath on his ende;     And as the bokes maken mende,     1200     That Tholome
s made himselve,     He hath ek on his wombe tuelve,     And tweie upon his ende stonde.     Thou schalt also this understonde,     The frosti colde Janever,     Whan comen is the newe yeer,     That Janus with his double face     In his chaiere hath take his place     And loketh upon bothe sides,     Somdiel toward the wynter tydes,     1210     Somdiel toward the yeer suiende,     That is the Monthe belongende     Unto this Signe, and of his dole     He yifth the ferste Primerole.     The tuelfthe, which is last of alle     Of Signes, Piscis men it calle,     The which, as telleth the scripture,     Berth of tuo fisshes the figure.     So is he cold and moiste of kinde,     And ek with sterres, as I finde,     1220     Beset in sondri wise, as thus:     Tuo of his ende Aquarius     Hath lent unto his heved, and tuo     This Signe hath of his oghne also     Upon his wombe, and over this     Upon his ende also ther is     A nombre of twenty sterres bryghte,     Which is to sen a wonder sighte.     Toward this Signe into his hous     Comth Jupiter the glorious,    1230     And Venus ek with him acordeth     To duellen, as the bok recordeth.     The Monthe unto this Signe ordeined     Is Februer, which is bereined,     And with londflodes in his rage     At Fordes letteth the passage.     Nou hast thou herd the proprete     Of Signes, bot in his degre     Albumazar yit over this     Seith, so as therthe parted is    1240     In foure, riht so ben divised     The Signes tuelve and stonde assised,     That ech of hem for his partie     Hath his climat to justefie.     Wherof the ferste regiment     Toward the part of Orient     From Antioche and that contre     Governed is of Signes thre,     That is Cancer, Virgo, Leo:     And toward Occident also    1250     From Armenie, as I am lerned,     Of Capricorn it stant governed,     Of Pisces and Aquarius:     And after hem I finde thus,     Southward from Alisandre forth     Tho Signes whiche most ben worth     In governance of that doaire,     Libra thei ben and Sagittaire     With Scorpio, which is conjoint     With hem to stonde upon that point:     1260     Constantinople the Cite,     So as the bokes tellen me,     The laste of this division     Stant untoward Septemtrion,     Wher as be weie of pourveance     Hath Aries the governance     Forth with Taurus and Gemini.     Thus ben the Signes propreli     Divided, as it is reherced,     Wherof the londes ben diversed.        1270     Lo thus, mi Sone, as thou myht hiere,     Was Alisandre mad to liere     Of hem that weren for his lore.     But nou to loken overmore,     Of othre sterres hou thei fare     I thenke hierafter to declare,     So as king Alisandre in youthe     Of him that suche thinges couthe     Enformed was tofore his yhe     Be nyhte upon the sterres hihe.        1280     Upon sondri creacion     Stant sondri operacion,     Som worcheth this, som worcheth that;     The fyr is hot in his astat     And brenneth what he mai atteigne,     The water mai the fyr restreigne,     The which is cold and moist also.     Of other thing it farth riht so     Upon this erthe among ous here;     And forto speke in this manere,        1290     Upon the hevene, as men mai finde,     The sterres ben of sondri kinde     And worchen manye sondri thinges     To ous, that ben here underlinges.     Among the whiche forth withal     Nectanabus in special,     Which was an Astronomien     And ek a gret Magicien,     And undertake hath thilke emprise     To Alisandre in his aprise     1300     As of Magique naturel     To knowe, enformeth him somdel     Of certein sterres what thei mene;     Of whiche, he seith, ther ben fiftene,     And sondrily to everich on     A gras belongeth and a Ston,     Wherof men worchen many a wonder     To sette thing bothe up and under.     To telle riht as he began,     The ferste sterre Aldeboran,        1310     The cliereste and the moste of alle,     Be rihte name men it calle;     Which lich is of condicion     To Mars, and of complexion     To Venus, and hath therupon     Carbunculum his propre Ston:     His herbe is Anabulla named,     Which is of gret vertu proclamed.     The seconde is noght vertules;     Clota or elles Pliades        1320     It hatte, and of the mones kinde     He is, and also this I finde,     He takth of Mars complexion:     And lich to such condicion     His Ston appropred is Cristall,     And ek his herbe in special     The vertuous Fenele it is.     The thridde, which comth after this,     Is hote Algol the clere rede,     Which of Satorne, as I may rede,     1330     His kinde takth, and ek of Jove     Complexion to his behove.     His propre Ston is Dyamant,     Which is to him most acordant;     His herbe, which is him betake,     Is hote Eleborum the blake.     So as it falleth upon lot,     The ferthe sterre is Alhaiot,     Which in the wise as I seide er     Of Satorne and of Jupiter        1340     Hath take his kinde; and therupon     The Saphir is his propre Ston,     Marrubium his herbe also,     The whiche acorden bothe tuo.     And Canis maior in his like     The fifte sterre is of Magique,     The whos kinde is venerien,     As seith this Astronomien.     His propre Ston is seid Berille,     Bot forto worche and to fulfille     1350     Thing which to this science falleth,     Ther is an herbe which men calleth     Saveine, and that behoveth nede     To him that wole his pourpos spede.     The sexte suiende after this     Be name Canis minor is;     The which sterre is Mercurial     Be weie of kinde, and forth withal,     As it is writen in the carte,     Complexion he takth of Marte.     1360     His Ston and herbe, as seith the Scole,     Ben Achates and Primerole.     The sefnthe sterre in special     Of this science is Arial,     Which sondri nature underfongeth.     The Ston which propre unto him longeth,     Gorgonza proprely it hihte:     His herbe also, which he schal rihte     Upon the worchinge as I mene,     Is Celidoine freissh and grene.        1370     Sterre Ala Corvi upon heihte     Hath take his place in nombre of eighte,     Which of his kinde mot parforne     The will of Marte and of Satorne:     To whom Lapacia the grete     Is herbe, bot of no beyete;     His Ston is Honochinus hote,     Thurgh which men worchen gret riote.     The nynthe sterre faire and wel     Be name is hote Alaezel,    1380     Which takth his propre kinde thus     Bothe of Mercurie and of Venus.     His Ston is the grene Amyraude,     To whom is yoven many a laude:     Salge is his herbe appourtenant     Aboven al the rememant.     The tenthe sterre is Almareth,     Which upon lif and upon deth     Thurgh kinde of Jupiter and Mart     He doth what longeth to his part.    1390     His Ston is Jaspe, and of Planteine     He hath his herbe sovereine.     The sterre ellefthe is Venenas,     The whos nature is as it was     Take of Venus and of the Mone,     In thing which he hath forto done.     Of Adamant is that perrie     In which he worcheth his maistrie;     Thilke herbe also which him befalleth,     Cicorea the bok it calleth.    1400     Alpheta in the nombre sit,     And is the twelfthe sterre yit;     Of Scorpio which is governed,     And takth his kinde, as I am lerned;     And hath his vertu in the Ston     Which cleped is Topazion:     His herbe propre is Rosmarine,     Which schapen is for his covine.     Of these sterres, whiche I mene,     Cor Scorpionis is thritiene;        1410     The whos nature Mart and Jove     Have yoven unto his behove.     His herbe is Aristologie,     Which folweth his Astronomie:     The Ston which that this sterre alloweth,     Is Sardis, which unto him boweth.     The sterre which stant next the laste,     Nature on him this name caste     And clepeth him Botercadent;     Which of his kinde obedient    1420     Is to Mercurie and to Venus.     His Ston is seid Crisolitus,     His herbe is cleped Satureie,     So as these olde bokes seie.     Bot nou the laste sterre of alle     The tail of Scorpio men calle,     Which to Mercurie and to Satorne     Be weie of kinde mot retorne     After the preparacion     Of due constellacion.    1430     The Calcedoine unto him longeth,     Which for his Ston he underfongeth;     Of Majorane his herbe is grounded.     Thus have I seid hou thei be founded,     Of every sterre in special,     Which hath his herbe and Ston withal,     As Hermes in his bokes olde     Witnesse berth of that I tolde.     The science of Astronomie,     Which principal is of clergie     1440     To dieme betwen wo and wel     In thinges that be naturel,     Thei hadde a gret travail on honde     That made it ferst ben understonde;     And thei also which overmore     Here studie sette upon this lore,     Thei weren gracious and wys     And worthi forto bere a pris.     And whom it liketh forto wite     Of hem that this science write,        1450     On of the ferste which it wrot     After Noe5, it was Nembrot,     To his disciple Ychonithon     And made a bok forth therupon     The which Megaster cleped was.     An other Auctor in this cas     Is Arachel, the which men note;     His bok is Abbategnyh hote.     Danz Tholome is noght the leste,     Which makth the bok of Almageste;    1460     And Alfraganus doth the same,     Whos bok is Chatemuz be name.     Gebuz and Alpetragus eke     Of Planisperie, which men seke,     The bokes made: and over this     Ful many a worthi clerc ther is,     That writen upon this clergie     The bokes of Altemetrie,     Planemetrie and ek also,     Whiche as belongen bothe tuo,     1470     So as thei ben naturiens,     Unto these Astronomiens.     Men sein that Habraham was on;     Bot whether that he wrot or non,     That finde I noght; and Moi5ses     Ek was an other: bot Hermes     Above alle othre in this science     He hadde a gret experience;     Thurgh him was many a sterre assised,     Whos bokes yit ben auctorized.    1480     I mai noght knowen alle tho     That writen in the time tho     Of this science; bot I finde,     Of jugement be weie of kinde     That in o point thei alle acorden:     Of sterres whiche thei recorden     That men mai sen upon the hevene,     Ther ben a thousend sterres evene     And tuo and twenty, to the syhte     Whiche aren of hemself so bryhte,    1490     That men mai dieme what thei be,     The nature and the proprete.     Nou hast thou herd, in which a wise     These noble Philosophres wise     Enformeden this yonge king,     And made him have a knowleching     Of thing which ferst to the partie     Belongeth of Philosophie,     Which Theorique cleped is,     As thou tofore hast herd er this.    1500     Bot nou to speke of the secounde,     Which Aristotle hath also founde,     And techeth hou to speke faire,     Which is a thing full necessaire     To contrepeise the balance,     Wher lacketh other sufficance.     Above alle erthli creatures     The hihe makere of natures     The word to man hath yove alone,     So that the speche of his persone,        1510     Or forto lese or forto winne,     The hertes thoght which is withinne     Mai schewe, what it wolde mene;     And that is noghwhere elles sene     Of kinde with non other beste.     So scholde he be the more honeste,     To whom god yaf so gret a yifte,     And loke wel that he ne schifte     Hise wordes to no wicked us;     For word the techer of vertus     1520     Is cleped in Philosophie.     Wherof touchende this partie,     Is Rethorique the science     Appropred to the reverence     Of wordes that ben resonable:     And for this art schal be vailable     With goodli wordes forto like,     It hath Gramaire, it hath Logiqe,     That serven bothe unto the speche.     Gramaire ferste hath forto teche     1530     To speke upon congruite:     Logique hath eke in his degre     Betwen the trouthe and the falshode     The pleine wordes forto schode,     So that nothing schal go beside,     That he the riht ne schal decide.     Wherof full many a gret debat     Reformed is to good astat,     And pes sustiened up alofte     With esy wordes and with softe,        1540     Wher strengthe scholde lete it falle.     The Philosophre amonges alle     Forthi commendeth this science,     Which hath the reule of eloquence.     In Ston and gras vertu ther is,     Bot yit the bokes tellen this,     That word above alle erthli thinges     Is vertuous in his doinges,     Wher so it be to evele or goode.     For if the wordes semen goode     1550     And ben wel spoke at mannes Ere,     Whan that ther is no trouthe there,     Thei don fulofte gret deceipte;     For whan the word to the conceipte     Descordeth in so double a wise,     Such Rethorique is to despise     In every place, and forto drede.     For of Uluxes thus I rede,     As in the bok of Troie is founde,     His eloquence and his facounde    1560     Of goodly wordes whiche he tolde,     Hath mad that Anthenor him solde     The toun, which he with tresoun wan.     Word hath beguiled many a man;     With word the wilde beste is daunted,     With word the Serpent is enchaunted,     Of word among the men of Armes     Ben woundes heeled with the charmes,     Wher lacketh other medicine;     Word hath under his discipline    1570     Of Sorcerie the karectes.     The wordes ben of sondri sectes,     Of evele and eke of goode also;     The wordes maken frend of fo,     And fo of frend, and pes of werre,     And werre of pes, and out of herre     The word this worldes cause entriketh,     And reconsileth whan him liketh.     The word under the coupe of hevene     Set every thing or odde or evene;    1580     With word the hihe god is plesed,     With word the wordes ben appesed,     The softe word the loude stilleth;     Wher lacketh good, the word fulfilleth,     To make amendes for the wrong;     Whan wordes medlen with the song,     It doth plesance wel the more.     Bot forto loke upon the lore     Hou Tullius his Rethorique     Componeth, ther a man mai pike    1590     Hou that he schal hise wordes sette,     Hou he schal lose, hou he schal knette,     And in what wise he schal pronounce     His tale plein withoute frounce.     Wherof ensample if thou wolt seche,     Tak hiede and red whilom the speche     Of Julius and Cithero,     Which consul was of Rome tho,     Of Catoun eke and of Cillene,     Behold the wordes hem betwene,    1600     Whan the tresoun of Cateline     Descoevered was, and the covine     Of hem that were of his assent     Was knowe and spoke in parlement,     And axed hou and in what wise     Men scholde don hem to juise.     Cillenus ferst his tale tolde,     To trouthe and as he was beholde,     The comun profit forto save,     He seide hou tresoun scholde have    1610     A cruel deth; and thus thei spieke,     The Consul bothe and Catoun eke,     And seiden that for such a wrong     Ther mai no peine be to strong.     Bot Julius with wordes wise     His tale tolde al otherwise,     As he which wolde her deth respite,     And fondeth hou he mihte excite     The jugges thurgh his eloquence     Fro deth to torne the sentence    1620     And sette here hertes to pite.     Nou tolden thei, nou tolde he;     Thei spieken plein after the lawe,     Bot he the wordes of his sawe     Coloureth in an other weie     Spekende, and thus betwen the tweie,     To trete upon this juggement,     Made ech of hem his Argument.     Wherof the tales forto hiere,     Ther mai a man the Scole liere    1630     Of Rethoriqes eloquences,     Which is the secounde of sciences     Touchende to Philosophie;     Wherof a man schal justifie     Hise wordes in disputeisoun,     And knette upon conclusioun     His Argument in such a forme,     Which mai the pleine trouthe enforme     And the soubtil cautele abate,     Which every trewman schal debate.    1640     The ferste, which is Theorique,     And the secounde Rethorique,     Sciences of Philosophie,     I have hem told as in partie,     So as the Philosophre it tolde     To Alisandre: and nou I wolde     Telle of the thridde what it is,     The which Practique cleped is.     Practique stant upon thre thinges     Toward the governance of kinges;     1650     Wherof the ferst Etique is named,     The whos science stant proclamed     To teche of vertu thilke reule,     Hou that a king himself schal reule     Of his moral condicion     With worthi disposicion     Of good livinge in his persone,     Which is the chief of his corone.     It makth a king also to lerne     Hou he his bodi schal governe,    1660     Hou he schal wake, hou he schal slepe,     Hou that he schal his hele kepe     In mete, in drinke, in clothinge eke:     Ther is no wisdom forto seke     As for the reule of his persone,     The which that this science al one     Ne techeth as be weie of kinde,     That ther is nothing left behinde.     That other point which to Practique     Belongeth is Iconomique,    1670     Which techeth thilke honestete     Thurgh which a king in his degre     His wif and child schal reule and guie,     So forth with al the companie     Which in his houshold schal abyde,     And his astat on every syde     In such manere forto lede,     That he his houshold ne mislede.     Practique hath yit the thridde aprise,     Which techeth hou and in what wise        1680     Thurgh hih pourveied ordinance     A king schal sette in governance     His Realme, and that is Policie,     Which longeth unto Regalie     In time of werre, in time of pes,     To worschipe and to good encress     Of clerk, of kniht and of Marchant,     And so forth of the remenant     Of al the comun poeple aboute,     Withinne Burgh and ek withoute,    1690     Of hem that ben Artificiers,     Whiche usen craftes and mestiers,     Whos Art is cleped Mechanique.     And though thei ben noght alle like,     Yit natheles, hou so it falle,     O lawe mot governe hem alle,     Or that thei lese or that thei winne,     After thastat that thei ben inne.     Lo, thus this worthi yonge king     Was fulli tauht of every thing,        1700     Which mihte yive entendement     Of good reule and good regiment     To such a worthi Prince as he.     Bot of verray necessite     The Philosophre him hath betake     Fyf pointz, whiche he hath undertake     To kepe and holde in observance,     As for the worthi governance     Which longeth to his Regalie,     After the reule of Policie.    1710     To every man behoveth lore,     Bot to noman belongeth more     Than to a king, which hath to lede     The poeple; for of his kinghede     He mai hem bothe save and spille.     And for it stant upon his wille,     It sit him wel to ben avised,     And the vertus whiche are assissed     Unto a kinges Regiment,     To take in his entendement:    1720     Wherof to tellen, as thei stonde,     Hierafterward nou woll I fonde.     Among the vertus on is chief,     And that is trouthe, which is lief     To god and ek to man also.     And for it hath ben evere so,     Tawhte Aristotle, as he wel couthe,     To Alisandre, hou in his youthe     He scholde of trouthe thilke grace     With al his hole herte embrace,        1730     So that his word be trewe and plein,     Toward the world and so certein     That in him be no double speche:     For if men scholde trouthe seche     And founde it noght withinne a king,     It were an unsittende thing.     The word is tokne of that withinne,     Ther schal a worthi king beginne     To kepe his tunge and to be trewe,     So schal his pris ben evere newe.    1740     Avise him every man tofore,     And be wel war, er he be swore,     For afterward it is to late,     If that he wole his word debate.     For as a king in special     Above alle othre is principal     Of his pouer, so scholde he be     Most vertuous in his degre;     And that mai wel be signefied     Be his corone and specified.        1750     The gold betokneth excellence,     That men schull don him reverence     As to here liege soverein.     The Stones, as the bokes sein,     Commended ben in treble wise:     Ferst thei ben harde, and thilke assisse     Betokneth in a king Constance,     So that ther schal no variance     Be founde in his condicion;     And also be descripcion        1760     The vertu which is in the stones     A verrai Signe is for the nones     Of that a king schal ben honeste     And holde trewly his beheste     Of thing which longeth to kinghede:     The bryhte colour, as I rede,     Which in the stones is schynende,     Is in figure betoknende     The Cronique of this worldes fame,     Which stant upon his goode name.     1770     The cercle which is round aboute     Is tokne of al the lond withoute,     Which stant under his Gerarchie,     That he it schal wel kepe and guye.     And for that trouthe, hou so it falle,     Is the vertu soverein of alle,     That longeth unto regiment,     A tale, which is evident     Of trouthe in comendacioun,     Toward thin enformacion,    1780     Mi Sone, hierafter thou schalt hiere     Of a Cronique in this matiere.     As the Cronique it doth reherce,     A Soldan whilom was of Perce,     Which Daires hihte, and Ytaspis     His fader was; and soth it is     That thurgh wisdom and hih prudence     Mor than for eny reverence     Of his lignage as be descente     The regne of thilke empire he hente:    1790     And as he was himselve wys,     The wisemen he hield in pris     And soghte hem oute on every side,     That toward him thei scholde abide.     Among the whiche thre ther were     That most service unto him bere,     As thei which in his chambre lyhen     And al his conseil herde and syhen.     Here names ben of strange note,     Arpaghes was the ferste hote,     1800     And Manachaz was the secounde,     Zorobabel, as it is founde     In the Cronique, was the thridde.     This Soldan, what so him betidde,     To hem he triste most of alle,     Wherof the cas is so befalle:     This lord, which hath conceiptes depe,     Upon a nyht whan he hath slepe,     As he which hath his wit desposed,     Touchende a point hem hath opposed.     1810     The kinges question was this;     Of thinges thre which strengest is,     The wyn, the womman or the king:     And that thei scholde upon this thing     Of here ansuere avised be,     He yaf hem fulli daies thre,     And hath behote hem be his feith     That who the beste reson seith,     He schal receive a worthi mede.     Upon this thing thei token hiede     1820     And stoden in desputeison,     That be diverse opinion     Of Argumentz that thei have holde     Arpaghes ferst his tale tolde,     And seide hou that the strengthe of kinges     Is myhtiest of alle thinges.     For king hath pouer over man,     And man is he which reson can,     As he which is of his nature     The moste noble creature    1830     Of alle tho that god hath wroght:     And be that skile it semeth noght,     He seith, that eny erthly thing     Mai be so myhty as a king.     A king mai spille, a king mai save,     A king mai make of lord a knave     And of a knave a lord also:     The pouer of a king stant so,     That he the lawes overpasseth;     What he wol make lasse, he lasseth,     1840     What he wol make more, he moreth;     And as the gentil faucon soreth,     He fleth, that noman him reclameth;     Bot he al one alle othre tameth,     And stant himself of lawe fre.     Lo, thus a kinges myht, seith he,     So as his reson can argue,     Is strengest and of most value.     Bot Manachaz seide otherwise,     That wyn is of the more emprise;     1850     And that he scheweth be this weie.     The wyn fulofte takth aweie     The reson fro the mannes herte;     The wyn can make a krepel sterte,     And a delivere man unwelde;     It makth a blind man to behelde,     And a bryht yhed seme derk;     It makth a lewed man a clerk,     And fro the clerkes the clergie     It takth aweie, and couardie        1860     It torneth into hardiesse;     Of Avarice it makth largesse.     The wyn makth ek the goode blod,     In which the Soule which is good     Hath chosen hire a resting place,     Whil that the lif hir wole embrace.     And be this skile Manachas     Ansuered hath upon this cas,     And seith that wyn be weie of kinde     Is thing which mai the hertes binde     1870     Wel more than the regalie.     Zorobabel for his partie     Seide, as him thoghte for the beste,     That wommen ben the myhtieste.     The king and the vinour also     Of wommen comen bothe tuo;     And ek he seide hou that manhede     Thurgh strengthe unto the wommanhede     Of love, wher he wole or non,     Obeie schal; and therupon,     1880     To schewe of wommen the maistrie,     A tale which he syh with yhe     As for ensample he tolde this,-     Hou Apemen, of Besazis     Which dowhter was, in the paleis     Sittende upon his hihe deis,     Whan he was hotest in his ire     Toward the grete of his empire,     Cirus the king tirant sche tok,     And only with hire goodly lok     1890     Sche made him debonaire and meke,     And be the chyn and be the cheke     Sche luggeth him riht as hir liste,     That nou sche japeth, nou sche kiste,     And doth with him what evere hir liketh;     Whan that sche loureth, thanne he siketh,     And whan sche gladeth, he is glad:     And thus this king was overlad     With hire which his lemman was.     Among the men is no solas,     1900     If that ther be no womman there;     For bot if that the wommen were,     This worldes joie were aweie:     Thurgh hem men finden out the weie     To knihthode and to worldes fame;     Thei make a man to drede schame,     And honour forto be desired:     Thurgh the beaute of hem is fyred     The Dart of which Cupide throweth,     Wherof the jolif peine groweth,    1910     Which al the world hath under fote.     A womman is the mannes bote,     His lif, his deth, his wo, his wel;     And this thing mai be schewed wel,     Hou that wommen ben goode and kinde,     For in ensample this I finde.     Whan that the duk Ametus lay     Sek in his bedd, that every day     Men waiten whan he scholde deie,     Alceste his wif goth forto preie,    1920     As sche which wolde thonk deserve,     With Sacrifice unto Minerve,     To wite ansuere of the goddesse     Hou that hir lord of his seknesse,     Wherof he was so wo besein,     Recovere myhte his hele ayein.     Lo, thus sche cride and thus sche preide,     Til ate laste a vois hir seide,     That if sche wolde for his sake     The maladie soffre and take,        1930     And deie hirself, he scholde live.     Of this ansuere Alceste hath yive     Unto Minerve gret thonkinge,     So that hir deth and his livinge     Sche ches with al hire hole entente,     And thus acorded hom sche wente.     Into the chambre and whan sche cam,     Hire housebonde anon sche nam     In bothe hire Armes and him kiste,     And spak unto him what hire liste;        1940     And therupon withinne a throwe     This goode wif was overthrowe     And deide, and he was hool in haste.     So mai a man be reson taste,     Hou next after the god above     The trouthe of wommen and the love,     In whom that alle grace is founde,     Is myhtiest upon this grounde     And most behovely manyfold.     Lo, thus Zorobabel hath told        1950     The tale of his opinion:     Bot for final conclusion     What strengest is of erthli thinges,     The wyn, the wommen or the kinges,     He seith that trouthe above hem alle     Is myhtiest, hou evere it falle.     The trouthe, hou so it evere come,     Mai for nothing ben overcome;     It mai wel soffre for a throwe,     Bot ate laste it schal be knowe.     1960     The proverbe is, who that is trewe,     Him schal his while nevere rewe:     For hou so that the cause wende,     The trouthe is schameles ate ende,     Bot what thing that is troutheles,     It mai noght wel be schameles,     And schame hindreth every wyht:     So proveth it, ther is no myht     Withoute trouthe in no degre.     And thus for trouthe of his decre    1970     Zorobabel was most commended,     Wherof the question was ended,     And he resceived hath his mede     For trouthe, which to mannes nede     Is most behoveliche overal.     Forthi was trouthe in special     The ferste point in observance     Betake unto the governance     Of Alisandre, as it is seid:     For therupon the ground is leid        1980     Of every kinges regiment,     As thing which most convenient     Is forto sette a king in evene     Bothe in this world and ek in hevene.     Next after trouthe the secounde,     In Policie as it is founde,     Which serveth to the worldes fame     In worschipe of a kinges name,     Largesse it is, whos privilegge     Ther mai non Avarice abregge.     1990     The worldes good was ferst comune,     Bot afterward upon fortune     Was thilke comun profit cessed:     For whan the poeple stod encresced     And the lignages woxen grete,     Anon for singulier beyete     Drouh every man to his partie;     Wherof cam in the ferste envie     With gret debat and werres stronge,     And laste among the men so longe,    2000     Til noman wiste who was who,     Ne which was frend ne which was fo.     Til ate laste in every lond     Withinne hemself the poeple fond     That it was good to make a king,     Which mihte appesen al this thing     And yive riht to the lignages     In partinge of here heritages     And ek of al here other good;     And thus above hem alle stod        2010     The king upon his Regalie,     As he which hath to justifie     The worldes good fro covoitise.     So sit it wel in alle wise     A king betwen the more and lesse     To sette his herte upon largesse     Toward himself and ek also     Toward his poeple; and if noght so,     That is to sein, if that he be     Toward himselven large and fre    2020     And of his poeple take and pile,     Largesse be no weie of skile     It mai be seid, bot Avarice,     Which in a king is a gret vice.     A king behoveth ek to fle     The vice of Prodegalite,     That he mesure in his expence     So kepe, that of indigence     He mai be sauf: for who that nedeth,     In al his werk the worse he spedeth.    2030     As Aristotle upon Chaldee     Ensample of gret Auctorite     Unto king Alisandre tauhte     Of thilke folk that were unsauhte     Toward here king for his pilage:     Wherof he bad, in his corage     That he unto thre pointz entende,     Wher that he wolde his good despende.     Ferst scholde he loke, hou that it stod,     That al were of his oghne good    2040     The yiftes whiche he wolde yive;     So myhte he wel the betre live:     And ek he moste taken hiede     If ther be cause of eny nede,     Which oghte forto be defended,     Er that his goodes be despended:     He mot ek, as it is befalle,     Amonges othre thinges alle     Se the decertes of his men;     And after that thei ben of ken    2050     And of astat and of merite,     He schal hem largeliche aquite,     Or for the werre, or for the pes,     That non honour falle in descres,     Which mihte torne into defame,     Bot that he kepe his goode name,     So that he be noght holde unkinde.     For in Cronique a tale I finde,     Which spekth somdiel of this matiere,     Hierafterward as thou schalt hiere.     2060     In Rome, to poursuie his riht,     Ther was a worthi povere kniht,     Which cam al one forto sein     His cause, when the court was plein,     Wher Julius was in presence.     And for him lacketh of despence,     Ther was with him non advocat     To make ple for his astat.     Bot thogh him lacke forto plede,     Him lacketh nothing of manhede;        2070     He wiste wel his pours was povere,     Bot yit he thoghte his riht recovere,     And openly poverte alleide,     To themperour and thus he seide:     "O Julius, lord of the lawe,     Behold, mi conseil is withdrawe     For lacke of gold: do thin office     After the lawes of justice:     Help that I hadde conseil hiere     Upon the trouthe of mi matiere."     2080     And Julius with that anon     Assigned him a worthi on,     Bot he himself no word ne spak.     This kniht was wroth and fond a lak     In themperour, and seide thus:     "O thou unkinde Julius,     Whan thou in thi bataille were     Up in Aufrique, and I was there,     Mi myht for thi rescousse I dede     And putte noman in my stede,        2090     Thou wost what woundes ther I hadde:     Bot hier I finde thee so badde,     That thee ne liste speke o word     Thin oghne mouth, nor of thin hord     To yive a florin me to helpe.     Hou scholde I thanne me beyelpe     Fro this dai forth of thi largesse,     Whan such a gret unkindenesse     Is founde in such a lord as thou?"     This Julius knew wel ynou        2100     That al was soth which he him tolde;     And for he wolde noght ben holde     Unkinde, he tok his cause on honde,     And as it were of goddes sonde,     He yaf him good ynouh to spende     For evere into his lives ende.     And thus scholde every worthi king     Take of his knihtes knowleching,     Whan that he syh thei hadden nede,     For every service axeth mede:     2110     Bot othre, which have noght deserved     Thurgh vertu, bot of japes served,     A king schal noght deserve grace,     Thogh he be large in such a place.     It sit wel every king to have     Discrecion, whan men him crave,     So that he mai his yifte wite:     Wherof I finde a tale write,     Hou Cinichus a povere kniht     A Somme which was over myht    2120     Preide of his king Antigonus.     The king ansuerde to him thus,     And seide hou such a yifte passeth     His povere astat: and thanne he lasseth,     And axeth bot a litel peny,     If that the king wol yive him eny.     The king ansuerde, it was to smal     For him, which was a lord real;     To yive a man so litel thing     It were unworschipe in a king.    2130     Be this ensample a king mai lere     That forto yive is in manere:     For if a king his tresor lasseth     Withoute honour and thonkles passeth,     Whan he himself wol so beguile,     I not who schal compleigne his while,     Ne who be rihte him schal relieve.     Bot natheles this I believe,     To helpe with his oghne lond     Behoveth every man his hond    2140     To sette upon necessite;     And ek his kinges realte     Mot every liege man conforte,     With good and bodi to supporte,     Whan thei se cause resonable:     For who that is noght entendable     To holde upriht his kinges name,     Him oghte forto be to blame.     Of Policie and overmore     To speke in this matiere more,    2150     So as the Philosophre tolde,     A king after the reule is holde     To modifie and to adresce     Hise yiftes upon such largesce     That he mesure noght excede:     For if a king falle into nede,     It causeth ofte sondri thinges     Whiche are ungoodly to the kinges.     What man wol noght himself mesure,     Men sen fulofte that mesure    2160     Him hath forsake: and so doth he     That useth Prodegalite,     Which is the moder of poverte,     Wherof the londes ben deserte;     And namely whan thilke vice     Aboute a king stant in office     And hath withholde of his partie     The covoitouse flaterie,     Which many a worthi king deceiveth,     Er he the fallas aperceiveth        2170     Of hem that serven to the glose.     For thei that cunnen plese and glose,     Ben, as men tellen, the norrices     Unto the fostringe of the vices,     Wherof fulofte natheles     A king is blamed gulteles.     A Philosophre, as thou schalt hiere,     Spak to a king of this matiere,     And seide him wel hou that flatours     Coupable were of thre errours.    2180     On was toward the goddes hihe,     That weren wrothe of that thei sihe     The meschief which befalle scholde     Of that the false flatour tolde.     Toward the king an other was,     Whan thei be sleihte and be fallas     Of feigned wordes make him wene     That blak is whyt and blew is grene     Touchende of his condicion:     For whanne he doth extorcion        2190     With manye an other vice mo,     Men schal noght finden on of tho     To groucche or speke therayein,     Bot holden up his oil and sein     That al is wel, what evere he doth;     And thus of fals thei maken soth,     So that here kinges yhe is blent     And wot not hou the world is went.     The thridde errour is harm comune,     With which the poeple mot commune    2200     Of wronges that thei bringen inne:     And thus thei worchen treble sinne,     That ben flatours aboute a king.     Ther myhte be no worse thing     Aboute a kinges regalie,     Thanne is the vice of flaterie.     And natheles it hath ben used,     That it was nevere yit refused     As forto speke in court real;     For there it is most special,     2210     And mai noght longe be forbore.     Bot whan this vice of hem is bore,     That scholden the vertus forthbringe,     And trouthe is torned to lesinge,     It is, as who seith, ayein kinde,     Wherof an old ensample I finde.     Among these othre tales wise     Of Philosophres, in this wise     I rede, how whilom tuo ther were,     And to the Scole forto lere    2220     Unto Athenes fro Cartage     Here frendes, whan thei were of Age,     Hem sende; and ther thei stoden longe,     Til thei such lore have underfonge,     That in here time thei surmonte     Alle othre men, that to acompte     Of hem was tho the grete fame.     The ferste of hem his rihte name     Was Diogenes thanne hote,     In whom was founde no riote:        2230     His felaw Arisippus hyhte,     Which mochel couthe and mochel myhte.     Bot ate laste, soth to sein,     Thei bothe tornen hom ayein     Unto Cartage and scole lete.     This Diogenes no beyete     Of worldes good or lasse or more     Ne soghte for his longe lore,     Bot tok him only forto duelle     At hom; and as the bokes telle,        2240     His hous was nyh to the rivere     Besyde a bregge, as thou schalt hiere.     Ther duelleth he to take his reste,     So as it thoghte him for the beste,     To studie in his Philosophie,     As he which wolde so defie     The worldes pompe on every syde.     Bot Arisippe his bok aside     Hath leid, and to the court he wente,     Wher many a wyle and many a wente    2250     With flaterie and wordes softe     He caste, and hath compassed ofte     Hou he his Prince myhte plese;     And in this wise he gat him ese     Of vein honour and worldes good.     The londes reule upon him stod,     The king of him was wonder glad,     And all was do, what thing he bad,     Bothe in the court and ek withoute.     With flaterie he broghte aboute        2260     His pourpos of the worldes werk,     Which was ayein the stat of clerk,     So that Philosophie he lefte     And to richesse himself uplefte:     Lo, thus hadde Arisippe his wille.     Bot Diogenes duelte stille     A home and loked on his bok:     He soghte noght the worldes crok     For vein honour ne for richesse,     Bot all his hertes besinesse        2270     He sette to be vertuous;     And thus withinne his oghne hous     He liveth to the sufficance     Of his havinge. And fell per chance,     This Diogene upon a day,     And that was in the Monthe of May,     Whan that these herbes ben holsome,     He walketh forto gadre some     In his gardin, of whiche his joutes     He thoghte have, and thus aboutes    2280     Whanne he hath gadred what him liketh,     He satte him thanne doun and pyketh,     And wyssh his herbes in the flod     Upon the which his gardin stod,     Nyh to the bregge, as I tolde er.     And hapneth, whil he sitteth ther,     Cam Arisippes be the strete     With manye hors and routes grete,     And straght unto the bregge he rod.     Wher that he hoved and abod;        2290     For as he caste his yhe nyh,     His felaw Diogene he syh,     And what he dede he syh also,     Wherof he seide to him so:     "O Diogene, god thee spede.     It were certes litel nede     To sitte there and wortes pyke,     If thou thi Prince couthest lyke,     So as I can in my degre."     "O Arisippe," ayein quod he,        2300     "If that thou couthist, so as I,     Thi wortes pyke, trewely     It were als litel nede or lasse,     That thou so worldly wolt compasse     With flaterie forto serve,     Wherof thou thenkest to deserve     Thi princes thonk, and to pourchace     Hou thou myht stonden in his grace,     For getinge of a litel good.     If thou wolt take into thi mod    2310     Reson, thou myht be reson deeme     That so thi prince forto queeme     Is noght to reson acordant,     Bot it is gretly descordant     Unto the Scoles of Athene."     Lo, thus ansuerde Diogene     Ayein the clerkes flaterie.     Bot yit men sen thessamplerie     Of Arisippe is wel received,     And thilke of Diogene is weyved.     2320     Office in court and gold in cofre     Is nou, men sein, the philosophre     Which hath the worschipe in the halle;     Bot flaterie passeth alle     In chambre, whom the court avanceth;     For upon thilke lot it chanceth     To be beloved nou aday.     I not if it be ye or nay,     Bot as the comun vois it telleth;     Bot wher that flaterie duelleth        2330     In eny lond under the Sonne,     Ther is ful many a thing begonne     Which were betre to be left;     That hath be schewed nou and eft.     Bot if a Prince wolde him reule     Of the Romeins after the reule,     In thilke time as it was used,     This vice scholde be refused,     Wherof the Princes ben assoted.     Bot wher the pleine trouthe is noted,        2340     Ther may a Prince wel conceive,     That he schal noght himself deceive,     Of that he hiereth wordes pleine;     For him thar noght be reson pleigne,     That warned is er him be wo.     And that was fully proeved tho,     Whan Rome was the worldes chief,     The Sothseiere tho was lief,     Which wolde noght the trouthe spare,     Bot with hise wordes pleine and bare    2350     To Themperour hise sothes tolde,     As in Cronique is yit withholde,     Hierafterward as thou schalt hiere     Acordende unto this matiere.     To se this olde ensamplerie,     That whilom was no flaterie     Toward the Princes wel I finde;     Wherof so as it comth to mynde,     Mi Sone, a tale unto thin Ere,     Whil that the worthi princes were    2360     At Rome, I thenke forto tellen.     For whan the chances so befellen     That eny Emperour as tho     Victoire hadde upon his fo,     And so forth cam to Rome ayein,     Of treble honour he was certein,     Wherof that he was magnefied.     The ferste, as it is specefied,     Was, whan he cam at thilke tyde,     The Charr in which he scholde ryde        2370     Foure whyte Stiedes scholden drawe;     Of Jupiter be thilke lawe     The Cote he scholde were also;     Hise prisoners ek scholden go     Endlong the Charr on eyther hond,     And alle the nobles of the lond     Tofore and after with him come     Ridende and broghten him to Rome,     In thonk of his chivalerie     And for non other flaterie.    2380     And that was schewed forth withal;     Wher he sat in his Charr real,     Beside him was a Ribald set,     Which hadde hise wordes so beset,     To themperour in al his gloire     He seide, "Tak into memoire,     For al this pompe and al this pride     Let no justice gon aside,     Bot know thiself, what so befalle.     For men sen ofte time falle    2390     Thing which men wende siker stonde:     Thogh thou victoire have nou on honde,     Fortune mai noght stonde alway;     The whiel per chance an other day     Mai torne, and thou myht overthrowe;     Ther lasteth nothing bot a throwe."     With these wordes and with mo     This Ribald, which sat with him tho,     To Themperour his tale tolde:     And overmor what evere he wolde,     2400     Or were it evel or were it good,     So pleinly as the trouthe stod,     He spareth noght, bot spekth it oute;     And so myhte every man aboute     The day of that solempnete     His tale telle als wel as he     To Themperour al openly.     And al was this the cause why;     That whil he stod in that noblesse,     He scholde his vanite represse    2410     With suche wordes as he herde.     Lo nou, hou thilke time it ferde     Toward so hih a worthi lord:     For this I finde ek of record,     Which the Cronique hath auctorized.     What Emperour was entronized,     The ferste day of his corone,     Wher he was in his real Throne     And hield his feste in the paleis     Sittende upon his hihe deis    2420     With al the lust that mai be gete,     Whan he was gladdest at his mete,     And every menstral hadde pleid,     And every Disour hadde seid     What most was plesant to his Ere,     Than ate laste comen there     Hise Macons, for thei scholden crave     Wher that he wolde be begrave,     And of what Ston his sepulture     Thei scholden make, and what sculpture     2430     He wolde ordeine therupon.     Tho was ther flaterie non     The worthi princes to bejape;     The thing was other wise schape     With good conseil; and otherwise     Thei were hemselven thanne wise,     And understoden wel and knewen.     Whan suche softe wyndes blewen     Of flaterie into here Ere,     Thei setten noght here hertes there;    2440     Bot whan thei herden wordes feigned,     The pleine trouthe it hath desdeigned     Of hem that weren so discrete.     So tok the flatour no beyete     Of him that was his prince tho:     And forto proven it is so,     A tale which befell in dede     In a Cronique of Rome I rede.     Cesar upon his real throne     Wher that he sat in his persone        2450     And was hyest in al his pris,     A man, which wolde make him wys,     Fell doun knelende in his presence,     And dede him such a reverence,     As thogh the hihe god it were:     Men hadden gret mervaille there     Of the worschipe which he dede.     This man aros fro thilke stede,     And forth with al the same tyde     He goth him up and be his side    2460     He set him doun as pier and pier,     And seide, "If thou that sittest hier     Art god, which alle thinges myht,     Thanne have I do worshipe ariht     As to the god; and other wise,     If thou be noght of thilke assisse,     Bot art a man such as am I,     Than mai I sitte faste by,     For we be bothen of o kinde."     Cesar ansuerde and seide, "O blinde,    2470     Thou art a fol, it is wel sene     Upon thiself: for if thou wene     I be a god, thou dost amys     To sitte wher thou sest god is;     And if I be a man, also     Thou hast a gret folie do,     Whan thou to such on as schal deie     The worschipe of thi god aweie     Hast yoven so unworthely.     Thus mai I prove redely,    2480     Thou art noght wys."    And thei that herde     Hou wysly that the king ansuerde,     It was to hem a newe lore;     Wherof thei dradden him the more,     And broghten nothing to his Ere,     Bot if it trouthe and reson were.     So be ther manye, in such a wise     That feignen wordes to be wise,     And al is verray flaterie     To him which can it wel aspie.    2490     The kinde flatour can noght love     Bot forto bringe himself above;     For hou that evere his maister fare,     So that himself stonde out of care,     Him reccheth noght: and thus fulofte     Deceived ben with wordes softe     The kinges that ben innocent.     Wherof as for chastiement     The wise Philosophre seide,     What king that so his tresor leide        2500     Upon such folk, he hath the lesse,     And yit ne doth he no largesse,     Bot harmeth with his oghne hond     Himself and ek his oghne lond,     And that be many a sondri weie.     Wherof if that a man schal seie,     As forto speke in general,     Wher such thing falleth overal     That eny king himself misreule,     The Philosophre upon his reule    2510     In special a cause sette,     Which is and evere hath be the lette     In governance aboute a king     Upon the meschief of the thing,     And that, he seith, is Flaterie.     Wherof tofore as in partie     What vice it is I have declared;     For who that hath his wit bewared     Upon a flatour to believe,     Whan that he weneth best achieve     2520     His goode world, it is most fro.     And forto proeven it is so     Ensamples ther ben manyon,     Of whiche if thou wolt knowen on,     It is behovely forto hiere     What whilom fell in this matiere.     Among the kinges in the bible     I finde a tale, and is credible,     Of him that whilom Achab hihte,     Which hadde al Irahel to rihte;        2530     Bot who that couthe glose softe     And flatre, suche he sette alofte     In gret astat and made hem riche;     Bot thei that spieken wordes liche     To trouthe and wolde it noght forbere,     For hem was non astat to bere,     The court of suche tok non hiede.     Til ate laste upon a nede,     That Benedab king of Surie     Of Irahel a gret partie,    2540     Which Ramoth Galaath was hote,     Hath sesed; and of that riote     He tok conseil in sondri wise,     Bot noght of hem that weren wise.     And natheles upon this cas     To strengthen him, for Josaphas,     Which thanne was king of Judee,     He sende forto come, as he     Which thurgh frendschipe and alliance     Was next to him of aqueintance;        2550     For Joram Sone of Josaphath     Achabbes dowhter wedded hath,     Which hihte faire Godelie.     And thus cam into Samarie     King Josaphat, and he fond there     The king Achab: and whan thei were     Togedre spekende of this thing,     This Josaphat seith to the king,     Hou that he wolde gladly hiere     Som trew prophete in this matiere,        2560     That he his conseil myhte yive     To what point that it schal be drive.     And in that time so befell,     Ther was such on in Irahel,     Which sette him al to flaterie,     And he was cleped Sedechie;     And after him Achab hath sent:     And he at his comandement     Tofore him cam, and be a sleyhte     He hath upon his heved on heyhte     2570     Tuo large hornes set of bras,     As he which al a flatour was,     And goth rampende as a leoun     And caste hise hornes up and doun,     And bad men ben of good espeir,     For as the hornes percen their,     He seith, withoute resistence,     So wiste he wel of his science     That Benedab is desconfit.     Whan Sedechie upon this plit        2580     Hath told this tale to his lord,     Anon ther were of his acord     Prophetes false manye mo     To bere up oil, and alle tho     Affermen that which he hath told,     Wherof the king Achab was bold     And yaf hem yiftes al aboute.     But Josaphat was in gret doute,     And hield fantosme al that he herde,     Preiende Achab, hou so it ferde,     2590     If ther were eny other man,     The which of prophecie can,     To hiere him speke er that thei gon.     Quod Achab thanne, "Ther is on,     A brothell, which Micheas hihte;     Bot he ne comth noght in my sihte,     For he hath longe in prison lein.     Him liketh nevere yit to sein     A goodly word to mi plesance;     And natheles at thin instance     2600     He schal come oute, and thanne he may     Seie as he seide many day;     For yit he seide nevere wel."     Tho Josaphat began somdel     To gladen him in hope of trouthe,     And bad withouten eny slouthe     That men him scholden fette anon.     And thei that weren for him gon,     Whan that thei comen wher he was,     Thei tolden unto Micheas    2610     The manere hou that Sedechie     Declared hath his prophecie;     And therupon thei preie him faire     That he wol seie no contraire,     Wherof the king mai be desplesed,     For so schal every man ben esed,     And he mai helpe himselve also.     Micheas upon trouthe tho     His herte sette, and to hem seith,     Al that belongeth to his feith    2620     And of non other feigned thing,     That wol he telle unto his king,     Als fer as god hath yove him grace.     Thus cam this prophete into place     Wher he the kinges wille herde;     And he therto anon ansuerde,     And seide unto him in this wise:     "Mi liege lord, for mi servise,     Which trewe hath stonden evere yit,     Thou hast me with prisone aquit;     2630     Bot for al that I schal noght glose     Of trouthe als fer as I suppose;     And as touchende of this bataille,     Thou schalt noght of the sothe faile.     For if it like thee to hiere,     As I am tauht in that matiere,     Thou miht it understonde sone;     Bot what is afterward to done     Avise thee, for this I sih.     I was tofor the throne on hih,    2640     Wher al the world me thoghte stod,     And there I herde and understod     The vois of god with wordes cliere     Axende, and seide in this manere:     "In what thing mai I best beguile     The king Achab?" And for a while     Upon this point thei spieken faste.     Tho seide a spirit ate laste,     "I undertake this emprise."     And god him axeth in what wise.        2650     "I schal," quod he, "deceive and lye     With flaterende prophecie     In suche mouthes as he lieveth."     And he which alle thing achieveth     Bad him go forth and don riht so.     And over this I sih also     The noble peple of Irahel     Dispers as Schep upon an hell,     Withoute a kepere unarraied:     And as thei wente aboute astraied,        2660     I herde a vois unto hem sein,     "Goth hom into your hous ayein,     Til I for you have betre ordeigned."     Quod Sedechie, "Thou hast feigned     This tale in angringe of the king."     And in a wraththe upon this thing     He smot Michee upon the cheke;     The king him hath rebuked eke,     And every man upon him cride:     Thus was he schent on every side,    2670     Ayein and into prison lad,     For so the king himselve bad.     The trouthe myhte noght ben herd;     Bot afterward as it hath ferd,     The dede proveth his entente:     Achab to the bataille wente,     Wher Benedab for al his Scheld     Him slouh, so that upon the feld     His poeple goth aboute astray.     Bot god, which alle thinges may,     2680     So doth that thei no meschief have;     Here king was ded and thei ben save,     And hom ayein in goddes pes     Thei wente, and al was founde les     That Sedechie hath seid tofore.     So sit it wel a king therfore     To loven hem that trouthe mene;     For ate laste it wol be sene     That flaterie is nothing worth.     Bot nou to mi matiere forth,        2690     As forto speken overmore     After the Philosophres lore,     The thridde point of Policie     I thenke forto specifie.     What is a lond wher men ben none?     What ben the men whiche are al one     Withoute a kinges governance?     What is a king in his ligance,     Wher that ther is no lawe in londe?     What is to take lawe on honde,    2700     Bot if the jugges weren trewe?     These olde worldes with the newe     Who that wol take in evidence,     Ther mai he se thexperience,     What thing it is to kepe lawe,     Thurgh which the wronges ben withdrawe     And rihtwisnesse stant commended,     Wherof the regnes ben amended.     For wher the lawe mai comune     The lordes forth with the commune,        2710     Ech hath his propre duete;     And ek the kinges realte     Of bothe his worschipe underfongeth,     To his astat as it belongeth,     Which of his hihe worthinesse     Hath to governe rihtwisnesse,     As he which schal the lawe guide.     And natheles upon som side     His pouer stant above the lawe,     To yive bothe and to withdrawe    2720     The forfet of a mannes lif;     But thinges whiche are excessif     Ayein the lawe, he schal noght do     For love ne for hate also.     The myhtes of a king ben grete,     Bot yit a worthi king schal lete     Of wrong to don, al that he myhte;     For he which schal the poeple ryhte,     It sit wel to his regalie     That he himself ferst justefie     2730     Towardes god in his degre:     For his astat is elles fre     Toward alle othre in his persone,     Save only to the god al one,     Which wol himself a king chastise,     Wher that non other mai suffise.     So were it good to taken hiede     That ferst a king his oghne dede     Betwen the vertu and the vice     Redresce, and thanne of his justice     2740     So sette in evene the balance     Towardes othre in governance,     That to the povere and to the riche     Hise lawes myhten stonde liche,     He schal excepte no persone.     Bot for he mai noght al him one     In sondri places do justice,     He schal of his real office     With wys consideracion     Ordeigne his deputacion     2750     Of suche jugges as ben lerned,     So that his poeple be governed     Be hem that trewe ben and wise.     For if the lawe of covoitise     Be set upon a jugges hond,     Wo is the poeple of thilke lond,     For wrong mai noght himselven hyde:     Bot elles on that other side,     If lawe stonde with the riht,     The poeple is glad and stant upriht.    2760     Wher as the lawe is resonable,     The comun poeple stant menable,     And if the lawe torne amis,     The poeple also mistorned is.     And in ensample of this matiere     Of Maximin a man mai hiere,     Of Rome which was Emperour,     That whanne he made a governour     Be weie of substitucion     Of Province or of region,        2770     He wolde ferst enquere his name,     And let it openly proclame     What man he were, or evel or good.     And upon that his name stod     Enclin to vertu or to vice,     So wolde he sette him in office,     Or elles putte him al aweie.     Thus hield the lawe his rihte weie,     Which fond no let of covoitise:     The world stod than upon the wise,        2780     As be ensample thou myht rede;     And hold it in thi mynde, I rede.     In a Cronique I finde thus,     Hou that Gayus Fabricius,     Which whilom was Consul of Rome,     Be whom the lawes yede and come,     Whan the Sampnites to him broghte     A somme of gold, and him besoghte     To don hem favour in the lawe,     Toward the gold he gan him drawe,    2790     Wherof in alle mennes lok     A part up in his hond he tok,     Which to his mouth in alle haste     He putte, it forto smelle and taste,     And to his yhe and to his Ere,     Bot he ne fond no confort there:     And thanne he gan it to despise,     And tolde unto hem in this wise:     "I not what is with gold to thryve,     Whan non of all my wittes fyve    2800     Fynt savour ne delit therinne.     So is it bot a nyce Sinne     Of gold to ben to covoitous;     Bot he is riche and glorious,     Which hath in his subjeccion     Tho men whiche in possession     Ben riche of gold, and be this skile;     For he mai aldai whan he wile,     Or be hem lieve or be hem lothe,     Justice don upon hem bothe."        2810     Lo, thus he seide, and with that word     He threw tofore hem on the bord     The gold out of his hond anon,     And seide hem that he wolde non:     So that he kepte his liberte     To do justice and equite,     Withoute lucre of such richesse.     Ther be nou fewe of suche, I gesse;     For it was thilke times used,     That every jugge was refused        2820     Which was noght frend to comun riht;     Bot thei that wolden stonde upriht     For trouthe only to do justice     Preferred were in thilke office     To deme and jugge commun lawe:     Which nou, men sein, is al withdrawe.     To sette a lawe and kepe it noght     Ther is no comun profit soght;     Bot above alle natheles     The lawe, which is mad for pes,        2830     Is good to kepe for the beste,     For that set alle men in reste.     The rihtful Emperour Conrade     To kepe pes such lawe made,     That non withinne the cite     In destorbance of unite     Dorste ones moeven a matiere.     For in his time, as thou myht hiere,     What point that was for lawe set     It scholde for no gold be let,    2840     To what persone that it were.     And this broghte in the comun fere,     Why every man the lawe dradde,     For ther was non which favour hadde.     So as these olde bokes sein,     I finde write hou a Romein,     Which Consul was of the Pretoire,     Whos name was Carmidotoire,     He sette a lawe for the pes,     That non, bot he be wepneles,     2850     Schal come into the conseil hous,     And elles as malicious     He schal ben of the lawe ded.     To that statut and to that red     Acorden alle it schal be so,     For certein cause which was tho:     Nou lest what fell therafter sone.     This Consul hadde forto done,     And was into the feldes ride;     And thei him hadden longe abide,     2860     That lordes of the conseil were,     And for him sende, and he cam there     With swerd begert, and hath foryete,     Til he was in the conseil sete.     Was non of hem that made speche,     Til he himself it wolde seche,     And fond out the defalte himselve;     And thanne he seide unto the tuelve,     Whiche of the Senat weren wise,     "I have deserved the juise,    2870     In haste that it were do."     And thei him seiden alle no;     For wel thei wiste it was no vice,     Whan he ne thoghte no malice,     Bot onliche of a litel slouthe:     And thus thei leften as for routhe     To do justice upon his gilt,     For that he scholde noght be spilt.     And whanne he sih the maner hou     Thei wolde him save, he made avou    2880     With manfull herte, and thus he seide,     That Rome scholde nevere abreide     His heires, whan he were of dawe,     That here Ancestre brak the lawe.     Forthi, er that thei weren war,     Forth with the same swerd he bar     The statut of his lawe he kepte,     So that al Rome his deth bewepte.     In other place also I rede,     Wher that a jugge his oghne dede     2890     Ne wol noght venge of lawe broke,     The king it hath himselven wroke.     The grete king which Cambises     Was hote, a jugge laweles     He fond, and into remembrance     He dede upon him such vengance:     Out of his skyn he was beflain     Al quyk, and in that wise slain,     So that his skyn was schape al meete,     And nayled on the same seete        2900     Wher that his Sone scholde sitte.     Avise him, if he wolde flitte     The lawe for the coveitise,     Ther sih he redi his juise.     Thus in defalte of other jugge     The king mot otherwhile jugge,     To holden up the rihte lawe.     And forto speke of tholde dawe,     To take ensample of that was tho,     I finde a tale write also,     2910     Hou that a worthi prince is holde     The lawes of his lond to holde,     Ferst for the hihe goddes sake,     And ek for that him is betake     The poeple forto guide and lede,     Which is the charge of his kinghede.     In a Cronique I rede thus     Of the rihtful Ligurgius,     Which of Athenis Prince was,     Hou he the lawe in every cas,     2920     Wherof he scholde his poeple reule,     Hath set upon so good a reule,     In al this world that cite non     Of lawe was so wel begon     Forth with the trouthe of governance.     Ther was among hem no distance,     Bot every man hath his encress;     Ther was withoute werre pes,     Withoute envie love stod;     Richesse upon the comun good        2930     And noght upon the singuler     Ordeigned was, and the pouer     Of hem that weren in astat     Was sauf: wherof upon debat     Ther stod nothing, so that in reste     Mihte every man his herte reste.     And whan this noble rihtful king     Sih hou it ferde of al this thing,     Wherof the poeple stod in ese,     He, which for evere wolde plese        2940     The hihe god, whos thonk he soghte,     A wonder thing thanne him bethoghte,     And schop if that it myhte be,     Hou that his lawe in the cite     Mihte afterward for evere laste.     And therupon his wit he caste     What thing him were best to feigne,     That he his pourpos myhte atteigne.     A Parlement and thus he sette,     His wisdom wher that he besette        2950     In audience of grete and smale,     And in this wise he tolde his tale:     "God wot, and so ye witen alle,     Hierafterward hou so it falle,     Yit into now my will hath be     To do justice and equite     In forthringe of comun profit;     Such hath ben evere my delit.     Bot of o thing I am beknowe,     The which mi will is that ye knowe:     2960     The lawe which I tok on honde,     Was altogedre of goddes sonde     And nothing of myn oghne wit;     So mot it nede endure yit,     And schal do lengere, if ye wile.     For I wol telle you the skile;     The god Mercurius and no man     He hath me tawht al that I can     Of suche lawes as I made,     Wherof that ye ben alle glade;    2970     It was the god and nothing I,     Which dede al this, and nou forthi     He hath comanded of his grace     That I schal come into a place     Which is forein out in an yle,     Wher I mot tarie for a while,     With him to speke, as he hath bede.     For as he seith, in thilke stede     He schal me suche thinges telle,     That evere, whyl the world schal duelle,        2980     Athenis schal the betre fare.     Bot ferst, er that I thider fare,     For that I wolde that mi lawe     Amonges you ne be withdrawe     Ther whyles that I schal ben oute,     Forthi to setten out of doute     Bothe you and me, this wol I preie,     That ye me wolde assure and seie     With such an oth as I wol take,     That ech of you schal undertake        2990     Mi lawes forto kepe and holde."     Thei seiden alle that thei wolde,     And therupon thei swore here oth,     That fro the time that he goth,     Til he to hem be come ayein,     Thei scholde hise lawes wel and plein     In every point kepe and fulfille.     Thus hath Ligurgius his wille,     And tok his leve and forth he wente.     Bot lest nou wel to what entente     3000     Of rihtwisnesse he dede so:     For after that he was ago,     He schop him nevere to be founde;     So that Athenis, which was bounde,     Nevere after scholde be relessed,     Ne thilke goode lawe cessed,     Which was for comun profit set.     And in this wise he hath it knet;     He, which the comun profit soghte,     The king, his oghne astat ne roghte;    3010     To do profit to the comune,     He tok of exil the fortune,     And lefte of Prince thilke office     Only for love and for justice,     Thurgh which he thoghte, if that he myhte,     For evere after his deth to rihte     The cite which was him betake.     Wherof men oghte ensample take     The goode lawes to avance     With hem which under governance        3020     The lawes have forto kepe;     For who that wolde take kepe     Of hem that ferst the lawes founde,     Als fer as lasteth eny bounde     Of lond, here names yit ben knowe:     And if it like thee to knowe     Some of here names hou thei stonde,     Nou herkne and thou schalt understonde.     Of every bienfet the merite     The god himself it wol aquite;    3030     And ek fulofte it falleth so,     The world it wole aquite also,     Bot that mai noght ben evene liche:     The god he yifth the heveneriche,     The world yifth only bot a name,     Which stant upon the goode fame     Of hem that don the goode dede.     And in this wise double mede     Resceiven thei that don wel hiere;     Wherof if that thee list to hiere    3040     After the fame as it is blowe,     Ther myht thou wel the sothe knowe,     Hou thilke honeste besinesse     Of hem that ferst for rihtwisnesse     Among the men the lawes made,     Mai nevere upon this erthe fade.     For evere, whil ther is a tunge,     Here name schal be rad and sunge     And holde in the Cronique write;     So that the men it scholden wite,    3050     To speke good, as thei wel oghten,     Of hem that ferst the lawes soghten     In forthringe of the worldes pes.     Unto thebreus was Moi5ses     The ferste, and to thegipciens     Mercurius, and to Troiens     Ferst was Neuma Pompilius,     To Athenes Ligurgius     Yaf ferst the lawe, and to Gregois     Forone
s hath thilke vois,    3060     And Romulus to the Romeins.     For suche men that ben vileins     The lawe in such a wise ordeigneth,     That what man to the lawe pleigneth,     Be so the jugge stonde upriht,     He schal be served of his riht.     And so ferforth it is befalle     That lawe is come among ous alle:     God lieve it mote wel ben holde,     As every king therto is holde;    3070     For thing which is of kinges set,     With kinges oghte it noght be let.     What king of lawe takth no kepe,     Be lawe he mai no regne kepe.     Do lawe awey, what is a king?     Wher is the riht of eny thing,     If that ther be no lawe in londe?     This oghte a king wel understonde,     As he which is to lawe swore,     That if the lawe be forbore    3080     Withouten execucioun,     If makth a lond torne up so doun,     Which is unto the king a sclandre.     Forthi unto king Alisandre     The wise Philosophre bad,     That he himselve ferst be lad     Of lawe, and forth thanne overal     So do justice in general,     That al the wyde lond aboute     The justice of his lawe doute,    3090     And thanne schal he stonde in reste.     For therto lawe is on the beste     Above alle other erthly thing,     To make a liege drede his king.     Bot hou a king schal gete him love     Toward the hihe god above,     And ek among the men in erthe,     This nexte point, which is the ferthe     Of Aristotles lore, it techeth:     Wherof who that the Scole secheth,        3100     What Policie that it is     The bok reherceth after this.     It nedeth noght that I delate     The pris which preised is algate,     And hath ben evere and evere schal,     Wherof to speke in special,     It is the vertu of Pite,     Thurgh which the hihe mageste     Was stered, whan his Sone alyhte,     And in pite the world to rihte    3110     Tok of the Maide fleissh and blod.     Pite was cause of thilke good,     Wherof that we ben alle save:     Wel oghte a man Pite to have     And the vertu to sette in pris,     Whan he himself which is al wys     Hath schewed why it schal be preised.     Pite may noght be conterpeised     Of tirannie with no peis;     For Pite makth a king courteis    3120     Bothe in his word and in his dede.     It sit wel every liege drede     His king and to his heste obeie,     And riht so be the same weie     It sit a king to be pitous     Toward his poeple and gracious     Upon the reule of governance,     So that he worche no vengance,     Which mai be cleped crualte.     Justice which doth equite        3130     Is dredfull, for he noman spareth;     Bot in the lond wher Pite fareth     The king mai nevere faile of love,     For Pite thurgh the grace above,     So as the Philosphre affermeth,     His regne in good astat confermeth.     Thus seide whilom Constantin:     "What Emperour that is enclin     To Pite forto be servant,     Of al the worldes remenant     3140     He is worthi to ben a lord."     In olde bokes of record     This finde I write of essamplaire:     Troian the worthi debonaire,     Be whom that Rome stod governed,     Upon a time as he was lerned     Of that he was to familier,     He seide unto that conseiller,     That forto ben an Emperour     His will was noght for vein honour,     3150     Ne yit for reddour of justice;     Bot if he myhte in his office     Hise lordes and his poeple plese,     Him thoghte it were a grettere ese     With love here hertes to him drawe,     Than with the drede of eny lawe.     For whan a thing is do for doute,     Fulofte it comth the worse aboute;     Bot wher a king is Pietous,     He is the more gracious,    3160     That mochel thrift him schal betyde,     Which elles scholde torne aside.     Of Pite forto speke plein,     Which is with mercy wel besein,     Fulofte he wole himselve peine     To kepe an other fro the peine:     For Charite the moder is     Of Pite, which nothing amis     Can soffre, if he it mai amende.     It sit to every man livende    3170     To be Pitous, bot non so wel     As to a king, which on the whiel     Fortune hath set aboven alle:     For in a king, if so befalle     That his Pite be ferme and stable,     To al the lond it is vailable     Only thurgh grace of his persone;     For the Pite of him al one     Mai al the large realme save.     So sit it wel a king to have        3180     Pite; for this Valeire tolde,     And seide hou that be daies olde     Codrus, which was in his degre     King of Athenis the cite,     A werre he hadde ayein Dorrence:     And forto take his evidence     What schal befalle of the bataille,     He thoghte he wolde him ferst consaille     With Appollo, in whom he triste;     Thurgh whos ansuere this he wiste,     3190     Of tuo pointz that he myhte chese,     Or that he wolde his body lese     And in bataille himselve deie,     Or elles the seconde weie,     To sen his poeple desconfit.     Bot he, which Pite hath parfit     Upon the point of his believe,     The poeple thoghte to relieve,     And ches himselve to be ded.     Wher is nou such an other hed,    3200     Which wolde for the lemes dye?     And natheles in som partie     It oghte a kinges herte stere,     That he hise liege men forbere.     And ek toward hise enemis     Fulofte he may deserve pris,     To take of Pite remembrance,     Wher that he myhte do vengance:     For whanne a king hath the victoire,     And thanne he drawe into memoire     3210     To do Pite in stede of wreche,     He mai noght faile of thilke speche     Wherof arist the worldes fame,     To yive a Prince a worthi name.     I rede hou whilom that Pompeie,     To whom that Rome moste obeie,     A werre hadde in jeupartie     Ayein the king of Ermenie,     Which of long time him hadde grieved.     Bot ate laste it was achieved     3220     That he this king desconfit hadde,     And forth with him to Rome ladde     As Prisoner, wher many a day     In sori plit and povere he lay,     The corone of his heved deposed,     Withinne walles faste enclosed;     And with ful gret humilite     He soffreth his adversite.     Pompeie sih his pacience     And tok pite with conscience,     3230     So that upon his hihe deis     Tofore al Rome in his Paleis,     As he that wolde upon him rewe,     Let yive him his corone newe     And his astat al full and plein     Restoreth of his regne ayein,     And seide it was more goodly thing     To make than undon a king,     To him which pouer hadde of bothe.     Thus thei, that weren longe wrothe,     3240     Acorden hem to final pes;     And yit justice natheles     Was kept and in nothing offended;     Wherof Pompeie was comended.     Ther mai no king himself excuse,     Bot if justice he kepe and use,     Which for teschuie crualte     He mot attempre with Pite.     Of crualte the felonie     Engendred is of tirannie,        3250     Ayein the whos condicion     God is himself the champion,     Whos strengthe mai noman withstonde.     For evere yit it hath so stonde,     That god a tirant overladde;     Bot wher Pite the regne ladde,     Ther mihte no fortune laste     Which was grevous, bot ate laste     The god himself it hath redresced.     Pite is thilke vertu blessed        3260     Which nevere let his Maister falle;     Bot crualte, thogh it so falle     That it mai regne for a throwe,     God wole it schal ben overthrowe:     Wherof ensamples ben ynowhe     Of hem that thilke merel drowhe.     Of crualte I rede thus:     Whan the tirant Leoncius     Was to thempire of Rome arrived,     Fro which he hath with strengthe prived    3270     The pietous Justinian,     As he which was a cruel man,     His nase of and his lippes bothe     He kutte, for he wolde him lothe     Unto the poeple and make unable.     Bot he which is al merciable,     The hihe god, ordeigneth so,     That he withinne a time also,     Whan he was strengest in his ire,     Was schoven out of his empire.    3280     Tiberius the pouer hadde,     And Rome after his will he ladde,     And for Leonce in such a wise     Ordeigneth, that he tok juise     Of nase and lippes bothe tuo,     For that he dede an other so,     Which more worthi was than he.     Lo, which a fall hath crualte,     And Pite was set up ayein:     For after that the bokes sein,    3290     Therbellis king of Bulgarie     With helpe of his chivalerie     Justinian hath unprisoned     And to thempire ayein coroned.     In a Cronique I finde also     Of Siculus, which was ek so     A cruel king lich the tempeste,     The whom no Pite myhte areste,-     He was the ferste, as bokes seie,     Upon the See which fond Galeie    3300     And let hem make for the werre,-     As he which al was out of herre     Fro Pite and misericorde;     For therto couthe he noght acorde,     Bot whom he myhte slen, he slouh,     And therof was he glad ynouh.     He hadde of conseil manyon,     Among the whiche ther was on,     Be name which Berillus hihte;     And he bethoghte him hou he myhte    3310     Unto the tirant do likinge,     And of his oghne ymaginynge     Let forge and make a Bole of bras,     And on the side cast ther was     A Dore, wher a man mai inne,     Whan he his peine schal beginne     Thurgh fyr, which that men putten under.     And al this dede he for a wonder,     That whanne a man for peine cride,     The Bole of bras, which gapeth wyde,    3320     It scholde seme as thogh it were     A belwinge in a mannes Ere,     And noght the criinge of a man.     Bot he which alle sleihtes can,     The devel, that lith in helle fast,     Him that this caste hath overcast,     That for a trespas which he dede     He was putt in the same stede,     And was himself the ferste of alle     Which was into that peine falle        3330     That he for othre men ordeigneth;     Ther was noman which him compleigneth.     Of tirannie and crualte     Be this ensample a king mai se,     Himself and ek his conseil bothe,     Hou thei ben to mankinde lothe     And to the god abhominable.     Ensamples that ben concordable     I finde of othre Princes mo,     As thou schalt hiere, of time go.    3340     The grete tirant Dionys,     Which mannes lif sette of no pris,     Unto his hors fulofte he yaf     The men in stede of corn and chaf,     So that the hors of thilke stod     Devoureden the mennes blod;     Til fortune ate laste cam,     That Hercules him overcam,     And he riht in the same wise     Of this tirant tok the juise:     3350     As he til othre men hath do,     The same deth he deide also,     That no Pite him hath socoured,     Til he was of hise hors devoured.     Of Lichaon also I finde     Hou he ayein the lawe of kinde     Hise hostes slouh, and into mete     He made her bodies to ben ete     With othre men withinne his hous.     Bot Jupiter the glorious,        3360     Which was commoeved of this thing,     Vengance upon this cruel king     So tok, that he fro mannes forme     Into a wolf him let transforme:     And thus the crualte was kidd,     Which of long time he hadde hidd;     A wolf he was thanne openly,     The whos nature prively     He hadde in his condicion.     And unto this conclusioun,     3370     That tirannie is to despise,     I finde ensample in sondri wise,     And nameliche of hem fulofte,     The whom fortune hath set alofte     Upon the werres forto winne.     Bot hou so that the wrong beginne     Of tirannie, it mai noght laste,     Bot such as thei don ate laste     To othre men, such on hem falleth;     For ayein suche Pite calleth     3380     Vengance to the god above.     For who that hath no tender love     In savinge of a mannes lif,     He schal be founde so gultif,     That whanne he wolde mercy crave     In time of nede, he schal non have.     Of the natures this I finde,     The fierce Leon in his kinde,     Which goth rampende after his preie,     If he a man finde in his weie,    3390     He wole him slen, if he withstonde.     Bot if the man coude understonde     To falle anon before his face     In signe of mercy and of grace,     The Leon schal of his nature     Restreigne his ire in such mesure,     As thogh it were a beste tamed,     And torne awey halfvinge aschamed,     That he the man schal nothing grieve.     Hou scholde than a Prince achieve    3400     The worldes grace, if that he wolde     Destruie a man whanne he is yolde     And stant upon his mercy al?     Bot forto speke in special,     Ther have be suche and yit ther be     Tirantz, whos hertes no pite     Mai to no point of mercy plie,     That thei upon her tirannie     Ne gladen hem the men to sle;     And as the rages of the See    3410     Ben unpitous in the tempeste,     Riht so mai no Pite areste     Of crualte the gret oultrage,     Which the tirant in his corage     Engendred hath: wherof I finde     A tale, which comth nou to mynde.     I rede in olde bokes thus:     Ther was a Duk, which Spertachus     Men clepe, and was a werreiour,     A cruel man, a conquerour        3420     With strong pouer the which he ladde.     For this condicion he hadde,     That where him hapneth the victoire,     His lust and al his moste gloire     Was forto sle and noght to save:     Of rancoun wolde he no good have     For savinge of a mannes lif,     Bot al goth to the swerd and knyf,     So lief him was the mannes blod.     And natheles yit thus it stod,    3430     So as fortune aboute wente,     He fell riht heir as be descente     To Perse, and was coroned king.     And whan the worschipe of this thing     Was falle, and he was king of Perse,     If that thei weren ferst diverse,     The tirannies whiche he wroghte,     A thousendfold welmore he soghte     Thanne afterward to do malice.     The god vengance ayein the vice        3440     Hath schape: for upon a tyde,     Whan he was heihest in his Pride,     In his rancour and in his hete     Ayein the queene of Marsagete,     Which Thameris that time hihte,     He made werre al that he myhte:     And sche, which wolde hir lond defende,     Hir oghne Sone ayein him sende,     Which the defence hath undertake.     Bot he desconfit was and take;    3450     And whan this king him hadde in honde,     He wol no mercy understonde,     Bot dede him slen in his presence.     The tidinge of this violence     Whan it cam to the moder Ere,     Sche sende anon ay wydewhere     To suche frendes as sche hadde,     A gret pouer til that sche ladde.     In sondri wise and tho sche caste     Hou sche this king mai overcaste;    3460     And ate laste acorded was,     That in the danger of a pass,     Thurgh which this tirant scholde passe,     Sche schop his pouer to compasse     With strengthe of men be such a weie     That he schal noght eschape aweie.     And whan sche hadde thus ordeigned,     Sche hath hir oghne bodi feigned,     For feere as thogh sche wolde flee     Out of hir lond: and whan that he    3470     Hath herd hou that this ladi fledde,     So faste after the chace he spedde,     That he was founde out of array.     For it betidde upon a day,     Into the pas whanne he was falle,     Thembuisschementz tobrieken alle     And him beclipte on every side,     That fle ne myhte he noght aside:     So that ther weren dede and take     Tuo hundred thousend for his sake,        3480     That weren with him of his host.     And thus was leid the grete bost     Of him and of his tirannie:     It halp no mercy forto crie     To him which whilom dede non;     For he unto the queene anon     Was broght, and whan that sche him sih,     This word sche spak and seide on hih:     "O man, which out of mannes kinde     Reson of man hast left behinde    3490     And lived worse than a beste,     Whom Pite myhte noght areste,     The mannes blod to schede and spille     Thou haddest nevere yit thi fille.     Bot nou the laste time is come,     That thi malice is overcome:     As thou til othre men hast do,     Nou schal be do to thee riht so."     Tho bad this ladi that men scholde     A vessel bringe, in which sche wolde    3500     Se the vengance of his juise,     Which sche began anon devise;     And tok the Princes whiche he ladde,     Be whom his chief conseil he hadde,     And whil hem lasteth eny breth,     Sche made hem blede to the deth     Into the vessel wher it stod:     And whan it was fulfild of blod,     Sche caste this tirant therinne,     And seide him, "Lo, thus myht thou wynne        3510     The lustes of thin appetit.     In blod was whilom thi delit,     Nou schalt thou drinken al thi fille."     And thus onliche of goddes wille,     He which that wolde himselve strange     To Pite, fond mercy so strange,     That he withoute grace is lore.     So may it schewe wel therfore     That crualte hath no good ende;     Bot Pite, hou so that it wende,        3520     Makth that the god is merciable,     If ther be cause resonable     Why that a king schal be pitous.     Bot elles, if he be doubtous     To slen in cause of rihtwisnesse,     It mai be said no Pitousnesse,     Bot it is Pusillamite,     Which every Prince scholde flee.     For if Pite mesure excede,     Kinghode may noght wel procede    3530     To do justice upon the riht:     For it belongeth to a knyht     Als gladly forto fihte as reste,     To sette his liege poeple in reste,     Whan that the werre upon hem falleth;     For thanne he mote, as it befalleth,     Of his knyhthode as a Leon     Be to the poeple a champioun     Withouten eny Pite feigned.     For if manhode be restreigned,    3540     Or be it pes or be it werre,     Justice goth al out of herre,     So that knyhthode is set behinde.     Of Aristotles lore I finde,     A king schal make good visage,     That noman knowe of his corage     Bot al honour and worthinesse:     For if a king schal upon gesse     Withoute verrai cause drede,     He mai be lich to that I rede;    3550     And thogh that it be lich a fable,     Thensample is good and resonable.     As it be olde daies fell,     I rede whilom that an hell     Up in the londes of Archade     A wonder dredful noise made;     For so it fell that ilke day,     This hell on his childinge lay,     And whan the throwes on him come,     His noise lich the day of dome    3560     Was ferfull in a mannes thoght     Of thing which that thei sihe noght,     Bot wel thei herden al aboute     The noise, of which thei were in doute,     As thei that wenden to be lore     Of thing which thanne was unbore.     The nerr this hell was upon chance     To taken his deliverance,     The more unbuxomliche he cride;     And every man was fledd aside,    3570     For drede and lefte his oghne hous:     And ate laste it was a Mous,     The which was bore and to norrice     Betake; and tho thei hield hem nyce,     For thei withoute cause dradde.     Thus if a king his herte ladde     With every thing that he schal hiere,     Fulofte he scholde change his chiere     And upon fantasie drede,     Whan that ther is no cause of drede.    3580     Orace to his Prince tolde,     That him were levere that he wolde     Upon knihthode Achillem suie     In time of werre, thanne eschuie,     So as Tersites dede at Troie.     Achilles al his hole joie     Sette upon Armes forto fihte;     Tersites soghte al that he myhte     Unarmed forto stonde in reste:     Bot of the tuo it was the beste        3590     That Achilles upon the nede     Hath do, wherof his knyhtlihiede     Is yit comended overal.     King Salomon in special     Seith, as ther is a time of pes,     So is a time natheles     Of werre, in which a Prince algate     Schal for the comun riht debate     And for his oghne worschipe eke.     Bot it behoveth noght to seke        3600     Only the werre for worschipe,     Bot to the riht of his lordschipe,     Which he is holde to defende,     Mote every worthi Prince entende.     Betwen the simplesce of Pite     And the folhaste of crualte,     Wher stant the verray hardiesce,     Ther mote a king his herte adresce,     Whanne it is time to forsake,     And whan time is also to take     3610     The dedly werres upon honde,     That he schal for no drede wonde,     If rihtwisnesse be withal.     For god is myhty overal     To forthren every mannes trowthe,     Bot it be thurgh his oghne slowthe;     And namely the kinges nede     It mai noght faile forto spede,     For he stant one for hem alle;     So mote it wel the betre falle    3620     And wel the more god favoureth,     Whan he the comun riht socoureth.     And forto se the sothe in dede,     Behold the bible and thou myht rede     Of grete ensamples manyon,     Wherof that I wol tellen on.     Upon a time as it befell,     Ayein Judee and Irahel     Whan sondri kinges come were     In pourpos to destruie there        3630     The poeple which god kepte tho,-     And stod in thilke daies so,     That Gedeon, which scholde lede     The goddes folk, tok him to rede,     And sende in al the lond aboute,     Til he assembled hath a route     With thritti thousend of defence,     To fihte and make resistence     Ayein the whiche hem wolde assaille:     And natheles that o bataille        3640     Of thre that weren enemys     Was double mor than was al his;     Wherof that Gedeon him dradde,     That he so litel poeple hadde.     Bot he which alle thing mai helpe,     Wher that ther lacketh mannes helpe,     To Gedeon his Angel sente,     And bad, er that he forther wente,     Al openly that he do crie     That every man in his partie        3650     Which wolde after his oghne wille     In his delice abide stille     At hom in eny maner wise,     For pourchas or for covoitise,     For lust of love or lacke of herte,     He scholde noght aboute sterte,     Bot holde him stille at hom in pes:     Wherof upon the morwe he les     Wel twenty thousend men and mo,     The whiche after the cri ben go.     3660     Thus was with him bot only left     The thridde part, and yit god eft     His Angel sende and seide this     To Gedeon: "If it so is     That I thin help schal undertake,     Thou schalt yit lasse poeple take,     Be whom mi will is that thou spede.     Forthi tomorwe tak good hiede,     Unto the flod whan ye be come,     What man that hath the water nome    3670     Up in his hond and lapeth so,     To thi part ches out alle tho;     And him which wery is to swinke,     Upon his wombe and lith to drinke,     Forsak and put hem alle aweie.     For I am myhti alle weie,     Wher as me list myn help to schewe     In goode men, thogh thei ben fewe."     This Gedeon awaiteth wel,     Upon the morwe and everydel,        3680     As god him bad, riht so he dede.     And thus ther leften in that stede     With him thre hundred and nomo,     The remenant was al ago:     Wherof that Gedeon merveileth,     And therupon with god conseileth,     Pleignende as ferforth as he dar.     And god, which wolde he were war     That he schal spede upon his riht,     Hath bede him go the same nyht    3690     And take a man with him, to hiere     What schal be spoke in his matere     Among the hethen enemis;     So mai he be the more wys,     What afterward him schal befalle.     This Gedeon amonges alle     Phara, to whom he triste most,     Be nyhte tok toward thilke host,     Which logged was in a valleie,     To hiere what thei wolden seie;        3700     Upon his fot and as he ferde,     Tuo Sarazins spekende he herde.     Quod on, "Ared mi swevene ariht,     Which I mette in mi slep to nyht.     Me thoghte I sih a barli cake,     Which fro the Hull his weie hath take,     And cam rollende doun at ones;     And as it were for the nones,     Forth in his cours so as it ran,     The kinges tente of Madian,     3710     Of Amalech, of Amoreie,     Of Amon and of Jebuseie,     And many an other tente mo     With gret noise, as me thoghte tho,     It threw to grounde and overcaste,     And al this host so sore agaste     That I awok for pure drede."     "This swevene can I wel arede,"     Quod thother Sarazin anon:     "The barli cake is Gedeon,     3720     Which fro the hell doun sodeinly     Schal come and sette such ascry     Upon the kinges and ous bothe,     That it schal to ous alle lothe:     For in such drede he schal ous bringe,     That if we hadden flyht of wynge,     The weie on fote in desespeir     We scholden leve and flen in their,     For ther schal nothing him withstonde."     Whan Gedeon hath understonde        3730     This tale, he thonketh god of al,     And priveliche ayein he stal,     So that no lif him hath perceived.     And thanne he hath fulli conceived     That he schal spede; and therupon     The nyht suiende he schop to gon     This multitude to assaile.     Nou schalt thou hiere a gret mervaile,     With what voisdie that he wroghte.     The litel poeple which he broghte,        3740     Was non of hem that he ne hath     A pot of erthe, in which he tath     A lyht brennende in a kressette,     And ech of hem ek a trompette     Bar in his other hond beside;     And thus upon the nyhtes tyde     Duk Gedeon, whan it was derk,     Ordeineth him unto his werk,     And parteth thanne his folk in thre,     And chargeth hem that thei ne fle,        3750     And tawhte hem hou they scholde ascrie     Alle in o vois per compaignie,     And what word ek thei scholden speke,     And hou thei scholde here pottes breke     Echon with other, whan thei herde     That he himselve ferst so ferde;     For whan thei come into the stede,     He bad hem do riht as he dede.     And thus stalkende forth a pas     This noble Duk, whan time was,    3760     His pot tobrak and loude ascride,     And tho thei breke on every side.     The trompe was noght forto seke;     He blew, and so thei blewen eke     With such a noise among hem alle,     As thogh the hevene scholde falle.     The hull unto here vois ansuerde,     This host in the valleie it herde,     And sih hou that the hell alyhte;     So what of hieringe and of sihte,    3770     Thei cawhten such a sodein feere,     That non of hem belefte there:     The tentes hole thei forsoke,     That thei non other good ne toke,     Bot only with here bodi bare     Thei fledde, as doth the wylde Hare.     And evere upon the hull thei blewe,     Til that thei sihe time, and knewe     That thei be fled upon the rage;     And whan thei wiste here avantage,        3780     Thei felle anon unto the chace.     Thus myht thou sen hou goddes grace     Unto the goode men availeth;     But elles ofte time it faileth     To suche as be noght wel disposed.     This tale nedeth noght be glosed,     For it is openliche schewed     That god to hem that ben wel thewed     Hath yove and granted the victoire:     So that thensample of this histoire     3790     Is good for every king to holde;     Ferst in himself that he beholde     If he be good of his livinge,     And that the folk which he schal bringe     Be good also, for thanne he may     Be glad of many a merie day,     In what as evere he hath to done.     For he which sit above the Mone     And alle thing mai spille and spede,     In every cause, in every nede     3800     His goode king so wel adresceth,     That alle his fomen he represseth,     So that ther mai noman him dere;     And als so wel he can forbere,     And soffre a wickid king to falle     In hondes of his fomen alle.     Nou forthermore if I schal sein     Of my matiere, and torne ayein     To speke of justice and Pite     After the reule of realte,     3810     This mai a king wel understonde,     Knihthode mot ben take on honde,     Whan that it stant upon the nede:     He schal no rihtful cause drede,     Nomore of werre thanne of pes,     If he wol stonde blameles;     For such a cause a king mai have     That betre him is to sle than save,     Wherof thou myht ensample finde.     The hihe makere of mankinde    3820     Be Samuel to Sa
l bad,     That he schal nothing ben adrad     Ayein king Agag forto fihte;     For this the godhede him behihte,     That Agag schal ben overcome:     And whan it is so ferforth come,     That Sa
l hath him desconfit,     The god bad make no respit,     That he ne scholde him slen anon.     Bot Sa
l let it overgon    3830     And dede noght the goddes heste:     For Agag made gret beheste     Of rancoun which he wolde yive,     King Sa
l soffreth him to live     And feigneth pite forth withal.     Bot he which seth and knoweth al,     The hihe god, of that he feigneth     To Samuel upon him pleigneth,     And sende him word, for that he lefte     Of Agag that he ne berefte     3840     The lif, he schal noght only dye     Himself, bot fro his regalie     He schal be put for everemo,     Noght he, bot ek his heir also,     That it schal nevere come ayein.     Thus myht thou se the sothe plein,     That of tomoche and of tolyte     Upon the Princes stant the wyte.     Bot evere it was a kinges riht     To do the dedes of a knyht;    3850     For in the handes of a king     The deth and lif is al o thing     After the lawes of justice.     To slen it is a dedly vice,     Bot if a man the deth deserve;     And if a king the lif preserve     Of him which oghte forto dye,     He suieth noght thensamplerie     Which in the bible is evident:     Hou David in his testament,    3860     Whan he no lengere myhte live,     Unto his Sone in charge hath yive     That he Joab schal slen algate;     And whan David was gon his gate,     The yonge wise Salomon     His fader heste dede anon,     And slouh Joab in such a wise,     That thei that herden the juise     Evere after dradden him the more,     And god was ek wel paid therfore,    3870     That he so wolde his herte plye     The lawes forto justefie.     And yit he kepte forth withal     Pite, so as a Prince schal,     That he no tirannie wroghte;     He fond the wisdom which he soghte,     And was so rihtful natheles,     That al his lif he stod in pes,     That he no dedly werres hadde,     For every man his wisdom dradde.     3880     And as he was himselve wys,     Riht so the worthi men of pris     He hath of his conseil withholde;     For that is every Prince holde,     To make of suche his retenue     Whiche wise ben, and to remue     The foles: for ther is nothing     Which mai be betre aboute a king,     Than conseil, which is the substance     Of all a kinges governance.    3890     In Salomon a man mai see     What thing of most necessite     Unto a worthi king belongeth.     Whan he his kingdom underfongeth,     God bad him chese what he wolde,     And seide him that he have scholde     What he wolde axe, as of o thing.     And he, which was a newe king,     Forth therupon his bone preide     To god, and in this wise he seide:        3900     "O king, be whom that I schal regne,     Yif me wisdom, that I my regne,     Forth with thi poeple which I have,     To thin honour mai kepe and save."     Whan Salomon his bone hath taxed,     The god of that which he hath axed     Was riht wel paid, and granteth sone     Noght al only that he his bone     Schal have of that, bot of richesse,     Of hele, of pes, of hih noblesse,    3910     Forth with wisdom at his axinges,     Which stant above alle othre thinges.     Bot what king wole his regne save,     Ferst him behoveth forto have     After the god and his believe     Such conseil which is to believe,     Fulfild of trouthe and rihtwisnesse:     Bot above alle in his noblesse     Betwen the reddour and pite     A king schal do such equite    3920     And sette the balance in evene,     So that the hihe god in hevene     And al the poeple of his nobleie     Loange unto his name seie.     For most above all erthli good,     Wher that a king himself is good     It helpeth, for in other weie     If so be that a king forsueie,     Fulofte er this it hath be sein,     The comun poeple is overlein        3930     And hath the kinges Senne aboght,     Al thogh the poeple agulte noght.     Of that the king his god misserveth,     The poeple takth that he descerveth     Hier in this world, bot elleswhere     I not hou it schal stonde there.     Forthi good is a king to triste     Ferst to himself, as he ne wiste     Non other help bot god alone;     So schal the reule of his persone    3940     Withinne himself thurgh providence     Ben of the betre conscience.     And forto finde ensample of this,     A tale I rede, and soth it is.     In a Cronique it telleth thus:     The king of Rome Lucius     Withinne his chambre upon a nyht     The Steward of his hous, a knyht,     Forth with his Chamberlein also,     To conseil hadde bothe tuo,    3950     And stoden be the Chiminee     Togedre spekende alle thre.     And happeth that the kinges fol     Sat be the fyr upon a stol,     As he that with his babil pleide,     Bot yit he herde al that thei seide,     And therof token thei non hiede.     The king hem axeth what to rede     Of such matiere as cam to mouthe,     And thei him tolden as thei couthe.     3960     Whan al was spoke of that thei mente,     The king with al his hole entente     Thanne ate laste hem axeth this,     What king men tellen that he is:     Among the folk touchende his name,     Or be it pris, or be it blame,     Riht after that thei herden sein,     He bad hem forto telle it plein,     That thei no point of soth forbere,     Be thilke feith that thei him bere.     3970     The Steward ferst upon this thing     Yaf his ansuere unto the king     And thoghte glose in this matiere,     And seide, als fer as he can hiere,     His name is good and honourable:     Thus was the Stieward favorable,     That he the trouthe plein ne tolde.     The king thanne axeth, as he scholde,     The Chamberlein of his avis.     And he, that was soubtil and wys,    3980     And somdiel thoghte upon his feith,     Him tolde hou al the poeple seith     That if his conseil were trewe,     Thei wiste thanne wel and knewe     That of himself he scholde be     A worthi king in his degre:     And thus the conseil he accuseth     In partie, and the king excuseth.     The fol, which herde of al the cas     That time, as goddes wille was,        3990     Sih that thei seiden noght ynowh,     And hem to skorne bothe lowh,     And to the king he seide tho:     "Sire king, if that it were so,     Of wisdom in thin oghne mod     That thou thiselven were good,     Thi conseil scholde noght be badde."     The king therof merveille hadde,     Whan that a fol so wisly spak,     And of himself fond out the lack     4000     Withinne his oghne conscience:     And thus the foles evidence,     Which was of goddes grace enspired,     Makth that good conseil was desired.     He putte awey the vicious     And tok to him the vertuous;     The wrongful lawes ben amended,     The londes good is wel despended,     The poeple was nomore oppressed,     And thus stod every thing redressed.    4010     For where a king is propre wys,     And hath suche as himselven is     Of his conseil, it mai noght faile     That every thing ne schal availe:     The vices thanne gon aweie,     And every vertu holt his weie;     Wherof the hihe god is plesed,     And al the londes folk is esed.     For if the comun poeple crie,     And thanne a king list noght to plie    4020     To hiere what the clamour wolde,     And otherwise thanne he scholde     Desdeigneth forto don hem grace,     It hath be sen in many place,     Ther hath befalle gret contraire;     And that I finde of ensamplaire.     After the deth of Salomon,     Whan thilke wise king was gon,     And Roboas in his persone     Receive scholde the corone,    4030     The poeple upon a Parlement     Avised were of on assent,     And alle unto the king thei preiden,     With comun vois and thus thei seiden:     "Oure liege lord, we thee beseche     That thou receive oure humble speche     And grante ous that which reson wile,     Or of thi grace or of thi skile.     Thi fader, whil he was alyve     And myhte bothe grante and pryve,    4040     Upon the werkes whiche he hadde     The comun poeple streite ladde:     Whan he the temple made newe,     Thing which men nevere afore knewe     He broghte up thanne of his taillage,     And al was under the visage     Of werkes whiche he made tho.     Bot nou it is befalle so,     That al is mad, riht as he seide,     And he was riche whan he deide;        4050     So that it is no maner nede,     If thou therof wolt taken hiede,     To pilen of the poeple more,     Which long time hath be grieved sore.     And in this wise as we thee seie,     With tendre herte we thee preie     That thou relesse thilke dette,     Which upon ous thi fader sette.     And if thee like to don so,     We ben thi men for everemo,    4060     To gon and comen at thin heste."     The king, which herde this requeste,     Seith that he wole ben avised,     And hath therof a time assised;     And in the while as he him thoghte     Upon this thing, conseil he soghte.     And ferst the wise knyhtes olde,     To whom that he his tale tolde,     Conseilen him in this manere;     That he with love and with glad chiere     4070     Foryive and grante al that is axed     Of that his fader hadde taxed;     For so he mai his regne achieve     With thing which schal him litel grieve.     The king hem herde and overpasseth,     And with these othre his wit compasseth,     That yonge were and nothing wise.     And thei these olde men despise,     And seiden: "Sire, it schal be schame     For evere unto thi worthi name,        4080     If thou ne kepe noght the riht,     Whil thou art in thi yonge myht,     Which that thin olde fader gat.     Bot seie unto the poeple plat,     That whil thou livest in thi lond,     The leste finger of thin hond     It schal be strengere overal     Than was thi fadres bodi al.     And this also schal be thi tale,     If he hem smot with roddes smale,    4090     With Scorpions thou schalt hem smyte;     And wher thi fader tok a lyte,     Thou thenkst to take mochel more.     Thus schalt thou make hem drede sore     The grete herte of thi corage,     So forto holde hem in servage.     This yonge king him hath conformed     To don as he was last enformed,     Which was to him his undoinge:     For whan it cam to the spekinge,     4100     He hath the yonge conseil holde,     That he the same wordes tolde     Of al the poeple in audience;     And whan thei herden the sentence     Of his malice and the manace,     Anon tofore his oghne face     Thei have him oultreli refused     And with ful gret reproef accused.     So thei begunne forto rave,     That he was fain himself to save;    4110     For as the wilde wode rage     Of wyndes makth the See salvage,     And that was calm bringth into wawe,     So for defalte of grace and lawe     This poeple is stered al at ones     And forth thei gon out of hise wones;     So that of the lignages tuelve     Tuo tribes only be hemselve     With him abiden and nomo:     So were thei for everemo    4120     Of no retorn withoute espeir     Departed fro the rihtfull heir.     Al Irahel with comun vois     A king upon here oghne chois     Among hemself anon thei make,     And have here yonge lord forsake;     A povere knyht Jeroboas     Thei toke, and lefte Roboas,     Which rihtfull heir was be descente.     Lo, thus the yonge cause wente:        4130     For that the conseil was noght good,     The regne fro the rihtfull blod     Evere afterward divided was.     So mai it proven be this cas     That yong conseil, which is to warm,     Er men be war doth ofte harm.     Old age for the conseil serveth,     And lusti youthe his thonk deserveth     Upon the travail which he doth;     And bothe, forto seie a soth,     4140     Be sondri cause forto have,     If that he wole his regne save,     A king behoveth every day.     That on can and that other mai,     Be so the king hem bothe reule,     For elles al goth out of reule.     And upon this matiere also     A question betwen the tuo     Thus writen in a bok I fond;     Wher it be betre for the lond     4150     A king himselve to be wys,     And so to bere his oghne pris,     And that his consail be noght good,     Or other wise if it so stod,     A king if he be vicious     And his conseil be vertuous.     It is ansuerd in such a wise,     That betre it is that thei be wise     Be whom that the conseil schal gon,     For thei be manye, and he is on;     4160     And rathere schal an one man     With fals conseil, for oght he can,     From his wisdom be mad to falle,     Thanne he al one scholde hem alle     Fro vices into vertu change,     For that is wel the more strange.     Forthi the lond mai wel be glad,     Whos king with good conseil is lad,     Which set him unto rihtwisnesse,     So that his hihe worthinesse        4170     Betwen the reddour and Pite     Doth mercy forth with equite.     A king is holden overal     To Pite, bot in special     To hem wher he is most beholde;     Thei scholde his Pite most beholde     That ben the Lieges of his lond,     For thei ben evere under his hond     After the goddes ordinaunce     To stonde upon his governance.    4180     Of themperour Anthonius     I finde hou that he seide thus,     That levere him were forto save     Oon of his lieges than to have     Of enemis a thousend dede.     And this he lernede, as I rede,     Of Cipio, which hadde be     Consul of Rome. And thus to se     Diverse ensamples hou thei stonde,     A king which hath the charge on honde        4190     The comun poeple to governe,     If that he wole, he mai wel lerne.     Is non so good to the plesance     Of god, as is good governance;     And every governance is due     To Pite: thus I mai argue     That Pite is the foundement     Of every kinges regiment,     If it be medled with justice.     Thei tuo remuen alle vice,     4200     And ben of vertu most vailable     To make a kinges regne stable.     Lo, thus the foure pointz tofore,     In governance as thei ben bore,     Of trouthe ferst and of largesse,     Of Pite forth with rihtwisnesse,     I have hem told; and over this     The fifte point, so as it is     Set of the reule of Policie,     Wherof a king schal modefie    4210     The fleisschly lustes of nature,     Nou thenk I telle of such mesure,     That bothe kinde schal be served     And ek the lawe of god observed.     The Madle is mad for the the femele,     Bot where as on desireth fele,     That nedeth noght be weie of kinde:     For whan a man mai redy finde     His oghne wif, what scholde he seche     In strange places to beseche        4220     To borwe an other mannes plouh,     Whan he hath geere good ynouh     Affaited at his oghne heste,     And is to him wel more honeste     Than other thing which is unknowe?     Forthi scholde every good man knowe     And thenke, hou that in mariage     His trouthe pliht lith in morgage,     Which if he breke, it is falshode,     And that descordeth to manhode,        4230     And namely toward the grete,     Wherof the bokes alle trete;     So as the Philosophre techeth     To Alisandre, and him betecheth     The lore hou that he schal mesure     His bodi, so that no mesure     Of fleisshly lust he scholde excede.     And thus forth if I schal procede,     The fifte point, as I seide er,     Is chastete, which sielde wher    4240     Comth nou adaies into place;     And natheles, bot it be grace     Above alle othre in special,     Is non that chaste mai ben all.     Bot yit a kinges hihe astat,     Which of his ordre as a prelat     Schal ben enoignt and seintefied,     He mot be more magnefied     For dignete of his corone,     Than scholde an other low persone,        4250     Which is noght of so hih emprise.     Therfore a Prince him scholde avise,     Er that he felle in such riote,     And namely that he nassote     To change for the wommanhede     The worthinesse of his manhede.     Of Aristotle I have wel rad,     Hou he to Alisandre bad,     That forto gladen his corage     He schal beholde the visage    4260     Of wommen, whan that thei ben faire.     Bot yit he set an essamplaire,     His bodi so to guide and reule,     That he ne passe noght the reule,     Wherof that he himself beguile.     For in the womman is no guile     Of that a man himself bewhapeth;     Whan he his oghne wit bejapeth,     I can the wommen wel excuse:     Bot what man wole upon hem muse        4270     After the fool impression     Of his ymaginacioun,     Withinne himself the fyr he bloweth,     Wherof the womman nothing knoweth,     So mai sche nothing be to wyte.     For if a man himself excite     To drenche, and wol it noght forbere,     The water schal no blame bere.     What mai the gold, thogh men coveite?     If that a man wol love streite,        4280     The womman hath him nothing bounde;     If he his oghne herte wounde,     Sche mai noght lette the folie;     And thogh so felle of compainie     That he myht eny thing pourchace,     Yit makth a man the ferste chace,     The womman fleth and he poursuieth:     So that be weie of skile it suieth,     The man is cause, hou so befalle,     That he fulofte sithe is falle    4290     Wher that he mai noght wel aryse.     And natheles ful manye wise     Befoled have hemself er this,     As nou adaies yit it is     Among the men and evere was,     The stronge is fieblest in this cas.     It sit a man be weie of kinde     To love, bot it is noght kinde     A man for love his wit to lese:     For if the Monthe of Juil schal frese        4300     And that Decembre schal ben hot,     The yeer mistorneth, wel I wot.     To sen a man fro his astat     Thurgh his sotie effeminat,     And leve that a man schal do,     It is as Hose above the Scho,     To man which oghte noght ben used.     Bot yit the world hath ofte accused     Ful grete Princes of this dede,     Hou thei for love hemself mislede,        4310     Wherof manhode stod behinde,     Of olde ensamples as I finde.     These olde gestes tellen thus,     That whilom Sardana Pallus,     Which hield al hol in his empire     The grete kingdom of Assire,     Was thurgh the slouthe of his corage     Falle into thilke fyri rage     Of love, which the men assoteth,     Wherof himself he so rioteth,     4320     And wax so ferforth wommannyssh,     That ayein kinde, as if a fissh     Abide wolde upon the lond,     In wommen such a lust he fond,     That he duelte evere in chambre stille,     And only wroghte after the wille     Of wommen, so as he was bede,     That selden whanne in other stede     If that he wolde wenden oute,     To sen hou that it stod aboute.        4330     Bot ther he keste and there he pleide,     Thei tawhten him a Las to breide,     And weve a Pours, and to enfile     A Perle: and fell that ilke while,     On Barbarus the Prince of Mede     Sih hou this king in wommanhede     Was falle fro chivalerie,     And gat him help and compaignie,     And wroghte so, that ate laste     This king out of his regne he caste,    4340     Which was undon for everemo:     And yit men speken of him so,     That it is schame forto hiere.     Forthi to love is in manere.     King David hadde many a love,     Bot natheles alwey above     Knyhthode he kepte in such a wise,     That for no fleisshli covoitise     Of lust to ligge in ladi armes     He lefte noght the lust of armes.    4350     For where a Prince hise lustes suieth,     That he the werre noght poursuieth,     Whan it is time to ben armed,     His contre stant fulofte harmed,     Whan thenemis ben woxe bolde,     That thei defence non beholde.     Ful many a lond hath so be lore,     As men mai rede of time afore     Of hem that so here eses soghten,     Which after thei full diere aboghten.        4360     To mochel ese is nothing worth,     For that set every vice forth     And every vertu put abak,     Wherof priss torneth into lak,     As in Cronique I mai reherse:     Which telleth hou the king of Perse,     That Cirus hihte, a werre hadde     Ayein a poeple which he dradde,     Of a contre which Liddos hihte;     Bot yit for oght that he do mihte    4370     As in bataille upon the werre,     He hadde of hem alwey the werre.     And whan he sih and wiste it wel,     That he be strengthe wan no del,     Thanne ate laste he caste a wyle     This worthi poeple to beguile,     And tok with hem a feigned pes,     Which scholde lasten endeles,     So as he seide in wordes wise,     Bot he thoghte al in other wise.     4380     For it betidd upon the cas,     Whan that this poeple in reste was,     Thei token eses manyfold;     And worldes ese, as it is told,     Be weie of kinde is the norrice     Of every lust which toucheth vice.     Thus whan thei were in lustes falle,     The werres ben foryeten alle;     Was non which wolde the worschipe     Of Armes, bot in idelschipe    4390     Thei putten besinesse aweie     And token hem to daunce and pleie;     Bot most above alle othre thinges     Thei token hem to the likinges     Of fleysshly lust, that chastete     Received was in no degre,     Bot every man doth what him liste.     And whan the king of Perse it wiste,     That thei unto folie entenden,     With his pouer, whan thei lest wenden,     4400     Mor sodeinly than doth the thunder     He cam, for evere and put hem under.     And thus hath lecherie lore     The lond, which hadde be tofore     The beste of hem that were tho.     And in the bible I finde also     A tale lich unto this thing,     Hou Amalech the paien king,     Whan that he myhte be no weie     Defende his lond and putte aweie     4410     The worthi poeple of Irael,     This Sarazin, as it befell,     Thurgh the conseil of Balaam     A route of faire wommen nam,     That lusti were and yonge of Age,     And bad hem gon to the lignage     Of these Hebreus: and forth thei wente     With yhen greye and browes bente     And wel arraied everych on;     And whan thei come were anon        4420     Among thebreus, was non insihte,     Bot cacche who that cacche myhte,     And ech of hem hise lustes soghte,     Whiche after thei full diere boghte.     For grace anon began to faile,     That whan thei comen to bataille     Thanne afterward, in sori plit     Thei were take and disconfit,     So that withinne a litel throwe     The myht of hem was overthrowe,        4430     That whilom were wont to stonde.     Til Phinees the cause on honde     Hath take, this vengance laste,     Bot thanne it cessede ate laste,     For god was paid of that he dede:     For wher he fond upon a stede     A couple which misferde so,     Thurghout he smot hem bothe tuo,     And let hem ligge in mennes yhe;     Wherof alle othre whiche hem sihe    4440     Ensamplede hem upon the dede,     And preiden unto the godhiede     Here olde Sennes to amende:     And he, which wolde his mercy sende,     Restorede hem to newe grace.     Thus mai it schewe in sondri place,     Of chastete hou the clennesse     Acordeth to the worthinesse     Of men of Armes overal;     Bot most of alle in special    4450     This vertu to a king belongeth,     For upon his fortune it hongeth     Of that his lond schal spede or spille.     Forthi bot if a king his wille     Fro lustes of his fleissh restreigne,     Ayein himself he makth a treigne,     Into the which if that he slyde,     Him were betre go besyde.     For every man mai understonde,     Hou for a time that it stonde,    4460     It is a sori lust to lyke,     Whos ende makth a man to syke     And torneth joies into sorwe.     The brihte Sonne be the morwe     Beschyneth noght the derke nyht,     The lusti youthe of mannes myht,     In Age bot it stonde wel,     Mistorneth al the laste whiel.     That every worthi Prince is holde     Withinne himself himself beholde,    4470     To se the stat of his persone,     And thenke hou ther be joies none     Upon this Erthe mad to laste,     And hou the fleissh schal ate laste     The lustes of this lif forsake,     Him oghte a gret ensample take     Of Salomon, whos appetit     Was holy set upon delit,     To take of wommen the plesance:     So that upon his ignorance     4480     The wyde world merveileth yit,     That he, which alle mennes wit     In thilke time hath overpassed,     With fleisshly lustes was so tassed,     That he which ladde under the lawe     The poeple of god, himself withdrawe     He hath fro god in such a wise,     That he worschipe and sacrifise     For sondri love in sondri stede     Unto the false goddes dede.    4490     This was the wise ecclesiaste,     The fame of whom schal evere laste,     That he the myhti god forsok,     Ayein the lawe whanne he tok     His wyves and his concubines     Of hem that weren Sarazines,     For whiche he dede ydolatrie.     For this I rede of his sotie:     Sche of Sidoyne so him ladde,     That he knelende his armes spradde        4500     To Astrathen with gret humblesse,     Which of hire lond was the goddesse:     And sche that was a Moabite     So ferforth made him to delite     Thurgh lust, which al his wit devoureth,     That he Chamos hire god honoureth.     An other Amonyte also     With love him hath assoted so,     Hire god Moloch that with encense     He sacreth, and doth reverence    4510     In such a wise as sche him bad.     Thus was the wiseste overlad     With blinde lustes whiche he soghte;     Bot he it afterward aboghte.     For Achias Selonites,     Which was prophete, er his decess,     Whil he was in hise lustes alle,     Betokneth what schal after falle.     For on a day, whan that he mette     Jeroboam the knyht, he grette     4520     And bad him that he scholde abyde,     To hiere what him schal betyde.     And forth withal Achias caste     His mantell of, and also faste     He kut it into pieces twelve,     Wherof tuo partz toward himselve     He kepte, and al the remenant,     As god hath set his covenant,     He tok unto Jeroboas,     Of Nabal which the Sone was,        4530     And of the kinges court a knyht:     And seide him, "Such is goddes myht,     As thou hast sen departed hiere     Mi mantell, riht in such manere     After the deth of Salomon     God hath ordeigned therupon,     This regne thanne he schal divide:     Which time thou schalt ek abide,     And upon that division     The regne as in proporcion     4540     As thou hast of mi mantell take,     Thou schalt receive, I undertake.     And thus the Sone schal abie     The lustes and the lecherie     Of him which nou his fader is."     So forto taken hiede of this,     It sit a king wel to be chaste,     For elles he mai lihtly waste     Himself and ek his regne bothe,     And that oghte every king to lothe.     4550     O, which a Senne violent,     Wherof so wys a king was schent,     That the vengance in his persone     Was noght ynouh to take al one,     Bot afterward, whan he was passed,     It hath his heritage lassed,     As I more openli tofore     The tale tolde. And thus therfore     The Philosophre upon this thing     Writ and conseileth to a king,    4560     That he the surfet of luxure     Schal tempre and reule of such mesure,     Which be to kinde sufficant     And ek to reson acordant,     So that the lustes ignorance     Be cause of no misgovernance,     Thurgh which that he be overthrowe,     As he that wol no reson knowe.     For bot a mannes wit be swerved,     Whan kinde is dueliche served,    4570     It oghte of reson to suffise;     For if it falle him otherwise,     He mai tho lustes sore drede.     For of Anthonie thus I rede,     Which of Severus was the Sone,     That he his lif of comun wone     Yaf holy unto thilke vice,     And ofte time he was so nyce,     Wherof nature hire hath compleigned     Unto the god, which hath desdeigned     4580     The werkes whiche Antonie wroghte     Of lust, whiche he ful sore aboghte:     For god his forfet hath so wroke     That in Cronique it is yit spoke.     Bot forto take remembrance     Of special misgovernance     Thurgh covoitise and injustice     Forth with the remenant of vice,     And nameliche of lecherie,     I finde write a gret partie    4590     Withinne a tale, as thou schalt hiere,     Which is thensample of this matiere.     So as these olde gestes sein,     The proude tirannyssh Romein     Tarquinus, which was thanne king     And wroghte many a wrongful thing,     Of Sones hadde manyon,     Among the whiche Arrons was on,     Lich to his fader of maneres;     So that withinne a fewe yeres     4600     With tresoun and with tirannie     Thei wonne of lond a gret partie,     And token hiede of no justice,     Which due was to here office     Upon the reule of governance;     Bot al that evere was plesance     Unto the fleisshes lust thei toke.     And fell so, that thei undertoke     A werre, which was noght achieved,     Bot ofte time it hadde hem grieved,     4610     Ayein a folk which thanne hihte     The Gabiens: and al be nyhte     This Arrons, whan he was at hom     In Rome, a prive place he nom     Withinne a chambre, and bet himselve     And made him woundes ten or tuelve     Upon the bak, as it was sene;     And so forth with hise hurtes grene     In al the haste that he may     He rod, and cam that other day    4620     Unto Gabie the Cite,     And in he wente: and whan that he     Was knowe, anon the gates schette,     The lordes alle upon him sette     With drawe swerdes upon honde.     This Arrons wolde hem noght withstonde,     Bot seide, "I am hier at your wille,     Als lief it is that ye me spille,     As if myn oghne fader dede."     And forthwith in the same stede        4630     He preide hem that thei wolde se,     And schewede hem in what degre     His fader and hise brethren bothe,     Whiche, as he seide, weren wrothe,     Him hadde beten and reviled,     For evere and out of Rome exiled.     And thus he made hem to believe,     And seide, if that he myhte achieve     His pourpos, it schal wel be yolde,     Be so that thei him helpe wolde.     4640     Whan that the lordes hadde sein     Hou wofully he was besein,     Thei token Pite of his grief;     Bot yit it was hem wonder lief     That Rome him hadde exiled so.     These Gabiens be conseil tho     Upon the goddes made him swere,     That he to hem schal trouthe bere     And strengthen hem with al his myht;     And thei also him have behiht     4650     To helpen him in his querele.     Thei schopen thanne for his hele     That he was bathed and enoignt,     Til that he was in lusti point;     And what he wolde thanne he hadde,     That he al hol the cite ladde     Riht as he wolde himself divise.     And thanne he thoghte him in what wise     He myhte his tirannie schewe;     And to his conseil tok a schrewe,    4660     Whom to his fader forth he sente     In his message, and he tho wente,     And preide his fader forto seie     Be his avis, and finde a weie,     Hou they the cite myhten winne,     Whil that he stod so wel therinne.     And whan the messager was come     To Rome, and hath in conseil nome     The king, it fell per chance so     That thei were in a gardin tho,        4670     This messager forth with the king.     And whanne he hadde told the thing     In what manere that it stod,     And that Tarquinus understod     Be the message hou that it ferde,     Anon he tok in honde a yerde,     And in the gardin as thei gon,     The lilie croppes on and on,     Wher that thei weren sprongen oute,     He smot of, as thei stode aboute,    4680     And seide unto the messager:     "Lo, this thing, which I do nou hier,     Schal ben in stede of thin ansuere;     And in this wise as I me bere,     Thou schalt unto mi Sone telle."     And he no lengere wolde duelle,     Bot tok his leve and goth withal     Unto his lord, and told him al,     Hou that his fader hadde do.     Whan Arrons herde him telle so,        4690     Anon he wiste what it mente,     And therto sette al his entente,     Til he thurgh fraude and tricherie     The Princes hefdes of Gabie     Hath smiten of, and al was wonne:     His fader cam tofore the Sonne     Into the toun with the Romeins,     And tok and slowh the citezeins     Withoute reson or pite,     That he ne spareth no degre.        4700     And for the sped of this conqueste     He let do make a riche feste     With a sollempne Sacrifise     In Phebus temple; and in this wise     Whan the Romeins assembled were,     In presence of hem alle there,     Upon thalter whan al was diht     And that the fyres were alyht,     From under thalter sodeinly     An hidous Serpent openly    4710     Cam out and hath devoured al     The Sacrifice, and ek withal     The fyres queynt, and forth anon,     So as he cam, so is he gon     Into the depe ground ayein.     And every man began to sein,     "Ha lord, what mai this signefie?"     And therupon thei preie and crie     To Phebus, that thei mihten knowe     The cause: and he the same throwe    4720     With gastly vois, that alle it herde,     The Romeins in this wise ansuerde,     And seide hou for the wikkidnesse     Of Pride and of unrihtwisnesse,     That Tarquin and his Sone hath do,     The Sacrifice is wasted so,     Which myhte noght ben acceptable     Upon such Senne abhominable.     And over that yit he hem wisseth,     And seith that which of hem ferst kisseth     4730     His moder, he schal take wrieche     Upon the wrong: and of that speche     Thei ben withinne here hertes glade,     Thogh thei outward no semblant made.     Ther was a knyht which Brutus hihte,     And he with al the haste he myhte     To grounde fell and therthe kiste,     Bot non of hem the cause wiste,     Bot wenden that he hadde sporned     Per chance, and so was overtorned.        4740     Bot Brutus al an other mente;     For he knew wel in his entente     Hou therthe of every mannes kinde     Is Moder: bot thei weren blinde,     And sihen noght so fer as he.     Bot whan thei leften the Cite     And comen hom to Rome ayein,     Thanne every man which was Romein     And moder hath, to hire he bende     And keste, and ech of hem thus wende    4750     To be the ferste upon the chance,     Of Tarquin forto do vengance,     So as thei herden Phebus sein.     Bot every time hath his certein,     So moste it nedes thanne abide,     Til afterward upon a tyde     Tarquinus made unskilfully     A werre, which was fasteby     Ayein a toun with walles stronge     Which Ardea was cleped longe,     4760     And caste a Siege theraboute,     That ther mai noman passen oute.     So it befell upon a nyht,     Arrons, which hadde his souper diht,     A part of the chivalerie     With him to soupe in compaignie     Hath bede: and whan thei comen were     And seten at the souper there,     Among here othre wordes glade     Arrons a gret spekinge made,        4770     Who hadde tho the beste wif     Of Rome: and ther began a strif,     For Arrons seith he hath the beste.     So jangle thei withoute reste,     Til ate laste on Collatin,     A worthi knyht, and was cousin     To Arrons, seide him in this wise:     "It is," quod he, "of non emprise     To speke a word, bot of the dede,     Therof it is to taken hiede.        4780     Anon forthi this same tyde     Lep on thin hors and let ous ryde:     So mai we knowe bothe tuo     Unwarli what oure wyves do,     And that schal be a trewe assay."     This Arrons seith noght ones nay:     On horse bak anon thei lepte     In such manere, and nothing slepte,     Ridende forth til that thei come     Al prively withinne Rome;        4790     In strange place and doun thei lihte,     And take a chambre, and out of sihte     Thei be desguised for a throwe,     So that no lif hem scholde knowe.     And to the paleis ferst thei soghte,     To se what thing this ladi wroghte     Of which Arrons made his avant:     And thei hire sihe of glad semblant,     Al full of merthes and of bordes;     Bot among alle hire othre wordes     4800     Sche spak noght of hire housebonde.     And whan thei hadde al understonde     Of thilke place what hem liste,     Thei gon hem forth, that non it wiste,     Beside thilke gate of bras,     Collacea which cleped was,     Wher Collatin hath his duellinge.     Ther founden thei at hom sittinge     Lucrece his wif, al environed     With wommen, whiche are abandoned    4810     To werche, and sche wroghte ek withal,     And bad hem haste, and seith, "It schal     Be for mi housebondes were,     Which with his swerd and with his spere     Lith at the Siege in gret desese.     And if it scholde him noght displese,     Nou wolde god I hadde him hiere;     For certes til that I mai hiere     Som good tidinge of his astat,     Min herte is evere upon debat.    4820     For so as alle men witnesse,     He is of such an hardiesse,     That he can noght himselve spare,     And that is al my moste care,     Whan thei the walles schulle assaile.     Bot if mi wisshes myhte availe,     I wolde it were a groundles pet,     Be so the Siege were unknet,     And I myn housebonde sihe."     With that the water in hire yhe        4830     Aros, that sche ne myhte it stoppe,     And as men sen the dew bedroppe     The leves and the floures eke,     Riht so upon hire whyte cheke     The wofull salte teres felle.     Whan Collatin hath herd hire telle     The menynge of hire trewe herte,     Anon with that to hire he sterte,     And seide, "Lo, mi goode diere,     Nou is he come to you hiere,        4840     That ye most loven, as ye sein."     And sche with goodly chiere ayein     Beclipte him in hire armes smale,     And the colour, which erst was pale,     To Beaute thanne was restored,     So that it myhte noght be mored.     The kinges Sone, which was nyh,     And of this lady herde and syh     The thinges as thei ben befalle,     The resoun of hise wittes alle    4850     Hath lost; for love upon his part     Cam thanne, and of his fyri dart     With such a wounde him hath thurghsmite,     That he mot nedes fiele and wite     Of thilke blinde maladie,     To which no cure of Surgerie     Can helpe. Bot yit natheles     At thilke time he hield his pes,     That he no contienance made,     Bot openly with wordes glade,     4860     So as he couthe in his manere,     He spak and made frendly chiere,     Til it was time forto go.     And Collatin with him also     His leve tok, so that be nyhte     With al the haste that thei myhte     Thei riden to the Siege ayein.     Bot Arrons was so wo besein     With thoghtes whiche upon him runne,     That he al be the brode Sunne     4870     To bedde goth, noght forto reste,     Bot forto thenke upon the beste     And the faireste forth withal,     That evere he syh or evere schal,     So as him thoghte in his corage,     Where he pourtreieth hire ymage:     Ferst the fetures of hir face,     In which nature hadde alle grace     Of wommanly beaute beset,     So that it myhte noght be bet;    4880     And hou hir yelwe her was tresced     And hire atir so wel adresced,     And hou sche spak, and hou sche wroghte,     And hou sche wepte, al this he thoghte,     That he foryeten hath no del,     Bot al it liketh him so wel,     That in the word nor in the dede     Hire lacketh noght of wommanhiede.     And thus this tirannysshe knyht     Was soupled, bot noght half ariht,        4890     For he non other hiede tok,     Bot that he myhte be som crok,     Althogh it were ayein hire wille,     The lustes of his fleissh fulfille;     Which love was noght resonable,     For where honour is remuable,     It oghte wel to ben avised.     Bot he, which hath his lust assised     With melled love and tirannie,     Hath founde upon his tricherie    4900     A weie which he thenkth to holde,     And seith, "Fortune unto the bolde     Is favorable forto helpe."     And thus withinne himself to yelpe,     As he which was a wylde man,     Upon his treson he began:     And up he sterte, and forth he wente     On horsebak, bot his entente     Ther knew no wiht, and thus he nam     The nexte weie, til he cam     4910     Unto Collacea the gate     Of Rome, and it was somdiel late,     Riht evene upon the Sonne set,     As he which hadde schape his net     Hire innocence to betrappe.     And as it scholde tho mishappe,     Als priveliche as evere he myhte     He rod, and of his hors alyhte     Tofore Collatines In,     And al frendliche he goth him in,    4920     As he that was cousin of house.     And sche, which is the goode spouse,     Lucrece, whan that sche him sih,     With goodli chiere drowh him nyh,     As sche which al honour supposeth,     And him, so as sche dar, opposeth     Hou it stod of hire housebonde.     And he tho dede hire understonde     With tales feigned in his wise,     Riht as he wolde himself devise,     4930     Wherof he myhte hire herte glade,     That sche the betre chiere made,     Whan sche the glade wordes herde,     Hou that hire housebonde ferde.     And thus the trouthe was deceived     With slih tresoun, which was received     To hire which mente alle goode;     For as the festes thanne stode,     His Souper was ryht wel arraied.     Bot yit he hath no word assaied        4940     To speke of love in no degre;     Bot with covert subtilite     His frendly speches he affaiteth,     And as the Tigre his time awaiteth     In hope forto cacche his preie.     Whan that the bordes were aweie     And thei have souped in the halle,     He seith that slep is on him falle,     And preith he moste go to bedde;     And sche with alle haste spedde,     4950     So as hire thoghte it was to done,     That every thing was redi sone.     Sche broghte him to his chambre tho     And tok hire leve, and forth is go     Into hire oghne chambre by,     As sche that wende certeinly     Have had a frend, and hadde a fo,     Wherof fell after mochel wo.     This tirant, thogh he lyhe softe,     Out of his bed aros fulofte,        4960     And goth aboute, and leide his Ere     To herkne, til that alle were     To bedde gon and slepten faste.     And thanne upon himself he caste     A mantell, and his swerd al naked     He tok in honde; and sche unwaked     Abedde lay, but what sche mette,     God wot; for he the Dore unschette     So prively that non it herde,     The softe pas and forth he ferde     4970     Unto the bed wher that sche slepte,     Al sodeinliche and in he crepte,     And hire in bothe his Armes tok.     With that this worthi wif awok,     Which thurgh tendresce of wommanhiede     Hire vois hath lost for pure drede,     That o word speke sche ne dar:     And ek he bad hir to be war,     For if sche made noise or cry,     He seide, his swerd lay faste by     4980     To slen hire and hire folk aboute.     And thus he broghte hire herte in doute,     That lich a Lomb whanne it is sesed     In wolves mouth, so was desesed     Lucrece, which he naked fond:     Wherof sche swounede in his hond,     And, as who seith, lay ded oppressed.     And he, which al him hadde adresced     To lust, tok thanne what him liste,     And goth his wey, that non it wiste,    4990     Into his oghne chambre ayein,     And clepede up his chamberlein,     And made him redi forto ryde.     And thus this lecherouse pride     To horse lepte and forth he rod;     And sche, which in hire bed abod,     Whan that sche wiste he was agon,     Sche clepede after liht anon     And up aros long er the day,     And caste awey hire freissh aray,    5000     As sche which hath the world forsake,     And tok upon the clothes blake:     And evere upon continuinge,     Riht as men sen a welle springe,     With yhen fulle of wofull teres,     Hire her hangende aboute hire Eres,     Sche wepte, and noman wiste why.     Bot yit among full pitously     Sche preide that thei nolden drecche     Hire housebonde forto fecche        5010     Forth with hire fader ek also.     Thus be thei comen bothe tuo,     And Brutus cam with Collatin,     Which to Lucrece was cousin,     And in thei wenten alle thre     To chambre, wher thei myhten se     The wofulleste upon this Molde,     Which wepte as sche to water scholde.     The chambre Dore anon was stoke,     Er thei have oght unto hire spoke;        5020     Thei sihe hire clothes al desguised,     And hou sche hath hirself despised,     Hire her hangende unkemd aboute,     Bot natheles sche gan to loute     And knele unto hire housebonde;     And he, which fain wolde understonde     The cause why sche ferde so,     With softe wordes axeth tho,     "What mai you be, mi goode swete?"     And sche, which thoghte hirself unmete     5030     And the lest worth of wommen alle,     Hire wofull chiere let doun falle     For schame and couthe unnethes loke.     And thei therof good hiede toke,     And preiden hire in alle weie     That sche ne spare forto seie     Unto hir frendes what hire eileth,     Why sche so sore hirself beweileth,     And what the sothe wolde mene.     And sche, which hath hire sorwes grene,    5040     Hire wo to telle thanne assaieth,     Bot tendre schame hire word delaieth,     That sondri times as sche minte     To speke, upon the point sche stinte.     And thei hire bidden evere in on     To telle forth, and therupon,     Whan that sche sih sche moste nede,     Hire tale betwen schame and drede     Sche tolde, noght withoute peine.     And he, which wolde hire wo restreigne,    5050     Hire housebonde, a sory man,     Conforteth hire al that he can,     And swor, and ek hire fader bothe,     That thei with hire be noght wrothe     Of that is don ayein hire wille;     And preiden hire to be stille,     For thei to hire have al foryive.     Bot sche, which thoghte noght to live,     Of hem wol no foryivenesse,     And seide, of thilke wickednesse     5060     Which was unto hire bodi wroght,     Al were it so sche myhte it noght,     Nevere afterward the world ne schal     Reproeven hire; and forth withal,     Er eny man therof be war,     A naked swerd, the which sche bar     Withinne hire Mantel priveli,     Betwen hire hondes sodeinly     Sche tok, and thurgh hire herte it throng,     And fell to grounde, and evere among,        5070     Whan that sche fell, so as sche myhte,     Hire clothes with hire hand sche rihte,     That noman dounward fro the kne     Scholde eny thing of hire se:     Thus lay this wif honestely,     Althogh sche deide wofully.     Tho was no sorwe forto seke:     Hire housebonde, hire fader eke     Aswoune upon the bodi felle;     Ther mai no mannes tunge telle    5080     In which anguisshe that thei were.     Bot Brutus, which was with hem there,     Toward himself his herte kepte,     And to Lucrece anon he lepte,     The blodi swerd and pulleth oute,     And swor the goddes al aboute     That he therof schal do vengance.     And sche tho made a contienance,     Hire dedlich yhe and ate laste     In thonkinge as it were up caste,    5090     And so behield him in the wise,     Whil sche to loke mai suffise.     And Brutus with a manlich herte     Hire housebonde hath mad up sterte     Forth with hire fader ek also     In alle haste, and seide hem tho     That thei anon withoute lette     A Beere for the body fette;     Lucrece and therupon bledende     He leide, and so forth out criende        5100     He goth into the Market place     Of Rome: and in a litel space     Thurgh cry the cite was assembled,     And every mannes herte is trembled,     Whan thei the sothe herde of the cas.     And therupon the conseil was     Take of the grete and of the smale,     And Brutus tolde hem al the tale;     And thus cam into remembrance     Of Senne the continuance,        5110     Which Arrons hadde do tofore,     And ek, long time er he was bore,     Of that his fadre hadde do     The wrong cam into place tho;     So that the comun clamour tolde     The newe schame of Sennes olde.     And al the toun began to crie,     "Awey, awey the tirannie     Of lecherie and covoitise!"     And ate laste in such a wise        5120     The fader in the same while     Forth with his Sone thei exile,     And taken betre governance.     Bot yit an other remembrance     That rihtwisnesse and lecherie     Acorden noght in compaignie     With him that hath the lawe on honde,     That mai a man wel understonde,     As be a tale thou shalt wite,     Of olde ensample as it is write.     5130     At Rome whan that Apius,     Whos other name is Claudius,     Was governour of the cite,     Ther fell a wonder thing to se     Touchende a gentil Maide, as thus,     Whom Livius Virginius     Begeten hadde upon his wif:     Men seiden that so fair a lif     As sche was noght in al the toun.     This fame, which goth up and doun,        5140     To Claudius cam in his Ere,     Wherof his thoght anon was there,     Which al his herte hath set afyre,     That he began the flour desire     Which longeth unto maydenhede,     And sende, if that he myhte spede     The blinde lustes of his wille.     Bot that thing mai he noght fulfille,     For sche stod upon Mariage;     A worthi kniht of gret lignage,        5150     Ilicius which thanne hihte,     Acorded in hire fader sihte     Was, that he scholde his douhter wedde.     Bot er the cause fully spedde,     Hire fader, which in Romanie     The ledinge of chivalerie     In governance hath undertake,     Upon a werre which was take     Goth out with al the strengthe he hadde     Of men of Armes whiche he ladde:     5160     So was the mariage left,     And stod upon acord til eft.     The king, which herde telle of this,     Hou that this Maide ordeigned is     To Mariage, thoghte an other.     And hadde thilke time a brother,     Which Marchus Claudius was hote,     And was a man of such riote     Riht as the king himselve was:     Thei tuo togedre upon this cas    5170     In conseil founden out this weie,     That Marchus Claudius schal seie     Hou sche be weie of covenant     To his service appourtenant     Was hol, and to non other man;     And therupon he seith he can     In every point witnesse take,     So that sche schal it noght forsake.     Whan that thei hadden schape so,     After the lawe which was tho,     5180     Whil that hir fader was absent,     Sche was somouned and assent     To come in presence of the king     And stonde in ansuere of this thing.     Hire frendes wisten alle wel     That it was falshed everydel,     And comen to the king and seiden,     Upon the comun lawe and preiden,     So as this noble worthi knyht     Hir fader for the comun riht        5190     In thilke time, as was befalle,     Lai for the profit of hem alle     Upon the wylde feldes armed,     That he ne scholde noght ben harmed     Ne schamed, whil that he were oute;     And thus thei preiden al aboute.     For al the clamour that he herde,     The king upon his lust ansuerde,     And yaf hem only daies tuo     Of respit; for he wende tho,        5200     That in so schorte a time appiere     Hire fader mihte in no manere.     Bot as therof he was deceived;     For Livius hadde al conceived     The pourpos of the king tofore,     So that to Rome ayein therfore     In alle haste he cam ridende,     And lefte upon the field liggende     His host, til that he come ayein.     And thus this worthi capitein     5210     Appiereth redi at his day,     Wher al that evere reson may     Be lawe in audience he doth,     So that his dowhter upon soth     Of that Marchus hire hadde accused     He hath tofore the court excused.     The king, which sih his pourpos faile,     And that no sleihte mihte availe,     Encombred of his lustes blinde     The lawe torneth out of kinde,    5220     And half in wraththe as thogh it were,     In presence of hem alle there     Deceived of concupiscence     Yaf for his brother the sentence,     And bad him that he scholde sese     This Maide and make him wel at ese;     Bot al withinne his oghne entente     He wiste hou that the cause wente,     Of that his brother hath the wyte     He was himselven forto wyte.        5230     Bot thus this maiden hadde wrong,     Which was upon the king along,     Bot ayein him was non Appel,     And that the fader wiste wel:     Wherof upon the tirannie,     That for the lust of Lecherie     His douhter scholde be deceived,     And that Ilicius was weyved     Untrewly fro the Mariage,     Riht as a Leon in his rage,    5240     Which of no drede set acompte     And not what pite scholde amounte,     A naked swerd he pulleth oute,     The which amonges al the route     He threste thurgh his dowhter side,     And al alowd this word he cride:     "Lo, take hire ther, thou wrongfull king,     For me is levere upon this thing     To be the fader of a Maide,     Thogh sche be ded, that if men saide    5250     That in hir lif sche were schamed     And I therof were evele named."     Tho bad the king men scholde areste     His bodi, bot of thilke heste,     Lich to the chaced wylde bor,     The houndes whan he fieleth sor,     Tothroweth and goth forth his weie,     In such a wise forto seie     This worthi kniht with swerd on honde     His weie made, and thei him wonde,        5260     That non of hem his strokes kepte;     And thus upon his hors he lepte,     And with his swerd droppende of blod,     The which withinne his douhter stod,     He cam ther as the pouer was     Of Rome, and tolde hem al the cas,     And seide hem that thei myhten liere     Upon the wrong of his matiere,     That betre it were to redresce     At hom the grete unrihtwisnesse,     5270     Than forto werre in strange place     And lese at hom here oghne grace.     For thus stant every mannes lif     In jeupartie for his wif     Or for his dowhter, if thei be     Passende an other of beaute.     Of this merveile which thei sihe     So apparant tofore here yhe,     Of that the king him hath misbore,     Here othes thei have alle swore        5280     That thei wol stonde be the riht.     And thus of on acord upriht     To Rome at ones hom ayein     Thei torne, and schortly forto sein,     This tirannye cam to mouthe,     And every man seith what he couthe,     So that the prive tricherie,     Which set was upon lecherie,     Cam openly to mannes Ere;     And that broghte in the comun feere,    5290     That every man the peril dradde     Of him that so hem overladde.     Forthi, er that it worse falle,     Thurgh comun conseil of hem alle     Thei have here wrongfull king deposed,     And hem in whom it was supposed     The conseil stod of his ledinge     Be lawe unto the dom thei bringe,     Wher thei receiven the penance     That longeth to such governance.     5300     And thus thunchaste was chastised,     Wherof thei myhte ben avised     That scholden afterward governe,     And be this evidence lerne,     Hou it is good a king eschuie     The lust of vice and vertu suie.     To make an ende in this partie,     Which toucheth to the Policie     Of Chastite in special,     As for conclusion final     5310     That every lust is to eschue     Be gret ensample I mai argue:     Hou in Rages a toun of Mede     Ther was a Mayde, and as I rede,     Sarra sche hihte, and Raguel     Hir fader was; and so befell,     Of bodi bothe and of visage     Was non so fair of the lignage,     To seche among hem alle, as sche;     Wherof the riche of the cite,     5320     Of lusti folk that couden love,     Assoted were upon hire love,     And asken hire forto wedde.     On was which ate laste spedde,     Bot that was more for likinge,     To have his lust, than for weddinge,     As he withinne his herte caste,     Which him repenteth ate laste.     For so it fell the ferste nyht,     That whanne he was to bedde dyht,    5330     As he which nothing god besecheth     Bot al only hise lustes secheth,     Abedde er he was fully warm     And wolde have take hire in his Arm,     Asmod, which was a fend of helle,     And serveth, as the bokes telle,     To tempte a man of such a wise,     Was redy there, and thilke emprise,     Which he hath set upon delit,     He vengeth thanne in such a plit,    5340     That he his necke hathe writhe atuo.     This yonge wif was sory tho,     Which wiste nothing what it mente;     And natheles yit thus it wente     Noght only of this ferste man,     Bot after, riht as he began,     Sexe othre of hire housebondes     Asmod hath take into hise bondes,     So that thei alle abedde deiden,     Whan thei her hand toward hir leiden,        5350     Noght for the lawe of Mariage,     Bot for that ilke fyri rage     In which that thei the lawe excede:     For who that wolde taken hiede     What after fell in this matiere,     Ther mihte he wel the sothe hiere.     Whan sche was wedded to Thobie,     And Raphael in compainie     Hath tawht him hou to ben honeste,     Asmod wan noght at thilke feste,     5360     And yit Thobie his wille hadde;     For he his lust so goodly ladde,     That bothe lawe and kinde is served,     Wherof he hath himself preserved,     That he fell noght in the sentence.     O which an open evidence     Of this ensample a man mai se,     That whan likinge in the degre     Of Mariage mai forsueie,     Wel oghte him thanne in other weie        5370     Of lust to be the betre avised.     For god the lawes hath assissed     Als wel to reson as to kinde,     Bot he the bestes wolde binde     Only to lawes of nature,     Bot to the mannes creature     God yaf him reson forth withal,     Wherof that he nature schal     Upon the causes modefie,     That he schal do no lecherie,     5380     And yit he schal hise lustes have.     So ben the lawes bothe save     And every thing put out of sclandre;     As whilom to king Alisandre     The wise Philosophre tawhte,     Whan he his ferste lore cawhte,     Noght only upon chastete,     Bot upon alle honestete;     Wherof a king himself mai taste,     Hou trewe, hou large, hou joust, hou chaste        5390     Him oghte of reson forto be,     Forth with the vertu of Pite,     Thurgh which he mai gret thonk deserve     Toward his godd, that he preserve     Him and his poeple in alle welthe     Of pes, richesse, honour and helthe     Hier in this world and elles eke.     Mi Sone, as we tofore spieke     In schrifte, so as thou me seidest,     And for thin ese, as thou me preidest,     5400     Thi love throghes forto lisse,     That I thee wolde telle and wisse     The forme of Aristotles lore,     I have it seid, and somdiel more     Of othre ensamples, to assaie     If I thi peines myhte allaie     Thurgh eny thing that I can seie.     Do wey, mi fader, I you preie:     Of that ye have unto me told     I thonke you a thousendfold.        5410     The tales sounen in myn Ere,     Bot yit min herte is elleswhere,     I mai miselve noght restreigne,     That I nam evere in loves peine:     Such lore couthe I nevere gete,     Which myhte make me foryete     O point, bot if so were I slepte,     That I my tydes ay ne kepte     To thenke of love and of his lawe;     That herte can I noght withdrawe.    5420     Forthi, my goode fader diere,     Lef al and speke of my matiere     Touchende of love, as we begonne:     If that ther be oght overronne     Or oght foryete or left behinde     Which falleth unto loves kinde,     Wherof it nedeth to be schrive,     Nou axeth, so that whil I live     I myhte amende that is mys.     Mi goode diere Sone, yis.        5430     Thi schrifte forto make plein,     Ther is yit more forto sein     Of love which is unavised.     Bot for thou schalt be wel avised     Unto thi schrifte as it belongeth,     A point which upon love hongeth     And is the laste of alle tho,     I wol thee telle, and thanne ho.     Explicit Liber Septimus.