=Sequitur de Luxuria.=
§ 74. After Glotonye, thanne comth Lecherie; for thise two sinnes been so
ny cosins, that ofte tyme they wol nat departe. / God woot, this sinne is
ful displesaunt thing to god; for he seyde himself, ‘do no lecherie.’ And
therfore he putte grete peynes agayns this sinne in the olde lawe. / If
womman thral were taken in this sinne, she sholde be beten with staves to
the deeth. And if she were a gentil womman, she sholde be slayn with
stones. And if she were a bisshoppes doghter, she sholde been brent, by
goddes comandement. / Forther over, by the sinne of Lecherie, god dreynte
al the world at the diluge. And after that, he brente fyve citees with
thonder-leyt, and sank hem in-to helle. /
838. Cm. stonys; Ln. stones; Hl. stoones (_for_ staues). 839. Pt. Ln.
diluve; Hl. diluue (_for_ diluge). E. thonder-leyt; Hl. -layt; _rest_
-light.
§ 75. Now lat us speke thanne of thilke stinkinge sinne of Lecherie that
men clepe Avoutrie of wedded folk, that is to seyn, if that oon of hem be
wedded, or elles bothe. /840 Seint Iohn seith, that avoutiers shullen been
in helle in a stank brenninge of fyr and of brimston; in fyr, for the
lecherie; in brimston, for the stink of hir ordure. / Certes, the brekinge
of this sacrement is an horrible thing; it was maked of god him-self in
paradys, and confermed by Iesu Crist, as witnesseth seint Mathew in the
gospel: ‘A man shal lete fader and moder, and taken him to his wyf, and
they shullen be two in o flesh.’ / This sacrement bitokneth the knittinge
togidre of Crist and of holy chirche. / And nat only that god forbad
avoutrie in dede, but eek he comanded that thou sholdest nat coveite thy
neighebores wyf. / In this heeste, seith seint Augustin, is forboden alle
manere coveitise to doon lecherie. Lo what seith seint Mathew in the
gospel: that ‘who-so seeth a womman to coveitise of his lust, he hath doon
lecherie with hir in his herte.’ /845 Here may ye seen that nat only the
dede of this sinne is forboden, but eek the desyr to doon that sinne. /
This cursed sinne anoyeth grevousliche [626] hem that it haunten. And
first, to hir soule; for he oblygeth it to sinne and to peyne of deeth that
is perdurable. / Un-to the body anoyeth it grevously also, for it dreyeth
him, and wasteth, and shent him, and of his blood he maketh sacrifyce to
the feend of helle; it wasteth his catel and his substaunce. / And certes,
if it be a foul thing, a man to waste his catel on wommen, yet is it a
fouler thing whan that, for swich ordure, wommen dispenden up-on men hir
catel and substaunce. / This sinne, as seith the prophete, bireveth man and
womman hir gode fame, and al hir honour; and it is ful pleasaunt to the
devel; for ther-by winneth he the moste partie of this world. /850 And
right as a marchant delyteth him most in chaffare that he hath most
avantage of, right so delyteth the feend in this ordure. /
841. Pt. in fuyre for lechery in bremstone; Hl. In fuyr for the
leccherie in brimston; Ln. for licherye in brimstone (_om._ in fyr); E.
Cm. _omit_. 848. Pt. Ln. drieth.
§ 76. This is that other hand of the devel, with fyve fingres, to cacche
the peple to his vileinye. / The firste finger is the fool lookinge of the
fool womman and of the fool man, that sleeth, right as the basilicok sleeth
folk by the venim of his sighte; for the coveitise of eyen folweth the
coveitise of the herte. / The seconde finger is the vileyns touchinge in
wikkede manere; and ther-fore seith Salomon, that who-so toucheth and
handleth a womman, he fareth lyk him that handleth the scorpioun that
stingeth and sodeynly sleeth thurgh his enveniminge; as who-so toucheth
warm pich, it shent hise fingres. / The thridde, is foule wordes, that
fareth lyk fyr, that right anon brenneth the herte. /855 The fourthe finger
is the kissinge; and trewely he were a greet fool that wolde kisse the
mouth of a brenninge ovene or of a fourneys. / And more fooles been they
that kissen in vileinye; for that mouth is the mouth of helle: and namely,
thise olde dotardes holours, yet wol they kisse, though they may nat do,
and smatre hem. / Certes, they been lyk to houndes; for an hound, whan he
comth by the roser or by othere [busshes], though he may nat pisse, yet
wole he heve up his leg and make a contenaunce to pisse. / And for that
many man weneth that he may nat sinne, for no likerousnesse that he doth
with his wyf; certes, that opinion is fals. God woot, a man may sleen
him-self with his owene knyf, and make him-selven dronken of his owene
tonne. / Certes, be it wyf, be it child, or any worldly thing that he
loveth [627] biforn god, it is his maumet, and he is an ydolastre. /860 Man
sholde loven his wyf by discrecioun, paciently and atemprely; and thanne is
she as though it were his suster. / The fifthe finger of the develes hand
is the stinkinge dede of Lecherie. / Certes, the fyve fingres of Glotonie
the feend put in the wombe of a man, and with hise fyve fyngres of Lecherie
he gripeth him by the reynes, for to throwen him in-to the fourneys of
helle; / ther-as they shul han the fyr and the wormes that evere shul
lasten, and wepinge and wailinge, sharp hunger and thurst, and grimnesse of
develes that shullen al to-trede hem, with-outen respit and withouten ende.
/ Of Lecherie, as I seyde, sourden diverse speces; as fornicacioun, that is
bitwixe man and womman that been nat maried; and this is deedly sinne and
agayns nature. /865 Al that is enemy and destruccioun to nature is agayns
nature. / Parfay, the resoun of a man telleth eek him wel that it is deedly
sinne, for-as-muche as god forbad Lecherie. And seint Paul yeveth hem the
regne, that nis dewe to no wight but to hem that doon deedly sinne. /
Another sinne of Lecherie is to bireve a mayden of hir maydenhede; for he
that so dooth, certes, he casteth a mayden out of the hyeste degree that is
in this present lyf, / and bireveth hir thilke precious fruit that the book
clepeth ‘the hundred fruit.’ I ne can seye it noon other weyes in English,
but in Latin it highte _Centesimus fructus_. / Certes, he that so dooth is
cause of manye damages and vileinyes, mo than any man can rekene; right as
he som-tyme is cause of alle damages that bestes don in the feeld, that
breketh the hegge or the closure; thurgh which he destroyeth that may nat
been restored. /870 For certes, na-more may maydenhede be restored than an
arm that is smiten fro the body may retourne agayn to wexe. / She may have
mercy, this woot I wel, if she do penitence; but nevere shal it be that she
nas corrupt. / And al-be-it so that I have spoken somwhat of Avoutrie, it
is good to shewen mo perils that longen to Avoutrie, for to eschue that
foule sinne. / Avoutrie in Latin is for to seyn, approchinge of other
mannes bed, thurgh which tho that whylom weren o flessh abaundone hir
bodyes to othere persones. / Of this sinne, as seith the wyse man, folwen
manye harmes. First, brekinge of feith; and certes, in feith is the keye of
Cristendom. /875 And whan that feith is broken and lorn, soothly Cristendom
stant [628] veyn and with-outen fruit. / This sinne is eek a thefte; for
thefte generally is for to reve a wight his thing agayns his wille. /
Certes, this is the fouleste thefte that may be, whan a womman steleth hir
body from hir housbonde and yeveth it to hire holour to defoulen hir; and
steleth hir soule fro Crist, and yeveth it to the devel. / This is a fouler
thefte, than for to breke a chirche and stele the chalice; for thise
Avoutiers breken the temple of god spiritually, and stelen the vessel of
grace, that is, the body and the soule, for which Crist shal destroyen hem,
as seith Seint Paul. / Soothly of this thefte douted gretly Joseph, whan
that his lordes wyf preyed him of vileinye, whan he seyde, ‘lo, my lady,
how my lord hath take to me under my warde al that he hath in this world;
ne no-thing of hise thinges is out of my power, but only ye that been his
wyf. /880 And how sholde I thanne do this wikkednesse, and sinne so
horribly agayns god, and agayns my lord? God it forbede.’ Allas! al to
litel is swich trouthe now y-founde! / The thridde harm is the filthe
thurgh which they breken the comandement of god, and defoulen the auctour
of matrimoine, that is Crist. / For certes, in-so-muche as the sacrement of
mariage is so noble and so digne, so muche is it gretter sinne for to
breken it; for god made mariage in paradys, in the estaat of Innocence, to
multiplye man-kinde to the service of god. / And therfore is the brekinge
ther-of more grevous. Of which brekinge comen false heires ofte tyme, that
wrongfully occupyen folkes heritages. And therfore wol Crist putte hem out
of the regne of hevene, that is heritage to gode folk. / Of this brekinge
comth eek ofte tyme, that folk unwar wedden or sinnen with hir owene
kinrede; and namely thilke harlottes that haunten bordels of thise fool
wommen, that mowe be lykned to a commune gonge, where-as men purgen hir
ordure. /885 What seye we eek of putours that liven by the horrible sinne
of putrie, and constreyne wommen to yelden to hem a certeyn rente of hir
bodily puterie, ye, somtyme of his owene wyf or his child; as doon this
baudes? Certes, thise been cursede sinnes. / Understond eek, that avoutrie
is set gladly in the ten comandements bitwixe thefte and manslaughtre; for
it is the gretteste thefte that may be; for it is thefte of body and of
soule. / And it is lyk to homicyde; for it kerveth a-two and [629] breketh
a-two hem that first were maked o flesh, and therfore, by the olde lawe of
god, they sholde be slayn. / But nathelees, by the lawe of Iesu Crist, that
is lawe of pitee, whan he seyde to the womman that was founden in avoutrie,
and sholde han been slayn with stones, after the wil of the Iewes, as was
hir lawe: ‘Go,’ quod Iesu Crist, ‘and have na-more wil to sinne’; or,
‘wille na-more to do sinne.’ / Soothly, the vengeaunce of avoutrie is
awarded to the peynes of helle, but-if so be that it be destourbed by
penitence. /890 Yet been ther mo speces of this cursed sinne; as whan that
oon of hem is religious, or elles bothe; or of folk that been entred in-to
ordre, as subdekne or dekne, or preest, or hospitaliers. And evere the hyer
that he is in ordre, the gretter is the sinne. / The thinges that gretly
agreggen hir sinne is the brekinge of hir avow of chastitee, whan they
receyved the ordre. / And forther-over, sooth is, that holy ordre is chief
of al the tresorie of god, and his especial signe and mark of chastitee; to
shewe that they been ioyned to chastitee, which that is most precious lyf
that is. / And thise ordred folk been specially tytled to god, and of the
special meynee of god; for which, whan they doon deedly sinne, they been
the special traytours of god and of his peple; for they liven of the peple,
to preye for the peple, and whyle they been suche traitours, hir preyers
availen nat to the peple. / Preestes been aungeles, as by the dignitee of
hir misterye; but for sothe, seint Paul seith, that ‘Sathanas transformeth
him in an aungel of light.’ /895 Soothly, the preest that haunteth deedly
sinne, he may be lykned to the aungel of derknesse transformed in the
aungel of light; he semeth aungel of light, but for sothe he is aungel of
derknesse. / Swiche preestes been the sones of Helie, as sheweth in the
book of Kinges, that they weren the sones of Belial, that is, the devel. /
Belial is to seyn ‘with-outen Iuge’; and so faren they; hem thinketh they
been free, and han no Iuge, na-more than hath a free bole that taketh which
cow that him lyketh in the toun. / So faren they by wommen. For right as a
free bole is y-nough for al a toun, right so is a wikked preest corrupcioun
y-nough for al a parisshe, or for al a contree. / Thise preestes, as seith
the book, ne conne nat the misterie of preesthode to the peple, ne god ne
knowe they nat; they ne helde hem nat apayd, as seith the book, [630] of
soden flesh that was to hem offred, but they toke by force the flesh that
is rawe. /900 Certes, so thise shrewes ne holden hem nat apayed of rosted
flesh and sode flesh, with which the peple fedden hem in greet reverence,
but they wole have raw flesh of folkes wyves and hir doghtres. / And
certes, thise wommen that consenten to hir harlotrie doon greet wrong to
Crist and to holy chirche and alle halwes, and to alle soules; for they
bireven alle thise him that sholde worshipe Crist and holy chirche, and
preye for cristene soules. / And therfore han swiche preestes, and hir
lemmanes eek that consenten to hir lecherie, the malisoun of al the court
cristen, till they come to amendement. / The thridde spece of avoutrie is
som-tyme bitwixe a man and his wyf; and that is whan they take no reward in
hir assemblinge, but only to hire fleshly delyt, as seith seint Ierome; /
and ne rekken of nothing but that they been assembled; by-cause that they
been maried, al is good y-nough, as thinketh to hem. /905 But in swich folk
hath the devel power, as seyde the aungel Raphael to Thobie; for in hir
assemblinge they putten Iesu Crist out of hir herte, and yeven hem-self to
alle ordure. / The fourthe spece is, the assemblee of hem that been of hire
kinrede, or of hem that been of oon affinitee, or elles with hem with
whiche hir fadres or hir kinrede han deled in the sinne of lecherie; this
sinne maketh hem lyk to houndes, that taken no kepe to kinrede. / And
certes, parentele is in two maneres, outher goostly or fleshly; goostly, as
for to delen with hise godsibbes. / For right so as he that engendreth a
child is his fleshly fader, right so is his godfader his fader espirituel.
For which a womman may in no lasse sinne assemblen with hir godsib than
with hir owene fleshly brother. / The fifthe spece is thilke abhominable
sinne, of which that no man unnethe oghte speke ne wryte, nathelees it is
openly reherced in holy writ. /910 This cursednesse doon men and wommen in
diverse entente and in diverse manere; but though that holy writ speke of
horrible sinne, certes, holy writ may nat been defouled, na-more than the
sonne that shyneth on the mixen. / Another sinne aperteneth to lecherie,
that comth in slepinge; and this sinne cometh ofte to hem that been
maydenes, and eek to hem that been corrupt; and this sinne men clepen
pollucioun, that [631] comth in foure maneres. / Somtyme, of languissinge
of body; for the humours been to ranke and habundaunt in the body of man.
Somtyme of infermetee; for the feblesse of the vertu retentif, as phisik
maketh mencioun. Som-tyme, for surfeet of mete and drinke. / And somtyme of
vileyns thoghtes, that been enclosed in mannes minde whan he goth to slepe;
which may nat been with-oute sinne. For which men moste kepen hem wysely,
or elles may men sinnen ful grevously. /
853. Hl. as a basiliskoc. 857. Hl. dotard fooles holours. C m. and
smatere hem thow they may nat doon. 858. Tyrwhitt _has_ bushes; E.
Seld. Ln. beauteis; Cm. beauteis; Hl. beautes; Pt. bewtees. 869.
After _fructus_, Hl. _adds_ secundum Ieronimum contra Iouinianum.
881. Hl. Pt. horribly; E. Cm. horrible. 882. E. Actour (_error for_
Auctour). 884. E. Hl. _om._ ther-of. E. ocupien. 887. E.
Vnderstoond. E. Pt. Ln. Hl. Seld. gladly; Cm. _om._ E.
comandementz. 891. Pt. Hl. or deken; Ln. & deken; Cm. dekene; E.
_om._ 894. E. meignee; Ln. Hl. meyne. E. Cm. _om._ to preye ... to
the peple; _the clause occurs in_ Pt. Ln. Selden, _and partly in_ Hl.
897. Seld. Pt. Ln. Hl. Belye (_for_ Helye); Cm. Belyal. 900. Cm.
helde; _rest_ holde. 903. E. cristiene; Hl. cristian; Cm. cristene;
_rest_ cristen. 908. Pt. Ln. Parentela; Hl. parenteal. 909. E.
espiritueel. 911. Pt. myxen; Cm. myxene; E. Mixne; Seld. Ln. mexen;
Hl. dongehul. 912. E. Poluciou_n_. 912. E. Cm. iij; _rest_ iiij.
913. Pt. feblesse; E. fieblesse; Cm. febillesse; Ln. Hl. feblenesse.
914. Cm. muste (_for_ moste). E. greously (!).
=Remedium contra peccatum Luxurie.=
§ 77. Now comth the remedie agayns Lecherie, and that is, generally,
Chastitee and Continence, that restreyneth alle the desordeynee moevinges
that comen of fleshly talentes. /915 And evere the gretter merite shal he
han, that most restreyneth the wikkede eschaufinges of the ordure of this
sinne. And this is in two maneres, that is to seyn, chastitee in mariage,
and chastitee of widwehode. / Now shaltow understonde, that matrimoine is
leefful assemblinge of man and of womman, that receyven by vertu of the
sacrement the bond, thurgh which they may nat be departed in al hir lyf,
that is to seyn, whyl that they liven bothe. / This, as seith the book, is
a ful greet sacrement. God maked it, as I have seyd, in paradys, and wolde
him-self be born in mariage. / And for to halwen mariage, he was at a
weddinge, where-as he turned water in-to wyn; which was the firste miracle
that he wroghte in erthe biforn hise disciples. / Trewe effect of mariage
clenseth fornicacioun and replenisseth holy chirche of good linage; for
that is the ende of mariage; and it chaungeth deedly sinne in-to venial
sinne bitwixe hem that been y-wedded, and maketh the hertes al oon of hem
that been y-wedded, as wel as the bodies. /920 This is verray mariage, that
was establissed by god er that sinne bigan, whan naturel lawe was in his
right point in paradys; and it was ordeyned that o man sholde have but o
womman, and o womman but o man, as seith Seint Augustin, by manye resouns.
/