two vers
what is bettre
/ than gold ; Iaspre
¶ what is bettre than Iaspre ;
wisedoom
140
¶ And what is bettre than wisedoom
/ ; womman
. and what
is bettre than a good w
ōman ; no thyng
¶ And sir
/ by manye of othre
resons
/ may ye seen that manye w
ōmen been goode
/ and hir conseils
goode and
profitable
And therfore sir / if ye wol triste to my conseil /
I shal restoore yow / youre doghter hool and sound /
And eek / .I. ~
wol do to yow so muche / that ye shul haue honour in this cause ~
Whan Melibee hadde herd the wordes of his wyf Prudence ~
he seyde thus
145
¶ I se wel that the word of Salomon is sooth
. he seith
that wordes
þt been spoken discreetly by ordinaunce
/ been honyc
ō-
bes
/ for they yeuen swetnesse to the soule
/ and hoolsomnesse to
the body
¶ And wyf / by cause of thy sweete wordes / and eek for I
haue assayed and preued thy grete sapience / and thy grete trouthe /
I wol gouerne me by thy conseil / in alle thyng /
Now sire quod
dame Prudence / and syn ye vouche sauf / to been gouerned by my con-
seil / I wol enforme yow / how ye shul gouerne your self / in chesyn-
ge of your conseillours
¶ Ye shul first / in alle youre werkes / me-
kely / biseken to the heigħe god / þt he wol be your conseillor /.
And sha-
peth yow / to swich entente / that he yeue yow conseil and confort
as taughte Thobie his sone
150
¶ At alle tymes / thou shalt blesse god
and praye hym / to dresse thy weyes / and looke / þt alle thy conseils ~
been in hym for eueremoore
¶ Seint Iame eek
seith
. If any of yow
haue nede of sapience
/ axe it of god
¶ And afterward / thanne shul
ye taken conseil of your \self/ and examyne wel your thoghtes / of swich
thyng as yow thynketh þt is best for your profit /
And thanne shul ye
dryue fro your herte thre thynges that been contariouse to good cōseil /
That is to seyn / Ire / coueitise / and hastifnesse
155
¶ First he þt axeth conseil
of hym self / certes / he moste been with outen Ire / for manye causes /
the
firste is this ¶ he þt hath greet Ire and wratthe in hym self / he weneþ
alwey that he may do thyng that he may nat do
¶ And secoundely /
he that is Irous and wrooth / he ne may nat wel deme /
and he þt may
nat wel deme / may nat wel conseille
¶ The thridde is this / that he þt
is Irous and wrootħ as seith Senec ne may nat speke / but he blame
thynges /
160
and wt hise viciouse wordes / he stireth oother folk / to Angre
and to Ire
¶ And eek sir / ye moste dryue coueitise out of youre herte /
For the Apostle seith
¶ That coueitise is roote of alle harmes
.
And trust
wel / that a coueitous man ne kan noght deme ne thynke / but oonly /
to fulfille the ende of his coueitise /
and certes / that ne may neuere been
accompliced / for euere / the moore habundaunce þt he hath of richesse / the
moore he desireth
165
¶ And sir / ye moste also / dryue out of youre herte ~
hastifnesse / for certes /
ye may nat deeme for the beste by a sodeyn ~
thougħt / that falleth in youre herte / but ye moste auyse yow on it
ful ofte /
For as ye herde biforn / The cōmune prouerbe is this ¶ That he þt
soone deemeth / soone repenteth
¶ Sir / ye ne be nat alwey in lyke ~
disposicioū
¶ for certes / som thyng þt somtyme semeth to yow / that it
is good for to do / Another tyme it semeth to yow the contrarie /
170
whan ye
han taken conseil of your self / and han deemed by good deliberacion
swich thyng / as you list best /
¶ Thanne rede I yow / that ye kepe it