[Sidenote: [The ij^de p{ro}se.]]
[Sidenote: More need of medicine than of complaint.]
++Bvt tyme is now q{uo}d sche of medicine more þen of
compleynte. ¶ Forsoþe þen sche entendyng to
me warde wiþ al þe lokyng of hir eyen saide.
[Sidenote: Philosophy addresses Boethius.]
¶ Art
not þou he q{uo}d sche þat su{m}tyme I-norschid wiþ my 128
mylke {and} fostre[d] wiþ my meetes were ascaped {and}
comen to corage of a p{er}fit man. ¶ Certys I ȝaf þe
syche armures þat ȝif þou þi self ne haddest first caste [[pg 9]]
hem away. þei schulden haue defendid þe in sykernesse 132
þat may not be ouer-comen. ¶ Knowest þou me not.
[Sidenote: She fears his silence proceeds from shame rather than
from stupidity.]
[Sidenote: [* fol. 4 _b_.]]
*Why art þou stille. is it for schame or for astonynge.
It were me leuer þat it were for schame. but it semeþ
me þat astony{n}ge haþ opp{re}ssed þe.
[Sidenote: She finds him, however, in a lethargy, the distemper of
a disordered mind.]
¶ And whan 136
sche say me not oonly stille. but wiþ-outen office of
tonge {and} al doumbe. sche leide hir honde softely vpon
my brest {and} seide. ¶ Here nis no p{er}il q{uod} sche.
¶ He is fallen in to a litargie. whiche þat is a comune 140
sekenes to hertes þat ben desceiued. ¶ He haþ a litel
forȝeten hym self. but certis he schal lyȝtly reme{m}bren
hym self. ¶ Ȝif so be þat he haþ knowe{n} me or now.
[Sidenote: To make his recovery an easy matter, she wipes his
eyes, which were darkened by the clouds of mortal things, and
dries up his tears.]
{and} þat he may so done I wil wipe a litel hys eyen. 144
þat ben derked by þe cloude of mortel þinges ¶ Þise
wordes seide sche. and wiþ þe lappe of hir garment
yplitid in a frounce sche dried[e] myn eyen þat were
ful of þe wawes of my wepynges. 148
[Linenotes:
125, 126 _þen_--than
127 _al_--alle
_saide_--seyde
128 _sumtyme_--whilom
_I-norschid_--MS. I-norschide, C. noryssed
129 _fostre[d]_--fostered
_my_--myne
130 _Certys_--Certes
_ȝaf_, yaf
131 _syche_--swiche
_ȝif_--yif
_caste_--C. cast
132 _away_--awey
_schulden haue_--sholden han
133 _not be_--nat ben
_Knowest þou_--knowestow
134 _art þou_--artow
136 _haþ_--MS. haþe
138 _tonge_--tunge
_doumbe_--dowmb
_honde_--hand
139 _Here_--her
140 _litargie whiche_--litarge which
141 _sekenes_--sykenesse
141, 143 _haþ_--MS. haþe
144 _done_--doon
_wil wipe_--wol wypen
146 _garment_--garnement
147 _dried[e]_--dryede
_were_--weeren
148 _ful_--fulle]
[Headnote:
BOETHIUS RECOGNIZES HIS PHYSICIAN.]