of lasse folk than hym self
105
¶ And sire / þt ther hath be ful many
a good wōman / may lightly be preued /
for certes sire / oure lord
Ihū crist wolde neuere han descended / to be born of a wōman /
if alle wōmen hadde be wikke /
And after that for the grete ~
boūtee þt is in wōmen / oure lord Ihū cist whan he was risen
fro deth to lyf / appered rather to a womman / than to his a-
postles /
And though þt Salomon seith / þt he ne foond neuere
womman good / it folweth nat therfore / þt alle wommen
ben wikke /
for thogh
þt he ne foond no good w
ōman
/ c
ertes
many another man
/ hath founde many a w
ōman ful good
and trewe
110
Or ellis perauenture / the entente of Salomon / was
this / þt as in souereyn boūtee / he foond no womman /
this is
to seyn / þt ther is no wight þt hath souereyn boūtee / saue ~
god allone / as he hym self recordeth / in his Euangelie /
for
ther nys no creature so good / þt hym ne wanteth som what
of the parfeccioū of god / þt is his makere
¶ Youre thridde re-
son is this / ye seyn / þt if ye gouerne yow by my conseil / it
sholde seme / þt ye hadde yeue me the maistrie and the lord-
shipe / ouer youre persone
¶ Sire sauf youre gace / it is nat so /
for if so were / þt no man sholde be conseiled / but oonly of
hem / þt hadde lordshipe & maistrie of his persone / men wol-
de nat ben conseiled so ofte /
115
for soothly thilke man þt axeþ
conseil of a purpos / yet hath he free choys / wheither he
wole werke by that conseil / or noon
¶ And as to youre ferþe
reson / ther ye seyn / þt the Ianglerye of wōmen / kan hide
thynges þt they woot nat / as who seith / þt a womman
kan nat hide that þt she woot.
Sire thise wordes been
vnderstonde of wōmen þt ben Iangleresses & wikked /
of
whiche wōmen men seyn / þt thre thynges / dryuen a man
out of his hous / that is to seyn / Smoke / droppyng of ~ ~
reyn / & wikked wyues /
and of swiche wōmen seith Salo-
mon / þt it were bettre dwellen in desert than wt a wōman
þt is riotous /
120
and sire by youre leue / þt am nat I . /
for ye han
ful ofte assayed my grete silence & my grete pacience / and
eek how wel þt I kan hiden & hele thynges / þt men oghtē
secrely to hyde
¶ And soothly
/ as to youre fifthe reson
/ wher-
as ye seyn
/ þt in wikked conseil
/ wommen venquysse men
/ god woot
thilke reson
/ stant heere in no stede
For vnder-
stond now / . ye axen conseil / to do wikkednesse /
and if ye
wol werke wikkednesse / and youre wyf restreyneþ þilke
wikked prpos / & ouercometh yow by reson & by good conseil /