The Declaratyon of the Example.

This welle is youre sone wherof oute flowen seuen sprynges, that sygnefye the seuen wyse maysters the whiche soone ye maye not destroye withoute the vii. maysters be made feble ⁊ broughte too noughte that done this well that is your sone w^t all his cauyllacyons ⁊ wyles shal not scape / but lete hym be hanged fyrste leste that he haue helpe of his maysters / ⁊ forth after co[n]sequently y^e vii. maysters. And so ye shall gouerne ⁊ guyde your empyre in reste ⁊ peas. Themperour anone cōmaunded his seruauntes to lede his son to the galowes / whiche they were lothe to do. So was there than a grete multytude of people gadred with grete noyse ⁊ bewaylynge so that the noyse came to y^e eres of y^e fourth mayster named Malquydrac. y^e whiche lepte vpon his hors / ⁊ hasted hym to y^e palays. So mette w^t hym his dyscyple ⁊ dyde reuerence to hym / ⁊ recommaunded hym vnto hym / ⁊ whan he came before themperour ⁊ had done his obeysaunce ⁊ reuerence as apperteyned. Themperour answered ⁊ sayde. Lytell thanke haue y^e olde cursed caytyfe for y^e techȳge of my sone for I delyuered you my sone well spekȳge ⁊ in all thynge ryght vertuous. And ye haue sent hym a fole dompe / ⁊ a rybaude / for he wolde haue belayne w^t force my wyfe / ⁊ therfore all ye with him togyder shall be hanged. Tho sayd y^e mayster, My lorde I haue not that deserued of you. god knoweth why your sone speketh not. in shorte tyme ye shal perceyue other thȳges. but y^e tyme is not yet comen. But in y^t ye say he wolde haue oppressed your wyfe, y^t is not gospel ne proued, ne for one synguler p[er]sone ye shold not iuge to deth your sone. yf now for y^e wordes of your wyfe ye iuge your sone to dye, it wil be wors to you than to an olde man of his wyfe. ⁊ that I shall proue. Too whome themperour sayd, Thynke ye to doo with me ye olde dotarde, as somtyme seuen wyse men dyde to an emperour. Therto sayd y^e mayster The offence or trespace of one or yet of twenty, may not founde to the rebuke ⁊ blame of all other, for ouer al the worlde there bee bothe good ⁊ euyll. But one thynge of a trouth I shall shewe you. that euyll shall come to you yf ye this daye do your sone to deth for the wordes of your wyfe. the whiche I wolde shewe by a notable example. Than sayd the emperoure woll ye that recyte for our lernynge. The mayster sayde, Yf ye wyll calle ayen your sone, ⁊ kepe hym tyll I haue made recytacyon of the example. ⁊ than what someuer ye shal thinke best to done with hym, doo it. I shall reherce this example or elles not. The emperour cōmaunded that he sholde be called ayen and desyred the mayster to say as here after ensueth or foloweth.