such as she in honour can grant. It is well that thou art not guilty of
Unkindness, and I will tell thee a tale to keep thee in that course.
(5163-5230.)
_Theseus and Ariadne._ Minos, king of Crete, having war with those of
Athens, compelled them as a tribute to send nine men yearly, whom he
gave to be devoured by Minotaurus. The lot fell at last upon Theseus,
son of the king of Athens, and he went with the rest to Crete.
Adriagne, daughter of Minos, loved him, and she gave him help to slay
the monster. Then he took her away with him by ship, and her sister
Fedra went in their company. They rested in the isle of Chio, and there
he left Adriagne sleeping, and sailed away with Fedra. Thus by his
ingratitude and falsehood he broke the law of love, and evil came of it
afterwards. (5231-5495.)
5505-6074. RAVINE. Ravine, in whose service is extortion, seizes other
men’s goods without right and without payment. So there are lovers who
will take possession by force. (5505-5550.)
_Tereus._ Pandion, king of Athens, had two daughters, Progne and
Philomene. Progne was married to Tereus, king of Thrace, and desiring
to see her sister, she sent Tereus to Athens to bring her. Coming back
in company with Philomene he ravished her, and then maddened by her
reproaches cut out her tongue, so that she could speak no articulate
words. Then he shut her up in prison, and coming home to his wife, he
told her that her sister was dead. Philomene in her prison prayed for
deliverance, and at length weaving her story with letters and imagery
in a cloth of silk, she sent it by a privy messenger to Progne. Progne
delivered her sister, and together they concerted vengeance, with
prayers to Venus, Cupid and Apollo. Progne slew the son which she had
by Tereus and served up his flesh to him for meat, and when he would
have pursued the sisters to take vengeance, the gods transformed them
all three, Philomene to a nightingale, which complains ever for her
lost maidenhead, Progne to a swallow, which twitters round houses
and warns wives of the falsehood of their husbands, and Tereus to a
lapwing, the falsest of birds, with a crest upon his head in token that
he was a knight. (5551-6047.)
Father, I would choose rather to be trodden to death by wild horses
or torn in pieces, than do such a thing as this against love’s law.
(6048-6074.)
6075-6492. ROBBERY. The vice of Robbery gets his sustenance by that
which he can take on the high-roads, in woods and in fields. So there
are lovers, who, if they find a woman in a lonely place, will take a
part of her wares, no matter who she may be; and the wife who sits at
home waiting for her husband’s return from hunting will hear from him
nothing of this, but only how his hounds have run or his hawks have
flown. (6075-6144.)
_Neptune and Cornix._ Cornix was a maid attendant on Pallas, and as she
went upon the shore, Neptune thought to rob her of the treasure which
passes all others and is called the maidenhead. She prayed to Pallas,
and by her help escaped from him in the form of a crow, rejoicing more
to keep her maidenhead white under the blackness of the feathers than
to lose it and be adorned with the fairest pearls. (6145-6217.)
_Calistona._ King Lichaon had a daughter Calistona, who desired ever to
be a maiden and dwelt with the nymphs of Diane. Jupiter by craft stole
her maidenhead, and Diane discovering it reproached her, so that she
fled away. She was delivered of a son, Archas, but Juno in vengeance
transformed her into a bear. In that likeness she met her son in the
forest, and he bent his bow against her, but Jupiter ordained for them
both so that they were saved from misfortune. (6225-6337.)
Such Robbery, my son, is ever to be avoided, and I will tell thee how
in old days VIRGINITY was held in esteem.
Valerius tells how the Emperor did honour to the virgin, when he met
her in the way, and we hear also of _Phirinus_, who thrust out his eyes
in order that he might the better keep his virginity.
_Valentinian_ moreover, the Emperor, in his old age rejoiced more that
he had overcome his flesh, than that he had conquered his enemies in
battle. (6338-6428.)
Evil follows when Virginity is taken away in lawless manner, as when
Agamenon took Criseide from the city of Lesbon, and plague came upon
the host, so that they sent her back with prayer and sacrifice.
Therefore do no Robbery in love’s cause, my son. (6429-6492.)
6493-6960. STEALTH. Coveitise has also a servant called Stealth, who
takes his prey in secret, coming into houses at night, or cutting
purses by day. Like the dog that comes back from worrying sheep, he
looks all innocent, so that no man knows what he has done. There are
lovers also who take by stealth, either kisses or other things. Hast
thou done so? (6493-6561.)
I dare not, father, for my heart is hers and will not do anything
against her. Moreover Danger is so watchful a warden that none can
steal anything from her. Strong locks make thieves into honest men, and
by no lying in wait can I slip through his guard. Yet at night I often
wake when others sleep, and I look out from my window upon the houses
round, and mark the chamber where she lies. I stand there long in the
cold and wish for some device of sorcery, whereby I might enter that
chamber and steal. It brings me ease for the time to think of these
things, but it profits me nothing in the end. It is for you to judge if
I deserve penance for this or no.
Stealth does little good, my son, in the end. I will tell thee a tale
from Ovid of stealth which was done by day. (6562-6712.)
_Leucothoe._ Phebus loved Leuchotoe, whom her mother kept close in
chamber and seldom allowed to go forth. On a day he came in suddenly
through her chamber wall and stole her maidenhead. Her father, when he
knew, dared not take quarrel with Phebus, but without pity he caused
her to be buried alive; and Phebus wrought so that she sprang up as a
golden flower, which ever follows the sun. (6713-6783.)
No wonder that this came to evil, my father, because it was done in
broad day, but lovers sometimes have kept their thefts more secret.
Tell me of something done by night. (6784-6806.)
_Hercules and Faunus._ Hercules and Eolen, going together on a
pilgrimage towards Rome, rested in a cave. Faunus, with Saba and her
nymphs, were in a wood hard by, and Faunus, having had a sight of
Eolen, thought to come by night and steal. Hercules and Eolen went to
rest on separate beds, having to offer sacrifice on the morrow, and
as they had exchanged clothes with one another in sport, she had his
mace by her and his clothes upon her bed, and he her wimple round his
face and her mantle over him. The servants slept like drunken swine.
Faunus came into the cave, and feeling the mace and lion’s skin, he
left her bed alone and went over to the other. Hercules seized him and
threw him on the floor, where he still lay helpless on the morrow, a
laughing-stock to Saba and the nymphs.
I have too faint a heart, father, for any such michery. (6807-6960.)
6961-7609. SACRILEGE. God has laid down a law that men shall not steal,
but work for their sustenance, and yet there are those who will even
take the goods of holy Church, and this is called Sacrilege. [There
are three kinds of Sacrilege, namely, theft of holy thing from holy
place, of common thing from holy place, or of holy thing from common
place. (7015*-7029*.)] Three princes especially in old days were guilty
of this, Antiochus, Nabuzardan and Nabugodonosor. This last wrought
sacrilege in the temple at Jerusalem, and Baltazar his heir paid the
penalty. (6961-7031.) [A tale is told of one _Lucius_ at Rome, who
robbed the statue of Apollo of a ring, a golden mantle and a golden
beard, and excused himself, saying that he took the ring because it
was held out towards him and offered, the mantle because it was too
heavy for summer and too cold for winter, and the beard because it was
not fit that Apollo should have a beard, when his father, who stood
near him, was beardless. Thus can men feign and excuse themselves.
(7105*-7209*.)]
There are lovers who at mass will whisper in their lady’s ear or take
from her hand a ring or glove. Some go to churches to seek out women
and to show themselves there in fresh array, looking round upon them
all and sighing, so that each thinks it is for her; and yet such a man
loves none of them, but goes there only to steal their hearts. All this
is Sacrilege.
My father, I do not so: but when my lady goes to matins or to mass,
thither I go also; and then my looks are for her alone, and my prayers
are that God may change her heart. I watch and wait to steal from her a
word or look, and when I lead her up to the offering with my hand about
her waist, I win a touch as well. Except in such things I have done no
Sacrilege, but it is my power and not my will that fails.
Thy will is to blame, my son; the rest that thou hast said is of little
account. Yet all things have their time and place: the church is for
prayer and the chamber for other things. That thou mayest know how
Sacrilege is punished, I will spend on thee a tale. (7032-7194.)
_Paris and Helen._ Lamedon was king of Troy, and against him the
Greeks made war, and they slew him and destroyed his city. With other
prisoners they took the fair Esiona his daughter, and she was given
to Thelamon. Priamus, son of Lamedon, built up Troy again, and with
advice of his parliament he sent Antenor to demand back Esiona. The
Greeks and Thelamon stoutly refused his request, and Priamus called his
parliament again to debate of war or peace. Hector spoke for peace,
alleging grounds of prudence, though he was ever the first in war; but
his brother Paris gave his voice for avenging the wrong. He told how,
as he slept beside a well, three goddesses came before him in a vision,
and Venus, to whom he assigned the golden apple which was the prize of
beauty, had promised to give him in Greece the fairest woman of all the
earth. Paris then went forth to Greece, though Cassandra and Helenus
lamented for the evil that was to come. Landed in an isle he met the
queen Heleine, who came to do sacrifice there to Venus, and he stole
her heart. Heleine was in the temple all the night, offering prayer
to Venus, and Paris came all suddenly and bore her to his ship. This
Sacrilege was the cause why the Greeks laid siege about Troy, and at
last burnt and slew all that was within it. (7195-7590.)
Note also how Achilles saw Polixena in the temple of Apollo, and how
Troilus first laid his love on Criseide in a holy place. Take heed
therefore to thyself.
Thus Avarice has more branches than any other vice, and the working
of it is everywhere seen; but if a man would live rightly, he must do
Largess. (7591-7640.)
7641-7844. PRODIGALITY and LARGESS. Virtue lies between two extremes:
here we see Avarice and Prodigality, and between them Liberality or
Largess, which holds the middle path between too much and too little.
Where Largess guides a man, he does what is right both to God and the
world, and God rewards him with the gift of heaven. The world gives
ever to him who hath; but it is better to give than to receive, to have
thine own good than to crave that of others. ‘If thy good suffice thee
not, then refrain thy desires and suffice to thy good.’ Charity begins
with itself: if thou enrich others making thyself poor, thou wilt have
little thanks. ‘Jack is a good fellow,’ they say while his money lasts,
but when that is gone, then ‘Jack _was_ a good fellow,’ and they leave
him to starve. (7641-7760.)
There are lovers who spend and waste their love with Prodigality,
setting their heart upon many. But he who makes himself thus common,
loses the special love of one, if she be wise. Hast thou thus wasted
thy love?
Nay, father: I have tasted here and there, but never truly loved any
excepting one. On her indeed my love is wasted, for it brings no
return: I know not whether this is what ye mean by Prodigality.
My son, perchance thy love is not lost nor wasted. None can say how
such a thing will end; therefore I know not whether thou hast lost
or won. As summer returns after winter, so perchance thou mayest yet
recover thy grace of love. (7761-7834.)
LIB. VI.
1-14. GLUTTONY. The great original sin which brought death on all
mankind was Gule, that is, Gluttony. The branches of it are many, but I
shall speak of two only.
15-616. DRUNKENNESS makes a wise man foolish and a fool think himself
wise. The drunken man thinks that there is nothing that he does not
know and nothing that he cannot do, yet he is withal so helpless that
he can neither stand nor go; he knows not what he is, nor whether it is
day or night. In the morning he calls again for the cup which made him
lose his wits at night. The wine binds him fast and makes him a subject
and a slave. (5-75.)
There are lovers so besotted with love, that they know no more than
drunken men what reason is. The greatest men have been thus overcome:
Salomon, Sampson, David, Virgil and Aristotle. Confess if thou art thus
drunken, for I think by thy countenance thou art schapen to this malady.
It is true, my father: I confess that I am drunk with love, and often I
know not what I do, so that men marvel at me. When I am absent from my
lady I am drunk with the thoughts of her, and when I am present, with
looking upon her. At times I am in Paradise, and then I wake and my joy
is turned to woe. I suffer then the fever of hot and cold, and the evil
is that the more I drink, the more I am athirst. Yet I think if I had
truly a draught of the drink that I desire, I should be sobered and do
well; but tasting of this is forbidden me. (76-305.)
Love-drunkenness, my son, is a grievous thing, and yet none can
withstand it. It is not all of one kind, for Jupiter has two tuns full
of love-drink in his cellar, the one sweet and the other bitter. Cupid
is butler of both, and being blind he gives men to drink of them by
chance, now of this and now of that, so that some laugh and others
lower. I know by thy tale that thou hast drunk of the potion that is
bitter. (306-390.)
_Bacchus in the Desert._ But thou must ever pray to attain to the
other, whereby thy thirst may be allayed, as Bacchus prayed in the
desert, when he and all his host were in danger of perishing by thirst.
Jupiter sent a ram, which spurned the ground, and there sprang up a
fountain of water. (391-439.)
Pray thou thus in thy need: a dumb man seldom gets land. Remember
moreover that the butler is blind, and he may by chance give thee a
drink of the sweet, which shall cause thee to grow sober.
Of love-drunkenness an example is Tristram, who drank with Bele Ysolde
of the drink which Brangwein gave them: and that thou may the more
eschew the company of drunken men, hear this tale. (440-484.)
_Marriage of Pirithous._ The fair Ipotacie was wedded to Pirotoüs, and
he invited his friends to the feast. They became drunk both with wine
and with desire, and so they carried away the bride by violence from
her husband. (485-529.)
_Galba and Vitellus_ were rulers of Spain, and so drunken were they
both that the land cried out against them. They ravished both wife and
maid, but at length they were brought under the law and condemned to
die. Then they filled full a great vessel of wine and drank until their
senses left them, and so they were slain, being already half dead.
(537-595.)
617-1260. DELICACY. The vice of Delicacy will not lack any pleasure
which meat or drink can give, and desires always something new.
So he who is delicate in love cannot content himself with what he has;
but though he have a fair wife, yet he will set his heart on others,
and though his lady make him cheer, he must have more than she can with
honour give.
I am not guilty of this, father: I would be satisfied if I could be fed
at all, except with woe. Yet some dainties I pick which please me for
the time. (617-752.)
My sight is fed with dainties when I look upon her face and form, yet
it may never be fed to the full, but always longs for more. (753-826.)
My hearing has a dainty feast when men commend her worthiness and
grace, and above all when I hear her speak, for her words are to me
like the winds of the South. Or again, I feed my ears with tales of
those who loved before I was born, of Ydoine and Amadas and of many
more, and I think how sorrow endures but for a time. (827-898.)
Finally, I have a cook whose name is Thought, who keeps his pots ever
boiling with fancy and desire, and sets before me on the table all the
pleasant sights that I have seen and words that I have heard. Yet it
is no full meal, but one of woulds and wishes, so that the food I have
does me little good, and serves only to keep off starvation, till I
have the feast which shall satisfy my hunger. (899-938.)
Such are my three delights, and I take my food thus of thinking,
hearing and seeing, as a plover does of air. By Delicacy such as this I
hope that I do no Gluttony.
It is in small things only that thou hast thy delight, my son; but
remember always that the delights of the body do grievance to the soul.
(939-974.)
_Dives and Lazarus._ Christ tells a tale against this vice, which is
read in Latin, but for the better knowledge of the truth I will declare
it in English. Christ saith, &c. (975-1109.)
Thus, my son, he who follows Delicacy and gives no alms shall fall
into distress. He who has power over the good things of this world may
wear the richest ornaments and eat the choicest food, yet he must put
away Delicacy, if he would not starve his soul while feeding his body.
(1110-1150.)
_Nero_ followed his lusts against nature, and in regard to Delicacy he
wrought a subtle thing to know how his stomach fared. He chose three
men to eat and drink at his table. On a certain day after meat he
caused one to ride, another to walk, and the third to sleep, and after
this he killed them, in order that he might see which had best digested
his food.
He refrained from nothing that was pleasant to him, and above all he
set his heart on women, so that he spared neither wife nor maid. So
drunk was he with his lusts. (1151-1226.)
Delicacy and Drunkenness go together and pass all bounds of reason.
Thus too Love is at times so unrestrained that he takes no heed of
God’s law, but calls in the powers of heaven and earth and hell to
achieve his purpose. (1227-1260.)
1261-2407. SORCERY. There is nothing that love will not dare. He
follows no law but his own, and goes forth like Bayard the blind horse,
till he fall into the ditch. Thus at times he follows Sorcery, whether
Geomance, Ydromance, Piromance or Nigromance, with all the craft both
of invocation of spirits and of natural magic.
I know nothing of this, father; but to win my lady I would once have
done all that might be done, whether in hell or heaven.
That goes very near, my son: but I warn thee that he who does so is
beguiled at last, and that Sorcery has no good end. (1261-1390.)
_Ulysses and Telegonus._ Of those that were at Troy Uluxes had a name
above all for craft and magic arts. This king was vexed by storms as
he returned, and in spite of needle and stone his ship was driven upon
the strand of Cilly, where he found two queens, Calipsa and Circes.
These were sorceresses and they changed many of his men to the form
of beasts, but he overcame them with his sorceries, and at length he
took his course for home, leaving Circes with child. His wife and all
his people rejoiced at his home-coming, but when a man is most in his
prosperity, then fortune makes him soonest fall. He had a dream, as he
lay upon his bed, and he seemed to see a form of heavenly beauty. He
embraced that image and it embraced him again, and it said to him: ‘Our
acquaintance shall be hereafter to our sorrow: one of us two shall take
his death from this love in which we now rejoice.’ It showed him then
a sign, three fishes wrought upon a pennon, and so all suddenly went
forth from him.
Uluxes started from sleep, and making his calculations upon this, he
judged that the danger was to be feared from his son Thelamachus.
Him therefore he shut up within castle wall, and he made for himself
a stronghold and set his servants to keep guard. But none can make
resistance against his fate: Thelogonus, his son by Circes, came to
find his father, bearing as his ensign a pennon with three fishes upon
his spear, and he came to this stronghold of Uluxes. The guards denied
him entrance and an affray arose at the gate. The king came forth, and
Thelogonus cast his spear at him, not knowing who he was. Uluxes was
wounded to death, but he recognized the figure of his dream and the
sign upon the pennon, and embraced his son, commending him to the care
of Thelamachus before he died.
Lo, what evil came to him of Sorcery: by Sorcery he begat his son,
and that which was done against nature was against nature avenged.
(1391-1788.)
_Nectanabus._ The king of Egypt, Nectanabus, a great magician, fled
from his enemies to Macedoine. In the chief city there the queen
Olimpias kept the feast of her nativity and rode forth to be seen by
the people. Nectanabus stood with the others, and gazed upon her so
steadfastly, that the queen sent for him and asked him who he was. He
replied that he was one who had a message for her, which must be said
in private. She appointed a time, and he told her how the god Amos of
Lybia desired to be her bedfellow and would beget a child of her who
should subdue the whole earth. To prove his words he caused her by his
magic to have a vision, which she took for prophecy; and so at length,
coming in the person of the god and transforming himself into various
shapes, he had his will of her and begat a son. Nectanabus caused
Philip the king, being from home, to have a vision whereby he supposed
that a god had lain with his wife, and returning he found her with
child. Still he doubted, but by further signs and wonders Nectanabus
caused him to forget his jealousy. Amid portents of earthquake and of
tempest the child was born, and his name was called Alexander. He grew
up, and Aristotle taught him philosophy, while Nectanabus instructed
him in astronomy. On a certain night, when they were upon a tower
observing the stars, Nectanabus prophesied by them that his own death
should be by the hands of his son. Alexander, to prove that he lied,
threw him from the tower to the ground, asking what was the use of his
art if he could not prophesy his own fate rightly. Nectanabus made
known the truth, and Alexander was sorry, and told his mother how it
was. Thus he died and was buried, and this was the reward of Sorcery.
(1789-2366.)
_Zoroaster_ too and _Saul_ came to evil by Sorcery. I counsel thee
never to use this, my son. (2367-2400.)
I will not, father. But I beseech you tell me something of that
Philosophy which, as ye said, Aristotle taught to Alexander: for to
hear of something new might ease my pain.
Thou sayest well; but I, who am of the school of Venus, know not much
of this high lore. Yet, as it is comprehended in a book, I can in part
show forth to thee how it is. (2401-2440.)
LIB. VII.
1-60. Thou hast prayed me to declare to thee the school of Aristotle,
and how Alexander was taught. This is not the matter on which we were
set to speak; yet since wisdom is to be desired above all things, I
will tell thee of that which Calistre and Aristotle wrote to Alexander.
There are three principal points of Philosophy: Theoric, Rhetoric,
Practic.
61-1506. THEORIC. The parts of Theoric are three: Theology, Physics and
Mathematics. The first treats of God and things spiritual; the second
of bodily things, such as man, beast, herb and stone; and the third has
four divisions, Arithmetic, Music, Geometry and Astronomy. (61-202.)
Aristotle taught this young king of the four elements and the four
complexions of man, of the principal divisions of the earth, and of the
fifth element, Orbis, which contains the whole. (203-632.)
To speak next of _Astronomy_, this Orbis is that which we call the
firmament, and in it are first the seven Planets, and then the twelve
Signs of the Zodiac, about each of which Alexander was taught in turn.
(633-1280.)
Nectanabus, teaching him natural magic, informed him of the Fifteen
Stars and of the stone and herb appropriate to each, by means of which
wonders may be worked. (1281-1438.)
The authors who taught this science of Astronomy were first Noë, then
Nembrot, and after them many others, but principally Tholomee, who
wrote the book of Almagest, and Hermes. (1439-1492.)
Thus these Philosophers taught Alexander in regard to that which is
called Theoric. (1493-1506.)