|b{THE_TALE_OF_MELIBEUS,_in.}
|b{The_Complete_Works_of_Geoffrey_Chaucer}
|b{ed._Walter_W._Skeat,_2nd_ed.,_vol._4}
|b{Oxford:_Clarendon_Press,_1900,}
|b{pp._199-240.}
|b{Note:_Skeat's_numbering_of_sentences_on_the_margin_has_been_omitted.}



|p{199}


|r{THE_TALE_OF_MELIBEUS.}

Here biginneth Chaucers Tale of Melibee.

    1. A yong man called Melibeus, mighty and riche, bigat
up-on his wyf that called was Prudence, a doghter which that called
was Sophie./

    2. Upon a day bifel, that he for his desport is went in-to the
feeldes him to pleye. / His wyf and eek his doghter hath he left
inwith his hous, of which the dores weren fast y-shette. / Thre
of his olde foos han it espyed, and setten laddres to the walles of
his hous, and by the windowes been entred, / and betten his wyf,
and wounded his doghter with fyve mortal woundes in fyve sondry
places; / this is to seyn, in hir feet, in hir handes, in
hir eres, in hir nose, and in hir mouth; and leften hir for deed, and wenten
awey./

    3. Whan Melibeus retourned was in-to his hous, and saugh
al this meschief, he, lyk a mad man, rendinge his clothes, gan to
wepe and crye. /

    4. Prudence his wyf, as ferforth as she dorste, bisoghte him
of his weping for to stinte; / but nat for-thy he gan to crye and
wepen ever lenger the more. /

    5. This noble wyf Prudence remembered hir upon the
sentence of Ovide, in his book that cleped is The Remedie of Love,
wher-as he seith; / `he is a fool that destourbeth the moder to
wepen in the deeth of hir child, til she have wept hir fille, as for
a certein tyme; / and thanne shal man doon his diligence with amiable wordes hir to reconforte, and preyen hir of hir weping for
to stinte.' / For which resoun this noble wyf Prudence suffred hir
housbond for to wepe and crye as for a certein space; / and whan
she saugh hir tyme, she seyde him in this wyse. `Allas, my lord,'
quod she, `why make ye your-self for to be lyk a fool? / For



|p200


sothe, it aperteneth nat to a wys man, to maken swiche a sorwe. /
Your doghter, with the grace of god, shal warisshe and escape. /
And al were it so that she right now were deed, ye ne oghte
nat as for hir deeth your-self to destroye. / Senek seith: "the
wise man shal nat take to greet disconfort for the deeth of his
children, / but certes he sholde suffren it in pacience, as wel as he
abydeth the deeth of his owene propre persone."' /

    6. This Melibeus answerde anon and seyde, `What man,'
quod he, `sholde of his weping stinte, that hath so greet a cause
for to wepe? / Iesu Crist, our lord, him-self wepte for the deeth
of Lazarus his freend.' / Prudence answerde, `Certes, wel I woot,
attempree weping is no-thing defended to him that sorweful is,
amonges folk in sorwe, but it is rather graunted him to wepe. /
The Apostle Paul un-to the Romayns wryteth, "man shal reioyse
with hem that maken Ioye, and wepen with swich folk as wepen." /
But thogh attempree weping be y-graunted, outrageous weping
certes is defended. / Mesure of weping sholde be considered,
after the lore that techeth us Senek. / "Whan that thy freend is
deed," quod he, "lat nat thyne eyen to moyste been of teres, ne to
muche drye; althogh the teres come to thyne eyen, lat hem nat
falle." / And whan thou hast for-goon thy freend, do diligence to
gete another freend; and this is more wysdom than for to wepe for
thy freend which that thou hast lorn; for ther-inne is no bote. /
And therfore, if ye governe yow by sapience, put awey sorwe out
of your herte. / Remembre yow that Iesus Syrak seith: "a man
that is- Ioyous and glad in herte, it him conserveth florisshing in
his age; but soothly sorweful herte maketh his bones drye." / He
seith eek thus: "that sorwe in herte sleeth ful many a man." /
Salomon seith: "that, right as motthes in the shepes flees anoyeth
to the clothes, and the smale wormes to the tree, right so anoyeth
sorwe to the herte." / Wherfore us oghte, as wel in the deeth
of our children as in the losse of our goodes temporels, have
pacience. /

    7. Remembre yow up-on the pacient Iob, whan- he hadde
lost his chiIdren and his temporel substance, and in his body



|p201


endured and receyved ful many a grevous tribulacioun; -yet seyde
he thus: / "our lord hath yeven it me, our lord hath biraft it me;
right as our lord hath wold, right so it is doon; blessed be the
name of our lord."' / To thise foreseide thinges answerde
Melibeus un-to his wvyf Prudence: `Alle thy wordes,' quod he,
`been sothe, and ther-to profitable; but trewely myn herte is
troubled with this sorwe so grevously, that I noot what to done.'
Iat calle,' quod Prudence, `thy trewe freendes alle, and thy
linage whiche that been wyse; telleth your cas, and herkneth what
they seye in conseiling, and yow governe after hir -- sentence. /
Salomon seith: "werk alle thy thinges by conseil, and thou shalt
never repente."' /

    8. Thanne, by the conseil of his wyf Prudence, this Melibeus
leet callen a greet congregacioun of folk; / as surgiens, phisiciens,
olde folk and yonge, and somme of hise olde enemys reconsiled
as by hir semblaunt to his love and in-to his grace; / and ther_with-al
ther comen somme of hise neighebores that diden him
reverence more for drede than for love, as it happeth ofte. /
Ther comen also ful many subtile flatereres' and wyse advocats
lemed in the lawe. /

    9. And whan this folk togidre assembled weren, this Meli_beus
in sorweful wyse shewed hem his cas; / and by the manere
of his speche it semed that in herte he bar a cruel ire, redy to
doon vengeaunce up-on hise foos, and sodeynly desired that the
werre sholde biginne; / but nathelees yet axed he hir conseil upon
this matere. / A surgien, by licence and assent of swiche as
weren wyse, up roos and un-to Melibeus seyde as ye may here. /

    10. `Sir,' quod he, `as to us surgiens aperteneth, that we do
to every wight the beste that we can, wher-as we been with-holde,
and to our pacients that we do no damage; / wherfore it happeth,
many tyme and ofte, that whan twey men han everich wounded
other, oon same surgien heleth hem bothe; / wherefore un-to our
art it is nat pertinent to norice werre, ne parties to supporte. /
But certes, as to the warisshinge of your doghter, al-be-it so that
she perilously be wounded, we shullen do so ententif bisinesse fro
day to night, that with the grace of god she shal be hool and



|p202


sound as sone as ¨s possible.' / Almost right in the same wyse the
phisiciens answerden, save that they seyden a fewe wordes more: /
`That, right as maladyes been cured by hir contraries, right so
shul men warisshe werre by vengeaunce.' / His neighebores, ful
of envye, his feyned freendes that semeden reconsiled, and his
flatereres, / maden semblant of weping, and empeireden and
agreggeden muchel of this matere, in preising greetly Melibee of
might, of power, of richesse, and of freendes, despysinge the power
of his adversaries, / and seiden outrely that he anon sholde wreken
him on his foos and biginne werre. /

    11. Up roos thanne an advocat that was wys, by leve and by
conseil of othere that were wyse, and seyde: / `Lordinges, the nede
for which we been assembled in this place is a ful hevy thing and
an heigh matere, / by-cause of the wrong and of the wikkednesse
that hath be doon, and eek by resoun of the grete damages that
in tyme cominge been possible to fallen for this same cause; / and
eek by resoun of the grete richesse and power ofthe parties bothe;
/ for the whiche resouns it were a ful greet peril to erren in this
matere. / Wherfore, Melibeus, this is our sentence: we conseille
yow aboven alle thing, that right anon thou do thy diligence in
kepinge of thy propre persone, in swich a wyse that thou ne wante
noon espye ne wacche, thy body for to save. / And after that we
conseille, that in thyn hous thou sette suffisant garnisoun, so that
they may as wel thy body as thyn hous defende. / But certes, for
to moeve werre, or sodeynly for to doon vengeaunce, we may nat
demen in so litel tyme that it were profitable. / Wherfore we
axen leyser and espace to have deliberacioun in this cas to deme.
/ For the commune proverbe seith thus: "he that sone demeth,
sone shal repente." / And eek men seyn that thilke Iuge is wys,
that sone understondeth a matere and Iuggeth by leyser. / For
al-be-it so that alle tarying be anoyful, algates it is nat to repreve
in yevynge of Iugement, ne in vengeance-taking, whan it is suffi_sant
and resonable. / And that shewed our lord Iesu Crist by en_sample;
for whan that the womman that was taken in avoutrie
was broght in his presence, to knowen what sholde be doon with
hir persone, al-be-it so that he wiste wel him-self what that he



|p203


wolde answere, yet ne wolde he nat answere sodeynly, but he wolde
have deliberacioun, and in the ground he wroot twyes. / And by
thise causes we axen deliberacioun, and we shal thanne, by the
grace of god, conseille thee thing that shal be profitable.' /

    12. Up stirten thanne the yonge folk at-ones, and the moste
partie of that companye han scorned the olde wyse men, and
bigonnen to make noyse, and seyden: that, / right so as whyl that
iren is hoot, men sholden smyte, right so, men sholde wreken hir
wronges whyle that they been fresshe and nevoe; and with loud
voys they cryden, `werre! werre! ' /

Up roos tho oon of thise olde wyse, and with his hand
made contenaunce that men sholde holden hem stille and yeven
him audience. / `Lordinges,' quod he, `ther is ful many a man
that cryeth"werre! werre!" that woot ful litel what werre
amounteth. / Werre at his biginning hath so greet an entree
and so large, that every wight may entre whan him lyketh, and
lightly finde werre. / But, certes, what ende that shal ther-of
bifalle, it is nat light to knowe. / For sothly, whan that werre is
ones bigonne, ther is ful many a child unbom of his moder, that
shal sterve yong by-cause of that ilke werre, or elles live in sorwe
and dye in wrecchednesse. / And ther-fore, er that any werre
biginne, men moste have greet conseil and greet deliberacioun.' /
And whan this olde man wende to enforcen his tale by resons,
wel ny alle at-ones bigonne they to ryse for to breken his tale, and
beden him ful ofte his wordes for to abregge. / For soothly, he
that precheth to hem that listen nat heren his wordes, his sermon
hem anoyeth. / For Iesus Syrak seith: that"musik in wepinge is
anoyous thing;" this is to seyn: as muche availleth to speken
bifore folk to whiche his speche anoyeth, as dooth to singe biforn
him that wepeth. / And whan this wyse man saugh that him
wanted audience, al shamefast he sette him doun agayn. / For
Salomon seith: "ther-as thou ne mayst have noon audience,
enforce thee nat to speke." / `I see wel,' quod this wyse man,
`that the commune proverbe is sooth; that"good conseil wanteth
whan it is most nede."' /

    13. Yet hadde this Melibeus in his conseil many folk, that



|p204


prively in his ere conseilled him certeyn thing, and conseilled him
the contrarie in general audience. /

Whan Melibeus hadde herd that the gretteste partie of his
conseil weren accorded that he sholde maken werre, anoon he
consented to hir coaseilling, and fully affermed hir sentence. /
Thanne dame Prudence, whan that she saugh how that hir
housbonde shoop him / for to wreken him on his foos, and to
biginne werre, she in ful humble wyse, when she saugh hir tyme,
seide him thise wordes: / `My lord,' quod she, `I yow biseche as
hertely as I dar and can, ne haste yow nat to faste, and for alle
guerdons as yeveth me audience. / For Piers Alfonce seith:
who-so that dooth to that other good or harm, haste thee nat
to quyten it; for in this wyse thy freend wol abyde, and thyn
enemy shal the lenger live in drede."/ The proverbe seith "he
hasteth wel that wysely can abyde;" and in wikked haste is no
profit.' /

    14. This Melibee answerde un-to his wyf Prudence: `I
purpose nat,' quod he, `to werke by thy conseil, for many causes
and resouns. For certes every wight wolde holde me thanne a
fool; / this is to seyn, if I, for thy conseilling, wolde chaungen
thinges that been ordeyned and affermed by so manye wyse. /
Secoundly I seye, that alle wommen been wikke and noon good
of hem alle. For "of a thousand men," seith Salomon, "I fond a
good man: but certes, of alle wommen, good womman fond I
never." / And also certes, if I governed me by thy conseil, it
sholde seme that I hadde yeve to thee over me the maistrie; and
god forbede that it so were. / For Iesus Syrak seith;" that if the
wyf have maistrie, she is contrarious to hir housbonde." / And
Salomon seith: "never in thy lyf, to thy wyf, ne to thy child, ne
to thy freend, ne yeve no power over thy-self. For bettre it were
that thy children aske of thy persone thinges that hem nedeth,
than thou see thy-self in the handes of thy children." / And also,
if I wolde werke by thy conseilling, certes my conseilling moste
som tyme be secree, til it were tyme that it moste be knowe;
and this ne may noght be. / [For it is writen, that "the Ian_glerie
of wommen can hyden thinges that they witen noght." /



|p205


Furthermore, the philosophre seith,"in wikked conseil wommen
venquisshe men;" and for thise resouns I ne owe nat usen
thy conseil.'] /

    15. Whanne dame Prudence, ful debonairly and with greet
pacience, hadde herd al that hir housbonde lyked for to seye,
thanne axed she of him licence for to speke, and seyde in this
wyse. / `My lord,' quod she, `as to your firste resoun, certes it
may lightly been answered. For I seye, that it is no folie to
chaunge conseil whan the thing is chaunged; or elles whan the
thing semeth otherweyes than it was biforn. / And more-over I
seye, that though ye han sworn and bihight to perfourne your
emprise, and nathelees ye weyve to perfourne thilke same emprise.
by Iuste cause, men sholde nat seyn therefore that ye were a lyer
ne forsworn. / For the book seith, that" the wy se man maketh no
lesing whan he turneth his corage to the bettre." / And al-be-it so
that your emprise be establissed and ordeyned by greet multitude
of folk, yet thar ye nat accomplice thilke same ordinaunce but yow
lyke. / For the trouthe of thinges and the profit been rather
founden in fewe folk that been wyse and ful of resoun, than by
greet multitude of folk, ther every man cryeth and clatereth what
that him lyketh. Soothly swich multitude is nat honeste. / As to
the seconde resoun, where-as ye seyn that" alle wommen been
wikke," save your grace, certes ye despysen alle wommen in this
wyse; and "he that alle despyseth alle displeseth," as seith the
book. / And Senek seith that "who-so wole have sapience, shal
no man dispreise; but he shal gladly techen the science that he
cari, with-outen presumpcioun or pryde. / And swiche thinges as
he nought ne can, he shal nat been ashamed to lerne hem and
enquere of lasse folk than him-self."/ And sir, that ther hath
been many a good womman, may lightly be preved. / For certes,
sir, our lord Iesu Crist wolde never have descended to be born of
a womman, if alle wommen hadden ben wikke. / And after that,
for the grete bountee that is in wommen, our lord Iesu Crist,
whan he was risen fro deeth to lyve, appeered rather to a womman
than to his apostles. / And though that Salomon seith, that "he
ne fond never womman good," it folweth nat therfore that alle
wommen ben wikke. / For though that he ne fond no good



|p206


womnman, certes, ful many another man hath founden many a
womman ful good and trewe. / Or elles per-aventure the entente
of Salomon was this; that, as in sovereyn bountee, he fond no
womman; / this is to seyn, that ther is no wight that hath
sovereyn bountee save god allone; as he him-self recordeth in his
Evaungelie. / For ther nis no creature so good that him ne
wanteth somwhat of the perfeccioun of god, that is his maker. /
Your thridde resoun is this: ye seyn that "if ye governe yow by
my conseil, it sholde seme that ye hadde yeve me the maistrie
and the lordshipe over your persone." / Sir, save your grace, it is
nat so. For if it were so, that no man sholde be conseilled but
only of hem that hadden lordshipe and maistrie of his persone,
men wolden nat be conseilled so ofte. / For soothly, thilke man
that asketh conseil of a purpos, yet hath he free chois, wheither he
wole werke by that conseil or noon. / And as to your fourthe
resoun, ther ye seyn that" the Ianglerie of wommen hath hid
thinges that they woot noght," as who seith, that "a womman can
nat hyde that she woot;" /' sir, thise wordes been understonde of
wommen that been Iangleresses and wikked; / of whiche wommen,
men seyn that "three thinges dryven a man out of his hous; that is
to seyn, smoke, dropping of reyn, and wikked wyves;" / and of
swiche wommen seith Salomon, that "it were bettre dwelle in
desert, than with a womman that is riotous." / And sir, by your
leve, that am nat I; / for ye han ful ofte assayed my grete silence
and my gret pacience; and eek how wel that I can hyde and hele
thinges that men oghte secreely to hyde. / And soothly, as to
your fifthe resoun, wher-as ye seyn, that "in wikked conseil
wommen venquisshe men;" god woot, thilke resoun stant here
in no stede. / For understond now, ye asken conseil to do
wikkednesse; / and if ye wole werken wikkednesse, and your wyf
restreyneth thilke wikked purpos, and overcometh yow by resoun
and by good conseil; / certes, your wyf oghte rather to be
preised than y-blamed. / Thus sholde ye understonde the
philosophre that seith, "in wikked conseil wommen venquisshen
hir housbondes." / And ther-as ye blamen alle wommen and hir
resouns, I shal shewe yow by manye ensamples that many a
womman hath ben ful good, and yet been; and hir conseils ful
hoolsome and profitable. / Eek som men han seyd, that" the



|p207


conseillinge of wommen is outher to dere, or elles to litel of prys." /
But al-be-it so, that ful many a womman is badde, and hir conseil
vile and noght worth, yet han men founde ful many a good
womman, and ful discrete and wise in conseillinge. / Lo, Iacob,
by good conseil of his moder Rebekka, wan the benisoun of
Ysaak his fader, and the lordshipe over alle his bretheren. /
Iudith, by hir good conseil, delivered the citee of Bethulie, in
which she dwelled, out of the handes of Olofernus, that hadde
it biseged and wolde have al destroyed it. / Abigail delivered
Nabal hir housbonde fro David the king, that wolde have slayn
him, and apaysed the ire of the king by hir wit and by hir good
conseilling. / Hester by hir good conseil enhaunced greetly the
peple of god in the regne of Assuerus the king. / And the same
bountee in good conseilling of many a good womman may men
telle. / And moreover, whan our lord hadde creat Adam our
forme-fader, he seyde in this wyse: /" it is nat good to been a
man allone; make we to him an help semblable to himself" /
Here may ye se that, if that wommen were nat goode, and hir
conseils goode and profitable, / our lord god of hevene wolde
never han wroght hem, ne called hem help of man, but rather
confusioun of man. / And ther seyde ones a clerk in two vers:"
what is bettre than gold? Iaspre. What is bettre than Iaspre?
Wisdom. / And what is bettre than wisdom? Womman. And
what is bettre than a good womman? No-thing." / And sir, by
manye of othre resons may ye seen, that manye wommen been
goode, and hir conseils goode and profitable. / And therfore sir,
if ye wol triste to my conseil, I shal restore yow your doghter
hool and sound. / And eek I wol do to yow so muche, that ye
shul have honour in this cause.' /

    16. Whan Melibee hadde herd the wordes of his wyf
Prudence, he seyde thus: / `I se wel that the word of Salomon is
sooth; he seith, that "wordes that been spoken discreetly by
ordinaunce, been honycombes; for they yeven swetnesse to the
soule, and hoolsomnesse to the body." / And wyf, by-cause of
thy swete wordes, and eek for I have assayed and preved thy grete
sapience and thy grete trouthe, I wol governe me by thy conseil in
alle thing.' /

    17. `Now sir,' quod dame Prudence, `and sin ye vouche-sauf



|p208


to been governed by my conseil, I wol enforme yow how ye
shul governe your self in chesinge of your conseillours. / Ye shul
first, in alle your werkes, mekely biseken to the heighe god that
he wol be your conseillour; / and shapeth yow to swich entente,
that he yeve yow conseil and confort, as taughte Thobie his sone. /
" At alle tymes thou shalt blesse god, and praye him to dresse thy
weyes"; and looke that alle thy conseils been in him for evermore./
Seint Iame eek seith: "if any of yow have nede of sapience,
axe it of god.', / And afterward thanne shul ye taken conseil in
your-self, and examine wel your thoghtes, of swich thing as yow
thinketh that is best for your profit. / And thanne shul ye dryve
fro your herte three thinges that been contrariouse to good
conseil, / that is to seyn, ire, coveitise, and hastifnesse. /

    18. First, he that axeth conseil of him-self, certes he moste
been with-outen ire, for manye causes. / The firste is this: he that
hath greet ire and wratthe in him-self, he weneth alwey that he may
do thing that he may nat do. / And secoundely, he that is irous
and wroth, he ne may nat wel deme; / and he that may nat wel
deme, may nat wel conseille. / The thridde is this; that "he that
is irous and wrooth," as seith Senek, "ne may nat speke but he
blame thinges;" / and with his viciouse wordes he stireth other
folk to angre and to ire. / And eek sir, ye moste dryve coveitise
out of your herte. / For the apostle seith, that "coveitise is rote
of alle harmes." / And trust wel that a coveitous man ne can
noght deme ne thinke, but only to fulfille the ende of his coveitise; /
and certes, that ne may never been accompliced; for ever the
more habundaunce that he hath of richesse, the more he desyreth. /
And sir, ye moste also dryve out of your herte hastifnesse; for
certes, / ye ne may nat deme for the beste a sodeyn thought that
falleth in youre herte, but ye moste avyse yow on it ful ofte. / For
as ye herde biforn, the commune proverbe is this, that" he that
sone demeth, sone repenteth."/

    19. Sir, ye ne be nat alwey in lyke disposicioun; / for certes,
som thing that somtyme semeth to yow that it is good for to do,
another tyme it semeth to yow the contrarie. /

    20. Whan ye han taken conseil in your-self, and han demed by
good deliberacion swich thing as you semeth best, / thanne rede I
yow, that ye kepe it secree. / Biwrey nat your conseil to no persone,



|p209


but-if so be that ye wenen sikerly that, thurgh your biwreying,
your condicioun shal be to yow the more profitable. / For Iesus
Syrak seith:" neither to thy foo ne to thy freend discovere nat
thy secree ne thy folie; / for they wol yeve yow audience and
loking and supportacioun in thy presence, and scorne thee in thyn
absence." / Another clerk seith, that "scarsly shaltou finden any
persone that may kepe conseil secreely." / The book seith: "whyl
that thou kepest thy conseil in thyn herte, thou kepest it in thy
prisoun: / and whan thou biwreyest thy conseil to any wight, he
holdeth thee in his snare." / And therefore yow is bettre to hyde
your conseil in your herte, than praye him, to whom ye han
biwreyed your conseil, that he wole kepen it cloos and stille. / For
Seneca seith: "if so be that thou ne mayst nat thyn owene conseil
hyde, how darstou prayen any other wight thy conseil secreely to
kepe?" / But nathelees, if thou wene sikerly that the biwreying
of thy conseil to a persone wol make thy condicioun to stonden in
the bettre plyt, thanne shaltou tellen him thy conseil in this wyse. /
First, thou shalt make no semblant whether thee were lever pees
or werre, or this or that, ne shewe him nat thy wille and thyn en_tente; /
for trust wel, that comunly thise conseillours been flater_eres, /
namely the conseillours of grete lordes; / for they enforcen
hem alwey rather to speken plesante wordes, enclyninge to the
lordes lust, than wordes that been trewe or profitable. / And
therfore men seyn, that "the riche man hath seld good conseil
but-if he have it of him-self." / And after that, thou shalt considere
thy freendes and thyne enemys. / And as touchinge thy freendes,
thou shalt considere whiche of hem been most feithful and
most wyse, and eldest and most approved in conseilling. / And
of hem shalt thou aske thy conseil, as the caas requireth. /

 21. I seye that first ye shul clepe to your conseil your freendes
that been trewe. / For Salomon seith: that "right as the herte of
a man delyteth in savour that is sote, right so the conseil of
trewe freendes yeveth swetenesse to the soule." / He seith also:
"ther may no-thing be lykned to the trewe freend."/ For certes, gold
ne silver beth nat so muche worth as the gode wil ofa trewe freend. /
And eek he seith, that "a trewe freend is a strong deffense; who-so
that it findeth, certes he findeth a greet tresour." / Thanne



|p210


shul ye eek considere, if that your trewe freendes been discrete and
wyse. For the book seith: "axe alwey thy conseil of hem that
been wyse." / And by this same resoun shul ye clepen to your
conseil, of your freendes that been of age, swiche as han seyn and
been expert in manye thinges, and been approved in conseillinges. /
For the book seith, that "in olde men is the sapience and
in longe tyme the prudence. "/ And Tullius seith: that "grete
thinges ne been nat ay accompliced by strengthe, ne by delivernesse
of body, but by good conseil, by auctoritee of persones, and by
science; the whiche three thinges ne been nat feble by age, but
certes they enforcen and encreesen day by day. "/ And thanne
shul ye kepe this for a general reule. First shul ye clepen to your
conseil a fewe of your freendes that been especiale; / for Salomon
seith: "manye freendes have thou; but among a thousand chese
thee oon to be thy conseillour. "/ For al-be-it so that thou first ne
telle thy conseil but to a fewe, thou mayst afterward telle it to mo
folk, if it be nede. / But loke alwey that thy conseillours have
thilke three condiciouns that I have seyd bifore; that is to seyn, that
they be trewe, wyse, and of old experience. / And werke nat alwey
in every nede by oon counseillour allone; for somtyme bihoveth it
to been conseilled by manye. / For Salomon seith: "salvacioun
of thinges is wher-as ther been manye conseillours. "/

    22. Now sith that I have told yow of which folk ye sholde
been counseilled, now wol I teche yow which conseil ye oghte to
eschewe. / First ye shul eschewe the conseilling of foles; for
Salomon seith: "taak no conseil of a fool, for he ne can noght
conseille but after his owene lust and his affeccioun. "/ The
book seith: that "the propretee of a fool is this; he troweth
lightly harm of every wight, and lightly troweth alle bountee in
him-self "/ Thou shalt eek eschewe the conseilling of alle
flatereres, swiche as enforcen hem rather to preise your persone
by flaterye than for to telle yow the sothfastnesse of thinges. /

    23. `Wherfore Tullius seith: "amonges alle the pestilences
that been in freendshipe, the gretteste is flaterye." And therfore
is it more nede that thou eschewe and drede flatereres than any
other peple. / The book seith: "thou shalt rather drede and
flee fro the swete wordes of flateringe preiseres, than fro the egre



|p211


wordes of thy freend that seith thee thy sothes."/ Salomon seith,
that "the wordes of a flaterere is a snare to cacche with innocents."/
He seith also, that "he that speketh to his freend wordes of
swetnesse and of plesaunce, setteth a net biforn his feet to cacche
him. "/ And therfore seith Tullius: "enclyne nat thyne eres to
flatereres, ne taketh no conseil of wordes of flaterye. "/ And
Caton seith: "avyse thee wel, and eschewe the wordes of
swetnesse and of plesaunce. "/ And eek thou shalt eschewe the
conseilling of thyne olde enemys that been reconsiled. / The
book seith: that "no wight retourneth saufly in-to the grace of his
olde enemy."/ And Isope seith: "ne trust nat to hem to whiche
thou hast had som-tyme werre or enmitee, ne telle hem nat thy
conseil."/ And Seneca telleth the cause why. "It may nat be,"
seith he, "that, where greet fyr hath longe tyme endured, that
ther ne dwelleth som vapour of warmnesse."/ And therfore seith
Salomon: '`in thyn olde foo trust never."/ For sikerly, though
thyn enemy be reconsiled and maketh thee chere of humilitee,
and louteth to thee with his heed, ne trust him never. / For
certes, he maketh thilke feyned humilitee more for his profit than
for any love of thy persone; by-cause that he demeth to have
victorie over thy persone by swich feyned contenance, the which
victorie he mighte nat have by stryf or werre. / And Peter
Alfonce seith: "make no felawshipe with thyne olde enemys;
for if thou do hem bountee, they wol perverten it in-to wikked_nesse."/
And eek thou most eschewe the conseilling of hem
that been thy servants, and beren thee greet reverence; for
peraventure they seyn it more for drede than for love. / And
therfore seith a philosophre in this wyse: "ther is no wight
parfitly trewe to him that he to sore dredeth."/ And Tullius
seith: "ther nis no might so greet of any emperour, that longe
may endure, but-if he have more love of the peple than drede."/
Thou shalt also eschewe the conseiling of folk that been dronke_lewe;
for they ne can no conseil hyde. / For Salomon seith:
"ther is no privetee ther-as regneth dronkenesse."/ Ye shul
also han in suspect the conseilling of swich folk as conseille yow
a thing prively, and conseille yow the contrarie openly. / For



|p212


Cassidorie seith: that "it is a maner sleighte to hindre, whan he
sheweth to doon a thing openly and werketh prively the contrarie."/
Thou shalt also have in suspect the co¤seilling of wikked
folk. For the book seith: "the conseilling of wikked folk is
alwey ful of fraude: "/ And David seith: "blisful is that man
that hath nat folwed the conseilling of shrewes. "/ Thou shalt also
eschewe the conseilling of yong folk; for hir conseil is nat rype. /

    24. Now sir, sith I have shewed yow of which folk ye shul
take your conseil, and of which folk ye shul folwe the conseil, / now wol I teche yow how ye shal examine your conseil, after
the doctrine of Tullius. / In the examininge thanne of your con_seillour,
ye shul considere manye thinges. / Alderfirst thou shalt
considere, that in thilke thing that thou purposest, and upon what
thing thou wolt have conseil, that verray trouthe be seyd and
conserved; this is to seyn, telle trewely thy tale. / For he that
seith fals may nat wel be conseilled, in that cas of which he lyeth. /
And after this, thou shalt considere the thinges that acorden to
that thou purposest for to do by thy conseillours, if resoun
accorde therto; / and eek, if thy might may atteine ther_to;
and if the more part and the bettre part of thy conseillours acorde
ther-to, or no. / Thanne shaltou considere what thing shal
folwe of that conseilling; as hate, pees, werre, grace, profit, or
damage; and manye othere thinges. / And in alle thise thinges
thou shalt chese the beste, and weyve alle othere thinges. /
Thanne shaltow considere of what rote is engendred the matere
of thy conseil, and what fruit it may conceyve and engendre. /
Thou shalt eek considere alle thise causes, fro whennes they
been sprongen. / And whan ye han examined your conseil as
I have seyd, and which partie is the bettre and more profitable,
and hast approved it by manye wyse folk and olde; / thanne
shaltou considere, if thou mayst parfourne it and maken of it a
good ende. / For certes, resoun wol nat that any man sholde
biginne a thing, but-if he mighte parfourne it as him oghte. /
Ne no wight sholde take up-on hym so hevy a charge that he
mighte nat bere it. / For the proverbe seith: "he that to muche
embraceth, distreyneth litel."/ And Catoun seith: "assay to do
swich thing as thou hast power to doon, lest that the charge



|p213


oppresse thee so sore, that thee bihoveth to weyve thing that thou
hast bigonne."/ And if so be that thou be in doute, whether thou
mayst parfourne a thing or noon, chese rather to suffre than
biginne. / And Piers Alphonce seith: "if thou hast might to
doon a thing of which thou most repente thee, it is bettre `nay
' than `ye ';"/ this is to seyn, that thee is bettre holde thy tonge
stille, than for to speke. / Thanne may ye understonde by
strenger resons, that if thou hast power to parfoume a werk of
which thou shalt repente, thanne is it bettre that thou suffre than
biginne. / Wel seyn they, that defenden every wight to assaye
any thing of which he is in doute, whether he may parfourne it or
no. / And after, whan ye han examined your conseil as I have
seyd biforn, and knowen wel that ye may parfourne youre emprise,
conferme it thanne sadly til it be at an ende. /

    25. Now is it resoun and tyme that I shewe yow, whanne,
and wherfore, that ye may chaunge your conseil with-outen
your repreve. / Soothly, a man may chaungen his purpos and his
conseil if the cause cesseth, or whan a newe caas bitydeth. / For
the lawe seith: that "upon thinges that newely bityden bihoveth
new,e conseil."/ And Senek seith "if thy conseil is comen to
the eres of thyn enemy, chaunge thy conseil."/ Thou mayst also
chaunge thy conseil if so be that thou finde that, by errour or by
other cause, harm or damage may bityde. / Also, if thy conseil
be dishonest, or elles cometh of dishoneste cause, chaunge thy
conseil. / For the lawes seyn: that "alle bihestes that been
dishoneste been of no value."/ And eek, if it so be that it be
inpossible, or may nat goodly be parfourned or kept. /

    26. And take this for a general reule, that every conseil
that is affermed so strongly that it may nat be chaunged, for no
condicioun that may bityde, I seye that thilke conseil is wikked.' /

    27. This Melibeus, whanne he hadde herd the doctrine of his
wyf dame Prudence, answerde in this wyse. / `Dame,' quod he,
`as yet in-to this tyme ye han wel and covenably taught me as in
general, how I shal governe me in the chesinge and in the with_holdinge
of my conseillours. / But now wolde I fayn that ye
wolde condescende in especial, / and telle me how: lyketh yow,



|p214


or what semeth yow, by our conseillours that we han chosen in
our present nede.'/

    28. `My lord,' quod she, `I biseke yow in al humblesse, that
ye wol nat wilfully replye agayn my resouns, ne distempre your
herte thogh I speke thing that yow displese. / For god wot that,
as in myn entente, I speke it for your beste, for your honour and
for your profite eke. / And soothly, I hope that your benignitee
wol taken it in pacience. / Trusteth me wel,' quod she, `that
your conseil, as in this caas ne sholde nat, as to speke properly,
be called a conseilling, but a mocioun or a moevyng of folye; /
in which conseil ye han erred in many a sondry wyse. /

 29. First and forward, ye han erred in thassemblinge of
your conseillours. / For ye sholde first have cleped a fewe folk
to your conseil, and after ye mighte han shewed it to mo folk, if it
hadde been nede. / But certes, ye han sodeynly cleped to your
conseil a greet multitude of peple, ful chargeant and ful anoyous
for to here./ Also ye han eired, for there-as ye sholden only
have cleped to your conseil your trewe freendes olde and wyse, /
ye han y-cleped straunge folk, and yong folk, false flatereres,
and enemys reconsiled, and folk that doon yow reverence with
outen love. / And eek also ye have erred, for ye han broght with
yow to your conseil ire, covetise, and hastifnesse; / the whiche
three thinges been contrariouse to every conseil honeste and pro_fitable, /
the whiche three thinges ye han nat anientissed or
destroyed hem, neither in your-self ne in your conseillours, as yow
oghte. / Ye han erred also, for ye han shewed to your conseillours
your talent, and your affeccioun to make werre anon and for to
do vengeance; / they han espyed by your wordes to what thing ye
been enclyned. / And therfore han they rather conseilled yow to
your talent than to your profit. / Ye han erred also, for it semeth
that yow suffyseth to han been conseilled by thise conseillours
only, and with litel avys; / wher-as, in so greet and so heigh a
nede, it hadde been necessarie mo conseillours, and more deli_beracioun
to parfourne your emprise. / Ye han erred also, for ye
han nat examined your conseil in the forseyde manere, ne in
due manere as the caas requireth. / Ye han erred also, for ye
han maked no divisioun bitwixe your conseillours; this is to



|p215


seyn, bitwixen your trewe freendes and your feyned conseillours; /
ne ye han nat knowe the wil of your trewe freendes olde and
wyse; / but ye han cast alle hir wordes in an hochepot, and
enclyned your herte to the more part and to the gretter nombre;
and ther been ye condescended. / And sith ye wot wel that men
shal alwey finde a gretter nombre of foles than of wyse men, / and
therfore the conseils that been at congregaciouns and multitudes
of folk, ther-as men take more reward to the nombre than to the
sapience of persones, / ye see wel that in swiche conseillinges
' foles han the maistrie.' / Melibeus answerde agayn, and seyde:
I graunte wel that I have erred; / but ther-as thou hast told
me heer-biforn, that he nis nat to blame that chaungeth hise
conseillours in certein caas, and for certeine Iuste causes, / I
am al redy to chaunge my conseillours, right as thow wolt
devyse. / The proverbe seith: that "for to do sinne is man_nish,
but certes for to persevere longe in sinne is werk of the
devel."' /

    30. To this sentence answerde anon dame Prudence, and
seyde: / `Examineth,' quod she, `your conseil, and lat us see
the whiche of hem han spoken most resonably, and taught yow
best conseil. / And for-as-muche as that the examinacioun is
necessarie, lat us biginne at the surgiens and at the phisiciens,
that first speken in this matere. / I sey yow, that the surgiens and phisiciens han seyd yow in your conseil discreetly, as hem
oughte; / and in hir speche seyden ful wysly, that to the office of
hem aperteneth to doon to every wight honour and profit, and no
wight for to anoye; / and, after hir craft, to doon greet diligence
un-to the cure of hem whiche that they han in hir governaunce. /
And sir, right as they han answered wysly and discreetly, / right
so rede I that they been heighly and sovereynly guerdoned for
hir noble speche; / and eek for they sholde do the more ententif
bisinesse in the curacioun of your doghter dere. / For al-be-it so
that they been your freendes, therfore shal ye nat suffren that they
serve yow for noht; / but ye oghte the rather guerdone hem and
shewe hem your largesse. / And as touchinge the proposicioun



|p216


which that the phisiciens entreteden in this caas, this is to seyn, /
that, in maladyes, that oon contrarie is warisshed by another
contrarie, / I wolde fayn knowe how ye understonde thilke text,
and what is your sentence.' / `Certes,' quod Melibeus, `I under_stonde
it in this wyse: / that, right as they han doon me a
contrarie, right so sholde I doon hem another. / For right as
tbey han venged hem on me and doon me wrong, right so shal I
venge me upon hem and doon hem wrong; / and thanne have I
cured oon contrarie by another.' /

    31. `Lo, lo! ' quod dame Prudence, `how lightly is every
# man enclyned to his owene desyr and to his owene plesaunce! /
Certes,' quod she, `the wordes of the phisiciens ne sholde nat
han been understonden in this wyse. / For certes, wikkednesse
is nat contrarie to wikkednesse, ne vengeaunce to vengeaunce, ne
wrong to wrong; but they been semblable. / And therfore, o
vengeaunce is nat warisshed by another vengeaunce, ne o wrong
by another wrong; / but everich of hem encreesceth and aggreg_geth
other: / But certes, the wordes of the phisiciens sholde
been understonden in this wyse: / for good and wrkkednesse
been two contraries, and pees and werre, vengeaunce and suf_fraunce,
discord and accord, and manye othere thinges. / But
certes, wikkednesse shal be warisshed by goodnesse, discord by
accord, werre by pees, -- and so forth of othere thinges. / And
heer-to accordeth Seint Paul the apostle in manye places. / He
seith: "ne yeldeth nat harm for harm, ne wikked speche for
wikked speche; / but do wel to him that dooth thee harm, and
blesse him that seith to thee harm. "/ And in manye othere
places he amonesteth pees and accord. / But now wol I speke
to yow of the conseil which that was yeven to yow by the men of
lawe and the wyse folk, / that seyden alle by oon accord as ye
han herd bifore; / that, over alle thynges, ye sholde doon your
diligence to kepen your persone and to warnestore your hous. /
And seyden also, that in this caas ye oghten for to werken ful
avysely and with greet deliberacioun. / And sir, as to the firste
point, that toucheth to the keping of your persone; / ye shul
understonde that he that hath werre shal evermore mekely and
devoutly preyen biforn alle thinges, / that Iesus Crist of his grete



|p217


mercy wol han him in his proteccioun, and been his sovereyn
helping at his nede. / For certes, in this world ther is no wight
that may be conseilled ne kept suffisantly withouten the keping of
our lord Iesu Crist. / To this sentence accordeth the prophete
David, that seith: / "if god ne kepe the citee, in ydel waketh he
that it kepeth."/ Now sir, thanne shul ye committe the keping
of your persone to your trewe freendes that been approved and
y-knowe; / and of hem shul ye axen help your persone for to kepe.
For Catoun seith: "if thou hast nede of help, axe it of thy
freendes; / for ther nis noon so good a phisicien as thy trewe
freend."/ And after this, thanne shul ye kepe yow fro alle straunge
folk, and fro lyeres, and have alwey in suspect hir companye. /
For Piers Alfonce seith: "ne tak no companye by the weye of a
strau-nge man, but-if so be that thou have knowe him of a lenger
tyme. / And if so. be that he falle in-to thy companye par_aventure
withouten thyn assent, / enquere thanne, as subtilly as
thou mayst, of his conversacioun and of his lyf bifore, and feyne
thy wey; seye that thou goost thider as thou wolt nat go; / and
if he bereth a spere, hold thee on the right syde, and if he bere a
swerd, hold thee on the lift syde."/ And after this, thanne shul
ye kepe yow, wysely from alle swich manere peple as I have seyd
bifore, and hem and hir conseil eschewe. / And after this,
thanne shul ye kepe yow in swich manere, / that for any pre_sumpcioun
of your strengthe, that ye ne dispyse nat ne acounte
nat the might of your adversarie so litel, that ye lete the keping of
your persone for your presumpcioun; / for every wys man dredeth
his enemy. / And Salomon seith: "weleful is he that of alle
hath drede; / for certes, he that thurgh the hardinesse of his
herte and thurgh the hardinesse of him-self hath to greet pre_sumpcioun,
him shal yvel bityde."/ Thanne shul ye evermore
countrewayte embusshements and alle espiaille. / For Senek
seith: that "the wyse man that dredeth harmes escheweth
harmes; / ne he ne falleth in-to perils, that perils escheweth."
/ 2510 And al-be-it so that it seme that thou art in siker place, yet
shaltow alwey do thy diligence in kepinge of thy persone; / this
is to seyn, ne be nat necligent to kepe thy persone, nat only fro



|p218


thy gretteste enemys but fro thy leeste enemy. / Senek seith:
"a man that is wel avysed, he dredeth his leste enemy."/ Ovide
seith: that "the litel wesele wol slee the grete bole and the wilde
hert."/ And the book seith: "a litel thorn may prikke a greet
king ful sore, and an hound wol holde the wilde boor."/ But
nathelees, I sey nat thou shalt be so coward that thou doute ther
wher as is no. drede. / The book seith: that "somme folk han
greet lust to deceyve, but yet they dreden hem to be deceyved."'
Yet shaltou drede to been empoisoned, and kepe yow from the
companye of scorneres. / For the book seith: "with scorneres
make no companye, but flee hir wordes as venim."/

    32. Now as to the seconde point, wher-as your wyse con_seillours
conseilled yow to warnestore your hous with gret dili_gence, /
I wolde fayn knowe, how that ye understonde thilke
wordes, and what is your sentence.'

    33. Melibeus answerde and seyde, `Certes I understande it
in this wise; that I shal warnestore myn hous with toures, swiche
as han castelles and othere manere edifices, and armure and
artelleries, / by whiche thinges I may my persone and myn hous
so kepen and defenden, that myne enemys shul been in drede
myn hous for to approche.' /

    34. To this sentence answerde anon Prudence; `warnes
toring,' quod she, `of heighe toures and of grete edifices apper_teneth
som-tyme to pryde; / and eek men make heighe toures and
grete edifices with grete costages and with greet travaille; and whan
that they been accompliced, yet be they nat worth a stree, but-if
they be defended by trewe freendes that been olde and wyse. /
And understond wel, that the gretteste and strongeste garnison
that a riche man may have, as wel to kepen his persone as hise
goodes, is / that he be biloved amonges his subgets and with hise
neighebores. / For thus seith Tullius: that "ther is a maner
garnison that no man may venquisse ne disconfite, and that is, /
a lord to be biloved of hise citezeins and of his peple."/

    35. Now sir, as to the thridde point; wher-as your olde and
wise conseillours seyden, that yow ne oghte nat sodeynly ne
hastily proceden in this nede, / but that yow oghte purveyen and



|p219


apparaillen yow in this caas with greet diligence and greet de_liberacioun, /
trewely, I trowe that they seyden right wysly and
right sooth./ For Tullius seith, "in every nede, er thou biginne
it, apparaille thee with greet diligence."/ Thanne seye I, that in
vengeance-taking, in werre, in bataille, and in warnestoring, / er
thow biginne, I rede that thou apparaille thee ther-to, and do it
with greet deliberacioun. / For Tullius seith: that "long ap_parailling
biforn the bataille maketh short victorie."/ And Cassi_dorus
seith: "the garnison is stronger whan it is longe tyme
avysed."/

    36. But now lat us speken of the conseil that was accorded
by your neighebores, swiche as doon yow reverence withouten
love, / your olde enemys reconsiled, your flatereres / that conseilled
yow certeyne thinges prively, and openly conseilleden yow the
contrarie; / the yonge folk also, that conseilleden yow to venge
yow and make werre anon. / And certes, sir, as I have seyd
biforn, ye han greetly erred to han cleped swichi maner folk to
your conseil; / which conseillours been y-nogh repreved by the
resouns afore-seyd. / But nathelees, lat us now descende to the
special. Ye shuln first procede after the doctrine of Tullius. /
Certes, the trouthe of this matere or of this conseil nedeth nat
diligently enquere; / for it is wel wist whiche they been that han
doon to yow this trespas and vileinye, / and how manye tres_passours,
and in what manere they han to yow doon al this wrong
and al this vileinye. / And after this, thanne shul ye examine the
seconde condicioun, which that the same Tullius addeth in this
matere. / For Tullius put a thing, which that he clepeth "con_sentinge,"
this is to seyn; / who been they and how manye, and
whiche been they, that consenteden to thy conseil, in thy wilful_nesse
to doon hastif vengeance. / And lat us considere also who
been they, and how manye been they, and whiche been they, that
consenteden to your adversaries. / And certes, as to the firste
poynt, it is wel knowen whiche folk been they that consenteden
to your hastif wilfulnesse; / for trewely, alle tho that conseilleden
yow to maken sodeyn werre ne been nat your freendes. / Lat us
now considere whiche been they, that ye holde so greetly your
freendes as to your persone. / For al-be-it so that ye be mighty



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and riche, certes ye ne been nat -- but allone. / For certes, ye ne
han no child but a doghter; / ne.ye ne han bretheren ne cosins
germayns, ne noon other neigh kinrede, / wherfore that your
enemys, for drode, sholde stinte to plede with yow or to destroye
your persone. / Ye knowen also, that your richesses moten been
dispended in diverse parties; / and whan that every wight hath
his part, they ne wollen taken but litel reward to venge thy deeth. /
But thyne enemys been three, and they han manie children,
bretheren, cosins, and other ny kinrede; / and, though so were
that thou haddest slayn of hem two or three, yet dwellen ther
y-nowe to wreken hir deeth and to slee thy persone. / And though
so be that your kinrede be more siker arnd stedefast than the kin
of your adversarie, / yet nathelees your kinrede nis but a fer
kinrede; they been but litel sib to yow, / and the kin of your
enemys been ny sib to hem. And certes, as in that, hir condicioun
is bet than youres. / Thanne lat us considere also if the con_seilling
of hem that conseilleden yow to taken sodeyn vengeaunce,
whether it accorde to resoun? / And certes, ye knowe wel "nay."/
For as by right and resoun, ther may no man taken vengeance on
no wight, but the Iuge that hath the Iurisdiccioun of it, / whan it
is graunted him to take thilke vengeance, hastily or attemprely,
as the lawe requireth. / And yet more-over, of thilke word that
Tullius clepeth "consentinge,"/ thou shaIt considere if thy might
and thy power may consenten and suffyse to thy wilfulnesse and
to thy conseillours. / And certes, thou mayst wel seyn that"nay."/
For sikerly, as for to speke proprely, we may do no-thing but
only swich thing as we may doon rightfully. / And certes, right_fully
ne mowe ye take no vengeance as of your propre auctoritee. /
Thanne mowe ye seen, that your power ne consenteth nat ne
accordeth nat with your wilfulnesse../ Lat us now examine the
thridde point that Tullius clepeth "consequent. "/ Thou shalt
understonde that the vengeance that thou purposest for to take
is the consequent. / And ther-of folweth another vengeaunce,
peril, and werre; and othere damages with-oute nombre, of
whiche we be nat war as at this tyme. / And as touchinge the
fourthe point, that Tullius clepeth "engendringe, "/ thou shalt
considere, that this wrong which that is doon to thee is engendred
of the hate of thyne enemys; / and of the vengeance-takinge upon
that wolde engendre another vengeance, and muchel sorwe and
wastinge of richesses, as I seyde. /



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    37. Now sir, as to the point that Tullius clepeth "causes,"
which that is the laste point, / thou shalt understonde that the
wrong that thou hast receyved hath certeine causes, / whiche that
clerkes clepen Oriens and Efficiens, and Causa longinqua and
Causa propinqua; this is to seyn, the fer cause and the ny cause. /
The fer cause is almighty god, that is cause of alle thinges. /
The neer cause is thy three enemys. / The cause accidental was
hate. / The cause material been the fyve woundes of thy doghter.
/ The cause formal is the manere of hir werkinge, that broghten
laddres and cloumben in at thy windowes. / The cause final was
for to slee thy doghter; it letted nat in as muche as in hem was. /
But for to speken of the fer cause, as to what ende they shul
come, or what shal finally bityde of hem in this caas, ne can I
nat deme but by coniectinge and by supposinge. / For we shul
suppose that they shul come to a wikked ende, / by-cause that the
Book of Decrees seith: "selden or with greet peyne been causes
y-broght to good ende whanne they been baddely bigonne. "/

    38. Now sir, if men wolde axe me, why that god suffred
men to do yow this vileinye, certes, I can nat wel answere as
for no sothfastnesse. / For thapostle seith, that "the sciences and
the Iuggementz of our lord god almighty been ful depe; / ther
may no man comprehende ne serchen hem suffisantly."/ Nathe_lees,
by certeyne presumpcions and coniectinges, I holde and
bileve / that god, which that is ful of Iustice and of rightwisnesse,
hath suffred this bityde by Iuste cause resonable. /

    39. Thy name is Melibee, this is to seyn, "a man that
drinketh hony."/ Thou hast y-dronke so muchel hony of swete
temporel richesses and delices and honours of this world, / that
thou art dronken; and hast forgeten Iesu Cnst thy creatour; /
thou ne hast nat doon to him swich honour and reverence as thee
oughte. / Ne thou ne hast nat wel y-taken kepe to the wordes of
Ovide, that seith: / "under the hony of the godes of the body
is hid the venim that sleeth the soule."/ And Salomon seith, "if
thou hast founden hony, ete of it that suffyseth; / for if thou ete
of it out of mesure, thou shalt spewe, "and be nedy and povre. /
And peraventure Crist hath thee in despit, and hath turned awey
fro thee his face and hise eres of misericorde; / and also he hath
suffred that thou hast been puriisshed in the manere that thow



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hast y-trespassed. / Thou hast doon sinne agayn our lord Crist; /
for certes, the three enemys of mankinde, that is to seyn, the
flessh, the feend, and the world, / thou hast suffred hem entre in-to
thyn herte wilfully by the windowes of thy body, / and hast nat
defended thy-self suffisantly agayns hir assautes and hir temp_taciouns,
so that they han wounded thy soule in fyve places; /
this is to sen, the deedly sinnes that been entred in-to thyn
herte by thy fyve wittes. / And in the same manere our lord
Crist hath wold and suffred, that thy three enemys been entred
in-to thyn hous by the windowes, / and han y-wounded thy
doghter in the fore-seyde manere.' /

    40. `Certes,' quod Melibee, `I see wel that ye enforce yow
muchel by wordes to overcome me in swich manere, that I shal
nat venge me of myne enemys; / shewinge me the perils and the
yveles that mighten falle of this vengeance. / But who-so. wolde
considere in alle vengeances the perils and yveles that mighte
sewe of vengeance-takinge, / a man wolde never take vengeance,
and that were harm; / for by the vengeance-takinge been the
wikked men dissevered fro the gode men./ And they that han
wil to do wikkednesse restreyne hir wikked purpos, whan they
seen the punissinge and chastysinge of the trespassours.' / [And
to this answerde dame Prudence: `Certes,' seyde she, `I graunte
wel that of vengeaunce cometh muchel yvel and muchel good; /
but vengeaunce-taking aperteneth nat unto everichoon, but only
unto Iuges and unto hem that han Iurisdiccioun upon the
trespassours.] / And yet seye I more, that right as a singuler
persone sinneth in takinge vengeance of another man, / right so
sinneth the Iuge if he do no vengeance of hem that it han
deserved./ For Senek seith thus: "that maister," he seith, "is good
that proveth shrewes."/ And as Cassidore seith: "A man
dredeth to do outrages, whan he woot and knoweth that it dis_pleseth
to the Iuges and sovereyns."/ And another seith: "the
Iuge that dredeth to do right, maketh men shrewes."/ And Seint
Paule the apostle seith in his epistle, whan he wryteth un-to the
Romayns: that "the Iuges beren nat the spere with-outen cause;"/
but they beren it to punisse the shrewes and misdoeres, and for
to defende the gode men. / If ye wol thanne take vengeance of



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your enemys, ye shul retourne or have your recours to the Iuge
that hath the Iurisdiccion up-on hem; / and he shal punisse hem
as the lawe axeth and requyreth.' /

    41.`A!' quod Melibee, `this vengeance lyketh me no-thing. /I
bithenke me now and take hede, how fortune hath norissed me
fro my childhede, and hath holpen me to passe many a strong
pas. / Now wol I assayen hir, trowinge, with goddes help, that she
shal helpe me my shame for. to venge.' /

    42. `Certes,' quod Prudence, `if ye wol werke by my conseil,
ye shul nat assaye fortune by no wey; / ne ye shul nat lene or
bowe unto hir, after the word of Senek: / for "thinges that been
folily doon, and that been in hope of fortune, shullen never come
to good ende."/ And as the same Senek seith: "the more cleer
and the more shyning that fortune is, the more brotil and the
sonner broken she is."./Trusteth nat in hir, for she nis nat
stidefast ne stable; / for whan thow trowest to be most seur or
siker of hir help, she wol faille thee and deceyve thee. / And wher_as
ye seyn that fortune hath norissed yow fro your childhede, / I
seye, that in so muchel shul ye the lasse truste in hir and in hir
wit. / For Senek seith: "what man that is norissed by fortune,
she maketh him a greet fool. "/ Now thanne, sin ye desyre and
axe vengeance, and the vengeance that is doon after the lawe and
bifore the Iuge ne lyketh yow nat, / and the vengeance that is doon
in hope of fortune is perilous and uncertein, / thanne have ye noon
other remedie but for to have your recours unto the sovereyn
Iuge that vengeth alle vileinyes and wronges; / and he shal
venge yow after that him-self witnesseth, wher-as he seith: /
"leveth the vengeance to me, and I shal do it. "' /

    43. Melibee answerde, `if I ne venge me nat of the vileinye
that men han doon to me, / I sompne or warne hem that han doon
to me that vileinye and alle othere, to do me another vileinye.
/ For it is writen: "if thou take no vengeance of an old vileinye,
thou sompnest thyne adversaries to do thee a newe vileinye. "/
And also, for my suffrance, men wolden do to me so muchel
vileinye, that I mighte neither bere it ne sustene; / and so sholde
I been put and holden over lowe. / For men seyn: "in muchel
suffringe shul manye thinges falle un-to thee whiche thou shalt nat
mowe suffre. "' /



|p224


    44. `Certes,' quod Prudence, `I graunte yow that over
muchel suffraunce nis nat good; / but yet ne folweth it nat ther-of,
that every persone to whom men doon vileinye take of it ven_geance, /
for that aperteneth and longeth al only to the Iuges,
for they shul venge the vileinyes and iniuries. / And ther-fore
tho two auctoritees that ye han seyd above, been only understonden
in the Iuges; / for whan they suffren over muchel the wronges and
the vileinyes to be doon withouten punisshinge, / they sompne
nat a man al only for to do newe wronges, but they comanden it.
/ Also a wys man seith: that "the Iuge that correcteth nat the
sinnere comandeth and biddeth him do sinne."/ And the Iuges
and sovereyns mighten in hir land so muchel suffre of the shrewes
and misdoeres, / that they sholden by swich suffrance, by proces
of tyme, wexen of swich power and might, that they sholden putte
out the Iuges and the sovereyms from hir places, / and atte laste
maken hem lesen hir lordshipes. /

    45. But lat us now putte, that ye have leve to venge yow. /
I seye ye been nat of might and power as now to venge yow./
For if ye wole maken comparisoun un-to the might of your ad_versaries,
ye shul finde in manye thinges, that I have shewed yow
er this, that hir condicioun is bettre than youres. / And therfore
seye I, that it is good as now that ye suffre and be pacient. /

    46. Forther-more, ye knowen wel that, after the comune sawe,
"it is a woodnesse a man to stryve with a strenger or a more
mighty man than he is him-self; / and for to stryve with a man
of evene strengthe, that is to seyn, with as strong a man as he, it
is peril; / and for to stryve with a weyker man, it is folie."/ And
therfore sholde a man flee stryvinge as muchel as he mighte./
For Salomon seith: "it is a greet worship to a man to kepen
him fro noyse and stryf"/ And if it so bifalle or happe that
a man of gretter might and strengthe than thou art do thee gre_vaunce, /
studie and bisie thee rather to stille the same grevaunce, than for to venge thee. / For Senek seith: that "he putteth him
in greet peril that stryveth with a gretter man than he is him-self."/
And Catoun seith: "if a man of hyer estaat or degree, or more
mighty than thou, do thee anoy or grevaunce, suffre him; / for he
that ones hath greved thee may another tyme releve thee and
helpe."/ Yet sette I caas, ye have bothe might and licence for to



|p225


venge yow. / I seye, that ther be ful manye thinges that shul
restreyne yow of vengeance-takinge, / and make yow for to enclyne
to suffre, and for to han pacience in the thinges that han been
doon to yow. / First and foreward, if ye wole considere the
defautes that been in your owene persone, / for whiche defautes
god hath suffred yow have this tribulacioun, as I have seyd yow
heer-biforn. /For the poete seith, that "we oghte paciently taken
the tribulacions that comen to us, whan we thinken and consideren
that we han deserved to have hem."/ And Seint Gregorie seith:
that "whan a man considereth wel the nombre of hise defautes
and of his sinnes, / the peynes and the tribulaciouns that he
suffreth semen the lesse un-to hym; / and in-as-muche as him
thinketh hise sinnes more hevy and grevous, / in-so-muche semeth
his peyne the lighter and the esier un-to him. "/Also ye owen
to enclyne and bowe your herte to take the pacience of our lord
Iesu Crist, as seith seint Peter in hise epistles: / "Iesu Crist, "he
seith, "hath suffred for us, and yeven ensample to every man
to folwe and sewe him; / for he dide never sinne, ne never cam
ther a vileinous word out of his mouth: / whan men cursed him,
he cursed hem noght; and whan men betten him, he manaced
hem noght. "/ Also the grete pacience, which the seintes that
been in paradys han had in tribulaciouns that they han y-suffred,
with-outen hir desert or gilt,/ oghte muchel stiren yow to pacience./
Forthermore, ye sholde enforce yow to have pacience, / consider_inge
that the tribulaciouns of this world but litel whyle endure,
and sone passed been and goon. / And the Ioye that a man
seketh to have by pacience intribulaciouns is perdurable, after
that the apostle seith in his epistle: / "the Ioye of god," he seith,
"is perdurable," that is to seyn, everlastinge. / Also troweth and
bileveth stedefastly, that he nis nat wel y-norissed ne wel y-taught,
that can nat have pacience or wol nat receyve pacience. / For
Salomon seith: that "the doctrine and the wit of a man is knowen
by pacience."/ And in another place he seith that "he that is
pacient govemeth him by greet prudence. "/ And the same Salo_mon
seith: "the angry and wrathful man maketh noyses, and the
pacient man atempreth hem and stilleth. "/ He seith also: "it is
more worth to be pacient than for to be right strong; /. and he that
may have the lordshipe of his owene herte is more to preyse, than



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he that by his force or strengthe taketh grete citees."/ And ther_fore
seith seint Iame in his epistle: that "pacience is a greet
vertu of perfeccioun."' /

    47. `Certes,' quod Melibee, `I graunte yow, dame Prudence,
that pacience is a greet vertu of perfeccioun; / but every man
may nat have the perfeccioun that ye seken; / ne I nam nat of
the nombre of right parfite men, / for myn herte may never been
in pees un-to the tyme it be venged. / And al-be-it so that it was
greet peril to myne enemys, to do me a vileinye in takinge venge_ance
up-on me, / yet token they noon hede of the peril, but ful_filleden
hir wikked wil and hir corage. / And therfore, me think_eth
men oghten nat repreve me, though I putte me in a litel peril
for to venge me, / and though I do a greet excesse, that is to seyn,
that I venge oon outrage by another.' /

    48. `A! ' quod dame Prudence, `ye seyn your wil and as
yow lyketh; / but in no caas of the world a man sholde nat doon
outrage ne excesse for to vengen him. / For Cassidore seith:
that "as yvel doth he that vengeth him by outrage, as he that doth
the outrage."/ And therfore ye shul venge yow after the ordre
of right, that is to seyn by the lawe, and noght by excesse ne by
outrage. / And also, if ye wol venge yow of the outrage of your
adversaries in other maner than right comandeth, ye sinnen;
/ and therfore seith Senek: that "a man shal never vengen
shrewednesse by shrewednesse. "/ And if ye seye, that right axeth
a man to defenden violence by violence, and fighting by fighting, /
certes ye seye sooth, whan the defense is doon anon with-outen
intervalle or with-outen tarying or delay, / for to defenden him and
nat for to vengen him. / And it bihoveth that a man putte swich
attemperance in his defence, / that men have no cause ne matere
to repreven him that defendeth him of excesse and outrage; for
elles were it agayn resoun. / Pardee, ye knowen wel, that ye
maken no defence as now for to defende yow, but for to venge
yow; / and so seweth it that ye han no wil to do your dede
attemprely. / And therfore, me thinketh that pacience is good.
For Salomon seith: that "he that is nat pacient shal have greet
harm.

    49. `Certes,' quod Melibee, `I graunte yow, that whan



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a man is inpacient and wroth, of that that toucheth him noght
and that aperteneth nat un-to him, though it harme him, it is no
wonder. / For the lawe seith: that "he is coupable that entre_metteth
or medleth with swich thyng as aperteneth nat un-to him."/
And Salomon seith: that "he that entremetteth him of the
noyse or stryf of another man, is lyk to him that taketh an hound
by the eres."/ For right as he that taketh a straunge hound by
the eres is outherwhyle biten with the hound, / right in the same
wyse is it resoun that he have harm, that by his inpacience medleth
him of the noyse of another man, wher-as it aperteneth nat un-to
him. / But ye knowen wel that this dede, that is to seyn, my
grief and my disese, toucheth me right ny. / And therfore, though
I be wroth and inpacient, it is no merveille. / And savinge your
grace, I can nat seen that it mighte greetly harme me though I
toke vengeaunce; / for I am richer and more mighty than myne
enemys been. / And wel knowen ye, that by moneye and by
havinge grete possessions been all the thinges of this world
governed. / And Salomon seith: that "alle thinges obeyen to
moneye. "'

    50. Whan Prudence hadde herd hir housbonde avanten
him of his richesse and of his moneye, dispreisinge the power of
hise adversaries, she spak, and seyde in this wyse: / `certes, dere
sir, I graunte yow that ye been rich and mighty' / and that the
richesses been goode to hem that han wel y-geten hem and
wel conne usen hem. / For right as the body of a man may nat
liven with-oute the soule, namore may it live with-outen temporel
goodes. / And by richesses may a man gete him grete freendes. /
And therfore seith Pamphilles: "if a net-herdes doghter, "seith
he, "be riche, she may chesen of a thousand men which she wol
take to hir housbonde; / for, of a thousand men, oon wol nat
forsaken hir ne refusen hir."/ And this Pamphilles seith also:
"if thou be right happy, that is to seyn, if thou be right riche,
thou shalt find a greet nombre of felawes and freendes. / And if
thy fortune change that thou wexe povre, farewel freendshipe and
felaweshipe; / for thou shalt -be allone with-outen any companye,
but-if it be the companye of povre folk."/ And yet seith this
Pamphilles moreover: that "they that been thralle and bonde of



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linage shullen been maad worthy and noble by the richesses. /
And right so as by richesses ther comen manye goodes, right
so by poverte come ther manye harmes and yveles. / For greet
poverte constreyneth a man to do manye yveles. / And therfore
clepeth Cassidore poverte "the moder of ruine,"/ that is to seyn,
the moder of overthrowinge or fallinge doun. / And therfore
seith Piers Alfonce: "oon of the gretteste adversitees of this
world is / whan a free man, by kinde or by burthe, is constreyned
by poverte to eten the almesse of his enemy. "/ And the same
seith Innocent in oon of hise bokes; he seith: that "sorweful
and mishappy is the condicioun of a povre begger; / for if he
axe nat his mete, he dyeth for hunger; / and if he axe, he dyeth
for shame; and algates necessitee constreyneth him to axe."/
And therfore seith Salomon: that "bet it is to dye than for to
have swich poverte."/ And as the same Salomon seith: "bettre
it is to dye of bitter deeth than for to liven in swich wyse."/ By
thise resons that I have seid un-to yow, and by manye othere
resons that I coude seye, / I graunte yow that richesses been
goode to hem that geten hem wel, and to hem that wel usen tho
richesses. / And therfore wol I shewe yow how ye shul have
yow, and how ye shul bere yow in gaderinge of richesses, and in
what manere ye shul usen hem. /

    51. First, ye shul geten hem with-outen greet desyr, by
good leyser sokingly, and nat over hastily. / For a man that is
to desyringe to gete richesses abaundoneth him first to thefte and
to alle other yveles. / And therfore seith Salomon: "he that
hasteth him to bisily to wexe riche shal be noon innocent."/ He
seith also: that "the richesse that hastily cometh to a man, sone
and lightly, gooth and passeth fro a man; / but that richesse that
cometh litel and litel wexeth alwey and multiplyeth."/ And sir,
ye shuI geten richesses by your wit and by your travaille un-to
your profit; / and that with-outen wrong or harm-doinge to any
other persone. / For the lawe seith: that "ther maketh no man
himselven riche, if he do harm to another wight;"/ this is to
seyn, that nature defendeth and forbedeth by right, that no man
make hini-self riche un-to the harm of another persone. / And
Tullius seith: that "no sorwe ne no drede of deeth, ne no-thing
that may falle un-to a man / is so muchel agayns nature, as a man to



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encressen his owene profit to the harm of another man. / And
though the grete men and the mighty men geten richesses mnore
lightly than thou, / yet shaltou nat been ydel ne slow to do thy
profit; for thou shalt in alle wyse flee ydelnesse."/ For Salomon
seith: that "ydelnesse techeth a man to do manye yveles."/
And the same Salomon seith: that "he that travailleth and
bisieth him to tilien his land, shal eten breod; / but he that is
ydel and casteth him to no bisinesse ne occupacioun, shal falle
in-to poverte, and dye for hunger."/ And he that is ydel and
slow can never finde covenable tyme for to doon his profit. /
For ther is a versifiour seith: that "the ydel man excuseth hym
in winter, by cause of the grete cold; and in somer, by enchesoun
of the hete."/ For thise causes seith Caton: "waketh and en_clyneth
nat yow over muchel for to slepe; for over muchel reste
norisseth and causeth manye vices."/ And therfore seith seint
Ierome: "doth somme gode dedes, that the devel which is our
enemy ne finde yow nat unoccupied."/ For the devel ne taketh
nat lightly un-to his werkinge swiche as he findeth occupied in
gode werkes."/

    52. Thanne thus, in getinge richesses, ye mosten flee ydel_nesse. /
And afterward, ye shul use the richesses, whiche ye
have geten by your wit and by your travaille, / in swich a manere,
that men holde nat yow to scars, ne to sparinge, ne to fool_large,
that is to seyn, over-large a spender. / For right as men blamen
an avaricious man by-cause of his scarsetee and chincherye, / in the
same wyse is he to blame that spendeth over largely. / And
therfore seith Caton: "use, "he seith, "thy richesses that thou
hast geten / in swich a manere, that men have no matere ne cause
to calle thee neither wrecche ne chinche; / for it is a greet
shame to a man to have a povere herte and a riche purs."/ He
seith also: "the goodes that thou hast y-geten, use hem by
mesure, "that is to seyn, spende hem mesurably; / for they that
folily wasten and despenden the goodes that they han, / whan
they han namore propre of hir owene, they shapen hem to take
the goodes of another man. / I seye thanne, that ye shul fleen
avarice, / usinge your richesses in swich manere, that men seye
nat that your richesses been y-buried, / but that ye have hem in



|p230


your might and in your weeldinge. / For a wys man repreveth the
avaricious man, and seith thus, in two vers: / "wherto and why
burieth a man hise goodes by his grete avarice, and knoweth wel
that nedes moste he dye; / for deeth is the ende of every man
as in this present lyf."/ And for what cause or enchesoun
Ioyneth he him or knitteth he him so faste un-to hise goodes, /
that alle his wittes mowen nat disseveren him or departen him
from hise goodes; / and knoweth wel, or oghte knowe, that whan
he is deed, he shal no-thing bere with him out of this world. /
And ther-fore seith seint Augustin: that "the avaricious man
is likned un-to helle; / that the more it swelweth, the more
desyr it hath to swelwe and devoure."/ And as wel as ye wolde
eschewe to be called an avaricious man or chinche, / as wel
sholde ye kepe yow and governe yow in swich a wyse that men
calle yow nat fool-large. / Therfore seith Tullius: "the goodes,"
he seith, "of thyn hous ne sholde nat been hid, ne kept so cloos
but that they mighte been opened by pitee and debonairetee; "/
that is to seyn, to yeven part to hem that han greet nede; / "ne
thy goodes shullen nat been so opene, to been every mannes
goodes."/ Afterward, in getinge of your richesses and in usinge
hem, ye shul alwey have three thinges in your herte; / that is to
seyn, our lord god, conscience, and good name. / First, ye shul
have god in your herte; / and for no richesse ye shullen do no_thing,
which may in any manere displese god, that is your creatour
and maker. / For after the word of Salomon: "it is bettre to
have a litel good with the love of god, / than to have muchel good
and tresour, and lese the love of his lord god."/ And the
prophete seith: that "bettre it is to been a good man and have
litel good and tresour, / than to been holden a shrewe and have
grete richesses."/ And yet seye I ferthermore, that ye sholde
alwey doon your bisinesse to gete yow richesses, / so that ye gete
hem with good conscience. / And thapostle seith: that "ther nis
thing in this world, of which we sholden have so greet Ioye as
whan our conscience bereth us good witnesse."/ And the wyse
man seith: "the substance of a man is ful good, w,han sinne is
nat in mannes conscience."/ Afterward, in getinge of your
richesses, and in usinge of hem, / yow moste have greet bisinesse
and greet diligence, that your goode name be alwey kept and con_served. /
For Salomon seith: that "bettre it is and more it avail_leth
a man to have a good name, than for to have grete richesses."/



|p231


And therfore he seith in another place: "do greet diligence," seith
Salomon, "in keping of thy freend and of thy gode name; / for it
shal lenger abide with thee than any tresour, be it never so
precious."/ And certes he sholde nat be called a gentil man,
that after god and good conscience, alle thinges left, ne dooth his
diligence and bisinesse to kepen his good name. / And Cassidore
seith: that "it is signe of a gentil herte, whan a man loveth and
desyreth to han a good name."/ And therfore seith seint Augustin:
that "ther been two thinges that arn necessarie and nedefulle, /
and that is good conscience and good loos; / that is to seyn,
good conscience to thyn owene persone inward, and good loos
for thy neighebore outward."/ And he that trusteth him so
muchel in his gode conscience, / that he displeseth and setteth
at noght his gode name or loos, and rekketh noght though he
kepe nat his gode name, nis but a cruel cherl. /

    53. Sire, now have I shewed yow how ye shul do in getinge
richesses, and how ye shullen usen hem; / and I se wel, that for
the trust that ye han in youre richesses, ye wole moeve werre and
bataille. / I conseille yow, that ye biginne no werre in trust of
your richesses; for they ne suffysen noght werres to mayntene./
And therfore seith a philosophre: "that man that desyreth and
wole algates han werre, shal never have suffisaunce; / for the
richer that he is, the gretter despenses moste he make, if he wole
have worship and victorie."/ And Salomon seith: that "the
gretter richesses that a man hath, the mo despendours he hath."/
And dere sire, al-be-it so that for your richesses ye mowe have
muchel folk, / yet bihoveth it nat, ne it is nat good, to biginne
werre, where-as ye mowe in other manere have pees, un-to your
w,orship and profit. / For the victories of batailles that been in
this world, lyen nat in greet nombre or multitude of the peple ne
in the vertu of man; / but it lyth in the wil and in the hand of
our lord god almighty. / And therfore Iudas Machabeus, which
was goddes knight, / whan he sholde fighte agayn his adversarie
that hadde a greet nombre, and a gretter multitude of folk and
strenger than was this peple of Machabee,/yet he reconforted his
litel companye, and seyde right in this wyse: /"als lightly," quod
he, "may our lord god almighty yeve victorie to a fewe folk as to
many folk; / for the victorie of bataile cometh nat by the grete



|p232


nombre of peple, / but it cometh from our lord god of hevene."/ And dere sir, for as muchel as there is no man certein, if he be
worthy that god yeve him victorie, [namore than he is certein
whether he be worthy of the love of god] or naught, after that
Salomon seith, / therfore every man sholde greetly drede werres to
biginne. / And by-cause that in batailles fallen manye perils, / and
happeth outher-while, that as sone is the grete man sleyn as the
litel man; / and, as it is written in the seconde book of Kinges,
the dedes of batailles been aventurouse and nothing certeyne;"/
for as lightly is oon hurt with a spere as another. / And for
ther is gret peril in werre, therfore sholde a man flee and eschewe
werre, in as muchel as a man may goodly'. / For Salomon seith: he that loveth peril shal falle in peril."'

    54. After that Dame Prudence hadde spoken in this manere,
Melibee answerde and seyde, / `I see wel, dame Prudence, that
by your faire wordes and by your resons that ye han shewed me,
that the werre lyketh yow no-thing; / but I have nat yet herd your
conseil, how I shal do in this nede.

    55. `Certes,' quod she, `I conseille yow that ye accorde
with youre adversaries, and that ye haue pees with hem. / For
seint Iame seith in hise epistles: that "by concord and pees the
smale richesses wexen grete, / and by debaat and discord the grete
richesses fallen doun."/ And ye knowen wel that oon of the
gretteste and most sovereyn thing, that is in this world, is unitee
and pees. / And therfore seyde oure lord Iesu Crist to hise
apostles in this wyse: / "wel happy and blessed been they that
loven and purchacen pees; for they been called children of god."' /
`A! ' quod Melibee, `now se I wel that ye loven nat myn honour
ne my worshipe. / Ye knowen wel that imyne adversaries han
bigonnen this debaat and brige by hir outrage; / and ye see wel
that they ne requeren ne preyen me nat of pees, ne they asken nat
to be reconsiled. / Wol ye thanne that I go and meke me and
obeye me to hem, and crye hem mercy? / For sothe, that were
nat my worship. / For right as men seyn, that "over-greet homli_nesse
engendreth dispreysinge, "so fareth it by to greet humylitee
or mekenesse. ' /



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    56. Thanne bigan dame Prudence to maken semblant of
wratthe, and seyde, / `certes, sir, sauf your grace, I love your
honour and your profit as I do myn owene, and ever have doon; /
ne ye ne noon other syen never the contrarie. /And yit, if
I hadde seyd that ye sholde han purchaced the pees and the re_consiliacioun,
I ne hadde nat muchel mistaken me, ne seyd amis. /
For the wyse man seith: "the dissensioun biginneth by another
man, and the reconsiling bi-ginneth by thy-self."/ And the
prophete seith: "flee shrewednesse and do goodnesse; / seke
pees and folwe it, as muchel as in thee is."/ Yet seye I nat that ye
shul rather pursue to your adversaries for pees than they shuln to
yow; / for I knowe wel that ye been so hard-herted, that ye wol
do no-thing for me. / And Salomon seith: "he that hath over_hard
an herte, atte laste he shal mishappe and mistyde."'

    57. Whanne Melibee hadde herd dame Prudence maken
semblant of wratthe, he seyde in this wyse, / `dame, I prey yow
that ye be nat displesed of thinges that I seye; / for ye knowe wel
that I am angry and wrooth, and that is no wonder; / and they that
been wrothe witen nat wel what they doon, ne what they seyn. /
Therfore the prophete seith: that "troubled eyen han no cleer
sighte."/ But seyeth and conseileth me as yow lyketh; for I am
redy to do right as ye wol desyre; / and if ye repreve me of my
folye, I am the more holden to love yow and to preyse yow. / For
Salomon seith: that "he that repreveth him that doth folye, / he
shal finde gretter grace than he that deceyveth him by swete
wordes."' /

    58. Thanne seide dame Prudence, `I make no semblant of
wratthe ne anger but for your grete profit. / For Salomon seith:
"he is more worth, that repreveth or chydeth a fool for his foly
e, shewinge him semblant of wratthe, / than he that supporteth him
and preyseth him in his misdoinge, and laugheth at his folye."/
And this same Salomon seith afterward: that "by the sorweful
visage of a man, "that is to seyn, by the sory and hevy counten_aunce
of a man, / "the fool correcteth and amendeth him-self "' /

    59. Thanne seyde Melibee, `I shal nat conne answere to so
manye faire resouns as ye putten to me and shewen. / Seyeth
shortly your wil and your conseil, and I am al ready to fulfille and
parfourne it.' /



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    60. Thanne dame Prudence discovered al hir wil to him, and
seyde, / `I conseille yow,' quod she, `aboven alle thinges, that ye
make pees bitwene god and yow; / and beth reconsiled un-to him
and to his grace. / For as I have seyd yow heer-biforn, god hath
suffred yow to have this tribulacioun and disese for your sinnes. /
And if ye do as I sey yow, god wol sende your adversaries un-to
yow, / and maken hem fallen at your feet, redy to do your wil and
your comandements. / For Salomon seith: "whan the condicioun
of man is plesaunt. and likinge to god, / he chaungeth the hertes
of the mannes adversaries, and constreyneth hem to biseken him
of pees and of grace."/ And I prey yow, lat me speke with your
adversaries in privee place; / for they shul nat knowe that it be
of your wil or your assent. / And thanne, whan I knowe hir wil
and hir entente, I may conseille yow the more seurly.' /

    61. `Dame, ' quod Melibee, `dooth your wil and your lykinge,/
for I putte me hoolly in your disposicioun and ordinaunce.' /

    62. Thanne Dame Prudence, whan she saugh the gode wil
of her housbonde, delibered and took avys in hir-self, / thinkinge
how she mighte bringe this nede un-to a good conclusioun and to
a good ende. / And whan she saugh hir tynne, she sente for thise
adversaries to come un-to hir in-to a privee place, / and shewed
wysly un-to hem the grete goodes that comen of pees, / and the
grete harmes and perils that been in werre; / and seyde to hem
in a goodly manere, how that hem oughte have greet repentaunce /
of the iniurie and wrong that they hadden doon to Melibee hir
lord, and to hir, and to hir doghter. /

    63. And whan they herden the goodliche wordes of dame
Prudence, / they weren so surprised and ravisshed, and hadden so
greet Ioye of hir, that wonder was to telle. / `A! lady! ' quod they,
`ye han shewed un-to us "the blessinge of swetnesse, "after the
sawe of David the prophete; / for the reconsilinge which we been
nat worthy to have in no manere, / but we oghte requeren it with
greet contricioun and humilitee, / ye of your grete goodnesse have
presented unto us. / Now see we wel that the science and the
conninge of Salomon is ful trewe; / for he seith: that "swete
wordes multiplyen and encresen freendes, and maken shrewes to
be debonaire and meke."/



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    64. `Certes,' quod they, `we putten our dede and al our
matere and cause al hoolly in your goode wil; / and been redy to
obeye to the speche and comandement of my lord Melibee. / And
therfore, dere and benigne lady, we preyen yow and biseke yow as
mekely as we conne and mowen, / that it lyke un-to your grete
goodnesse to fulfillen in dede your goodliche wordes; / for we
consideren and knowlichen that we han offended and greved my
lord Melibee out of mesure; / so ferforth, that we be nat of power
to maken hise amendes. / And therfore we oblige and binden
us and our freendes to doon al his wil and hise comandements. /
But peraventure he hath sw,ich hevinesse and swich wratthe to
us-ward, by-cause of our offence, / that he wole enioyne us swich a
peyne as we mowe nat bere ne sustene. / And therfore, noble
lady, we biseke to your wommanly pitee, / to taken swich avyse_ment
in this nede, that we, ne our freendes, be nat desherited ne
destroyed thurgh our folye.' /

    65. `Certes,' quod Prudence, `it is an hard thing and right
perilous, / that a man putte him al outrely in the arbitracioun and
Iuggement, and in the might and power of hise enemys. / For
Salomon seith: "leveth me, and yeveth credence to that I shal
seyn; I seye, "quod he, "ye peple, folk, and governours of holy
chirche,/ to thy sone, to thy wyf, to thy freend, ne to thy brother /
ne yeve thou never might ne maistrie of thy body, whyl thou
livest."/ Now sithen he defendeth, that man shal nat yeven to
his brother ne to his freend the might of his body, / by a strenger
resoun he defendeth and forbedeth a man to yeven him-self to his
enemy. / And nathelees I conseille you, that ye mistritste nat my
lord. / For I woot wel and knowe verraily, that he is debonaire
and meke, large, curteys, / and nothing desyrous ne coveitous of
good ne richesse. / For ther nis no-thing in this world that he
desyreth, save only worship and honour. / Forther-more I knowe
wel, and am right seur, that he shal no-thing doon in this nede
with-outen my conseil. / And I shal so werken in this cause,
that, by grace of our lord god, ye shul been reconsiled un-to us.' /

    66. Thanne seyden they with o vois, `worshipful lady, we
putten us and our goodes al fully in your wil and disposicioun; /
and been redy to comen, what day that it lyke un-to your
noblesse to limite us or assigne us, / for to maken our obligacioun
and bond as strong as it lyketh un-to your goodnesse; / that we
mowe fulfille the wille of yow and of my lord Melibee.' /



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    67. Whan dame Prudence hadde herd the answeres of
thise men, she bad hem goon agayn pmvely; / and she retourned
to hir lord Melibee, and tolde him how she fond hise adversaries
ful repentant, / knowlechinge ful lowely hir sinnes and trespas,
and how they were redy to suffren al peyne, / requiringe and
preyinge him of mercy and pitee. /

    68. Thanne seyde Melibee, `he is wel worthy to have
pardoun and foryifnesse of his sinne, that excuseth nat his sinne, /
but knowlecheth it and repenteth him, axinge indulgence. /
For Senek seith: "ther is the remissioun and foryifnesse, where_as
confessioun is; "/ for confession is neighebore to innocence.
/ And he seith in another place: "he that hath shame for his
sinne and knowlecheth it, is worthy remissioun." And therfore I
assente and conferme me to have pees; / but it is good that we
do it nat with-outen the assent and wil of our freendes.' /

    69. Thanne was Prudence right glad and Ioyeful, and seyde,/
`Certes, sir,' quod she, `ye han wel and goodly answered. / For
right as by the conseil, assent, and help of your freendes, ye han
been stired to venge yow and maken werre, / right so with-outen
hir conseil shul ye nat accorden yow, ne have pees with your
adversaries. / For the lawe seith: "ther nis no-thing so good
by wey of kinde, as a thing to been unbounde by him that it was
y-bounde."' /

    70. And thanne dame Prudence, with-outen delay or taryinge,
sente anon hir messages for hir kin, and for hir olde freendes
whiche that were trewe and wyse, / and tolde hem by ordre, in the
presence of Melibee, al this matere as it is aboven expressed and
declared; / and preyden hem that they wolde yeven hir avys and
conseil, what best were to doon in this nede. / And whan
Melibees freendes hadde taken hir avys and deliberacioun of the
forseide matere, / and hadden examined it by greet bisinesse and
greet diligence, / they yave ful conseil for to have pees and reste; /
and that Melibee sholde receyve with good herte hise adversaries
to foryifnesse and mercy. /

    71. And whan dame Prudence hadde herd the assent of hir
lord Melibee, and the conseil of hise freendes, / accorde with hir
wille and hir entencioun, / she was wonderly glad in hir herte, and



|p237


seyde. / `ther is an old proverbe,' quod she, `seith: that "the
goodnesse that thou mayst do this day, do it; / and abyde nat ne
delaye it nat til to-morwe." / And therfore I conseille that ye
sende your messages, swiche as been discrete and wyse, / un-to
your adversaries; tellinge hem, on y,our bihalve, / that if they
wole trete of pees and of accord, / that they shape hem, with-outen
delay or tarying, to comen un-to us.' / Which thing parfourned
was in dede. / And whanne thise trespassours and repentinge
folk of hir folies, that is to seyn, the adversaries of Melibee,
/ hadden herd what thise messagers seyden un-to hem, / they
weren right glad and Ioyeful, and answereden ful mekely and
benignely, / yeldinge graces and thankinges to hir lord Melibee
and to al his companye; / and shopen hem, with-outen delay, to
go with the messagers, and obeye to the comandement of hir lord
Melibee. /

    72. And right anon they token hir wey to the court of
Melibee, / and token with hem somme of hir trewe freendes,
to maken feith for hem and for to been hir borwes. / And
whan they were comen to the presence of Melibee, he seyde
hem thise wordes: / `it standeth thus,' quod Melibee, `and
sooth it is, that ye, / causeless, and with-outen skile and resoun, /
han doon grete iniuries and wronges to me and to my wyf
Prudence, and to my doghter also. / For ye han entred in-to
myn hous by violence, / and have doon swich outrage, that alle
men knowen wel that ye have deserved the deeth; / and therfore
wol I knowe and wite of yow, / whether ye wol putte the punisse_ment
and the chastysinge and the vengeance of this outrage in
the wil of me and of my wyf Prudence; or ye wol nat? ' /

    73. Thanne the wyseste of hem three answerde for hem alle,
and seyde: / `sire,' quod he, `we knowen wel, that we been
unworthy to comen un-to the court of so greet a lord and so
worthy as ye been. / For we han so greetly mistaken us, and han
offended and agilt in swich a wyse agayn your heigh lordshipe, /
that trewely we han deserved the deeth. / But yet, for the grete
goodnesse and debonairetee that all the world witnesseth of your
persone, / we submitten us to the excellence and benignitee of your
gracious lordshipe, / and been redy to obeie to alle your comande_ments, /
bisekinge yow, that of your merciable pitee ye wol



|p238


considere our grete repentaunce and lowe submissioun, / and
graunten us foryevenesse of our outrageous trespas and offenee.
/ For wel we knowe, that your liberal grace and mercy strecchen
hem ferther in-to goodnesse, than doon our outrageouse giltes and
trespas in-to wikkednesse; / al-be-it that cursedly and dampnably
we han agilt agayn your heigh lordshipe.' /

    74. Thanne Melibee took hem up fro the ground ful
benignely, / and receyved hir obligaciouns and hir bondes by hir
othes up-on hir plegges and borwes, / and assigned hem a certeyn
day to retourne un-to his court, / for to accepte and receyve the
sentence and Iugement that Melibee wolde comande to be doon
on hem by the causes afore-seyd; / whiche thinges ordeyned, every
man retourned to his hous. /

    75. And whan that dame Prudence saugh hir tyme, she
freyned and axed hir lord Melibee, / what vengeance he thoughte
to taken of hise adversaries? /

    76. To which Melibee answerde and seyde, `certes,' quod he,
`I thinke and purpose me fully / to desherite hem of al that ever
they han, and for to putte hem in exil for ever.'

    77. `Certes,' quod dame Prudence, `this were a cruel sen_tence,
and muchel agayn resoun. / For ye been riche y-nough,
and han no nede of other mennes good; / and ye mighte lightly
in this wyse gete yow a coveitous nanne, / which is a vicious thing,
and oghte been eschewed of every good man. / For after the
sawe of the w ord of the apostle: "coveitise is rote of alle harmes."/
And therfore, it were bettre for yow to lese so muchel good of
your owene, than for to taken of hir good in this manere. / For
bettre it is to lesen good with worshipe, than it is to winne good
with vileinye and shame. / And every man oghte to doon his dili_gence
and his bisinesse to geten him a good name. / And yet
shal he nat only bisie him in kepinge of his good name, / but he
shal also enforcen him alwey to do som-thing by which he may
renovelle his good name; / for it is writen, that "the olde good
loos or good name of a man is sone goon and passed, whan it is nat
newed ne renovelled."/ And as touchinge that ye seyn, ye wole
exile your adversaries, / that thinketh me muchel agayn resoun
and out of mesure, / considered the power that they han yeve yow



|p239


up-on hem-self. / And it is writen, that "he is worthy to lesen
his privilege that misuseth the might and the power that is yeven
him."/ And I sette cas ye mighte enioyne hem that peyne by
right and by lawe, / which I trowe ye mowe nat do, / I seye, ye
mighte nat putten it to execucioun per-aventure, / and thanne
were it lykly to retourne to the werre as it was biforn. / And
therfore, if ye wole that men do yow obeisance, ye moste demen
more curteisly; / this is to seyn, ye moste yeven more esy
sentences and Iugements. / For it is writen, that "he that most
curteisly comandeth, to him men most obeyen."/ And therfore, I
prey yow that in this necessitee and in this nede, ye caste yow to
overcome your herte./ For Senek seith: that "he that overcometh
his herte, overcometh twyes."/ And Tullius seith: "ther is no_thing
so comendable in a greet lord / as whan he is debonaire and
meke, and appeseth him lightly."/ And I prey yow that ye wole
forbere now to do vengeance, / in swich a manere, that your goode
name may be kept and conserved; / and that men mowe have
cause and matere to preyse yow of pitee and of mercy; / and
that ye have no cause to repente yow of thing that ye doon. / For
Senek seith: "he overcometh in an yvel manere, that repenteth
him of his victorie."/ Wherfore I pray yow lat mercy been in
your minde and in your herte, / to theffect and entente that god
almighty have mercy on yow in his laste Iugement. / For seint
Iame seith in his epistle: "Iugement withouten mercy shal be
doon to him, that hath no mercy of another wight.

    78. Whanne Melibee hadde herd the grete skiles and resouns
of dame Prudence, and hir wise informaciouns and techinges, /
his herte gan enclyne to the wil of his wyf, consideringe hir trewe
entente; and conformed him anon, and assented fully to werken
after hir conseil; / and thonked god, of whom procedeth al
vertu and alle goodnesse, that him sente a wyf of so greet discre_cioun. /
And whan the day cam that hise adversaries sholde
apperen inn his presence, / he spak unto hem ful goodly, and
seyde in this wyse: / `al-be-it so that of your pryde and pre_sumpcioun
and folie, and of your necligence and unconninge, /
ye have misborn yow and trespassed un-to me; / yet, for as
much as I see and biholde your grete humilitee, / and that ye



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been sory and repentant of your giltes, / it constreyneth me to
doon yow grace and mercy. / Therfore I receyve yow to my
grace, / and foryeve yow outrely alle the offences, iniuries, and
wronges, that ye have doon agayn me and myne; / to this effect
and to this ende, that god of his endelees mercy / wole at the
tyme of our dyinge foryeven us our giltes that we han trespassed
to him in this wrecched world. / For doutelees, if we be sory
and repentant of the sinnes and giltes whiche we han trespassed
in the sighte of our lord god, / he is so free and so merciable, /
that he wole foryeven us our giltes, / and bringen us to his blisse
that never hath ende. Amen.' /

Here is ended Chaucers Tale of Melibee and of Dame Prudence.