olde wyse men / and bygonnen to make noyse / and seiden / that
70
rigħt so / as whil that Iren is hoot / men shulde smyte / rigħt
so men shuln do wreken here wronges / whil that they ben fresshe
& newe / And wt loude vois / they cryden / werre / werre /
vp roos tho /
oon of theise olde wyse / & witħ his hond mad countenaūce / þt men
shulde holde hē stille / & ȝeue hī audience
¶ Lordynges q
d he
/ there
is ful many a man that criet
ħ werre
/ werre
/ þat wot ful litel
what werre amountet
ħ / Cross in dry point in the right margin.ODR
werre at his bigynnyng hatħ so gret
an entryng / & so large / þt euery wigħt may entre whan hī liketħ
& ligħtly fynde werre /
But certes to what ende / that shal þer
of bifalle / it is nat ligħt to knowe /
75
for sotħly / whan þt werre / is
ones bygonne / there is ful many a child vn borñ of his moder
that shal sterue ȝong / by cause of thilke werre / or elles lyue in
sorwe / & dye in wrecchednesse /
And therfore / er that any werre
be bigonne / men must haue gret counseil / & gret deliberacioū /
&
whāne this olde man wende to enforce his tale by resoūs / wel
ny alle attones bigōne they to ryse / for to breken his tale / & beden
hī ful ofte / hise wordes for to a bregge /
for sotħly he that perchetħ
to hem / that listen nat heren his wordes / his Sarmoū / hē anoy-
etħ
¶ For I
ħ~c Syrak seit
ħ / That Musyk in wepyng
/ is anoy-
ous thyng
/ This is to seyn
/ as muche auaillet
ħ to speken bifor
ñ folk
/ to whic
ħ his speche a noyet
ħ / as it is to synge biforn h
ī þt wepet
ħ Cross in dry point in the right margin.ODR
80
¶ And whan this wys man sey / þt hī wanted audience /
Al shamefast / he sette hī doun a geyn /
for Salamon seitħ / þere
as thow ne maist haue noon audience / enforce the nat to speke /
I se wel qd this wyse man / þt the cōe prouerbe is sotħ / þt good coū-
seil wantetħ / whan it is most nede
¶ Ȝet had this Melibeus in
his counseil / many folk / that piuely in his Ere / coūseilled hī cer-
teyn thyng / and coūseilled hī the contarie in general audience
¶ whā
Melibeus had herd / that the grettest partie of his coūseil / were acor-
ded / that he shulde make werre / a noon he consented to here coū-
seillynge / & fully affermed here sentence
85
¶ Thāne Dame Pru-
dence / whan that she sey / how þt hire housbonde shope hī / for to
wreke hī oon his foos / and to bigynne werre / she in ful humble
wyse / whan she sey hire tyme / seide hī theise wordes
¶ My lord
qd she / I ȝow byseche / as hertily as I dar & kan / ne haste ȝow nat
to faste / and for alle gerdoūs / as ȝif me audience
¶ For Piers Al-
fonse seitħ / who so that dotħ to the / outher good or harm / haste
the nat to quyte it / for in this wyse / thy frend wol a bide / &
thyn enemy / shal the lengere lyue in drede
¶ The prouerbe seitħ
he hastetħ wel / that wysly kan a byde / And in wykked hast / is no
profyt
¶ This Melibe answered vn to his wyf / Pudence / I purpo-
se nat qd he / to werkyn by thy counseil / for many causes & re-
sons / For certes euery wigħt wold holde me thāne a fool /
90
this is to
seyn ; If I for thy coūseillyng / wolde chaunge thynges / that