Part 6

Pantasselle was a ful fayre mayden and qwen of Damazonie[208] and off mervelyous worthines in armes and in hardines; and for the grete goodnes that the hy name witnessed through the worlde of Hector the worthy she loved hyme ryght hertyly, and fro the parties of the est she come to Troye in the tyme of the grete segge for to se Hector. But qwen she fond hym dede, she was owte off mesure hevy and wyth a grete oste [of] ful cheualrous gentilwomen vigerously she vengyd his dethe, where she dide mervelyous worthynesses. And many grete greuaunces she dide to the Grekes. And because she was vertuouse, it is seide to the good knyght that he shuld love hyr, and that is to vndirstonde that euery good knyght shulde loue and prayse euer[y] vertuous persone, anamely a woman in strong vertue of wytte and off concyens. And this woman that is woofull for the dethe of Hector is vndirstonde by worthines and valure, when it is dull and deded in knyghthode. And a wyse man seyth, “Bounte shulde be alowyd where that it is perceyued.”

Be Pantasselle, that was socourable, we may vndirstonde the [Sidenote: f. 19.] vertue off cherite, the whiche is the .iii^e. devyne vertue that the good speryte shuld perfytely haue in hym self. Cassyodir[209] seith that charyte is as the reyne, the which fallyth in the prime temps, for it distillyth the dropes of vertues, vndir the whiche greine [of] good wille groweth[210] and good hoope fructifyeth, that is to be pacient in aduersite, tempered in prosperyte, pacient in mekenesse, ioyeus in afflicciones, wellwyllyng to his enemyes and frendes, anamely to his enemyes to be comuniall of his goodis.[211] To this purpose seyth Poule the postel, [“Caritas patiens est, benigna est, caritas non emulatur, non agit perperam,” etc.].[212]

XVI.

Narcisus[213] looke ye resemble not, Nor into mych pride knyt your knot; For to ouerwenyng hawteyn knyght Off many a grace is voide full ryght.

Narcisus [was] a yonge bachelere that ffor his grete beaute seysyd hym in so grete pride[214] that he hadde all other in disprayes. And because that he praysed noon but hym selphe, it is seyde that he was so amerous and assottede of hym selfe that he dyede after that he hade beholden hym selfe in the welle. This is to vndirstonde by the ouerwenyng or ouctrecuidez man of hym selfe, wherein he beholdyth hym.[215] Therefor it is diffendyth the good knyght to beholde hym selfe in hys good dedes, where throwe he myght be ouerwenyng. And to this purpose seith Socrates, “Sone, be ware thou be not disseyvyd in thi beaute of thi youthe, ffor that is no durable thyng.”

Now lete vs sette an allegorie applyyng to owre purpose to the .vii. dedely synnys. Be Narcisus we shall vndirstond the synne of pride, fro the wyche the goode speryte shulde kepe hym. And Orygene seyth in the Omelees, “Whereof it is that erth and asshes prydeth hyme, or how derre a man rayse hym in arogance, when he thynketh whereof he is comyn and what he shall become, and in how frele a vessel his[216] lyff is all naked and in what harlotrees he is plongeden and what onclene maters he sesseth neuer to cast from hys flesch be all the condittes off hys body?” And to this purpose seith Holy Scripture, [“Si ascenderit ad cœlum superbia ejus et caput ejus nubes tetigerit, quasi sterquilinium in fine perdetur”].[217]

XVII.

Athamas full of ryght grete madnes, [Sidenote: f. 20.] The goodes verily of woodnes, She feirsly strangled hir childern tweyne.[218] Therefor ire I thefende the pleyne.

Athamas was a kyng maried to qwene Yno, the which made sothyn[219] corne to be sowne for to disheryte hyr[220] stepe childire, for she[221] with mony coromped the prestes of the lawe, the which reported the answeres of the godes, thus seyyng to the kyng or to theyme of the cuntre that the corne that the men hadden sowene profyted not, where it plesyd the godes that .ii.^o fayre and ientyl childir the whiche the kyng hade were dreven away and exiled. And becawse that the kyng consentyd [to] the exillyng of the .ii.^o childyrne, all though that he dyde [it] ayens hys wylle and wyth grete sorowe, the fabyl seyth that the godes Iuno[222] wolde take vengance therefor and went into helle to compleyne to the godesse of woodnes that sche myght come to the kyng Athamas. Than the orrible and the fereful goodes come with all hir serpently herres and sette hyr on the fumerelle[223] of the palais and streged hir armes to bothe sydys of the yate, and than there began sych stryfe betwene the kyng and the qwene that werrant[224] yche of them hade slayne othir. And whan they wend a hade rune oute of the palais, than þe woode goodes drwe out of hyr ryght foule herres .ii^o. horrible serpentis and kest in there lappes; and qwen that the goodes saw theyme so ferefull,[225] than they wexe both madde. Athamas slewe the qwene for woodnes and than his .ii.^o childerne, and hym selfe leep into the see of frome a h[i]ght roche. The exposycion of this fable may wele be that a qwen myght be so dyuers to stepe chyldirne that for some malice she myght disheryte hem, for the which after pes myght notte be hadde betwene the fadir and the steppe modir. And it myght be soo that at the last he slewe theyme. And because that ire is a dedly vice and soo evyle that he that is sore teynt therewyth hath no knowyng of reson, it is seide to the goode knyght that he shuld kepe hym from ire, for it is too grete defaute in a goode knyght to be angry. And there[fore] Arystotile seithe “Kepe the from ire, for it trobelyth the vndyrstondyng and destroubeth reson.”

Be Athamas, the which was soo full of ire, we shall propirly vnderstond the synne of ire, the whiche the goode spyryte shuld woyde from hyme. And Seynte Austyn seith in a pistyll, “Lech as venegre, where it is poote, corrompeth the vessell that it is in, yf it abyde longe therinne, so ire corrumpyth the hert wherein it is sette, yf that it abyde long thereinne, that is to seye fro day to day.”[226] [Sidenote: f. 21.] Therfor seyth Seynt Poule the postell, [“Sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram”].[227]

XVIII.

Off all thyng that thou may se with ey Fle euer the fals godes envie, That made Aglaros[228] grennere than ivie, The which to a ston chaunged was þerby.

A ffable seyth that Aglaros was systyr to Herce, the which was soo feire that for hir beaute Mercurius the god of langage wedded hyr, and thei weyre Cycropos doghters, kyng off Athenes. But Aglaros hade so mych envie to hir syster Herce, the which for beaute was so avaunced as to be maried to a god, that sche become throw here ensorgyng in envye dry[229] and discolourd and grene as ivy leffe for the envie that she hade to hyr systyr. On a day Aglaros was sette on the thresshefolde of the dore and lettyd Mercurius the entre into the hous, ne for no prayowr that he prayed hyre she woolde not suffre hym to hentre. Then the gode wexe wroothe and seide that euer myght she abide there stylle, as harde as hyr corage was; and than Aglaros becomme as hard as a stone. Thys fable may be lekend in leche case to fall to some personys. Mercurius may be a myghty man, weele spekynge, the which made his sistir to be presound or to dye for some displesure that she hade doon to hyme, and therefor it is seide that she was chaunged to a stone. And becawse it is to folow a aspotte[230] ayens ientylnes to be envyous, it is seide to the goode knyght that of all thynges he kepte hym therfro. And Socrates seyth, “He that beryth the fardell of envie hathe perpetuell peyne.”

Lyche as this auctorite dyffendyth the good knyghte envie the vice, Holy Scripture defendyth the good spyryte. And Seynt Austyn seyth[231] that envie ys hate of othir felycite, for the dedes of the envyos man strecheth ayens tho that be gretter than he by cawse that he is not so grete as they, ayens tho that be evenly to hyme because that he is notte gretter than they, and ayens tho that be lesse than he for fere that they shold wexe as grete as he. To this purpose Holy Scripture seyth, [“Nequam est oculus invidi et avertens faciem suam”].[232]

XIX.

Ferre ne[233] slowe be ware that thou not be; Fro[234] the malyce loke that thou kepe the Off Vlyxes, that the geauntes ye[235] Stale, though he looke neuer so clerely.

A ffable seyth that, when Vlixes retorned into Grece aftir the [Sidenote: f. 22.] destruccion off Troye, grete rages of tempestes brought hys chip into an ile where a geaunt was that hade but on eye in the myddes of his forred, the whiche was of an hooges gretnes. Vlixes by hy sutylte stale it and toke it fro hym, that ys to saye he putte it owte. This is to vndyrstond that the good knyght shulde be ware that slowthe ouercome hym not with disseytes and willes of malycyous peple, so that his eye be not takyn away, that is to seye, the eye of his vndirstondynge in his worchip, in his gettyng or in that the which is derrer to hym, as many inconu[en]iencies falleth ofte throwe slowthe and lachesse. And to this purpose Hermes seythe, “Blyssyd is he that vsyth hys dayes in dwe occupacions.”

Where it is seide that the good knygh shulde not be ferre ne slowe, we may vndyrstond the synne of slewthe, the which the good spiryte shuld not haue. For, as Bede[236] seith in Salomones Prouerbes, the slowe man is not worthi to rengne with God, the which wil not laboure for the lowe of God, and he is not worthi to receyve the coronne promysyd to knyghtes that is a coward to vndyrtake feldes of baytaile. Therefor the Scripture seyth, [“Cogitationes robusti semper in abundantia, omnis autem piger semper in egestate est”].[237]

XX.

In no wyse stryve wyth no frosses,[238] Ne defoule the not in there brothes. Ayens Lathonna thei assembled sore, And trobled the clere water hir afore.

The fable seith that the godesse Lathonna was modyr to Phebus and to Phebe, the which is the sone and the moone, and she bare theyme both in her wombe. Juno chased hir in euery contre becawse she was conseyvyd wyth Jubiter hir housbond. On a day the godesse Lathonna was trauelled gretly, and she arivede on a wassh and than she aboode opon the watter for to stawnsh hyr grete thyrste there where a grete feleshyp of carles were ffor to bathe them in the watyr ffor the hete of the sone. And [they] began to chide Lathonna and trobylyd hyr watyr that she [thought][239] to haue dronkyn of, and for no prayer that she made they wolde not suffyr hir drynke ne had no pete of hyre myschefe. Than she coursyd theyme and seyde that euer aftyr mote they abyde stylle in the broththe[240]; than were they fowle and abominable and cesyd neuer of brayeng ne chydyng. So the carles become frosshes, the which neuer sythyn cessed of brayng, as it shewyth in somer tyme by reuerys sydys. This may be takyn be communes that dedde some dysplesur to summe grete maystres, the which made them to be cast in a reuer and to be drounede, and thus become they [Sidenote: f. 23.] frosshes. And it is to vndyrstond that a knyght goodly shuld not fyll hyme in the brothe of veleny, ffor leche as veleny may not suffre ientylnesse, on the same wyse ientylnes in hym self may not suffre velany, anamely not to stryve ne make debate wyth a persone vilens of condicions, ne to speke outrageously. Platon seith he that ioyneth to his ientylnes nobilnesse of goode condicions is to prayse and he that holdyth hym content with the ientylnes that comyth of his kyne withowtyn addyng thereto some goode condicions shulde not be holdyn nobyll.

Be the carles that become frosshes we may vndyrstonde the synne of covetyse, the which is contrary to the good sperit. For Seynt Austyn[241] seith that a couetous man is leche to hell, for hell cannot swolve so many sowlis to seye that he hathe inowe. Euen so, thow all tresowre of the worlde were heppid togedir to the possession of the couetous man, he shuld not yette [be] satisffiede. To this purpose the Scripture seith, [“Insatiabilis oculus cupidi in partes iniquitatis non satiabitur”].[242]

XXI.

Acorde for no thyng with the god Bachus, For his tachys[243] be bothe fowle and vicyous. His disportis be neyther goode ne fyne, For he maketh the pepyll turne to swyne.

Bachus was the man that fryst plantyde vines in Grece, and qwan thei of the cuntre felthe the streyngth of the wyne, þe which made thyme drownkyn, thei seide that Bachus was a god, the which hadde yovyn syche streynghte to his plante. By Bachus is vndirstond drwnkkynnes, as that the whiche is a full vnbehouely thyng to all noble men and to a man that wolde vse reson. And to this purpose Ypocras[244] seyth that superfluites of vynes and metes distroyith body, sowle and vertues.

Be the god Bachus we may vndirstond the synne off glotenye, ffor the which the good spyryt shuld kepe hym. Seynt Grigory seyth in his Morralles[245] that, qwan the vice of glotenye hathe the maystry of a person, he lesseth all the good that he hath doone; for, qwenne the bely is not restreynyd by abstynence, all vertues ben drouned togedir. And therefor Seynt Poule seith, [“Quorum finis interitus, quorum deus venter est,” etc.][246]

XXII.

Pimaliones ymage for to fele, Iff that thou be wyse, sette þerby no deele, [Sidenote: f. 24.] For of siche an ymage so wele wroght The beaute thereof is to dere bought.

Pymalion was a ful sotyl workeman in makyng of ymages, and a ffable seith þat, for þe grete lewdenes that he sawe in the women of Cidonie,[247] he dispreisyd them and seyde he shuld make an ymage wherein ther shulde be no thyng for to blame. He mad an ymage after a woman, of souereyne beaute. When he had full made it, loue, the which sotely can ravysshe hertis, made hym to be amorous opon the ymage, so that for hire he was vexed with wooes of love, full of clamorous and full of petyous syghynges that he made to hit. Butte the ymage, which was of ston, vndirstode hym notte. Pymalion wente to the temple of Venus and he made there so deuote prayores to hyre that the godesse [was full] of pete,[248] and in shewyng therof the brond that she helde be hire selfe began to take fire and shew flame, and than the louer was mery for þat tokyn and wente toward his ymage and toke it in his armes and warmed it so sore wyth hys nakyd flesch that the ymage hadde lyff and began to speke, and so Pymalyon recouuered ioye.

To this fable may be set [many][249] exposicions, and in leche wise to othir sich fables; and the poietes made them becawse that mennes vndirstondyng shuld be the more scharppe and subtyle to fynde dyueres exposicions. It may be vnderstond also by the dyspreysyng that Pymalion dispreysed the lewdenes of lewde wemen and enamoured hym on a mayden of ryght grete beaute, the which wolde not, or myght not, vnderstond hys petous pleyntes, no more than the ymage of a ston had done; that is to sey, that by thynkkyng on the fayre beautes he was enamoured, but at the last he prayed hir so myche and kepte hym so nere hir that the maydyn louyd hym and at his wille [he] had hir to mariage. And thus the ymage that was hard as stone recouuered lyff by the godesse Venus. So it wolde be seyde that the good knygh shuld not be assottede of sych a made ymage in sych wise that he lyst to folowe[250] the crafte of armes, to the which he is bownde by þe ordere of knyghthode. And to this purpose seyth Abtalin,[251] “It longghit nothyng ffor a prynce to assote hym on nothyng that is to be reproued.”

Pymaliones ymage on qwome þe good knygh shuld not be assotted we shall take for the synne of lechery, from þe which þe knyghtly gostly sperit shuld kepe his body. Wherefor Seynt [Sidenote: f. 25.] Jerom saith in a pistill, “O fire of hell,” seith he, “of whom the woode is glotenye, the flambe is pride, the sparkes is foule wordes, the smoke is evil name, the asches is pouerte, and the ende is the turnementes of hell.” To this purpose seyth Seynt Petir the apostel, [“Voluptatem existimantes diei delicias, coinquinationes et maculæ deliciis affluentes, in conviviis suis luxuriantes”].[252]

XXIII.

Off Dyane remenbre besely For the honeste of thi body; For hir plesyth no vileyns lyffe, Ne non dyshoneste ne stryffe.

Dyane, that is the mone, and as þer is no thyng so evile but þat it hath some goode propirte, the mone gyffeth chast condicion; and thei named it after a lady that so was called, the which was full chaste and was euer a vergyn. So it wolde be seyde that honeste of the body is full wele longgyng to a good knygh. And to this purpose Hermes seith, “He may not be off perfyte wite that hathe in hym no chastite.”

And for to bryng to mynde the Articles of the Feyth to owre purpose, wythowte the which a good sperit may lytell avayle, ffor Dyane we shall take God of Heuen, the which is withowte onv spotte off onclen love, to whome a thyng foulede with synne may not be agreable. To the knyghly spirite þan it is necessari to beleve opon the Maker of heuen and of erthe, as þe fyrst Article of the Feyth seith, the which Seynte Petir the apostel sete, [“Credo in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et terræ”].[253]

XXIV.

Be thou leke to the godesse Ceres, That tooke fro noon but yafe to corne encres; In syche wyse abaundonede shulde be The[254] good knygh, well sette in his degre.

Ceres was a lady that fond the craft to erye[255] the londe, for aforne gaineyers swe withowte laboure[256]; and because þat þe londe bare the more plenteously after þat it was erryed, thei seide that she was godesse of cornes, and thei called the londe after hyr name. Wherefor it wold be seide þat, as þe lande[257] is habaundone[d] and a large yefer of all goodes, on the same wyse shuld a good knygh be habaundonede to all personys and [ought] to gyffe his helpe and comfort aftyr hys power. And Arystotyl seyth, “Be a lyberall gyfer and thou shall hau frendys.”

Here [for] Ceres, to whom þe good knygh shuld resemble, we [Sidenote: f. 26.] shall take the Sone of God, whom the good spirit sholde folowe, þe which hath yoven so largely to vs of hy goodnes,[258] and in hym shuld be belewede stedeffastly, as the .ii.^o Article seith, the which Seynt Jon sette, [“Et in Ihesum Christum, filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum”].

XXV.

All hye vertues as that he wyll sette, In the, as in Ysis[259] late theyme b[e] schette And all maner graynes fructifie; In sych wyse sholdest þou edyfye.[260]

Ysys, poetes seyth, is a goodesse of plantes and gryffes, and she yevyth theyme streynght and growyng to multiply. Therefor it is seide to þe good knyght þat so shulde he fructifie in all vertues and eschew all euyl vicis. And Harmes[261] to this purpose seyth, “O man, yf þou knew þe inconuenyency of vice, that þou woldest be ware þeroff and yf þou knew the rewarde for worthinesse, that[262] þou woldest loue it gretly.”

There qwere it is seide þat þe good knygh shulde be leche to Ysys, the whiche is a planter, may we vnderstond the blissyd Concepcion off Jhesu Cryst by þe Holy Gost in the Blyssyd Virgyne Marie, modyr off all grace, of whom the grete bountes may not be ymagenede ne holy seide, þe which worthi Concepcion the good sperit shuld haue holy in hym and kepe this holy Artecle stedefastly, as Seynt James the gretter seith, [“Qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine”].

XXVI.

To the iugement in no wyse holde the Of Mygdas, the which no thyng wysely Juged; by his counsell sette thou no store, For erys of an asse he hadde thereffore.

Mydas was a knyght[263] that hadde lytell vnderstondyng; and a fable seyth þat Phebus and Pan,[264] the god of pastures,[265] strove togedir and Phebus seide that the sownde of the harpe is more to prayse than the sownde of the pype or off the flowte. Pan heelde the contrarye and seide þe sownde of the flowte was more to prayse. Thei made Mygdas iuge off that discorde, and affter that thei were both ioyned afore Mygdas, at long leyser he iuged that the sownde of þe flowte was bettyr and more plesaunte than þe sownde of the [Sidenote: f. 27.] harpe. So the fable seith þat Phebus, the which was g[r]evyd [and] hadde dyspyte off his iugement, made hym rude erys leche an asse, in schewyng that he hadde vnderstondyng of an asse, the which hade iuged so folyly. It may be allso that some iuged lewdely ayens a prince or a myghty man, the whiche punychyd hym, makyng hym to bere on hym some syngne off a ffoole, the which is to vnderstond the eres of the asse. Also it is to vnderstond by this fable that a good knyght shuld not hold hym content with a lewde iugement, not grownded on reson, ne hym selfe shuld be no iuge of so fawty a sentence. A philosopher seyth to this purpose that a foole is leche a molle,[266] the which heryth and vnderstondyth not. And Dyogenes lykenyth the foole to a ston.

The iugement of Mygdas, the which a good knight shulde not kepe, we may vnderstond Pylate, the which iuged the blyssyd Sone of God to be taken and streyned as a harpe and to be hangged opon the gebet of þe Crosse as a bryboure,[267] he the which was pure wyth[out] ony spotte. Also it is to vnderstond þat þe goode speryt shulde be ware how he shulde iuge an innocent, and he shulde beleve the Artycle that Seynt Andrewe seith, [“Passus sub Poncio Pylato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus”].

XXVII.

As trewe felawes of armes doth, Vnto hell, whedir that sowles gothe, Thou schuldest go, theyme to socoure serteyne In nede,[268] lich Hercules dyde, as men seyne.

The fable seith that Thesus and Protheus[269] went into hell for to rescue Proserpyne þat Pluto rauysshed, and thei hade ben evyle begone hade not Hercules a ben for there felawes; [for thei][270] hade not bene socoured hade he ne be, the which dyde so notable dedes of armes that he affrayed all the peple off hell, and he smote in soundir Cereberus the porteris chynnes.[271] So it is seyde þat a good knygh shulde not faile his felawe for no maner of perell that myght be; for trewe felaws shuld be evyn as on thyng and all on. And Pitagoras seyth, “Thou shuld kepe the loue of thi freende dylygently.”

By the auctorite that seith he shulde socoure his trwe freendis in armes vnto hell we may vnderstonde the blyssyd sowle of Jhesu Cryste, the which drewe owte the good sowles of holy patriarkes and profhetes þat were in lymbo; and be this example the goode sperite [Sidenote: f. 28.] scholde draw to hym all vertues and beleve the Article that Seynt Phelip seith, [“Descendit ad inferna”].

XXVIII.

Cadimus[272] love and yife to hym preisyng, And that auctorised may his techyng Be in the; for the welle in serteyne He whan[273] fro the serpent with grete peyne.

Cadimus was a full noble man and ffounded Thebes, the which was a cite of grete name. He sette þerin a vniuersyte[274] and hym selph was gretly lettyrd and of grete kunnyng and wysdom. The whiche man, after that the fabyl seith, he dowted þe serpent at the welle. This is to vnderstond konnyng and wisdom, the which rysyth all weye, that is for the welle; the serpent is notyd for the peyne and the trauell that a stodier most doute or that he gete kunnyng. And the fable seithe that he become a serpent hym selfe, the which is to vndirstond that he become mayster and correctore of othir. So Othea seith that a good knygh shulde love and worchip clerkes that be letteryd, þe which be growndyd in konnyng. To this purpose Aristotle seide to Alysawndre, “Worchip wisdom and fortyfie it wyth good maystres.”

Be Cadimus that douted the serpent at þe well, þe whiche þe good knygh shuld love, we may vnderstond the blyssed manhode of Jhesu Cryste, the which douted the serpent and wanne the welle, þat is to sey, the lyfe of this worlde, þe which he passed with grete peyne and with grete trauelle, off whom he hade victorie be strengh, when he rose the thredde day, as Seynt Thomas seith, [“Tertia die resurrexit a mortuis”].

XXIX.