Passus primus de dobet
lLEue liberum Arbitrium quod y · / y leue as y hope
Thow couthest telle me and teche me to charite as y leue
Thenne louh liberum Arbitrium / and ladde me forth with tales
Til we cam in-to a contre cor hominis hit heihte
Erber of alle pryuatees / and of holynesse
Euene in þe myddes / an ympe as hit were
That hihte ymago dei / graciousliche hit growede
Thenne gan y aske what hit hihte / and he me sone tolde
The tree hatte trewe loue quod he / the trinite hit sette
Thorw louely lokynges hit lyueth / and launseth vp blosmes
The whiche blosmes buirnes / benigne speche hit calleth
And þer-of cometh a goed fruyt / þe wiche men calleth werkes
Of holynesse of hendenesse / of helpe hym þat nedeth
The whiche is Caritas ykald Cristes oune fode
And solaceth alle soules / sorwful in purgatory
¶ Now certes y sayde and siȝte for ioye y thonke ȝow a thousend sethe T
That ȝe me hider kende / and sethen þat ȝe fouchen saef
To sey me as hit hoteth / and he thonkede me tho
Bote thenne toek y hede / hit hadde schoriares to shuyuen hit vp
Thre shides of o lenghe / and of o kyne colour & kynde as me thoghte
Alle thre yliche long / and yliche large
¶ Moche merueyled me / on what more thei growede
And askede ofte of hym / of what wode they were
¶ Thise thre shorriares quod he / that bereth vp this plonte
Bytokeneth trewely / the trinite of heuene
Thre persones indepartable / perpetuel were euere
Of o will of o wit / and her-with y kepe
The fruyt of this fayre tre / fro thre wikkede wyndes T
The world is a wikkede wynd / to hem þat wolde treuthe
Couetyse cometh of þat wynde / and Caritas hit abiteth
And with þe furste planke y palle hym down potencia dei patris
¶ Thenne is þe flesch afel / a fel wynde and in flouryng tyme
Thorw lecherie and lustes so loude he gynneth blowe
And many wikkede werkes / wormes of synne
And al for-bet Caritas / rihte to þe bare stalke
¶ Thenne sette y þe seconde planke / sapiencia dei patris
The which is þe passioun & þe penaunce & þe parfitnesse of ihesus
And þerwith y warde hit oþerwhile / til hit waxe rype
¶ And thenne fondeth the fende / my fruyte to destruye
And leyth a laddere þerto / of lesynges ben þe ronges
And with alle þe wyles þat he can / waggeth þe rote
Thorw bagbitares and braules / and thorw bolde chidares
And shaketh hit ne were P hit vnder-shored hit sholde nat stande
So this lordeynes lithereth þerto þat alle þe leues falleth
And feccheth a-way þe fruyt som-tyme / byfore bothe myn yes
And thenne palle y adoune the pouke / with the thridde shoriere
The whiche is spiritus sanctus / and sothfaste bileue
And that is grace of þe holygost / holy gost / and thus gete y the maystrye
I · toted vp-on þat tree tho / and thenne toek y hede
Where þe fruyt were fayre / or foul {t}for to loke on
And þe fruyt was · fayre non fayrere be myhte C
As in thre degrees hit grewe / grete ferly me thouhte
And askede efte tho / where hit were all o kynde
¶ Ȝe sertes he sayde and sothliche leue hit
Hit is al of o kynde / and þat C shal y preuen
Ac somme ar swettore then somme / And somme wollen rotye
Me may se on an appul tree mony tyme and ofte
Of o kynde apples / aren nat iliche grete
Ne suynge smale / ne of swettenesse swete
Tho that sitten in þe sonne syde sannore aren rype
Swettore and saueriore / and also more grettore
Then tho that seld haen þe sonne / and sitten in þe North half
And so hit fareth sothly / sone by oure kynde
¶ Adam was as tre / and we aren as his apples
Somme of vs soethfaste / and somme variable
Summe litel somme large / y-lik apples of kynde
As weddede men and wedewes / and riht worthy maydones
The whiche þe seynt spirit seweth / the sonne of al heuene
And conforteth hem in here continence / þat lyuen in contemplacioun
As monkes and monyals / men of holy churche
These haen þe ȝyfte of þe holigoest / holi goest / as hath þecrop / þe crop of tre sonne
And chaste leden here lyf / is lyf of contemplacioun
And more lykynde to oure lord / then lyue as kynde asketh
And folewe þat the flesche wole / and fruyt forth brynge
¶ That Actiua lyf lettred men / in here langage hit calleth
Ȝe sire y sayde and sethen þer aren but tweyne lyues
That oure lord alloweth / as lered men vs techeth
¶ Actiua vita & contemplatiua vita
Why groweth this fruyt in thre degres / a goed skil he saide
Here beneth y may nyme / yf y nede hadde
Matrimonye amoist / a moist fruyt / þat multiplieth þe peple
And thenne aboue is bettere fruyt / as bothe two ben gode
Wydewhode more worthiore then wedlok as in heuene
Thenne is virginite more vertuous and fayrest as inheuene / in heuene
For þat is euene with angelis / and a{.}ngeles pere
Hit was þe furste fruyte / þat þe fader of heuene blessed
And bad hit be of abat / a bat of erthe aman / a man and a maide
In menynge þat the fayrest thyng / the furste thynge shold honoure
And þe clennest creature / furste creature knowe
In kynges Court and in knyhtes the clenneste men and fayreste
Shollen serue for þe lord sulue / and so fareth god almyhty
maydones and martres ministrede here on erthe
And on hey heuene is priueoste and next hym by resoun
And for þe fayrest fruyte / byfore hym as of erthe
And swete with-oute swellynge / sour worth hit neuere
And bryngeth forth fruyt / folk of alle nacioun
Bothe parfit and inparfit / puyr fayn y wolde
Assay what sauour hit hadde and saide þat tyme
Leue liberum Arbitrium / lat some lyf hit shake
And anoon he hihte Elde / anhy / an hy for to clymbe
And shaken hit sharpeliche / the rype sholden falle
And Elde clemp to þe c{l}ropward thenne comsed hit to crye
A LX waggede wedewhed / and hit wepte aftur
And gadered hem alle to-gyderes / bothe grete & smale
Adam and Abraham / and ysaye þe prophete
Sampson and samuel / and seynt Iohan þe Baptiste
And baer hem forth baldly no-body hym lette
¶ And made of holy men his hoerd in limbo inferni
There is derkenesse and drede / and þe deuel maister
Thenne moued hym moed in magestate dei
And hit aftur þe fende / happe how hit myhte
¶ Filius by þe fadres wille fley with spiritus sanctus
To go ransake þat ragman / and reue hym of his apples
That thorw fals biheste and fruyt / furste man disseyued
And thenne spak spiritus sanctus / in gabrieles mouthe
To a mayde þat hihte marie ameke / a meke thyng with-alle
That oen ihesus a Iustices sone / most iouken in here chaumbre
Til plenitudo temporis / tyme y-come were
That elde felde efte þe fruyt or full to be rype
That ihesus sholde iouste þerfore / and by iugenment of Armes
Who sholde fecche this fruyt / the fende or ihesus suluen
The mayde myldeliche / the messager she grauntede
And saide hendely to hym / lo me his hond-mayden
For to worchen his wille / with-outen eny synne
Ecce Ancilla domini & cetera
¶ And in þe wombe of þat wenche / was he fourty wokes
And bycam man of þat maide / mankynde to saue
Byg and abydyng · and bold in his barn-hoed
To haue y-fouthte with þe fende Ar fol tyme come
Ac liberum Arbitrium leche-craeft hym tauhte
Til p{e}lenitudo temporis by tyme aprochede
That suche a surgien sethen ysaye was þer neuere
Ne noon so faythfol fisciscyen for all þat by-souhte hym
A LX lechede hem of here langour / bothe lasares and blynde
And comen wommen conuertede / and clansed hem of synne
And luft vp lazar þat lay in his tombe
Quadriduanus coeld / quyk dede hym rome
Ac ar he made þat miracle / mestus cepit esse
And wepte watur with yes / the why weten fewe
Ac tho that sey that selcouth sayde þat tyme
That he was god or godes sone for þat grete wonder
And some iewes saide / with sorserie he wrouhte
And thorw the myhte of Mahond / and thorw misbileue
¶ demonium habes
Thenne is saton ȝoure saueour quod Ihesus & hath ysaued ȝow ofte
Ac y saued {y saued} ȝow sondry tymes and also y fede ȝow
With fyue fisches and loues / fyue thousendes at ones
And y lefte basketes ful of Broke mete bere awey ho-so wolde
Vnkynde and vnkunnynge quod Crist / and with aroep / a roep smoet hem
And ouerturnede in þe temple here tables and here stalles
And drof hem out alle þat þer bouhte and solde
And saide this is an hous of orysones / and of holynesse
And when þat my will is / y wol hit ouerthrowe
And ar thre dayes aftur / edefye hit newe
The iewes tolde þe iustice how þat ihesus saide
Ac þe ouerturnynge of the temple / bitokened his resureccioun
Enuye and euel wil / ern in þe iewes
And pursuede hym priueliche / and for pans hym bouhte
Ne forte tumultus fieret in populo
Of Ieudas þe iew ihesus oune disciple
This biful on a fryday / alitel / a litel bifore Pasche
¶ That Iudas and iewes / ihesus thei mette
Aue raby quod tho ribaudes / and riht til hym they ȝede
And kuste ihesus to be knowe þerby / and cauht of þe iewes
Thenne ihesus to Iudas / and to þe iewes sayde
Falsnesse y fynde / in thy fayre speche
And kene care in thy kissyng and combraunce to thy-sulue
Thow shalt be myrrour to monye men to disceue
Wo to tho þat thy wyles vysen to þe worldes ende
¶ Ve homini illi per quem s{a}candulum / s{a}cand[a]lum venit
Sethe y be tresoun am take / and to ȝoure will iewes
Soffreth my postles in pays / and in pees gange
This iewes to þe iustices / ihesus they ladde
¶ With moche noyse þat nyhte nere frentyk y wakede
In inwit and in alle wittes / aftur liber{.}um Arbitrium
And thenne mette y with aman / a man / amyddelentones / a myddelentones sonenday
As hoer as an hauthorn / and abraham he hihte
Of whennes artow quod y · / and hendeliche hym grette
¶ I am with fayth quod þat freke / hit falleth nat me to lye
An · heraud of Armes Ar eny lawe were
Thre persones in o pensel quod he / departable fram oþere
O speche and spirit / springeth out of alle
Of o wit and o · will were neuere a-twynne
And sondry to se vpon / solus deus he hoteth
Suche they ben suyrelepes quod y · / they haen sondry names
That is soth saide he / thenne the syre hatte pater
And þe seconde is a sone / of þe sire filius
The thridde is þat halt al / a thyng by hym-sulue
Holy goest is his name / and he is in all
¶ This is myrke thyng for me quod y / and for many anoþer
How o lord myhte lyue o thre / y leue hit nat y sayde
¶ Muse nat to moche þer-on quod faith / til thow more knowe
Ac leue hit lelly al thy lyf-tyme
That thre bilongeth to a lord / þat leiaunce claymeth
Miȝte and amene / a mene / to se his owne myhte
Of hym-sulue and his seruant / and what soffreth hem bothe
God bigynnyng hadde neuere / bote tho hym goed thouhte
Sente forth his sone / As for seruant þat tyme
To ocupien hym here / til issue were spronge
The whiche aren childrene of charite and holy church moder
Patriarches and prophetes / and apostles were the childrene
And Crist and cristendoem / and alle cristene holychurche / holy churche
Bitokeneth þe trinite / and trewe bileue
O god almyhty / þat man made and wrouhte
Semblable to hym-sulue / Ar eny synne were
A thre he is þer he is / and here-of bereth wittnesse
The werkes þat hym-sulue wrouhte T / and this world bothe
¶ Celi enarrant gloriam dei & cetera
That he is thre persones departable · y preue hit by mankynde
And o god almyhty / yf alle men ben of Adam
Eue of Adam was / and out of hym y-drawe
And Abel of hem bothe / and alle thre o kynde
And thise thre þat y Carp of Adam and Eue
And abel here issue / aren bote oen in manhede
Matrimonye with-oute moylere is nauht moche to preyse
As þe bible bereth witnesse / A boek of þe olde lawe
That acorsede alle couples / þat no kynde forth brouhte
¶ Maledictus sit homo / qui non reliquit semen in Israel
And man with-oute amake / a make / myhte nat wel of kynde
Multiplie ne more-ouer / with-oute amake / a make louye
Ne with-oute a soware be suche seed / this we seen alle
Now go we to godhede in god fader of heuene
Was when god wolde / oute of þe wey y-drawe
And as abel of Adam / and of his wyf Eue
Sprang forth and spak / a spyer of hem tweyne
So oute of þe syre and of þe sone þe seynt spirit of hem bothe
The which is man and his make / and moilere here issue
So is god godes sone / in thre persones the trinite
In matrimone aren thre / and of o man cam alle thre
And to godhede goth thre / And o god is all thre
Lo treys encountre treys quod he / in godhede and in manhede
Hastow y-sey this y seyde / alle thre and o god
In a somur y hym seyh quod he / as y saet in my porche
Where god cam gangynge / a thre riȝt be my gate
¶ Tres vidit & vnum adorauit
Y roos vp and reuerensed god / and riȝt fayre hym grette
Wosch hes T feet and wypede hem / and afturward they eten
And what y thouhte and my wyf he vs wel tolde
He bihihte vs issue and ayr in oure olde age
Fol trewe tokenes bitwene vs is / when tyme cometh þat y mete hym
How he fondede me furste / my fayre sone ysaak
To make sacrefice of hym / he heet me hym to honoure
I · with-saet nat his heste / y hope and bileue
Y circumsised my sone / also for his sake
My-sulue and my mayne / and alle þat male were
Bledden bloed for þat lordes loue / y hope to blisse þat tyme
Myen affiaunce and my faith / is ferme in his bileue
For hym-sulue saide y sholde / y and myn issue bothe
Lond and lordschip ynow / and lyf with-outen ende
To me and myn issue / more he me bihihte
Mercy for oure mysdedes / as many tymes
As we wilnede and wolde / with mouhte and herte aske
And sethe a LX sente me to seyn / and saide that y sholde
Worschipe hym with wyn / and with breed bothe
At ones on an auter / in worschipe of the trinite
And made sacrefice so / somwhat hit bitokneth
I leue þat ilke lord thenketh / anew / a newe lawe to make
Fiet vnum ouile & vnus pastor
¶ Thus haue y ben his heraud here and in helle
And conforted many acarfol / a carfol þere / þat aftur his comyng lokede
For-thy y seke hym he saide / for seynt Iohan þe Baptiste
Saide þat a LX seyh here / þat sholde saue vs alle Ecce Agnus dei
Thenne hadde y wonder of his wordes / and of wyde clothes
And y lokede in his lappe / a lazar lay þerynne
With patriarkes and profetes / pleynge to-gyderes
¶ What waytest thow quod fayth / and what wost thew / th[o]w haue
¶ I · wolde y-wyte quod y tho / what is in thy lappe
Loo quod he and lette me see / lord mercy y saide
This is apresent / a present of moche pris / what prince shal hit haue
¶ Hit is a preciouse present quod he / Ac the pouke hit hath atached
And me þerwith quod the weye / may no wed vs quyte
Ne noen bern ben oure borw / ne bryngen vs out of þat daunger
Fro þe poukes pondefold / no maynprise may vs feche
Til he come þat y carpe of / Crist is his name
That shal delyuere vs som day out of þe deueles power
And bettere wed for vs wagen / then we ben alle worthy
And þat is lyf for lyf / or ligge thus euere
Lollyng in my lappe thus / til suche a lord vs feche
¶ Allas y saide þat synne so longe shal lette
The myhte of goddes mercy / that myhte vs alle amende
And wepte for his wordes / with þat saw y non other
Rappliche renne þe riȝt way we wente
And y fraynede hym furst / fro whennes he come
What he hihte / and whoder he wolde / & whithliche he vs tolde C
do-bet
corrigitur C
· 1us ·
dobet
· 1us ·
And ouerturnede in þe temple
do-bet
corrigitur
Iudas
Abraham
+ C
i
{2us}1us
do-bet
+
+
ii
2us
· 11 ·