Nota de ftomacho, qui una cum aliis
A propre hous hath in the liver
For his dwellinge made deliver.
The drie coler with his hete
By wey of kinde his propre fete
Hath in the galle, where he dwelleth,
So as the philofophre telleth.
Now over this is for to wite,
cordi specialius de- As it is in phifique write
Of liver, of lunge, of galle, of fplen,
They all unto the herte ben
Servaunts, and eche in his office
Entendeth to don him fervice,
As he, which is chefe lord above.
The liver maketh him for to love,
The lunge yiveth him wey of fpeche,
The galle ferveth to do wreche,
The splen doth him to laugh and play,
Whan all unclenneffe is away.
Lo, thus hath eche of hem his dede
To fufteignen hem and fede.
In time of recreation
Nature hath in creation
The ftomack for a comun coke
Ordeined fo, as faith the boke.
The ftomack coke is for the hall
And boileth mete for hem all
To make hem mighty for to serve
The herte, that he shall nought sterve.
For as a king in his empire
Above all other is lorde and fire,
So is the herte principall,
To whom refon in speciall
Is yove as for the governaunce.
And thus nature his purveaunce
Hath made for man to liven here.
But god, which hath the foule dere,
Hath formed it in other wife,
That can no man pleinly devise.
But as the clerkes us enforme,
That lich to god it hath a forme,
Through which figure and which likenesse
The foule hath many an high noblesse
Appropred to his owne kinde.
But oft her wittes ben made blinde
Al onelich of this ilke pointe,
That her abiding is conjointe
Forth with the body for to dwelle.
That one defireth toward helle,
That other upward to the heven,
So fhall they never ftonde in even,
But if the flesh be overcome
And that the foule have holy nome
The governaunce, and that is felde,
While that the flesh him may bewelde.
All erthely thing, which god began,
Was only made to ferve man,
But he the foul all onely made
Him felven for to ferve and glade.
All other beftes that men finde
They ferven unto her owne kinde.
Hic loquitur ulteus. de divifione
But to refon the foule ferveth,
Wherof the man his thank deserveth
him with his workes good
The perdurable lives food.
Of what matere it shall be tolde
teste, que poft di- A tale liketh many folde
luvium tribus filiis
Noe in tres partes,
The better, if that it be spoke pleine, fcilicet Afiam, Af- Thus thenke I for to torne ayeine pam dividebatur. And tellen plenerly therfore
Of therthe, wherof now to-fore
I fpake, and of the water eke,
So as these olde bokes fpeke
And fette properly the bounde
After the forme of mappemounde,
Through which the ground by purparties
Departed is in thre parties,
That is Afie, Aufrique, Europe,
The which under the heven cope,
As fer as ftreccheth any ground,
Begripeth all this erthe round,
But after that the highe wreche
The water weies let out feche
And overgo the hilles high,
Which every kinde made deie,
That upon middel erthe stood
Out take Noe and his blood,
His fones and his doughters thre
They were fauf and fo was he.
Her names, who that rede right,
Sem, Cham, Japhet the brethern hight,
And whanne thilke almighty honde
Withdrough the water fro the londe
And all the rage was away,
And erthe was the mannes way,
The fones thre, of which I tolde,
Right after that hem felve wolde
This world departe they begonne.
Afia, which lay to the fonne
Upon the marche of orient,
Was graunted by commune affent
To Sem, which was the fone eldest,
For that partie was the best
And double as moch as other two.
And was that time bounded fo,
Wher as the flood, which men Nile calleth,
Departeth fro his cours and falleth
Into the fee Alexandrine,
There taketh Afie first sefine
Toward the weft, and over this
Of Canahim, where the flood is
Into the grete fee rennend,
Fro that into the worldes end
Eftwarde Afie it is algates,
Till that men comen to the gates
Of paradis, and there ho.
And shortly for to fpeke it fo
Of orient in generall
Within his bounde Afie hath all.
And than upon that other fide Weftwarde, as it fell thilke tide,
Nota de mari, quod magnum oceanum dicitur.
The brother, which was hote Cham,
Unto his parte Aufrique nam.
Japhet Europe tho toke he,
Thus parten they the worlde on thre.
But yet there ben of londes fele
In occident as for the chele,
In oriente as for the hete,
Which of the people be forlete
As lond deferte, that is unable,
For it may nought ben habitable.
The water eke hath fondry bounde
After the lond, where it is founde,
And taketh his name of thilke londes,
Where that it renneth on the ftrondes.
But thilke fee, which hath no wane,
Is cleped the great oceane,
Out of the which arife and come
The highe flodes all and fome.
Is none fo litel welle spring,
Which there ne taketh his beginning,
And lich a man that lacketh breth
By wey of kinde, fo it geth
Out of the fee and in ayein
The water, as the bokes fain.
Of elements the propretes
dum philofophum How that they stonden by degres,
to, quod omnia fub As I have told, now might thou here,
fuum ambitum My gode fone, all the matere
men orbis fpeciali Of erthe, of water, aire and fire. ter appropriatum
And for thou saist, that thy defire
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