The Second Nun's Tale
Folio 201r
4 of 14 folios
And ȝet in wrong / is al thy perseueraunce
Wostow nat how / oure mygħty Pinces free
445
Ben thus comaunded / and mad ordinaunce
That euery cisten wygħt / shal han penaunce
But if that he / his cristendom witħ seye
And goon al quyt / if he wol it reneye
¶ Ȝoure Pinces erren / as ȝoure nobleye dootħ
450
Quod tho Cecile / and witħ a wood sentence
Ȝe make vs gilty / and is nat sootħ
For ȝe þt knowen wel / oure Innocence
For as muche / as we doon a reuerence
To crist / and for we bere a cristene name
455
Ȝe putte on vs a cryme / and eke a blame
¶ But we þt knowen / thilke name so
For vertuous / we moun it nougħt wt seye
Almache answerde / chees on of theise twoo
Do sacifise / or cristendom reneye
460
That þu mowe now / escapen by that weye
At whicħ / this holy blisful / faire mayde
Gan for to laugħe / and to the Iuge she seide
¶ O Iuge confus / in thy nycetee
Woltow / þt I reneye / Innocence
465
To maken me / a wykked wigħt / quod she
Lo he dissimuletħ here / in audience
He staretħ and wodetħ / in his aduertence
To whom Almachius seide / vnsely wrecche
Ne wostow nat / how fer my mygħt may strecche
470
¶ Han nougħt oure mygħty pinces / to me ȝeuen
Ȝa / bothe power / and auctoritee
To maken folk / to dyen or to lyuen
Why spekestow so proudly / thāne to me
I speke nougħt / but stedfastly quod she
475
Nat proudly / for I seye as for my syde
We haten dedly / thilke vice of pride
¶ And if þu drede nougħt / a sotħ for to heere
Thāne wol I shewe / al openly by rigħt
That þu hast mad / a ful gret lesyng heere
480
Thow seist / thyne pinces / han the ȝeuen mygħt
Bothe for to sleen / and for to quyken a wigħt
Thow þt ne maist / but oonly lyf byreue
Thow hast noon oother power / ne no leue
¶ But þu maist seyn / thyne pinces han the maked