Me techen nouther text ne glofe. But for als moche as I suppose It fit a prest to be wel thewed And shame it is if he be lewed, Of my presthode after the forme I wol thy fhrifte so enforme, That at the lafte thou shalt here The vices, and to thy matere Of love I shal hem fo remeve,
That thou shalt knowe what they meve. For what a man shall axe or faine Touchend of fhrifte, it mot be pleine, It nedeth nought to make it queinte, For trouth his wordes wol nought peinte. That I wol axe of the forthy,
My fone, it shal be fo pleinly,
That thou shalt knowe and understonde The pointes of shrift how that they stonde.
Vifus et auditus fragiles funt oftia mentis, Que viciofa manus claudere nulla poteft.
Eft ibi larga via, graditur qua cordis ad antrum Hoftis et ingrediens foffa talenta rapit. Hec mihi confeffor Genius primordia profert, Dum fit in extremis vita remorfa malis. Nunc tamen ut poterit femiviva loquela fateri, Verba per os timide confcia mentis agam. Betwene the life and dethe I herde This preftes tale er I answerde, And than I praid him for to say His will and I it wolde obey After the forme of his apprise. Tho spake he to me in such a wise
Hic incipit confeffio amantis, cui de duobus precipue quinque fenfuum, hoc eft de vifu et auditu confeffor pre ceteris opponit.
And bad me, that I fholde fhrive As touchende of my wittes five And shape, that they were amended Of that I hadde hem mispended. For tho be properly the gates,
Through which as to the hert algates Cometh all thing unto the feire, Which may the mannes foule empeire. And now this matter is brought in,
My fone, I thenke first beginne
To wit, how that thin eye
The whiche is as I understonde
The most principall of alle,
Through whom that peril may befalle. And for to fpeke in loves kinde Full many fuche a man may finde, Whiche ever cafte aboute here eye To loke, if that they might afpie Ful oft thing, which hem ne toucheth, But only that here herte foucheth In hindringe of an other wight. And thus ful many a worthy knight And
many a lufty lady bothe
Have be full ofte fithes wrothe,
So that an eye is as a thefe
To love and doth ful great mefchefe, And alfo for his owne part
Ful ofte thilke firy dart
Of love, which that ever brenneth,
Through him into the herte renneth.
And thus a mannes eye ferst Him felfe greveth altherwerft, And many a time that he knoweth Unto his owne harme it groweth. My fone, herken now forthy A tale, to be ware therby Thin eye for to kepe and warde, So that it paffe nought his warde. Ovide telleth in his boke Enfample touchend of misloke
And faith, how whilom ther was one A worthy lord, whiche Acteon Was hote, and he was coufin nigh To him, that Thebes first on high Upfette, which king Cadme hight. This Acteon, as he wel might, Above all other caft his chere
And used it from yere to yere
With houndes and with Among the wodes and the thornes
To make his hunting and his chace, Where him beft thought in every place
in his way, game There rode he for to hunte and play. So him befelle upon a tide
On his hunting as he cam ride In a foreste alone he was, He figh upon the grene gras The faire fresshe floures fpringe, He herd among the leves finge
Hic narrat confeffor exemplum de visu ab illicitis prefervando, dicens, qualiter Ac- teon Cadmi regis Thebarum dum in quadam fo- refta venacionis caufa fpaciarit, accidit, ut ipfe quendam fontem nemorofa arborum pulchritudine cir- cumventum fuperve- niens vidit ibi Dia- nam cum fuis nim- phis nudam in flumine balneantem, quam di- ligencius intuens ocu-
los fuos a muliebri nuditate nullatenus avertere volebat, un- de indignata Diana ipfum in cervi figu- ram transformavit. Quem canes proprii apprehendentes mor- tiferis dentibus peni- tus dilaniarunt.
The throstel with the nightingale. Thus er he wift into a dale
He came, wher was a litel pleine All rounde aboute wel befeine and cedres high,
grene And there within he cafte his eye. Amid the plaine he faw a welle So faire there might no man telle, In which Diana naked ftood To bathe and play her in the flood With
many a nimphe, which her serveth. But he his eye awey ne fwerveth Fro her, which was naked all.
And fhe was wonder wroth withall And him, as she which was goddeffe, Forfhope anone and the likeneffe She made him take of an herte,
Which was tofore his houndes fterte, That ronne befilich aboute
With many an horne and many a route, That maden mochel noise and crie, And ate laste unhappilie
This hert his owne houndes flough And him for vengeaunce all to-drough.
Lo now, my fone, what it is A man to cafte his eye amis, Which Acteon hath dere abought, Beware forthy and do it nought. For ofte who that hede toke
Better is to winke than to loke.
And for to proven it is so Ovide the poete alfo
A tale, whiche to this matere Accordeth, faith, as thou fhalt here. In Methamor it telleth thus, How that a lord, whiche Phorceus Was hote, hadde doughters thre. their nativite
But Such was the conftellacion, That out of mannes nacion Fro kinde they be fo mifwent, That to the likeneffe of the ferpent They were bothe, and fo that one Of hem was cleped Stellibone, That other fufter Suriale,
The thrid as telleth in the tale Medusa hight, and netheles Of comun name Gorgones,
every contre there about
As monftres, whiche that men doute, Men clepen hem, and but one eye Among hem thre in purpartie They had, of which they mighte fe, Now hathe it this, nowe hath it she. After that cause and nede it ladde By throwes eche of hem it hadde. A wonder thing yet more amis There was, wherof I telle al this, What man on hem his chere caste And hem behelde, he was als fafte
Hic ponit aliud exemplum de eodem, ubi dicit, quod quidam princeps nomine Phorcus tres progenuit filias Gorgones a vulgo nuncupatas, que uno partu exorte deformitatem monftrorum ferpentinam obtinuerunt, quibus, cum in etatem pervenerant, talis deftinata fuerat natura, quod quicumque in eas afpiceret in lapidem fubito mutabatur, et fic quamplures incaute refpicientes vifis illis perierunt, fed Perfeus miles clipeo Palladis gladioque Mercurii munitus eas extra montem Atlantis cohabitantes animo audaci abfque fui periculo interfecit.
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