ENVYE, THAT NEVER LOUGH." 215
And bothe bihynde and eke biforne
Clouted was she beggarly.
A mantyl henge hir faste by,
Upon a perche, weike and smalle,
A burnet1 cote henge therwith alle,
Furred with no menyvere,
But with a furre rough of here,
Of lambe skynnes hevy and blake,
It was ful old, I undirtake,
For Avarice to clothe hir welle
Ne hastith hir never a delle ;
For certeynly it were hir loth
To weren ofte that ilk cloth;
And if it were forwered, she
Wolde have ful gret necessite
Of clothyng, er she bought hir newe,
Al were it bad of wolle and hewe.
This Avarice hilde in hir hande
A purs, that henge by a bande ;
And that she hidde and bonde so strong,
Men must abyde wondir long,
Out of that purs er ther come ought,
For that ne cometh not in hir thought;
It was not certein hir entente,
That fro that purs a peny wente.
And by that ymage nygh ynough
Was peynted ENVYE, that never lough,
Nor never wel in hir herte farede
But if she outher saugh or herede
1 Brown. Ermine and weasel fur.
Som gret myschaunce, or gret disese.1
No thyng may so moch hir plese
As myschef and mysaventure;
Or whan she seeth discomfiture
Upon ony worthy man falle,
Than likith 2 hir wel with-alle.
She is ful glade in hir corage,
If she se any grete lynage
Be brought to nought in shynful wise.
And if a man in honour rise
Or by his witte or by his prowesse,
Of that hath she gret hevynesse,
For, trustith wel, she goth nygh wode,
Whan any chaunge happith gode.
Envie is of such crueltee,
That feith ne trouthe holdith she
To freend ne felawe, bad or good.
Ne she hath kynne noon of hir blood,
That she nys ful her enemye.
She nolde, I dar seyn hardelye,
Hir owne fadir farede welle.
And sore abieth' she everydelle
Hir malice, and hir male-talent:"
For she is in so gret turment
And hath such, whan folk doth good,
That nygh she meltith for pure wood."
Hir herte kerveth and so brekith
'That God the puple wel a-wrekith."
1 Discomfort. Pleaseth. 8 Shameful. Suffereth for. inclination. • Madness. Avengeth.
Envie, -wis, shal nevere lette
Som blame upon the folk to sette.
I trowe that if Envie, i-wis,
Knewe the beste man that is,
On this side or biyonde the see,
Yit somwhat lakken 2 hym wolde she.
And if he were so hende and wis,
That she ne myght al abate his pris,
Yit wolde she blame his worthynesse,
Or by hir wordis make it lesse.
I saugh Envie in that peyntyng
Hadde a wondirful lokyng;
For she ne lokide but a-wrie,
Or overthart, alle baggyngly.*
And she hadde a foul usage;
She myghte loke in no visage
Of man or womman forth right pleyn,
But shette hir eien for disdeyn;
So for envie brennede she
Whan she myghte any man yse
That fairer or worthier were, or wise,
Or elles stode in folkis
SOROWE was peynted next Envie
Upon that walle of masonrye.
But wel was seyn in hir colour
That she hadde lyved in langour;
Hir semede to have the jaunyce.
Nought half so pale was Avarice,
Nor no thyng lyk of lenesse ;
Stint. Dispraise. Courteous. Disdainfully
For sorowe, thought, and gret distresse,
That she hadde suffred day and nyght,
Made hir ful yolare, and no thyng bright, 310
Ful fade, pale and megre also.
Was never wight yit half so wo
As that hir semede for to be,
Nor so fulfilled of ire as she.
I trowe that no wight myght hir please
Nor do that thyng that myght hir ease,
Nor she ne wolde hir sorowe slake,
Nor comfort noon unto hir take.
So depe was hir wo bigonnen,
And eek hir hert in angre ronnen,
A sorowful thyng wel semede she.
Nor she hadde no thyng slowe be
For to forcracchen al hir face,
And for to rent in many place
Hir clothis, and for to tere hir swire,*
As she that was fulfilled of ire;
And al to-torn lay eek hir here
Aboute hir shuldris, here and there,
As she that hadde it al to-rent
For angre and for maltalent.5
And eek I telle you certeynly
Hough that she wepe ful tendirly.
In worlde nys wyght so harde of herte
That hadde sene hir sorowes smerte,
i Yellow. 2 Dull (Fr. fade, insipid; Lat. vapidus). 3 Scratch. Neck. ō Evil inclination. 6 Lines 333-380 are supplied from the edition of Thomas Speght (1598), a leaf having been torn from the nique MS. in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow, the basis of the most of the remainder of the text
That nolde have had of her pytye,
So wo-begonne a thyng was she.
She al to-dasht her-selfe for woo,
And smote togyder her hondes two.
To sorowe was she ful ententyfe,
That woful rechelesse caytyfe;
Her roughte lytel of playing,
Or of clyppynge1 or kyssynge;
For who-so sorowful is in herte
Hym luste not to playe ne sterte,
Ne for to dauncen, ne to synge,
Ne may his herte in tempre brynge
To make joye on even or morowe,
For joye is contrarie unto sorowe.
ELDE was paynted after this,
That shorter was a fote, iwys,
Than she was wont in her yonghede."
Unneth her-selfe she myghte fede;
So feble and eke so olde was she
'That faded was al her beaute.
Ful salowe was waxen her coloure,
Her heed for hore was whyte as floure.
Iwys, great qualme ne were it none,
Ne synne, although her lyfe were gone.
Al woxen was her body unwelde
And drye and dwyned al for elde.
A foule forwelked' thynge was she
That whylom rounde and soft hadde be.
1 Embracing. Youth. of movement. • Dwindled.
Scarcely. • Whiteness.
Much wrinkled.
|