ben wise / telleth youre cas / & herkneth what they seye in consey-
lynge / & yow gouerne / after hir sentence
¶ Salomon seith / werk
alle thy thynges by conseil / & thow shalt neuere repente / /
Than-
ne by the conseil of xxx wyf Prudence / this Melibeus leet
callen a greet congregacioū of folk /
as Sirurgiens / Phisiciens /
olde folk and yonge / & sōme of hise olde enemys reconsiled / as
by hir semblant to his loue / & in to his gace /
40
And ther with al
/ þer
coomen s
ōme of hise neghebores
/ þt diden hym reu
erence
/ moore
for drede than for loue
/ as it happeth ofte
Ther coomen also /
ful manye subtile flaterers / and wise Aduocatz lerned in the
lawe /
And whan this folk togydre assembled weren ; this Meli-
beus in sorweful wise / shewed hem his cas /
and by the manere
of his speche / it semed þt in herte / he baar a cruel Ire / redy to
doon vengeance vp on his foos / and sodeynly desired / þt the ~
werre sholde bigynne /
but nathelees
/ yet axed he hir conseil
vp on this matere
45
A Sirurgien / by licence and assent of swi-
che as were wise / vp roos / & vn to Melibeus / seyde as ye may
heere
¶ Sire quod he / as to vs Sirurgiens aperteneth that we
do to euery wight the beste þt we kan / where as we be withhol-
den / and to oure pacientz / þt we do no damage /
wher fore / it
happeth many tyme & ofte / þt whan twey men han euerich
wounded oother / o same Sirurgien heeleth hem bothe /
wher
fore vn to oure Art it is nat pertinent to norice werre / ne parties
to supporte /
but certes / as to the warisshynge of youre doghter
al be it so / þt she perilously be wounded / we shullen do so en-
tentif bisynesse fro day to nyght þt wt the grace of god / she
shal be hool & sound / as soone as is possible
50
¶ Almoost
right
in the same wise
/ the Phisiciens answerden
/ saue
þt they
seyden
/ a fewe wordes moore
that right as maladyes
ben cured by hir contaries / right so shal man warisshe
werre by vengeance
¶ hise neghebores ful of enuye / hise
feyned freendes / þt semeden reconsiled / hise flaterers
maden
semblant of wepyng . and empeyred / & agregged muchel /
of this matere / in preisynge gretly Melibe / of myght of
power / of richesse / & of freendes / despisynge / the power
of hise Aduersaries /
and seyden outrely . þt he anon / sholde
wreke hym on hise foos / and bigynne werre
55
¶ Vp roos than-
ne an Aduocat
þt was wys
/ by leue
& by conseil
/ of othere
þt weren wise
/ and seyde
Lordynges / the nede . for the which
we ben assembled in this place / is ful heuy thyng and an
heigh matere /