VIII PIERS PLOWMAN (1362-1400) BY WILLIAM LANGLAND
Reading edition
Recent criticism of Piers Plowman has done more to weaken the hold of opinions once generally accepted than to replace them by others better founded. It is still most probable that 'Long Will', who is more than once mentioned in the text as the poet, was William Langland. The earliest external evidence of his home and parentage is given in a fifteenth-century note in MS. Dublin D 4. 1, of which both the matter and the vile Latinity bear the stamp of genuineness: 'Memorandum quod Stacy de Rokayle, pater Willielmi de Langlond, qui Stacius fuit generosus, et morabatur in Schiptone under Whicwode, tenens domini le Spenser in comitatu Oxon., qui praedictus Willielmus fecit librum qui vocatur Perys Ploughman.' Shipton-under-Wychwood is near Burford in Oxfordshire. The poem shows familiarity with the Malvern Hills and the streets of London; but it is hard to say how much is fact and how much is fiction in the references to Long Will in the text itself, more especially the description of his London life added as the Sixth Passus in Version C, and reproduced here as the second extract.
Since Skeat's edition for the Early English Text Society, the many manuscripts have been grouped into three main types. The shortest, or A-text, appears from internal evidence to have been written about 1362. The B-text (about 1377) has the most compact manuscript tradition. It is distinguished by considerable additions throughout, and by the reconstruction and expansion of the visions of Dowel, Dobet, Dobest, which make up the second half of the poem. The C-text, the latest and fullest form, appears to have been completed in the last decade of the fourteenth century.
Until recently it has been assumed that these three versions represent progressive revisions by the author. But Professor Manly has found considerable support for his view that more than one writer—perhaps as many as five—had a share in the work. For the present, judgement on this question, and on the intricate problem of the relations of the different versions, is suspended until the results of a complete re-examination of all the MSS. are available. It would not be surprising to find that even when this necessary work is done differences of opinion on the larger questions remain as acute as ever.
It is impossible in short space to give an outline of the whole work, which describes no less than eleven visions. The structure is loose, and allegory is developed or dropped with disconcerting abruptness, for the writer does not curb his vigorous imagination in the interests of formal correctness.
The first part is the best known. On a May morning the poet falls asleep on the Malvern Hills and sees a 'Field full of Folk', where all classes of men are busy about their occupations, more particularly the nefarious occupations that engage the attention of the moralist. Holy Church explains that a high tower in the Field is the home of Truth; and that a 'deep dale' is the Castle of Care, where Wrong dwells with the wicked. She points out Falseness, who is about to marry Lady Meed (i.e. Reward, whether deserved reward or bribe). Lady Meed and her company are haled before the King, who, with Reason and Conscience as his guides, decides her case, and upholds the plea of Peace against Wrong.
The second vision is prefaced (in the C-text only) by the passage printed as the second selection. The poet falls asleep again, and sees Conscience preaching to the people in the Field. Representatives of the Seven Deadly Sins are vividly described. They are brought to penitence, and all set out in search of Truth. But no one knows the way. A palmer who wears the trophies of many pilgrimages to distant saints is puzzled by their inquiries, for he has never heard of pilgrims seeking Truth. Then Peter the Plowman comes forward and explains the way in allegorical terms. Here the first extract begins. The second vision closes with a general pardon given by Truth to Piers Plowman in this simple form:
Do wel, and haue wel, and God shal haue þi sowle; And do yuel, and haue yuel, hope þow non other But after þi ded-day þe Deuel shal haue þi sowle.
The several visions of the second part make up the lives of Dowel, Dobet, and Dobest. Piers Plowman is there identified with Christ, and the poem ends with Conscience, almost overcome by sin, setting out resolutely in search of Piers.
First impressions of mediaeval life are usually coloured by the courtly romances of Malory and his later refiners. Chaucer brings us down to reality, but his people belong to a prosperous middle-class world, on holiday and in holiday mood. Piers Plowman stands alone as a revelation of the ignorance and misery of the lower classes, whose multiplied grievances came to a head in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. It must not be supposed that Langland idealized the labourers. Their indolence and improvidence are exposed as unsparingly as the vices of the rich; and Piers himself is not so much a representative of the English workman in the fourteenth century as a character drawn straight from the Gospels. Still, such an eager plea for humbleness, simplicity, and honest labour, could not fail to encourage the political hopes of the poor, and we see in John Ball's letter (p. 160) that 'Piers Plowman' had become a catchword among them. The poet himself rather deprecates political action. His satire is directed against the general slackening of the bonds of duty that marked the last years of an outworn system of society. For the remedy of abuses he appeals not to one class but to all: king, nobles, clergy, and workers must model their lives on the pattern of the Gospels.
A. FROM THE B-TEXT, PASSUS VI. Bodleian MS. Laud 581 (about 1400).
'This were a wikked way, but whoso hadde a gyde That wolde folwen vs eche a fote:' þus þis folke hem mened. Quatȝ Perkyn þe plouman: 'Bi Seynt Peter of Rome! I haue an half-acre to erye bi þe heigh way. Hadde I eried þis half-acre, and sowen it after, 5 I wolde wende with ȝow, and þe way teche.' 'Þis were a longe lettynge,' quod a lady in a sklayre; 'What sholde we wommen worche þerewhiles?' 'Somme shal sowe <þe> sakke,' quod Piers, 'for shedyng of þe whete; And ȝe, louely ladyes, with ȝoure longe fyngres, 10 Þat ȝe han silke and sendal to sowe, whan tyme is, Chesibles for chapelleynes, cherches to honoure; Wyues and wydwes wolle and flex spynneth, Maketh cloth, I conseille ȝow, and kenneth so ȝowre douȝtres; Þe nedy and þe naked, nymmeth hede how hii liggeth, 15 And casteth hem clothes, for so comaundeth Treuthe. For I shal lene hem lyflode, but ȝif þe londe faille, Flesshe and bred, bothe to riche and to pore, As longe as I lyue, for þe Lordes loue of heuene. And alle manere of men þat þorw mete and drynke lybbeth, 20 Helpith hym to worche wiȝtliche þat wynneth ȝowre fode.' 'Bi Crist!' quod a knyȝte þo, 'he kenneth vs þe best; Ac on þe teme trewly tauȝte was I neuere. Ac kenne me,' quod þe knyȝte, 'and, bi Cryst! I wil assaye.' 'Bi seynt Poule!' quod Perkyn, 'ȝe profre ȝow so faire, 25 Þat I shal swynke, and swete, and sowe for vs bothe, And oþer laboures do for þi loue al my lyf tyme, In couenaunt þat þow kepe Holi Kirke and myselue Fro wastoures and fro wykked men þat þis worlde struyeth; And go hunte hardiliche to hares and to foxes, 30 To bores and to brockes þat breketh adown myne hegges, And go affaite þe faucones wilde foules to kille, For suche cometh to my croft, and croppeth my whete.' Curteislich þe knyȝte þanne comsed þise wordes: 'By my power, Pieres,' quod he, 'I pliȝte þe my treuthe 35 To fulfille þis forward, þowȝ I fiȝte sholde; Als longe as I lyue, I shal þe mayntene.' 'Ȝe, and ȝit a poynt,' quod Pieres, 'I preye ȝow of more; Loke ȝe tene no tenaunt, but Treuthe wil assent. And þowgh ȝe mowe amercy hem, late Mercy be taxoure, 40 And Mekenesse þi mayster, maugré Medes chekes; And þowgh pore men profre ȝow presentis and ȝiftis, Nym it nauȝte, an auenture ȝe mowe it nauȝte deserue; For þow shalt ȝelde it aȝein at one ȝeres ende In a ful perillous place, Purgatorie it hatte. 45 And mysbede nouȝte þi bondemen, þe better may þow spede; Þowgh he be þyn vnderlynge here, wel may happe in heuene Þat he worth worthier sette and with more blisse: Amice, ascende superius. For in charnel atte chirche cherles ben yuel to knowe, 50 Or a kniȝte fram a knaue þere,—knowe þis in þin herte. And þat þow be trewe of þi tonge, and tales þat þow hatie, But if þei ben of wisdome or of witte, þi werkmen to chaste. Holde with none harlotes, ne here nouȝte her tales, And nameliche atte mete suche men eschue, 55 For it ben þe deueles disoures, I do þe to vnderstande.' 'I assente, bi Seynt Iame!' seyde þe kniȝte þanne, 'Forto worche bi þi wordes þe while my lyf dureth.' 'And I shal apparaille me,' quod Perkyn, 'in pilgrimes wise, And wende with ȝow I wil til we fynde Treuthe, 60 And cast on me my clothes, yclouted and hole, My cokeres and my coffes, for colde of my nailles, And hange myn hoper at myn hals, in stede of a scrippe, A busshel of bredcorne brynge me þerinne, For I wil sowe it myself; and sitthenes wil I wende 65 To pylgrymage, as palmers don, pardoun forto haue. Ac whoso helpeth me to erie or sowen here, ar I wende, Shal haue leue, bi owre Lorde, to lese here in heruest, And make hem mery þeremydde, maugré whoso bigruccheth it. And alkyn crafty men, þat konne lyuen in treuthe, 70 I shal fynden hem fode, þat feithfulliche libbeth.'... (Dame 'Worche-whan-tyme-is' Pieres wyf hiȝte; His douȝter hiȝte 'Do-riȝte-so- or-þi-dame-shal-þe-bete'; His sone hiȝte 'Suffre-þi-souereynes- to-hauen-her-wille-, Deme-hem-nouȝte-, for-, if-þow-doste-, þow-shalt-it-dere-abugge.') 75 'Late God yworth with al, for so His worde techeth; For now I am olde and hore, and haue of myn owen, To penaunce and to pilgrimage I wil passe with þise other. Forþi I wil, or I wende, do wryte my biqueste. In Dei nomine, amen, I make it myseluen. 80 He shal haue my soule þat best hath yserued it, And fro þe fende it defende, for so I bileue, Til I come to His acountes, as my Credo me telleth, To haue a relees and a remissioun on þat rental I leue. Þe kirke shal haue my caroigne and kepe my bones, 85 For of my corne and catel he craued þe tythe; I payed it hym prestly, for peril of my soule, Forthy is he holden, I hope, to haue me in his masse, And mengen in his memorye amonge alle Crystene. My wyf shal haue of þat I wan with treuthe, and nomore, 90 And dele amonge my douȝtres and my dere children; For þowgh I deye todaye, my dettes ar quitte; I bare home þat I borwed, ar I to bedde ȝede. And with þe residue and þe remenaunte, bi þe rode of Lukes! I wil worschip þerwith Treuthe bi my lyue, 95 And ben his pilgryme atte plow, for pore mennes sake. My plow-fote shal be my pyk-staf, and picche atwo þe rotes, And helpe my culter to kerue, and clense þe forwes.' Now is Perkyn and his pilgrymes to þe plowe faren; To erie þis halue-acre holpyn hym manye. 100 Dikeres and delueres digged vp þe balkes; Þerewith was Perkyn apayed, and preysed hem faste. Other werkemen þere were þat wrouȝten ful ȝerne; Eche man in his manere made hymself to done, And some, to plese Perkyn, piked vp þe wedes. 105 At heighe pryme Peres lete þe plowe stonde, To ouersen hem hymself, and whoso best wrouȝte He shulde be huyred þerafter whan heruest-tyme come. And þanne seten somme and songen atte nale, And hulpen erie his half-acre with 'how! trollilolli!' 110 'Now, bi þe peril of my soule!' quod Pieres, al in pure tene, 'But ȝe arise þe rather, and rape ȝow to worche, Shal no greyne þat groweth glade ȝow at nede; And þough ȝe deye for dole, þe deuel haue þat reccheth!' Tho were faitoures aferde, and feyned hem blynde; 115 Somme leyde here legges aliri, as suche loseles conneth, And made her mone to Pieres, and preyde hym of grace: 'For we haue no lymes to laboure with, lorde, ygraced be ȝe! Ac we preye for ȝow, Pieres, and for ȝowre plow bothe, Þat God of His grace ȝowre grayne multiplye, 120 And ȝelde ȝow of ȝowre almesse þat ȝe ȝiue vs here; For we may nouȝte swynke ne swete, suche sikenesse vs eyleth.' 'If it be soth,' quod Pieres, 'þat ȝe seyne, I shal it sone asspye. Ȝe ben wastoures, I wote wel, and Treuthe wote þe sothe, And I am his olde hyne, and hiȝte hym to warne 125 Which þei were in þis worlde his werkemen appeyred. Ȝe wasten þat men wynnen with trauaille and with tene, Ac Treuthe shal teche ȝow his teme to dryue, Or ȝe shal ete barly bred and of þe broke drynke. But if he be blynde, or broke-legged, or bolted with yrnes, 130 He shal ete whete bred and drynke with myselue, Tyl God of his goodnesse amendement hym sende. Ac ȝe myȝte trauaille as Treuthe wolde, and take mete and huyre To kepe kyne in þe felde, þe corne fro þe bestes, Diken, or deluen, or dyngen vppon sheues, 135 Or helpe make morter, or bere mukke afelde. In lecherye an in losengerye ȝe lyuen, and in sleuthe, And al is þorw suffrance þat veniaunce ȝow ne taketh. Ac ancres and heremytes, þat eten but at nones, And namore er morwe, myne almesse shul þei haue, 140 And of my catel to cope hem with þat han cloistres and cherches. Ac Robert Renne-aboute shal nouȝe haue of myne, Ne posteles, but þey preche conne, and haue powere of þe bisschop; They shal haue payne and potage, and make hemself at ese, For it is an vnresonable religioun þat hath riȝte nouȝte of certeyne.' 145 And þanne gan a Wastoure to wrath hym, and wolde haue yfouȝte, And to Pieres þe plowman he profered his gloue; A Brytonere, a braggere, abosted Pieres als:— 'Wiltow or neltow, we wil haue owre wille Of þi flowre and of þi flessche, fecche whan vs liketh, 150 And make vs myrie þermyde, maugré þi chekes!' Thanne Pieres þe plowman pleyned hym to þe knyȝte, To kepe hym, as couenaunte was, fram cursed shrewes, And fro þis wastoures wolues-kynnes, þat maketh þe worlde dere: 'For þo waste, and wynnen nouȝte, and þat ilke while 155 Worth neuere plenté amonge þe poeple þerwhile my plow liggeth.' Curteisly þe knyȝte þanne, as his kynde wolde, Warned Wastoure, and wissed hym bettere, 'Or þow shalt abugge by þe lawe, by þe ordre þat I bere!' 'I was nouȝt wont to worche,' quod Wastour, 'and now wil I nouȝt bigynne', 160 And lete liȝte of þe lawe, and lasse of þe knyȝte, And sette Pieres at a pees, and his plow bothe, And manaced Pieres and his men ȝif þei mette eftsone. 'Now, by þe peril of my soule!' quod Pieres, 'I shal apeyre ȝow alle!' And houped after Hunger, þat herd hym atte firste: 165 'Awreke me of þise wastoures,' quod he 'þat þis worlde schendeth!' Hunger in haste þo hent Wastour bi þe mawe, And wronge hym so bi þe wombe þat bothe his eyen wattered. He buffeted þe Britoner aboute þe chekes, Þat he loked like a lanterne al his lyf after. 170 He bette hem so bothe, he barste nere here guttes; Ne hadde Pieres with a pese-lof preyed Hunger to cesse, They hadde ben doluen bothe, ne deme þow non other. 'Suffre hem lyue,' he seyde 'and lete hem ete with hogges, Or elles benes and bren ybaken togideres, 175 Or elles melke and mene ale;' þus preyed Pieres for hem. Faitoures for fere herof flowen into bernes, And flapten on with flayles fram morwe til euen, That Hunger was nouȝt so hardy on hem for to loke, For a potful of peses þat Peres hadde ymaked.180 An heep of heremites henten hem spades, And ketten here copes, and courtpies hem made, And wenten as werkemen with spades and with schoueles, And doluen and dykeden to dryue aweye Hunger. Blynde and bedreden were botened a þousande, 185 Þat seten to begge syluer; sone were þei heled. For þat was bake for Bayarde was bote for many hungry, And many a beggere for benes buxome was to swynke, And eche a pore man wel apayed to haue pesen for his huyre, And what Pieres preyed hem to do as prest as a sperhauke. 190 And þereof was Peres proude, and put hem to werke, And ȝaf hem mete as he myȝte aforth, and mesurable huyre. Þanne hadde Peres pité, and preyed Hunger to wende Home into his owne erde, and holden hym þere: 'For I am wel awroke now of wastoures, þorw þi myȝte. 195 Ac I preye þe, ar þow passe,' quod Pieres to Hunger, 'Of beggeres and of bidderes what best be <to> done? For I wote wel, be þow went, þei wil worche ful ille; For myschief it maketh þei beth so meke nouthe, And for defaute of her fode þis folke is at my wille. 200 Þey are my blody bretheren,' quod Pieres, 'for God bouȝte vs alle; Treuthe tauȝte me ones to louye hem vchone, And to helpen hem of alle þinge ay as hem nedeth. And now wolde I witen of þe what were þe best, An how I myȝte amaistrien hem, and make hem to worche.' 205 'Here now,' quod Hunger 'and holde it for a wisdome: Bolde beggeres and bigge, þat mowe her bred biswynke, With houndes bred and hors bred holde vp her hertis, Abate hem with benes for bollyng of her wombe; And ȝif þe gomes grucche, bidde hem go swynke, 210 And he shal soupe swettere whan he it hath deseruid. And if þow fynde any freke, þat fortune hath appeyred Or any maner fals men, fonde þow suche to cnowe; Conforte hym with þi catel, for Crystes loue of heuene; Loue hem and lene hem, so lawe of God techeth:— 215 Alter alterius onera portate. And alle maner of men þat þow myȝte asspye That nedy ben and nauȝty, helpe hem with þi godis; Loue hem, and lakke hem nouȝte; late God take þe veniaunce; Theigh þei done yuel, late þow God aworthe:— 220 Michi vindictam, et ego retribuam. And if þow wil be graciouse to God, do as þe Gospel techeth, And bilow þe amonges low men; so shaltow lacche grace:— Facite vobis amicos de mamona iniquitatis.' 'I wolde nouȝt greue God,' quod Piers, 'for al þe good on grounde; 225 Miȝte I synnelees do as þow seist?' seyde Pieres þanne. 'Ȝe, I bihote þe,' quod Hunger, 'or ellis þe Bible lieth; Go to Genesis þe gyaunt, þe engendroure of vs alle:— "In sudore and swynke þow shalt þi mete tilye, And laboure for þi lyflode," and so owre Lorde hyȝte. 230 And Sapience seyth þe same, I seigh it in þe Bible:— "Piger pro frigore no felde nolde tilye, And þerfore he shal begge and bidde, and no man bete his hunger." Mathew with mannes face mouthed þise wordis:— Þat seruus nequam had a nam, and for he wolde nouȝte chaffare, 235 He had maugré of his maistre for euermore after, And binam <hym> his mnam, for he ne wolde worche, And ȝaf þat mnam to hym þat ten mnames hadde; And with þat he seyde, þat Holi Cherche it herde, "He þat hath shal haue, and helpe þere it nedeth, 240 And he þat nouȝt hath shal nouȝt haue, and no man hym helpe; And þat he weneth wel to haue, I wil it hym bireue." Kynde Witt wolde þat eche a wyght wrouȝte, Or in dykynge, or in deluynge, or trauaillynge in preyeres, Contemplatyf lyf or actyf lyf, Cryst wolde men wrouȝte. 245 Þe Sauter seyth in þe psalme of Beati omnes, Þe freke þat fedeth hymself with his feythful laboure, He is blessed by þe boke, in body and in soule:— Labores manuum tuarum, etc.' 'Ȝet I prey ȝow,' quod Pieres, 'par charité! and ȝe kunne 250 Eny leef of lechecraft, lere it me, my dere. For somme of my seruauntȝ, and myself bothe, Of al a wyke worche nouȝt, so owre wombe aketh.' 'I wote wel,' quod Hunger, 'what sykenesse ȝow eyleth; Ȝe han maunged ouermoche, and þat maketh ȝow grone. 255 Ac I hote þe,' quod Hunger, 'as þow þyne hele wilnest, That þow drynke no day ar þow dyne somwhat. Ete nouȝte, I hote þe, ar hunger þe take, And sende þe of his sauce to sauoure with þi lippes; And kepe some tyl sopertyme, and sitte nouȝt to longe; 260 Arise vp ar appetit haue eten his fulle. Lat nouȝt Sire Surfait sitten at þi borde.... And ȝif þow diete þe þus, I dar legge myne eres Þat Phisik shal his furred hodes for his fode selle, And his cloke of Calabre, with alle þe knappes of golde, 265 And be fayne, bi my feith, his phisik to lete, And lerne to laboure with londe, for lyflode is swete; For morthereres aren mony leches, Lorde hem amende! Þei do men deye þorw here drynkes, ar Destiné it wolde.' 'By Seynt Poule!' quod Pieres, 'þise aren profitable wordis. 270 Wende now, Hunger, whan þow wolt, þat wel be þow euere, For this is a louely lessoun; Lorde it þe forȝelde!' 'Byhote God,' quod Hunger, 'hennes ne wil I wende, Til I haue dyned bi þis day, and ydronke bothe.' 'I haue no peny,' quod Peres 'poletes forto bigge, 275 Ne neyther gees ne grys, but two grene cheses, A fewe cruddes and creem, and an hauer-cake, And two loues of benes and bran ybake for my fauntis; And ȝet I sey, by my soule, I haue no salt bacoun Ne no kokeney, bi Cryst, coloppes forto maken. 280 Ac I haue percil, and porettes, and many koleplantes, And eke a cow and a kalf, and a cart-mare To drawe afelde my donge þe while þe drought lasteth. And bi þis lyflode we mot lyue til Lammasse tyme; And bi þat I hope to haue heruest in my croft, 285 And þanne may I diȝte þi dyner as me dere liketh.' Alle þe pore peple þo pesecoddes fetten, Benes and baken apples þei brouȝte in her lappes, Chibolles and cheruelles and ripe chiries manye, And profred Peres þis present to plese with Hunger. 290 Al Hunger eet in hast, and axed after more. Þanne pore folke for fere fedde Hunger ȝerne With grene poret and pesen—to poysoun Hunger þei þouȝte. By þat it neighed nere heruest, newe corne cam to chepynge; Þanne was folke fayne, and fedde Hunger with þe best, 295 With good ale, as Glotoun tauȝte, and gerte Hunger go slepe. And þo wolde Wastour nouȝt werche, but wandren aboute, Ne no begger ete bred that benes inne were, But of coket, or clerematyn, or elles of clene whete, Ne none halpeny ale in none wise drynke, 300 But of þe best and of þe brounest þat in borgh is to selle. Laboreres þat haue no lande to lyue on but her handes, Deyned nouȝt to dyne aday nyȝt-olde wortes; May no peny-ale hem paye, ne no pece of bakoun, But if it be fresch flesch, other fische, fryed other bake, 305 And that chaude or plus chaud, for chillyng of here mawe. And but if he be heighlich huyred, ellis wil he chyde, And þat he was werkman wrouȝt waille þe tyme; Aȝeines Catones conseille comseth he to iangle:— Paupertatis onus pacienter ferre memento. 310 He greueth hym aȝeines God, and gruccheth aȝeines resoun, And þanne curseth he þe kynge, and al his conseille after, Suche lawes to loke, laboreres to greue. Ac whiles Hunger was her maister, þere wolde none of hem chyde, Ne stryue aȝeines his statut, so sterneliche he loked. 315 Ac I warne ȝow, werkemen, wynneth while ȝe mowe, For Hunger hide<r>ward hasteth hym faste, He shal awake with water wastoures to chaste. Ar fyue <ȝere> be fulfilled suche famyn shal aryse, Thorwgh flodes and þourgh foule wederes frutes shul faille; 320 And so sayde Saturne, and sent ȝow to warne: Whan ȝe se þe sonne amys, and two monkes hedes, And a mayde haue þe maistrie, and multiplied bi eight, Þanne shal Deth withdrawe, and Derthe be Iustice, And Dawe þe Dyker deye for hunger, 325 But if God of his goodnesse graunt vs a trewe.
B. FROM THE C-TEXT, PASSUS VI, ll. 1-104. MS. Phillips 8231 (about 1400).
Thus ich awaked, wot God, wanne ich wonede on Cornehulle, Kytte and ich in a cote, cloþed as a lollere, And lytel ylete by, leyue me for soþe, Among lollares of London and lewede heremytes; For ich made of þo men as Reson me tauhte. 5 For as ich cam by Conscience, wit Reson ich mette, In an hote heruest, wenne ich hadde myn hele, And lymes to labore with, and louede wel fare, And no dede to do bote drynke and to slepe: In hele and in vnité on me aposede, 10 Romynge in remembraunce, thus Reson me aratede:— 'Canstow seruen,' he seide, 'oþer syngen in a churche, Oþer coke for my cokers, oþer to þe cart picche, Mowe, oþer mowen, oþer make bond to sheues, Repe, oþer be a repereyue, and aryse erliche, 15 Oþer haue an horne and be haywarde, and liggen oute a nyghtes, And kepe my corn in my croft fro pykers and þeeues? Oþer shappe shon oþer cloþes, oþer shep oþer kyn kepe, <H>eggen oþer harwen, oþer swyn oþer gees dryue, Oþer eny kyns craft þat to þe comune nudeþ, 20 Hem þat bedreden be bylyue to fynde?' 'Certes,' ich seyde, 'and so me God helpe, Ich am to waik to worche with sykel oþer with sythe, And to long, leyf me, lowe for to stoupe, To worchen as a workeman eny wyle to dure.' 25 'Thenne hauest þow londes to lyue by,' quath Reson, 'oþer lynage riche That fynden þe þy fode? For an hydel man þow semest, A spendour þat spende mot, oþer a spille-tyme, Oþer beggest þy bylyue aboute ate menne hacches, Oþer faitest vpon Frydays oþer feste-dayes in churches, 30 The wiche is lollarene lyf, þat lytel ys preysed Þer Ryghtfulnesse rewardeþ ryght as men deserueþ:— Reddit unicuique iuxta opera sua. Oþer þow ert broke, so may be, in body oþer in membre, Oþer ymaymed þorw som myshap werby þow myȝt be excused?' 35 'Wanne ich ȝong was,' quath ich, 'meny ȝer hennes, My fader and my frendes founden me to scole, Tyl ich wiste wyterliche wat Holy Wryt menede, And wat is best for þe body, as þe Bok telleþ, And sykerest for þe soule, by so ich wolle continue. 40 And ȝut fond ich neuere, in faith, sytthen my frendes deyden, Lyf þat me lyked, bote in þes longe clothes. Hyf ich by laboure sholde lyue and lyflode deseruen, That labour þat ich lerned best þerwith lyue ich sholde:— In eadem uocatione qua uocati estis. 45 And ich lyue in Londene and on Londen bothe; The lomes þat ich laboure with and lyflode deserue Ys Paternoster, and my Prymer, Placebo and Dirige, And my Sauter som tyme, and my Seuene Psalmes. Thus ich synge for hure soules of suche as me helpen, 50 And þo þat fynden me my fode vochen saf, ich trowe, To be wolcome wanne ich come oþerwyle in a monthe, Now with hym and now with hure; and þusgate ich begge Withoute bagge oþer botel bote my wombe one. And also, moreouer, me þynkeþ, syre Reson, 55 Men sholde constreyne no clerke to knauene werkes; For by lawe of Leuitici, þat oure Lord ordeynede, Clerkes þat aren crouned, of kynde vnderstondyng, Sholde noþer swynke, ne swete, ne swere at enquestes, Ne fyghte in no vauntwarde, ne hus fo greue:— 60 Non reddas malum pro malo. For it ben aires of heuene alle þat ben crounede, And in queer in churches Cristes owene mynestres:— Dominus pars hereditatis mee; & alibi: Clementia non constringit. Hit bycomeþ for clerkus Crist for to seruen, 65 And knaues vncrouned to cart and to worche. For shold no clerk be crouned bote yf he ycome were Of franklens and free men, and of folke yweddede. Bondmen and bastardes and beggers children, Thuse bylongeþ to labour, and lordes children sholde seruen, 70 Bothe God and good men, as here degree askeþ; Some to synge masses, oþer sitten and wryte, Rede and receyue þat Reson ouhte spende; And sith bondemenne barnes han be mad bisshopes, And barnes bastardes han ben archidekenes, 75 And sopers and here sones for seluer han be knyghtes, And lordene sones here laborers, and leid here rentes to wedde, For þe ryght of þes reame ryden aȝens oure enemys, In confort of þe comune and þe kynges worshep, And monkes and moniales, þat mendinauns sholden fynde, 80 Han mad here kyn knyghtes, and knyghtfees purchase<d>, Popes and patrones poure gentil blod refuseþ, And taken Symondes sone seyntewarie to kepe. Lyf-holynesse and loue han ben longe hennes, And wole, til hit be wered out, or oþerwise ychaunged. 85 Forþy rebuke me ryght nouht, Reson, ich ȝow praye; For in my conscience ich knowe what Crist wolde þat ich wrouhte. Preyers of <a> parfyt man and penaunce discret Ys þe leueste labour þat oure Lord pleseþ. Non de solo,' ich seide, 'for soþe uiuit homo, 90 Nec in pane et pabulo, þe Paternoster witnesseþ: Fiat uoluntas tua fynt ous alle þynges.' Quath Conscience, 'By Crist! ich can nat see this lyeþ; Ac it semeth nouht parfytnesse in cytees for to begge, Bote he be obediencer to pryour oþer to mynstre.' 95 'That ys soth,' ich seide 'and so ich byknowe That ich haue tynt tyme, and tyme mysspended; And ȝut, ich hope, as he þat ofte haueþ chaffared, Þat ay hath lost and lost, and at þe laste hym happed He bouhte suche a bargayn he was þe bet euere, 100 And sette hus lost at a lef at þe laste ende, Suche a wynnynge hym warth þorw wyrdes of hus grace:— Simile est regnum celorum thesauro abscondito in agro, et cetera; Mulier que inuenit dragmam, et cetera; So hope ich to haue of Hym þat his almyghty 105 A gobet of Hus grace, and bygynne a tyme Þat alle tymes of my tyme to profit shal turne.' 'Ich rede þe,' quath Reson þo 'rape þe to bygynne Þe lyf þat ys lowable and leel to þe soule'— 'Ȝe, and continue,' quath Conscience; and to þe churche ich wente. 110