That there be a score;
But, fore God! I cry you mercy;
For, by my faith! I wist you not so nigh.
Had I wist it I ensure you, faithfully,
That word I would have forbore.
_Man._ No force, hardely! it toucheth not me--
But worship! tell me, where have ye be?
Methinketh long sith I you see:
_Pride._ Sir! it is no marvel.
Bade ye not me, the last day,
To go purvey for your array,
And ye remember well.
_Man._ Yea, fore God! have ye done the same?
_Pride._ Yea, by the rood! else were I to blame.
All thing is ready, in pain of shame,
Else I quit me ill.
The tailor told me yester night
That all your garments were ready dight--
Will ye go thither and have a sight?
_Man._ Yea, marry! with a good will.
_Sloth._ Will ye that I go with you also?
_Man._ I wot never whether ye may attend thereto;
For ye do nothing
But even after your own sweet will.
_Sloth._ Why should I ever wait nay that I nill?
For, to be a king,
I may not endure continual business.
I was never used thereto; doubtless
I should not live a year
If I followed you, I am sure;
Ye stir and labour out of measure:
I saw never your peer:
Ye ween there can nothing be do
But if ye put your hand thereto;
And I wis that is no need.
Ye have servants, that be true and just,
If it would like you to put them in trust,
And quit well their meed.
What should I attend you for to please,
When I see well ye set by none ease,
Which belongeth to me?
_Man._ Why, Ease! what meaneth thee thus to say?
I do but eat, drink, sleep, and play,
And none other labour, parde!
_Sloth._ Yea, ye may say what ye will
But I can never see you idle,
And quiet as ye should be.
Your body laboureth as doth an hackney
That beareth the burden every day,
That pity it is to see;
And your mind, on that other side,
Is never idle, nor unoccupied.
I wis it grieveth me
To see you demeaned that wise:
I trow ye be set all on covetise!
_Man._ Covetise? nay, let be!
It is a thing of greater cure
That sticketh in my mind, be thou sure!
_Sloth._ So methought, by the rood!
I wist as much there was something,
By your lowering cheer and your sighing,
That was not all thing good--
But, what is the matter? I pray you, heartily!
_Man._ I wis thou canst not devise the remedy
With all the wit thou hast.
But this is the case, to tell it shortly:
A thing was told me as I came hereby
How Reason purveyeth fast,
And maketh very great labour and ordinance
To dash us all out of countenance;
And, for that purpose,
He hath gathered a great company.
_Sloth._ What to do?
_Man._ I wot ne'er I.
But, as I suppose,
It is to bring me in captivity;
And to take from me my liberty--
So he hath oft said.
_Pride._ Fear ye that matter?
_Man._ Nay, never a deal!
But I care for it, wit ye well,
Yet am I not afraid.
For I will withstand it proudly;
And, sirs! I trust ye will stand thereby
When it shall be need.
_Pride._ Yea, by the way that God went!
Or he have of you his intent
First shall I bleed
The best blood that is in this carcase.
_Man._ Well, Ease! go thy way hence, apace,
And make therein good speed.
Call my company all together,
And bid them every man come hither
That is with me affeed.
_Sloth._ Marry, sir! that shall be do. [_Then he goeth out._
_Man._ Worship! in the meantime let us go
To see my new apparel.
_Pride._ Will ye so? Now, for your lady's sake,
Go do it on you; and I undertake
It shall become you well.
_Man._ Worldly Affection! abide thou here
For I will go do on this new gear
As Worship doth me counsel.
[_Then_ MAN _and_ PRIDE _goeth out_.
_Wor. Aff._ Marry, I shall! with all mine heart!
This good fire and I will not depart;
For very cold mine hands do smart:
It maketh me woe-begone.
Get me a stool! here! may ye not see?
Or else a chair will it not be--
Thou pild knave! I speak to thee;
How long shall I stand? [_Enter_ GLUTTONY.
_Glut._ Let him stand, with a foul evil!
[_The lower margin is shaved off_] the devil
Will ye see--lo! every drivel,
Nowadays I warrant,
Must command as he were a king:
Let him stand on his feet with breeding.
_Wor. Aff._ What, Gluttony! I can tell thee one thing:
In faith you will be shent!
_Glut._ Why?
_Wor. Aff._ My master hath sent Sensuality
To seek thee all about the country--
Spakest thou not with him?
_Glut._ Yes, parde!
I know all his intent;
And, thereupon, I am come here
For to await; but wottest thou where
Our master is now?
_Wor. Aff._ Nay, I wot ne'er;
I am not very certain
But Pride and he together be gone.
He said he would come again, anon,
Within an hour or twain.
Tarry thou here, and go not away!
I will go break my fast and I may,
For I ate never a morsel this day. [_Then he goeth out._
_Glut._ Marry! that is a thing:
Go when thou wilt, I will abide.
My stomach he shall not rule or guide
That is now fasting--
Nay, of all thing earthly I hate to fast;
Four times a day I make repast;
Or thrice as I suppose.
And, when I am well fed
Then get I me to a soft bed
My body to repose;
There take I a nap or twain.
Up I go straight and to it again;
Though nature be not ready,
Yet have I some meat of delight,
For to provoke th' appetite
And make the stomach greedy.
After all this needs I must
Sometime follow the wanton lust
[_This line is shaved off at the foot of the page._
For hot drinks and delicate refection
Causeth fleshly insurrection:
Ye know it as well as I. [MAN _entereth_.
_Man._ Troth! as ye say, I know it well.
_Glut._ What gentleman is this, can ye tell?
_Bod. Lust._ Wottest thou never?
_Glut._ No, by the bell!
I saw him never before.
_Bod. Lust._ Is it our master?
_Glut._ Nay, by the rood!
It is not he; wouldst thou make me wood?
_Man._ Yes, I am the same.
_Glut._ I cry you mercy! I see it well now;
Before, I knew you not, I make God avow!
In earnest nor in game.
_Man._ Why? Because I have changed mine array?
_Glut._ For that cause, trow ye? nay, nay!
That is not the thing
That can deceive me, be ye sure.
But, I pray you, who hath had you in cure
Since my last departing?
_Man._ By my faith! a little season
I followed the counsel and diet of Reason.
_Glut._ There went the hare away!
His diet, quod a! it may be, verily:
For ye be haltered marvellously--
Altered, I would say.
Alas! the while had ye no meat
As long as ye were under his diet?
_Man._ Meat? yes, I had some,
Without it were on fasting days;
Then he withdrew my supper always
And gave me never a crumb.
_Glut._ No force, hardely; why would ye then
Favour him as ye did like a madman?
Ye look now as it were a ghost.
Had ye dwelt with him till this day
Ye had been pined even away,
As ye be now almost:
Your flesh is gone every deal--
A vengeance on the morsel
That is left thereon!
_Bod. Lust._ Now, talk of the remedy.
_Glut._ Marry! now must he eat and drink fast;
Other remedy is there none.
_Bod. Lust._ Yea, but where is the meat? now let us see!
_Glut._ Ye are passing hasty, benedicite!
First must ye go
Whereas provision thereof is made;
Let us go thither and it shall be had.
_Man._ But what is the mistress of the inn?
A wedded woman or a virgin?
_Glut._ Neither of both, I wis!
_Bod. Lust._ No! but for a maiden she goeth.
_Glut._ Yea, fore God! that she doth;
But yet she is none, by Jis!
_Bod. Lust._ No, no! what then?
_Glut._ I wis I not; but, as men clatter,
They say she is innupta mater,
Hardely an holy woman.
_Man._ Well, thither we will! go we hence!
_Bod. Lust._ Sir! ye will give me licence
To sport me for a season?
_Man._ Yes, for a while ye well enow;
But go not out of the way, I charge you;
For hither will come, anon,
All my company, as I suppose:
Keep them together! for I purpose
To come again anon,
And show them my mind what I will do. [_Then he goeth out._
_Bod. Lust._ Marry! I shall do what I can thereto;
And yet, it is hard for me
To keep them together any while.
But I shall tell you what:
I had liever keep as many fleas,
Or wild hares in an open lese,
As undertake that.
[_Entereth_ WRATH _and_ ENVY.
_Wrath._ Where be these knaves that make this array?
_Bod. Lust._ Marry! they be gone that other way--
Tell me whom ye mean.
_Wrath._ I trow, thou scornest!
_Bod. Lust._ Nay, certainly!
Howsobeit, if I should not lie
At the first blush, I ensure you, faithfully,
I had forgot you clean;
Because ye be thus defensibly arrayed.
What meaneth that? are ye afraid?
Who hath you grieved?
_Wrath._ Nay, I fear no man that beareth a head;
Yet had I liever that I were dead
Than that should be proved.
_Bod. Lust._ By my faith! ye are wont to be as bold
As it were a lion of Cotswold;
But now, to my question:
What meaneth all this defensible array?
_Wrath._ Marry! Sloth warned us two this same day,
Even sith it was noon,
That our master and Reason should make a fray;
And, therefore, he had us, without delay,
To await on our captain.
_Bod. Lust._ Ah! now I know the matter right well;
But what shall come thereof I cannot tell:
It passeth my brain.
Our master willed that we twain
Should tarry here till he come again.
_Envy._ What wilt thou do then?
_Bod. Lust._ Who, I? nay, care not for me!
I will not come where strokes be;
I am not so mad a man.
And I wis it is not for any fear;
But it is a thing that I can well forbear,
And will as long as I can.
Of lust and pleasure is all my mind;
It longeth to me of property and kind;
And if I should to the war,
And lie in mine harness, as other men do,
With hunger and thirst a day or two,
It should me utterly mar.
_Envy._ It were a great loss if thou were marred!
Now, fie on the stark whoreson coward!
By Cock's precious blood!
It were no sin to slay such a knave.
Hast not thou wages as other men have?
And few of us so good;
Yet wilt thou fail us at this need!
Now, whosoever shall quit my meed,
I will no further go
Till I have slain him [with] mine own hand,
Though I should forswear the land
Even when I have do. [_Then goeth out_ BODILY LUST.
Hold him in, sirs! I you require--
Alas! would ye not, at my desire,
Do so much for me?
I wis it would have done me more good
To have seen the knave's heart-blood
Than twenty shillings of fee. [MAN _returneth_.
_Man._ What ho, sirs! what meaneth this gear?
Will ye slay each other here?
No more of this work!
_Envy._ By the heart of God! and he had abiden
A little while he should never have spoken
With priest nor with clerk.
_Man._ Who was that?
_Envy._ Your own minion,
Bodily Lust.
_Man._ Why, what hath he done?
_Envy._ Even like a lurden
He saith that ye have given him licence
To abide at home, and keep residence
While we bear the burden,
And serve you now at your need!
_Man._ He prayed me so, in very deed,
Within these two days.
He said he would serve me with a good will;
But of the wars he could no skill,
Nor knew thereof the ways:
Howbeit I gave him thereof none answer.
_Envy._ No! but I am sure he will not come there;
And now may ye see
That no man is so much to blame
As yourself.
_Man._ I?
_Envy._ Yea, by Saint Jame!
No man but even ye.
For, I am well assured of one thing,
Ye gave him better clothing
Than ye did me;
And better wages and fees also;
And though I said but little thereto,
But suffered evermore,
Yet I disdained it ever in my mind;
And though[t] that ye were to me unkind
To set so great store
By such a knave as he was--
I would I had him here, by the mass!
And no man but we twain.
_Man._ By my troth! this is ever thy guise:
Look! by whom I set any prize
Him thou wilt most disdain.
_Wrath._ By Christ! he can do none otherwise.
But now, sir! is there any service
That ye will command me?
_Man._ Yea, marry is there! but my company
Dresseth them forward, passing slowly;
I trow it will not be.
Manhood! thou art good I know for one.
_Wrath._ Yea, by Christ! and they came everyone
I will not greatly fear.
_Envy._ By my troth! because he saith so
I shall tell you what I saw him do.
I was present there--
Sir! it happened in Westminster Hall,
Even before the judges all--
His hands were bound fast;
And, never upon him, that ever God made,
Dagger, sword, nor knife he had.
And yet, at the last,
He drave twelve men into a corner;
And an hour after durst they not appear.
How say ye hereto?
And his hands had been at liberty
He would have put them in great jeopardy--
It is to suppose so.
_Man._ Marry! there he quit him well--
But where be mine other folk, can ye tell?
_Then cometh in_ GLUTTONY _with a cheese and a bottle._
_Wrath._ Marry! here cometh one--
Good Fellowship meseemeth it should be.
_Glut._ Sirs, God speed ye!
_Man._ What tidings with thee?
_Glut._ I shall tell you anon
[_A line has been shaved away at the foot of the page._]
Marry, sir! I am come here
For to attend upon you;
We shall a warfare it is told me.
_Man._ Yea, where is thy harness?
_Glut._ Marry! here may ye see--
Here is harness enow.
_Wrath._ Why, hast thou none other harness but this?
_Glut._ What the devil harness should I miss,
Without it be a bottle?
Another bottle I will go purvey
Lest that drink be scarce in the way;
Or happily none to sell.
_Wrath._ Thou must have other harness than this, man!
_Glut._ Other harness? nay, I shrew me then!
I can no skill thereon--
Why, trowest thou that I will fight?
_Envy._ Yea, so I trow!
_Glut._ Nay, by God Almight!
Thereof will I none;
I was never wont to that gear.
But I may serve to be a victualler--
And thereof shall ye have store--
So that I may stand out of danger
Of gun shot; but I will come no near;
I warn you that before!
_Envy._ Now, such a knave I betake to the devil!
This is even such another drivel
As was here whilere:
They be two knaves anointed.
I fear me, sir! ye shall be disappointed;
I like not this gear.
_Glut._ O! I had forgotten, I make God avow!
Sir! my fellow, Ease, commandeth me to you.
_Man._ Commandeth thee to me?
_Glut._ You to me!
_Man._ Me to thee!
_Glut._ Commandeth you to him, I would have said.
_Man._ Why cometh he not hither?
_Glut._ By God! for he is afraid;
And lieth sick in his bed.
He took such a conceit when he heard of this gear
That for thought and very fear
[_A line is shaved away at the foot of the page._]
_Wrath._ And he were hanged it were no reck:
I pray God, the devil break his neck!
And all such as he is.
_Man._ Well, let us suffer for awhile;
I will go walk hence half a mile;
And for all this,
Happily, all this gear shall not need
Howbeit that I doubt and dread
The worst, as wise men do.
Manhood! come thyself with me.
_Glut._ And I too, sir?
_Man._ Yea, parde!
Wouldst thou be prayed thereto?
_Then goeth out_ MAN, GLUTTONY _and_ WRATH.
_Envy._ Now, he that would have war or strife
I pray God send him a shrewd wife;
And then shall he have enow.
But, I shall tell you, sirs! as for me,
I am none of them; so mot I thee!
I may say to you
I will no such reckonings abide.
God's body! here cometh Pride
As crank as a peacock!
As soon as he and I meet,
Without he stand right upon his feet,
He shall bear me a proud mock. [PRIDE _entereth._]
_Pride._ What tidings, sirs? can any man tell?
_Envy._ Yea, marry! that can I do as well
As any that was in field;
Ye have tarried so long about your gay gear
That the field is done or ye come there.
_Pride._ Done? marry, God shield!
_Envy._ It is done without fail;
But which of them hath won the battle
I cannot tell you certain.
_Pride._ Thou were not there it seemeth thereby!
_Envy._ Not I there, quod a? yes, hardely!
And that to my great pain;
But, as soon as the battles joined together,
I came my way straight hither
For to tell tidings.
_Pride._ What the devil tidings canst thou tell?
_Envy._ Marry! I can show you nothing of the battle,
But of many other tidings.
Ye are out of conceit, I tell you, for ever;
Because ye did not you[r] endeavour
At this great voyage;
Insomuch that ye are like to lese,
Both your office and all your fees,
And put clean out of wages.
_Pride._ That is not true, as I suppose.
_Envy._ Sir! and it be not, take my nose
And my head also!
Your office was given or I came thence.
_Pride._ Marry! that was a very short sentence;
And I not called thereto.
Now, Envy, what counsel wilt thou give me?
_Envy._ By my troth, Pride! thou mayst believe me,
If I were in thy case
I would withdraw me for a season;
Though it be neither felony, nor treason,
Nor yet wilful trespass.
Yet the same is worst of all;
For every knave will thee call
A coward to thy face.
_Pride._ I am unhappy, I see it well,
For th' expense of mine apparel
Towards this voyage,
What in horses and other array,
Hath compelled me for to lay
All my land to mortgage.
And now, when I have all do,
To lose mine office and fees also
For my true intent,
I may say that all my cost
And all my time is evil lost
In service that I have spent.
Well, whatsoever betide me,
For a season I will hide me,
After thy counsel.
And, sith it will no better be,
Farewell! I take my leave of thee.
_Envy._ Now, gentle Pride, farewell! [_Exit._
Alas! that I had no good fellow here
To bear me company, and laugh at this gear:
This game was well found.
[SENSUALITY _entereth_.
_Sens._ Yes, and ye lust to play the knave
Some manner of company ye might have,
Here within this ground.
_Envy._ Some I can think, young or old;
And else it were a small household
As any might be found.
_Sens._ It is not small; the company showeth well;
But, methought thou were about to tell
Of some merry jest,
Or some merry game at my coming.
_Envy._ Yea, hardely! it is a game for a king,
When he lusteth best,
To laugh for his disport and solace.
Sir! I shall tell thee this is the case:
Right now, as I stood
In this place, and never a man with me,
In came Pride garnished as it had be
One of the royal blood.
It grieved me to see him so well besene;
But, I have abated his courage clean,
For a little season.
By the rood! I have given him a checkmate;
For I bare him a hand that he came too late,
And that the field was done,
And how his office was given away
Because he failed our master that day:
I made him to believe so.
And when I had told him all this tale,
Anon, he began to wax all pale,
Full of care and woe.
And now he hideth himself for shame;
I gave him mine advice to the same;
And so he is gone.
_Sens._ Now, on my faith! this was madly do!
But, in faith! what moveth thee thereto?
_Envy._ Marry! cause had I none;
But only that it is my guise
When I see another man arise,
Or fare better than I,
Then must I chafe and fret for ire,
And imagine, with all my desire,
To destroy him utterly.
But now, in earnest, Sensuality!
Tell me when this fray shall be;
I pray ye heartily!
_Sens._ What, against Reason?
_Envy._ Yea, the same!
_Sens._ Tush! they be agreed, in pain of shame!
And good company they keep.
_Envy._ Agreed, quod a? in the mere name;
Marry, sir! that were a game
To make some of us weep.
_Sens._ Weep or laugh, man! so it is;
And who, trow ye, is the cause of this?
_Envy._ Who?
_Sens._ Age, the devil him quell!
_Envy._ Why, is Age now come in place?
_Sens._ Yea, and that may ye spy by his face
And ye mark it well.
His stomach fainteth every day;
His back crooketh; his head waxeth gray;
His nose droppeth among;
His lust is gone and all his liking;
I see it well, by everything,
He may not live long;
And all maketh Age, as I said before.
He is the doer, and what trow ye more
This Age hath done?
_Envy._ What?
_Sens._ By my faith! he hath brought in Reason
In such wise that, at no season,
Nothing can be wrought
But Reason must be called thereto:
I fear me he will us all undo
Within few days.
As soon as Gluttony had espied
All this gear, he would not abide;
But went even his ways.
Our master prayed him to tarry a season--
Nay, nay, quoth he! now have I done;
I may no longer tarry:
For Age and I may not together dwell.
And straightway he departed, fair and well.
Bodily Lust stood by,
And saw that Gluttony would needs be gone.
Have with thee, Gluttony, quod he! anon,
For I must go with thee.
So that two be gone together;
Came there none of them both hither?
_Envy._ Never a one, that I see!
_Sens._ Well, they be gone some other way
To get a new master as soon as they may;
They cannot be unpurveyed.
And, as soon as they two were gone,
Our master sent for Covetise anon,
And heartily him prayed
To await on him well for a year or two;
And he hath promised him so to do,
As for a year or twain;
But Reason may not thereof know.
_Envy._ Reason, quod a? no, so I trow!
He will that disdain;
But where hath Covetise been many a day?
_Sens._ He dwelt with a priest, as I heard say;
For he loveth well
Men of the church, and they him also;
And lawyers eke, when they may tend thereto,
Will follow his counsel.
_Envy._ So men say there, as I dwell.
But, Sensuality! canst thou tell,
Now in this case,
What were best for us to do?
_Sens._ Marry! I hold it best that we go
Hereby, to some place,
And semble together all our company;
To hear their minds, by and by,
And every man's opinion
What shall be best for to do.
_Envy._ By my troth, and be it so!
I hold it well done.
[_Then they go forth and_ REASON _and_
MAN _come in_.
_Rea._ Sir! I have ofttimes you advised
To live virtuously, and showed you the way;
And that notwithstanding ye have me despised,
And followed Sensuality many a day.
Will ye so continue? yea, or nay?
If ever ye purpose yourself to amend,
It is time; for your life draweth fast to th' end.
_Man._ I cannot continue though I would;
For Age hath wained me clean therefro.
And yet, Reason! when ye me told
Of this gear, many day ago,
I thought little I should have come hereto,
But had of your words great scorn and disdain.
Would God that my life were to begin again!
_Rea._ Speak not thereof! that may not be.
A thing done cannot be called again;
But the thing that most feareth me,
On your behalf, I tell you plain,
Is that ye would in nowise abstain
From sinful lusts, as I willed you to do
Till now that age compelleth you thereto.
_Man._ That is full true, without feigning;
As long as mine appetite did endure
I followed my lusts in everything;
Which now, by the course and law of nature,
And not of my policy or good endeavour,
Is taken from me for evermore:
And so can I deserve no meed therefore.
But notwithstanding this mine abusion,
I trust that by the help of your good advice
I may be made the child of salvation.
_Rea._ Yes, and ye will, sir! on warrantise;
So that ye utterly forsake and despise
All your old servants, in will and deed,
And do by my counsel.
_Man._ Yes, have ye no dread!
_Rea._ Then, my soul for yours I lay to wed;
Ye shall do well--have ye no mistrust!
And first, to begin with, I you forbid
All manner of despair; and secondly, ye must
Put to your mind and good will
To be recured of your great excess;
For, without your help, it cannot be, doubtless!
As in this example: if so be the patient
Of himself be willing to have any remedy,
It is a great furtherance to that intent
So that to the precepts of physic he apply;
And whoso doth the contrary, no marvel, truly,
Though he miscarry. What! should I bring
Any mo examples for so plain a thing?
_Man._ It shall be no need, as in this case;
I know right well what ye mean thereby;
And that will I follow, by God's grace!
_Rea._ Then, as I told you, it shall be no maistry
Yourself to comfort, and to have good remedy
Against the great surfeits that thou hast done,
By which thou hast deserved endless damnation.
But do as I shall tell thee, and have no dread;
And, for to give thee medicines most according
Ayenst thy sores, do by my rede.
Look! what disease is hot and brenning
Take ever such a medicine as is cold in working;
So that the contrary, in all manner of wise,
Must heal his contrary, as physic doth devise.
Right so whoso lusteth from sin to arise,
Where he hath in pride done any offence,
He can be helpen thereof none otherwise
But only by meekness: that is the recompense.
Again wrath and envy, take charity and patience;
Take alms deed again the sin of covetise.
And, to repress gluttony, acquaint ye with abstinence;
Again foul lust of body, take chastity and continence.
Much sin groweth by sloth and by idleness,
And that must be eschewed by men of good business.
Lo! these be preparatives, most sovereign,
Against thy sores, which be mortal
Unless that these medicines to them be lain.
When thou hast received these preparatives all
I will come again, if thou me call,
And order thee further after my mind.
_Man._ Yea, but where shall I these preparatives find?
_Rea._ Thou shalt them find within thine own breast.
Of thee it must come; it must be thy deed;
For voluntary sacrifice pleaseth God best.
Thou canst not thereof have help or meed
But if this gear of thine own heart proceed.
_Man._ Well, I shall endeavour me to the uttermost;
And till I have found them I shall never rest.
But how shall I know them? that wot I ne'er;
I pray you show me that before your departing.
_Rea._ It needeth not thereof to inquire:
Thou shalt know them at the first meeting.
Of two contraries there is but one learning;
That is to say, when thou knowest well that one
The other contrary is known anon.
_Then he goeth out and_ MEEKNESS _cometh in._