The second head of the wicked beast is envy, which is the adder that
poisons all. Envy is mother to death, for by the envy of the devil came
death into the world; it is the sin which most immediately makes man
like the devil his father. For the devil hates not but others’ good, and
loves not but others’ harm, and so does the envious. The envious man
cannot see the good of others, any more than the owl or the bat (can
see) the brightness of the sun. The same sin divides chiefly into three
boughs. For the same sin envenoms first of all the heart of the envious,
and afterwards the mouth, and afterwards the works. The heart of the
envious is envenomed and goes astray, so that he cannot see other men’s
good without repenting within his heart and judging evilly, and what he
sees or what he hears takes it in a bad sense, and of all makes (his)
harm, so much (so) that to the heart of the envious [come] venomous
thoughts of false judgment, that one cannot tell (them). Afterwards,
when the envious hears or sees other men’s ill, whatever it be, either
ill of body, as death or sickness, or ill of chance (hap), as poverty or
adversity, or spiritual ill, as when he hears that some, that one held
good men, are blamed for some vice. At such things he rejoices in his
heart. Afterwards, when he sees or hears the good of others, be it good
of nature, or good of hap, or good of grace, whereof we have spoken
above, then there comes a sorrow to his heart, so that he cannot be at
rest, nor make gladness, nor fair pretence. Now, thou canst see that the
venomous heart of the envious sins generally in three ways: in false
judgments, in wicked gladness, in worse sorrows; he sins also by the
mouth. For it behoves that such wine as there is in the tun should run
by the tap. And because the heart was full of venom, it behoves that it
leap out by the mouth. Then from the mouth of the envious come out three
kinds of venomous words, whereof David speaks in the Psalter, ‘The mouth
of the envious is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of treason.’
Of cursing, for the goods of others he defames, and depreciates them as
much as he can. Of bitterness, for the ills of others he exaggerates and
increases according to his might. Of treason, for all that he sees or
hears, he turns it to ill and judges it falsely. Afterwards, the envious
has three kinds of venom indeed, as he hath in mouth and in heart; for
the nature of the envious is to withdraw and destroy all good by his
might, be it little, be it less, be it perfected. He is then of the
nature of the basilisk, for no greenness can last before him, either in
grass, or in bush, or in tree. Then, according to the Gospel, corn has
three states, for it is first as in grass, afterwards in the ear,
afterwards is full of fruit and quite ripe. And so there are some that
have a good beginning, in order to live well and to profit, and are as
in grass; the same the envious takes pains to quench if he can. Others
are as in the ear, which flowers well in goodness and by it is
profitable to God or to the world; and the envious rebels in order to
confound and to destroy those by his might. The others are perfect and
in great state, and do much good to God and to the world. Their good
fame to abate and their goodness to depreciate the envious prepares all
his devices. For the greater that the goodness is, the more the envious
sorrows. This sin is so perilous, that one can scarcely come to right
repentance, because it (she) is contrary to the Holy Ghost, who is the
well of all good. And God says in His Gospel, that whoever sins against
the Holy Ghost (he) shall never have mercy in this world nor in the
other, for he sins of his own wickedness, and one must in that wholly
understand (it so). For there is no sin so great that God does not
forgive in this world, if man repents and prays for mercy for the sin,
that wars by its might against the grace of the Holy Ghost, in that it
wars against other men’s spiritual good, as the Jews opposed Jesu Christ
for the good things that He did.