amyned ȝoure coūseil / in the forseide manere / ne in due manere
as the cas requyretħ
¶ ȝe han erred also / for ȝe han maked / no di-
uisioū / bitwixe ȝoure coūseillors / this is to seyn ; bitwixe ȝoure
trewe frendes / & ȝoure feyned coūseillors /
ne ȝe han nat knowe / þe
wil of ȝour trewe frendes / olde & wyse /
but ȝe han cast alle here
wordes in an hochepot / And enclyned ȝoure herte / to the more
part / & to the grettere noumbre / & there be ȝe cōdescended /
290
And
sithe ȝe wot wel / þt men shuln alwey fynde / a grettere nom-
bre of fooles / than of wyse men /
And þerfore þe coūseilles þt ben
at cōgregacions & multitudes of folk / there as men take more
reward to the noumbre / than to the sapience of persones /
ȝe
se wel þt in swicħ coūseillynggis / fooles han the maistrie
¶ Melibeus answerde a geyn / & seide / I gaunte wel þt I ha-
ue erred /
but there as þu hast told me heere biforñ / þt he nys
nat to blame / þt chaungetħ his coūseillors in certeyn cas / &
for certeyn iuste causes
295
¶ I am al redy to chaūge my coūseil-
lours / rigħt as þu wolt deuyse
¶ The
prou
erbe seit
ħ / For to do
synne
/ is mannyss
ħ / but certes for to
perseuere longe in s
ȳ-
ne
/ is werke of the deuele
id est humanum
interlinear gloss .i. humanu
¶ To this sentence / answered a noon
Dame Pudence / and seide /
Examynetħ qd she / ȝoure coūseil /
and lat vs se / the whicħ of hē / han spoken most resonably / and
taugħt ȝow best coūseil /
And for as muche / as that þe examina-
cioū is necessarie / lat vs bigynne / at the Surgiens & at the phi-
siciens / þt first speken in this matere /
300
I seye / þt Surgiens and
Phisiciens / han seid ȝow in ȝoure coūseil / discretly / as hē ougħte
And in here speche / seiden ful wysly / that to the office of hē
appertenetħ / to don to euery wigħt / honor & profyt / & no wygħt for
to a noye /
And after here craft / to don gret diligence / vn to þe
cure of hem / whicħ þt thei han in here gouernaunce /
And sire
rigħt as þei han answered wysly & discretly /
rigħt so rede I / þt
þei be heigħly & souereynly gerdoned / for here noble speche /
305
And eke
for þei Corrected from: shuldenshullenshuldlen do / the more ententif bisinesse / in the curacioū of þi
dougħter deere
¶ For al be it so / þt þei ben ȝoure frendes / þerfore
shuln ȝe nat suffren / þt þei serue ȝow for nougħt /
but ȝe ougħte
rathere gerdone hem / & shewe hē ȝoure largesse
¶ And as touch-
yng the perposicioū / whicħ þt the Phisiciens / encresceden in this cas
this is to seyn ;
þ in maladies / that a contarie is warisshed / by
another contarie /
310
I wolde fayn knowe / how ȝe vnderstonde þilke
text / & what is ȝour sentence
¶ Certes qd Melibeus / I vnderston-
de it / in this wyse /
þ rigħt as þei han don me a contarie / riȝt
so shulde I don hē a nother /
For rigħt as they / han venged hē
oon me / & don me wrong / rigħt so shal I venge me vp oon hē
& don hē wrong /
And thāne haue I cured a contarie / by a nother