[Sidenote: [The 2^e p{ro}se.]]
[Sidenote: _B._ Ah! thou promisest me great things indeed!--but
without delay, satisfy the expectations you have raised.]
++ÞAnne seide I þus. [owh] I wondre me þat þou by-hetest
me so grete þinges. ne I ne doute nat þat þ{o}u
ne mayst wel p{er}forme þat þou by-hetest. but I preie þe 3168
oonly þis. þat þou ne tarie nat to telle me þilke þinges
þat þou hast meoued.
[Sidenote: _P._ You must first be convinced that the good are
always strong and powerful and the wicked destitute of strength.]
first q{uo}d she þou most nedes
knowen. þ{a}t good[e] folk ben al wey strong[e] {and}
myȝty. and þe shrewes ben feble {and} desert {and} naked 3172
of alle strengþes.
[Sidenote: These assertions do mutually demonstrate each other.]
and of þise þinges certys eueryche of
hem is declared {and} shewed by oþ{er}.
[Sidenote: For since good and evil are contrary, if good be
powerful evil must be impotent.]
¶ For so as good
{and} yuel ben two cont{ra}ries. yif so be þat goode be
stedfast. þa{n} sheweþ þe fieblesse of yuel al openly. 3176
[Sidenote: And if the frailty of evil is known, the strength and
stability of good must also be known to you.]
and yif þou knowe clerely þe freelnesse of yuel. þe stedfastnesse
of goode is knowen.
[Sidenote: But to convince you I shall proceed to prove it from
both these principles, establishing these truths, by arguments
drawn first from one of these topics and then from the other.]
but for as moche as þe fey of
my sentence shal be þe more ferme {and} habou{n}daunt. I
wil goon by þat oon wey {and} by þat oþer {and} I wil conferme 3180
þe þinges þat ben p{ur}posed now on þis side {and}
now on þ{a}t syde.
[Sidenote: Two things are necessary to every action--the Will and
the Power; if either be wanting, nothing can be effected.]
¶ Two þinges þer ben in whiche þe
effect of alle þe dedes of man kynde standiþ. þat is to
seyn. wil {and} power. and yif þat oon of þise two fayleþ 3184
þere nis no þing þat may be don.
[Sidenote: A man can do nothing without the concurrence of his
will, and if power faileth the will is of no effect.]
for yif þat wil lakkeþ
þere nys no wyȝt þat vndirtakeþ to done þat he wol not
don. and yif power fayleþ þe wille nis but i{n} ydel {and}
stant for nauȝt.
[Sidenote: Hence, if you see a person desirous of getting what he
cannot procure, you are sure he lacks power to obtain it.]
and þer of comeþ it þat yif þou se a 3188
wyȝt þat wolde gete{n} þat he may nat geten. þou mayst
nat douten þat power ne fayleþ hy{m} to haue{n} þat he
wolde. ¶ þis is open {and} clere q{uo}d I. ne it may nat
ben denyed in no manere.
[Sidenote: And if you see another do what he had a mind to do, can
you doubt that he had the power to do it?]
and yif þou se a wyȝt q{uo}d 3192
she. þat haþ don þat he wolde don þ{o}u nilt nat douten
þat he ne haþ had power to done it.
[Sidenote: _B._ No, surely. _P._ A man, then, is esteemed
powerful in respect of what he is able to do, and weak in
relation to what he is unable to perform.]
no q{uo}d. I. and in
þat. þat euery wyȝt may. in þat þat men may holden
hym myȝty. as who seiþ i{n} as moche as a man is myȝty [[pg 113]]
to done a þing. in so moche men halden hy{m} myȝty. 3197
and in þat þat he ne may. in þat men demen hym to
ben feble.
[Sidenote: _B._ That is true.]