Thys knave anoon unto the queene hym dyghte, 2370 And toke hit hir, and al the maner tolde. holde, No worde she spake for sorwe and eke for rage Allas, the woo, constreynt, and eke the mone 2 238c The remnant ys no charge 2 for to telle, For this is al and somme, thus was she served, 8 That harm agylte 3 ne deservede Unto thys cruelle man, that she of wyste. Ne serve yow as a morderere or a knave, 2389 That wol I seyne, al were he nowe my brother, Explicit Legenda Philomene. 1 Time. Consequence. Committed. PHYLLIS AND DEMOPHOÖN. 171 Incipit Legenda Phillis. By preve, as wel as by auctorite, That wikked frute cometh of wikked tree,' God for hys grace fro suche oon kepe us! 2400 This Demophon come saylyng in the see With hym come many a shippe and mony a barge Ful of folke, of whiche ful many oon Ys wounded sore, and seke, and woo begoon, Hym were lever than al the worlde a-londe, 2411 1 Cf. Matt. vii. 16. The legend of Phillis follows pretty closely Ovid's story in the Heroides, epistle ii. 3 Rudder. Hys shippe was rent so lowe, in suche manere, That carpentere koude hit nat amende. The see by nyght as any torche brende For wode,1 and posseth hym up and doune ; Til Neptunus hath of hym compassyoun, 2420 And Thetis, Chorus, Triton, and they alle, And maden him upon a londe to falle, Wherof that Phillis lady was and quene, Lycurgus doghtre, fayrer on to sene Than is the floure ageyn the bryghte sonne. Unneth 2 ys Demophoon to londe ywonne, Wayke and eke wery, and his folke forpyned Of werynesse, and also enfamyned, And to the dethe he was almoste ydreven. Hys wise folke counseyle han hym geven, 2430 To seken helpe and socour of the quene, And loken what hys grace myghte bene, And make in that londe somme chevissaunce, 'To kepen hym fro woo and fro myschaunce. For seke he was, and almoste at the dethe; Unnethe myght he speke, or drawe brethe; And lyeth in Rhodopeya hym for to reste. Whan he may walke, hym thoght hit was the beste Unto the contree to seken for socoure. Men knewe hym welle and dide hym honoure; For at Athenes duke and lorde was hee, 244' As Theseus hys fader hath ybe, That in hys tyme was grete of renoun, 1 Wrath. Scarcely. Negotiation. A mountain in Thrace DEMOPHOON. No man so grete in al hys regioun ; 173 And lyke hys fader of face and of stature, To write of hem that in love ben forsworne Ye have wel herde of Theseus the gyse,* That of hir pitee kepte hym fro hys bane. 2460 For unto Phillis hath he swore thus, To wedden hir, and hir his trouthe plyghte, Whan he was hole and sounde, and had hys reste, And doth with Phillis what-so that him leste, Tellen al hys doynges, to and fro. 2470 He sayede to hys contree moste him sayle, 1 Nature 2 Wont. Surfeited. Wise. For ther he wolde hire weddyng apparaylle And to hir swore he wolde not sojourne, She was bir oune dethe with a corde, Whanne that she segh that Demophon her trayede. But firste wrote she to hym,1 and faste hym prayede He wolde come and delyver hir of peyne, 1 Her letter is in the Heroides. 2 Labor. 8 Little. Rhodopeian hostess, Phyllis," is Ovid's form of expression. "Thy |