Walter William Skeat

“ For-why the nature of every thing maketh
his propretee, ne it is nat entremedled with the effects of the 70
contrarious thinges; and, as of wil, it chaseth out thinges that
ben to it contrarie. But certes, richesse may not restreyne
avarice unstaunched; ne power ne maketh nat a man mighty
over him-self, whiche that vicious lustes holden destreyned with
cheynes that ne mowen nat be unbounden. And dignitees that 75
ben yeven to shrewede folk nat only ne maketh hem nat digne,
but it sheweth rather al openly that they ben unworthy and
undigne. ”

“ That other man answerde
ayein ful bytingly, and seyde: "I hadde wel understonden it, yif
thou haddest holden thy tonge stille." But what is it to thise
noble worthy men (for, certes, of swiche folke speke I) that seken
glorie with vertu? What is it?' quod she; 'what atteyneth fame 100
to swiche folk, whan the body is resolved by the deeth at the
laste? For yif it so be that men dyen in al, that is to seyn, body
and sowle, the whiche thing our resoun defendeth us to bileven,
thanne is ther no glorie in no wyse. ”

“ And
therfor, yif that thilke thing that thou haddest for most precious 15
in al thy richesse of fortune be kept to thee yit, by the grace of
god, unwemmed and undefouled, mayst thou thanne pleyne
rightfully upon the meschef of Fortune, sin thou hast yit thy
beste thinges? Certes, yit liveth in good point thilke precious
honour of mankinde, Symacus, thy wyves fader, which that is 20
a man maked alle of sapience and of vertu; the whiche man
thou woldest byen redely with the prys of thyn owne lyf. He
biwayleth the wronges that men don to thee, and nat for him-self ”

“ Nature refuseth that contrarious thinges
ben y-ioigned. And so, as I am in certein that right wikked folk
han dignitees ofte tyme, than sheweth it wel that dignitees and 60
powers ne ben nat goode of hir owne kinde; sin that they suffren
hem-self to cleven or ioinen hem to shrewes. And certes, the
same thing may I most digneliche iugen and seyn of alle the
yiftes of fortune that most plentevously comen to shrewes; of
the whiche yiftes, I trowe that it oughte ben considered, that no 65
man douteth that he nis strong in whom he seeth strengthe ”

“ Set ne me inexorabile contra fortunam.
'But for as mochel as thou shalt nat wenen', quod she, 'that I
bere untretable bataile ayeins fortune, yit som-tyme it bifalleth that
she, deceyvable, deserveth to han right good thank of men; and
that is, whan she hir-self opneth, and whan she descovereth hir
frount, and sheweth hir maneres. Peraventure yit understondest 5
thou nat that I shal seye. It is a wonder that I desire to telle,
and forthy unnethe may I unpleyten my sentence with wordes; for
I deme that contrarious Fortune profiteth more to men than
Fortune debonaire. ”

“ Certes, I wolde pleten with thee a fewe thinges, usinge the
wordes of Fortune; tak hede now thy-self, yif that she axeth
right. "O thou man, wher-fore makest thou me gilty by thyne
every-dayes pleyninges? What wrong have I don thee? What
goodes have I bireft thee that weren thyne? Stryf or plete 5
with me, bifore what Iuge that thou wolt, of the possessioun
of richesses or of dignitees. And yif thou mayst shewen me
that ever any mortal man hath received any of tho thinges to
ben hise in propre, than wol I graunte frely that alle thilke
thinges weren thyne whiche that thou axest. ”

“ Glosa. So fareth it by
men; the body hath power over the body. For yif thou loke wel 25
up-on the body of a wight, what thing shall thou finde more
freele than is mankinde; the whiche men wel ofte ben slayn with
bytinge of smale flyes, or elles with the entringe of crepinge
wormes in-to the privetees of mannes body? But wher shal man
finden any man that may exercen or haunten any right up-on 30
another man, but only up-on his body, or elles up-on thinges
that ben lowere than the body, the whiche I clepe fortunous
possessiouns? ”

“ For-why, what
thing is it, that yif it wanteth moeving and Ioynture of sowle and
body, that by right mighte semen a fair creature to him that hath
a sowle of resoun? For al be it so that gemmes drawen to hem-self
a litel of the laste beautee of the world, through the entente of 35
hir creatour and through the distinccioun of hem-self; yit, for as
mochel as they ben put under youre excellence, they ne han nat
deserved by no wey that ye sholden mervailen on hem. And
the beautee of feldes, delyteth it nat mochel un-to yow?'
Boece. ”

“ She hath forsaken
thee, forsothe; the whiche that never man may ben siker that
she ne shal forsake him. 50
Glose. But natheles, some bokes han the text thus: For sothe,
she hath forsaken thee, ne ther nis no man siker that she ne
hath nat forsaken.
Holdestow than thilke welefulnesse precious to thee that shal
passen? And is present Fortune dereworthe to thee, which that 55
nis nat feithful for to dwelle; and, whan she goth awey, that
she bringeth a wight in sorwe? For sin she may nat ben withholden
at a mannes wille, she maketh him a wrecche whan she
departeth fro him. ”

“ And sooth it is, 85
that of manye thinges han they nede that manye thinges han; and
ayeinward, of litel nedeth hem that mesuren hir fille after the nede
of kinde, and nat after the outrage of coveityse. Is it thanne so,
that ye men ne han no proper good y-set in you, for which
ye moten seken outward youre goodes in foreine and subgit 90
thinges? So is thanne the condicioun of thinges torned up-so-down,
that a man, that is a devyne beest by merite of his resoun,
thinketh that him-self nis neither faire ne noble, but-yif it be
thorugh possessioun of ostelments that ne han no sowles. ”

“ And ful litel thinges ben tho that withdrawen the somme or the
perfeccioun of blisfulnesse fro hem that ben most fortunat. How 75
many men, trowest thou, wolden demen hem-self to ben almost in
hevene, yif they mighten atayne to the leest party of the remnaunt
of thy fortune? This same place that thou clepest exil, is
contree to hem that enhabiten heer, and forthy nothing [is]
wrecched but whan thou wenest it: as who seith, thou thy-self, ne 80
no wight elles, nis a wrecche, but whan he weneth him-self a wrecche
by reputacioun of his corage. ”

“ In the whiche
thinges, yif ther be no beautee to ben desyred, why sholdest thou
ben sory yif thou lese hem, or why sholdest thou reioysen thee
to holden hem? For yif they ben faire of hir owne kinde, what
aperteneth that to thee? For al so wel sholden they han ben 75
faire by hem-selve, though they weren departed fram alle thyne
richesses. Forwhy faire ne precious ne weren they nat, for that
they comen among thy richesses; but, for they semeden faire and
precious, ther-for thou haddest lever rekne hem amonges thy
richesses. ”

“ I telle thee wel, that she
liveth looth of this lyf, and kepeth to thee only hir goost; and is
al maat and overcomen by wepinge and sorwe for desyr of thee,
in the whiche thing only I moot graunten that thy welefulnesse is 30
amenused. What shal I seyn eek of thy two sones, conseilours,
of whiche, as of children of hir age, ther shyneth the lyknesse of
the wit of hir fader or of hir elder fader? And sin the sovereyn
cure of alle mortel folk is to saven hir owen lyves, O how weleful
art thou, yif thou knowe thy goodes! ”

“ For he wolde that mankinde were most worthy and
noble of any othre erthely thinges; and ye threste adoun your 100
dignitees benethe the lowest thinges. For yif that al the good of
every thinge be more precious than is thilke thing whos that
the good is: sin ye demen that the fouleste thinges ben youre
goodes, thanne submitten ye and putten your-selven under tho
fouleste thinges by your estimacioun ”

“ For yit ben ther 35
thinges dwelled to thee-ward, that no man douteth that they ne
ben more dereworthe to thee than thyn owen lyf. And for-thy
drye thy teres, for yit nis nat everich fortune al hateful to thee-ward,
ne over greet tempest hath nat yit fallen upon thee, whan
that thyn ancres cleven faste, that neither wolen suffren the 40
counfort of this tyme present ne the hope of tyme cominge to
passen ne to faylen.'
'And I preye,' quod I, 'that faste moten they halden ”

“ But ye men, certes, ne conne don
nothing a-right, but-yif it be for the audience of poeple and for 80
ydel rumours; and ye forsaken the grete worthinesse of conscience
and of vertu, and ye seken your guerdouns of the smale wordes of
straunge folk.
Have now heer and understonde, in the lightnesse of swich
pryde and veine glorie, how a man scornede festivaly and merily 85
swich vanitee. Whylom ther was a man that hadde assayed
with stryvinge wordes another man, the whiche, nat for usage of
verray vertu but for proud veine glorie, had taken up-on him
falsly the name of a philosophre. ”

“ But to wrecches is
a depper felinge of harm; this is to seyn, that wrecches felen the
harmes that they suffren more grevously than the remedies or the 10
delites of thise wordes mowen gladen or comforten hem; so that,
whan thise thinges stinten for to soune in eres, the sorwe that is
inset greveth the thought.'
'Right so is it,' quod she. ”

“ I may nat suffren thy delices, that pleynest so wepinge and
anguissous, for that ther lakketh som-what to thy welefulnesse.
For what man is so sad or of so parfit welefulnesse, that he ne
stryveth and pleyneth on som halve ayen the qualitee of his 55
estat? For-why ful anguissous thing is the condicioun of mannes
goodes; for either it cometh nat al-togider to a wight, or elles it
last nat perpetuel. For sum man hath grete richesses, but he is
ashamed of his ungentel linage ”

“ For-why
al other livinge beestes han of kinde to knowe nat hem-self; 110
but whan that men leten the knowinge of hemself, it cometh hem
of vice. But how brode sheweth the errour and the folye of yow
men, that wenen that any thing may ben aparailed with straunge
aparailements! But for sothe that may nat ben doon. For yif
a wight shyneth with thinges that ben put to him, as thus, if 115
thilke thinges shynen with which a man is aparailed, certes, thilke
thinges ben comended and preysed with which he is aparailed ”

“ And whan they ben apassed, nedes they maken
hem pore that for-gon the richesses.
O! streite and nedy clepe I this richesse, sin that many folk
ne may nat han it al, ne al may it nat comen to o man with-outen 25
povertee of alle other folk! And the shyninge of gemmes, that
I clepe precious stones, draweth it nat the eyen of folk to hem-ward,
that is to seyn, for the beautee? But certes, yif ther were
beautee or bountee in the shyninge of stones, thilke cleernesse is
of the stones hem-self, and nat of men; for whiche I wondre 30
gretly that men mervailen on swiche thinges. ”

“ And eek, seestow nat
that the maneres of dyverse folk and eek hir lawes ben discordaunt 50
among hem-self; so that thilke thing that som men
iugen worthy of preysinge, other folk iugen that it is worthy of
torment? And ther-of comth it that, though a man delyte him in
preysinge of his renoun, he may nat in no wyse bringen forth ne
spreden his name to many maner poeples. There-for every man 55
oughte to ben apayed of his glorie that is publisshed among his
owne neighbours ”

“ What 55
right hast thou to pleyne, yif thou hast taken more plentevously
of the goode syde, that is to seyn, of my richesses and prosperites;
and what eek if I ne be nat al departed fro thee? What eek
yif my mutabilitee yiveth thee rightful cause of hope to han yit
beter thinges? Natheles dismaye thee nat in thy thought; and 60
thou that art put in the comune realme of alle, ne desyre nat to
liven by thyn only propre right.
Pr. II. 3. C. makes; A. makest. 4. A. wronges (Lat. iniuriam) . 5. C. pleten; A. plete (Lat. contende) . 8. C. reseyued. // C. tho; A. these. 9. C. thykke ”

“ Now whan
thou were riche and weleful, as thee semede, with how mochel
woldest thou han bought the fulle knowinge of this, that is to seyn, 30
the knowinge of thy verray freendes? Now pleyne thee nat thanne
of richesse y-lorn, sin thou hast founden the moste precious kinde
of richesses, that is to seyn, thy verray freendes.
Pr. VIII. A. omits to end of bk. iii. pr. 1. 3. C. desseyuable. // C. desserueth. 7. So C.; Ed. vnplyten. 13. C. desseyueth. 17. C. maysthow. 30. C. woldesthow.
Metre VIII.
Quod mundus stabili fide. ”