X.P – PPEA

X.P.4RK.P.4 X.P.8RK.P.8 X.P.12RK.P.12 X.P.16RK.P.16 X.P.20RK.P.20 X.P.24RK.P.24 X.P.28RK.P.28 X.P.32RK.P.32 X.P.36RK.P.36 X.P.40RK.P.40 X.P.44RK.P.44 X.P.48RK.P.48 X.P.52RK.P.52 X.P.56RK.P.56 X.P.60RK.P.60 X.P.64RK.P.64 X.P.68RK.P.68 X.P.72RK.P.72 X.P.76RK.P.76 X.P.80RK.P.80 X.P.84RK.P.84 X.P.88RK.P.88 X.P.92RK.P.92 X.P.96RK.P.96 X.P.100RK.P.100 X.P.104RK.P.104 X.P.108RK.P.108 X.P.112RK.P.112 X.P.116RK.P.116 X.P.120RK.P.120 X.P.124RK.P.124 X.P.128RK.P.128 X.P.132RK.P.132-RK.P.133 (part) X.P.136RK.P.136 X.P.140RK.P.140 X.P.144RK.P.146 X.P.148RK.P.150 X.P.152RK.P.154 X.P.156RK.P.159 X.P.160RK.P.163 X.P.164RK.P.167 X.P.168RK.P.171 X.P.172RK.P.175 X.P.176RK.P.179 X.P.180RK.P.183a-RK.P.183b (part), RK.P.185b X.P.184RK.P.189 X.P.188RK.P.193 X.P.192RK.P.198 X.P.196RK.P.202 X.P.200RK.P.206 X.P.204RK.P.210 X.P.208RK.P.214 X.P.212RK.P.218 X.P.216RK.P.222 X.P.220RK.P.226 X.P.224RK.P.230 X.P.228RK.P.234

fol. 1r

C C N a somur sesoun whan softe was þe sonne

Y shope me in-to shroudes / as y a shep were

In abite as an heremite / vn-holy of werkes

Wente forth in þe world / wondres to here ·

And say many selles / and selkouthe thynges

Ac on a May mornyng / on maluerne hulles

Me biful for to slepe / for werynesse of-walked

And in alaunde / a launde as y lay / lened y and slepte

And merueylousliche me mette / as y may telle

Al þe welthe of the world / and þe wo bothe

Wynkyng as hit were / witterliche y sigh hit

Of treuthe and tricherye / tresounn / tresou[n] P and gyle

Al y say slepynge / as y shal telle

Estward y beheld / aftir þe sonne

And say a tour as trowed / [y] trowed / treuthe was there-ynne

Westward y waytede / in a T while aftir

And seigh a depe dale / deth as y leue

Woned in tho wones / and wikkede spiritus

A fair feld ful of folk / fond y þer bytwene

Of alle manere men / þe mene and þe pore

Worchyng and wondryng / as þis world ascuth

Somme potte hem to þe plogh / playde ful selde

In settynge and in sowynge swonken ful harde

And wonne þat þis wastors with glotony destrueth

And summe putte hem to pruyde / and parayled hem þer-aftir

In continance & clothyng / in many kyne gyse

In preiers and penaunces / potten hem mony

Al for loue of oure lord / lyueden swythe harde

In hope to haue a good ende / and heuenriche blisse

As Ankeres and Eremites / þat holdeth hem in here selles

Coueyten noȝt in contreys / to cayren aboute

For no likerous liflode / here lycame to plese

And summe chesen chaffare / þei cheueth þe bettre

As it semeþ to oure sighte / that suche men y-thryueth

And summe murthes to make / as mynstrels conneth

Wolleth neyther swynke ne swete / bote sweren grete othes

fol. 1v

Fyndeth out foule fantasyes / and foles hem maketh

And hath T wytt at wille / to worche yf þei wolde

Thay / Tha[t] Poule prechede of hem / preue hit y myhte

¶ Qui turpiloquium loquitur is luciferes knaue

Bidders and beggers / fast aboute ȝede

Til here bagge and here bely / was bretful ycrammed

Fayteden for here fode / and foughten at þe ale

In glotonye þe gomus / goth þei to bedde

And ryseþ with rybaudrye / {..}þo robardus knaues

Slep and also slewthe / sueth suche euer

Pilgrymes and palmers / plighten hem to-gyderes

To seke seynt Iame / and seyntes of Rome

Wenten forth on here way / with many wyse tales

And hadde leue to lye aftir / al here lyf-tyme

Eremites on an hep / with hokede staues

Wenten to walsyngham / and here wenches aftir

Grete lobies and longe / þat loth were to swynke

Clothed hem in copis / to be knowe fram othere

And made hemself heremites / here ese to haue

I · P fonde þer-of Freris / alle þe foure ordres

Prechyng þe peple / for profyt of þe wombe

And glosede þe gospel / as hem good likede

For coueytise of copis / contraryed somme doctours

Mony of þise maistres / of mendenant freres

Here moneye and merchandise / maken to-gyderes

Ac sith charite hath be Chapman / and thief / [c]hief P to shryue lordes

Mony ferlyes han falle / in a fewe ȝeres

And but holichi{c}rche / holi chi{c}rche and charite / choppe adoun suche shryuars

The moste meschief on molde / mounteth vp faste

¶ Ther prechede a Pardoner / as he a prest were

And brouth forth a bulle / with bischopis selys

Sayde þat hymself myhte / assoylen hem alle

Of falsnesses and fa{y}stynges / of vowes ybrokene

Lewed men leued hym wel / and lykede his wordes

And comen and knelede / to kyssen his bulles

A LX bounchede hem with his bulles / and blered here yes

fol. 2r

And raughte with his Rageman / Rynges and Broches

Thus ȝe gyue ȝoure gold / glotons to helpe

And leneth hit lorelles / þat lecherye haunten

¶ Were þe bischop y-blessed / and worth bothe his eres

His seel sholde nouȝt be ysent / in deseyte of þe peple

Ac it is nouȝt by þe bischop y leue / þat þe boy precheþ

For þe parsche prest and þe Pardoner / parten þe seluer

That þe peple in parsches / sholde haue yf þei ne were

¶ Parsones and parscheprestis / parsche prestis / pleyned to þe bischop

That here parsches were pore / sithe þis pestelence-tyme

To haue alicence / a licence and aleue / a leue / in Londoun to dwelle

And synge þer for symonye / while seluer is so swete

Bischopes and bachelers / bothe maystres and doctours

That han cure vnder crist / and crownyng in tokene

Ben charged with holychirche / holy chirche / charite to tylie

That is lele loue and lyf / among lered and lewed

¶ Leyen in Londoun / in lenton and elles

Summe seruen þe kynge / and his siluer tellen

In þe Cheker and in þe Chancerye / chalenge{.}n his dettes

Of wardus and of wardemotis / wayues and strayues

And summe aren as Seneschalles / and seruen oþer lordes

And ben in stede of Stewardus / and sitten and demen

¶ Consience cam and cussed hem / and þe comune herdehit / herde hit

And seide ydolatrie ȝe soffren / in sondrye places manye

And boxes ben y-set forth / ybounde with yren

To vndertake þe tol / of vntrewe sacrefice

In menynge of myracles / muche wex hangeth there

Al þe world wot wel / hit myghte nouȝt be trewe

And for it profiteþ ȝow into pursward / ȝe prelates soffren

That lewed men in mysbileue / lyuen and dyen

I leue by oure lord / for loue of ȝoure coueytise

That al þe world be the wors / as holy writ telleth

¶ What cheste and meschaunce / to þe children of Irael ful

On hem þat fre were / thorwe two fals prestis

For Offines sone / and fines his brother

Thei were discomfited in batayle / and losten Archa domini

fol. 2v

And for here syre sey hem synne / and suffred hem do ille

And chastisid hem noght þerof / and nolde noght rebuken hem

Anon as it was tolde hym / that þe children of Irael

Were disconfit in batayle / and Archa domini lorn

And his sones slawe ther / anon he ful for sorwe

Fro his chayere þer he sat / and brake his nekke atwene

And al was for vengeance / he bet noght his children

And for þei were prestis / and men of holychirche / holy chirche

God was wel þe wrother / and took þe raþer ve{e}ngeance

¶ For-thy y sey ȝe prestes / and men of holychurche / holy churche

That soffreth men do sacrefyce / and worschipe maumettes

And ȝe shulde be here fadres / and techen hem betre

God shal take vengeaunce / on alle suche prestis

Wel hardere and grettere / on suche shrewed faderes

Than euere he dede / on Offines and Fines his fader

For ȝoure shrewed soffraunce / and ȝoure oune synne

Ȝoure masse and {here} ȝoure matynes / and many of {here} ȝoure oures T

Ar don vndeuouteliche / drede is at þe laste

Lest crist in his constorie / a-corse of hem manye

¶ I · parsceyued of þe power / that Peter hadde to kepe

To bynde and to vnbynde / as þe boke telleth

Hou he it lefte with loue / as oure lord wolde

Amonge foure vertues / most vertuous of vertues

That Cardinales ben cald / and closyng ȝates thare T

Crist is in kynedom / to close with heuene

Ac of þe Cardinales at Court / þat caught han such a name

And power presumen in hemself / apope / a pope to make

To haue þe power þat Peter hadde / inpugne hem y nelle

For in loue and lettrure / lith þe grete eleccoun / elecc[i]oun

Contre-plede hit noght / C quod Consience / for {{men} of} T holichirche / holi chirche sake

¶ Thenne cam ther T akyng / a kyng / Knyghchede / Knygh[t]hede hym lawe T

Myght of tho men / made hym to regne

And thenne cam kynde wytt / and knyghthed to-gedres

Caste þat þe comunes sholde / here comunes fynde

Kynde wytt and þe comune / contreued alle craftes

¶ C And for most profitable / aplogh / a plogh gonne þei make

fol. 3r

And with lele labour to lyue / while lif on londe lasteth

Thenne kynde witt to þe kynge / and to þe comune saide

Crist kepe þe kynge / and thy kyneriche

And lene the lede so þy londe / þat lewte þe louye

And for thy rightful ruylynge / be rewardid in heuene

Consience to Clergie / and to þe kynge sayde

¶ C Sum Rex sum Princeps / neutrum fortasse deinceps

O qui iura regis / christi specialia regis

Hoc vt agas melius / iustus es esto pius

Nudum ius a te / vestire vult pietate

Qualia vis metere / talia grana sere

Si seritur pietas / de pietate metas

¶ Consience and þe kynge / in-to Court wente

Where houed an hundrid / in houes of selke

Seriantz it semede / that serueth at þe barre

Plededen for penyes / and poundes þe lawe

And nat for loue of oure lord / vnlose here lyppes ones

Thow myghtest betre meten myst / on maluerne hulles

Than gete a Mum of here mouth / ar moneye were hem shewed

¶ Than ran þer aroute / a route / of ratones / as hit were

And smale muys with hem / mo then athousend / a thousend

Comen til a conseyl / for here comune profyt

For a Cat of a Court / cam whan hym likede

And ouerlep hem lightliche / and laghte hem alle at wille

And playde with somme parilously / and potte hem þer hym lykede

And yf we groche of his game / a LX wol greue vs sore

To his clees clawe vs / and in his cloches vs halde

That vs lotheth þe lyf / ar he lette vs passe

Myghte we T with eny wyt / his wille wthsytte / w[i]thsytte

We myhte be lordes alofte / and lyue as vs luste

A ratoun of renown / moste resonable of tounge

Sayde y haue seyen grete syres / in Cytees and in townes

Bere beyus of bryghte gold / al a-boute here nekkes

And colers of crafty werk / bothe knyghte and squieres

Wer ther a belle on here beygh / by ihesu as me thynketh

Men Myghte y-wete where þei wente / and here beyȝ wa{.}re bryghte syluer T

fol. 3v

And knytten hit on a coler / for oure comune profyt

And hongen hit aboute þe cattes halse / thanne here we mowe

Wher he riht othere reste / or rometh to pleye

And yf us lust for to layke / than loke we mowe

And apere in his presence / þe while hym pleye lyketh

And yf hym wratheth ben we war / and his way roume

Alle thise route of ratones / to þis resoun þei assentide

Ac tho þe belle was y-broughte / and on þe beygh hangid

Ther ne was {..}non of T al þe route / for al þe reame of Fraunce

That derste haue ybounde þe belle / aboute þe kattes nekke

Ne haue hanged it aboute his hals / al yngelond to wynne

And leten here labour ylost / and al here longe study

¶ Amous / A mous þat moche good couthe / as me tho thoughte

Strok forth sturnely / and stod byfore hem alle

And to þe route of ratones / rehersede thise wordes

Thow we hadde ykuld þe Cat / ȝut shulde ther come another

To crache vs and alle oure kynde / thogh we crope vnder benches

For-thy y conseile for oure comune profit / lat þe Cat y-worthe

And be neuere so bold / the belle hym shewe

For y herde my syre sayn seuene ȝer y-passed

Ther þe Cat {..}is but a kytoun / þe Court is ful elynge

Wyttenesse at holy wryt / who-so kan rede

¶ Ve terre vbi puer est Rex

Y seye it for me quod þe mous / y se so muche aftur

Shal neuer þe Cat ne kytoun / be my conseil be greued

Ne carpen of here colers / þat costede me neuere

And thow hit costed my catel / byknowen y ne wolde

But soffre and sey nouȝt / and that is þe beste

Til þat meschief amende hem / þat many man chasteth

For many mannys malt / we muys wolde distruye

And þe route of ratones / of reste men a-wake

Ne were þe Cat of þe Court / and ȝonge kitones toward

For hadde ȝe ratones ȝoure {...d}ryot T / ȝe couthe nat reule ȝow-suluen

¶ What þis meteles bymeneth / ȝe men þat ben merye

Deuyne ȝe for y ne dar / by dere god almyhten

¶ Ȝut mette me more / of mene and of riche

fol. 4r

As Barones and Burgeys / and bonde-men of thorpes

Al y say slepynge / as ȝe shal here her-aftur

Bothe Bakeres and Breweres / Bochers and other

Webbesteres and walkeres / and wynners with handes

As taylers and tanners / and tulyers þe erthe

As dykers and deluers / þat doth here dedis ylle

And dryueth forth here days / with d{...i}ew T vous saue dame Emme

Cokes and here knaues / cryede hote pyes hote

Goode gees and grys / gawe dyne gawe

Tauerners til hem / tolde þe same

Whit wyn of Oseye / and wyn of gascoyne

Of þe reule and of þe rochele / the roost to defye T

◂

Frer C

passus · 1us ·

▸

// Hermytis wente
to walsyngham

// hyer preched frerys

// Hyer parsones & parische prestes
playned to þe bischop

// Concyence
acusede prelates C

// Þe comune & kynde
wit ordayned a plow

// notate men of lawe

// Hyere made ratonys
a parlement C

// hyere spekyþ
a mous of renoun

de visione

X.P.0: The name "J: Sotheby" is written above the text in a modern hand.↩

X.P.1: The capital is in gold leaf and decorated in blue ink. The decoration brackets the entire left hand side of the page, continuing along the top and bottom of the text.↩

X.P.12: There is an otiose suspension mark above the <o>.↩

X.P.16: It is not our intention to gloss each and every correction, since the mark-up itself usually expresses the local textual situation well. We do, however, compose such notes where the reader needs more information about what is happening in the text. Here in the Prologue, for example, we want to alert readers right away to the work of the corrector(s), which will continue through the entire manuscript, and we want readers to know what is at stake in the potential attribution of changes to any particular hand. The addition of the article here repairs an obvious omission and aligns the text with all other C manuscripts. RK say that Hand 1 added this letter; HS wonder if it is in "different ink (?)." We agree with RK that it is Hand 1, because the letter form matches his usual lower-case <a>. Readers will see this type of autocorrection throughout the manuscript. In other instances, readers will see similar repairs by Hand 2, the author of the marginalia, who in some cases appears to be checking the text against an exemplar. In other cases, readers will see Hand 2 fail to correct error, or create error himself. Therefore, because correction in this manuscript will not be consistent in any hand, we want readers to pay close attention to the precision (or lack thereof) of the various acts of correction.↩

X.P.38: Hand 2's ink and letter forms are evident (cp. his marginalia on this page), and his addition of hath, a form of the verb haven, aligns X with all the other C manuscripts, which read han, haven or hav. Two lines later he makes another correction, adding the verb is, that properly aligns the text with the majority reading. One might get the impression that Hand 2's corrections are efficient and precise, but we will find that they display a marked inconsistency.↩

X.P.56.m.1: The faint <F> abbreviation in the left margin, which we transcribe as Frer, does not appear in Grindley's transcription of the marginalia. For a full discussion of the marginalia, see the Introduction: Marginalia.↩

X.P.56: After a line-initial first person pronoun I, Hand 1 has written a raised point. Throughout the manuscript, Hand 1 will often but not always use such a raised point regardless of how he spells the pronoun, I or y. Occasionally, Hand 1 will even insert such a raised point when the pronoun is medial in the line. We have recorded precisely what we see in all instances, whether there is or is not a raised point, so that readers can consider the meaning of such an early form of emphasis or punctuation.↩

X.P.62: RK read thief in the manuscript and emend to [c]hief. It is notoriously difficult to distinguish <c> and <t> in Middle English hands, but in this case it appears that the scribe has in fact written a <t>, which he makes with two strokes, a descender and a distinct cross-stroke, as opposed to a <c>, which he makes with one continuous stroke. We take this to be simply a mechanical error and not an intended unique reading.↩

X.P.72: A, "he." The scribe frequently uses a for the masculine singular pronoun, and also uses it at times for the feminine singular pronoun or, more rarely, for the third-person plural. We will note throughout the manuscript the various uses of a and identify them by part of speech, since a can also sometimes be a preposition.↩

X.P.95.m.1: To the right of this marginal gloss appears a rectangular figure of unknown origin and intention.↩

X.P.125: The corrections to ȝoure by Hand 2 align X with all other C manuscripts.↩

X.P.132: XP2 divide the lines thus, while most C manuscripts divide at ȝates.↩

X.P.138: This very faint virgule separates two words here. The line's proper virgule appears at the caesura.↩

X.P.138: In addition to being lined through, the word men is also subpuncted. The phrase men of would have been a unique reading, so it is not at all clear how Hand 1 initially obtained it, but somehow he recognized it as error and expunged it.↩

X.P.139: Hand 2's correction aligns the text with all other C manuscripts.↩

X.P.139: X's unique reading is ambiguous but is perhaps a form of MED leven, v. 1, def. 3(a): "[t]o allow (sb. or sth.) to survive, spare; allow (sb. or sth.) to remain unharmed," which is closest in implication (though only remotely) to the majority reading ladde.↩

X.P.144: Here we see the first of many uncolored <//> signs in the margins, which we take to be divisions into what we might call verse paragraphs. On the composition and function of this formework and its potential relations to the more formal colored parasigns, see the Introduction: I.5 Punctuation.↩

X.P.151: The blue paraph extends down the page to the end of the Latin lines.↩

X.P.169.m.1: Beneath this marginal gloss radiate three drypoint scores of unknown origin and intention, extending into a smear.↩

X.P.170: A, "he."↩

X.P.173: Hand 2's correction aligns X with other C manuscripts.↩

X.P.180: The scribe (or his exemplar) has omitted by eyeskip the b-verse of X.P.180 and the next line and a half. Other C witnesses read:
Men Myghte ywete where þei wente and here way roume
Ryȝt so quod þe raton reson me sheweth
A belle to byggen of bras oþer of bryghte syluer (RK.P.183-RK.P.185).
X had created nonsense by merging X.P.180 with the final words of RK.P.185. X.P.180 thus initially read Men Myghte y-wete where þei wente / and here way bryghte syluer. Hand 2 ingeniously adds the word beyȝ and converts way to ware obtaining, as we might translate, "as long as/if her bell were bright silver." This makes great sense of the otherwise garbled text. But the clever change makes us wonder whether Hand 2 had an exemplar, for if he did, why did he not simply supply the missing lines? Perhaps, therefore, these lines were missing from any and all exemplars used by Hands 1 and 2.↩

X.P.189: HS are silent on this addition; RK assert that non is by a different hand from the main text and that of is by yet a third hand. Such speculation underlines the problem of attribution of hands. We have to attribute this correction to Hand X because the letter forms and ink do not immediately reflect the style of Hand 2 and yet are not in the same ink as the main text. The reading obtained is unique and must have been written over what was a two-letter word, perhaps on or in, readings attested in some other C manuscripts. Since the required reading is the much longer no raton in, the corrector was trying to repair the sense and must not have had access to the majority reading in his exemplar, assuming that this correction was part of a global check against an exemplar—an assumption that ought not to be made lightly. Almost every site of correction reveals part of a dramatic, if not always discernibly clear, textual history.↩

X.P.213: Hand 2's unique reading, ryot (MED riot(e), likely def. 1(a): "Riotous living, dissipation, debauchery; extravagance, a course of extravagance") is, according to HS, written over the overwhelming majority reading of the C manuscripts, reed. We can confirm that the outline of a <d> is still visible, and the length of the erasure is four letters. If this is indeed the case, then Hand 2 has indeed erased an archetypal reading in favor of his own innovation.↩

X.P.223: A final minim is still visible in the four-character erasure, making it possible that the text once read dieu, the majority reading. But dew must be a form of MED deus, n. 1, so the reasons for the correction, converting to another form of the same word, are unknown, unless the initial reading was not in fact dieu, or unless with dew Hand 2 intended something we do not understand.↩

X.P.228: X lacks a line that appears in most other C manuscripts: Al þis y say slepynge and seuene sythes more (RK.P.235).↩