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Baren him home to his bed, and brought him t And after all this excess he had an accidie,1 That he slept Saturday and Sunday till sun gec Then waked he of his winking, and wiped his e The first word that he warpe3 was, “Where is t

PIERS AND HIS LABOURERS.

Now is Perkin and his pilgrims to the ploug To erie this half-acre holpen him many. Dikers and delvers digged up the balkes; 9 Therewith was Perkin apayed 10 and praised the Other workmen there were that wroughten fully Each man in his manner made himself to done = And some, to please Perkyn, picked up the weed

At high prime Piers let the plough stonde, To overseen them himself; and whoso best wro He should be hired thereafter when harvest-time And then seten13 some and songen atten ale, 14 And holpen erie his half-acre with "how ! trolli"Now, by the peril of my soul!" quoth Piers

teene, 15

"But16 ye arise the rather and rape1s you to wo Shall no grain that groweth glad you at neede ; And, though ye die for dole, 19 the devil have that

Then were faitoures 20 afeared, 21 and feigned th Some laid their legs aliri, 22 as such loseles 23 conn And made their moan to Piers and prayed him fo "For we have no limbs to labour with, Lord y-gra But we pray for you, Piers, and for your plough b That God of his grace your grain multiply, And yield you of your almesse that ye give us her For we may nought swink ne sweat, such sicknes "If it be soth, "25 quoth Piers, ers, "that ye sayn

soon aspye!

Ye been wasters, I wot well, and Truth wot the so And then gan a waster to wrath him, and wold hav And to Piers the Plowman he proffered his glove; A Britoner, 26 a bragger, a-bosted 27 Piers also....

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1s Except. 17 Earlier. 18 Hasten.

14 Sang at the ale.

21 Frightened. 22 Crooked. 23 Rascals.

26 A native of Brittany, a Frenchman.

19 Grief. 20 L

24 Know how. 27 Defied.

"Wilt thou or nilt thou, we will have our wille
Of thy flour, and of thy flesh fetch1 when us liketh,
And make us merry there-with, maugre thy cheekes!"2
Then Piers the Plowman plained him to the Knighte,
To keep him, as covenant was, from cursed shrewes, 4
And fro these wasters, wolves kin, that maketh the world

dere :5

"For they waste and winnen nought; and that ilke while Worth never plenty among the people, therewhile my plough

lieth."

Courteously the Knighte then, as his kind wolde, Warned Wastour and wissed him better,

"Or thou shalt aby10 by the law, by the order that I bear!" "I was not wont to work," quoth Wastour, "and now will I

not beginne!”—

And let light 11 of the law and less of the Knighte,
And set Piers at a pease12 and his plough bothe,
And menaced Piers and his men gif they met eft-soone.13

"Now, by the peril of my soul!" quoth Piers, "I shall appaire 14 you alle!"

And whooped after Hunger, that heard him atte firste; "Awreak15 me of these wasters," quoth he, "that this world

shendeth! "16

Hunger in haste then hent17 Wastour by the maw,
And wrung him so by the womb18 that both his eyen watered ;
He buffeted the Britoner aboute the cheekes,
That he looked like a lantern all his life after.

Passus VI.

DO-WELL, DO-BET, AND DO-BEST.

A much19 man, as me thought, and like to myself, Come and called me by my kind20 name.

"What art thou," quoth I then, "that thou my name knowest?" "That thou wotst well" quoth he, "and no wight better." "Wot I what thou art?" "Thought," said he then :

"I have sued thee this seven year; sey thou me no rather?" 21 "Art thou Thought?" quoth I then; "thou couldest me wiss 22 Where that Do-well dwelleth, and do me that to know."

1 Seize.

2 In spite of you. 3 Complained

5 Harm; A.S. derian, to harm.

6 Same.

8 Nature.

9 Counselled.

11 Held light.

12 Valued Piers at a pea.

15 Avenge.

14 Make it worse for you all.

18 Stomach. 19 Much, big.

4 Sinners.

7 Is: Ger. werden, to become.

10 Pay penalty: A.S. abicgan.

13 If they met soon after.

16 Disgrace.

20 Natural.

17 Seized.

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"Do-well and Do-bet and Do-best the third, "Are three fair virtues and be not far to find. Whoso is true of his tongue and of his two han And through his labour or through his lanc

And is trusty of his taling, taketh but his owne, And is not drunkenlew ne dedeignous, Do-well ] Do-bet doth right thus, but he doth much more He is as low as a lamb, and lovely of speech, And helpeth all men after that them needeth. Do-best is above both, and beareth a bishop's c Is hooked on that one end, to hale men fro hell

I thanked Thought then, that he me thus tauş "But yet savoureth me nought thy saying; I c How Do-well, Do-bet, and Do-best done amongs "But Wit can wiss thee," quoth Thought,

Else wot I none that can that now is alive."
Thought and I thus three days we geden
Disputing upon Do-well day after other ;6
And, ere we were aware, with Wit gan we meet.
He was long and lean, like to none other;
Was no pride on his apparel, ne poverty neither
Sad of his semblaunt and of soft cheere.7
I durst move no matter to make him to jangle,
But as I bade Thought then be mean betweene,
And put forth some purpose to proven his wittes.

Then Thought in that time saide these wordes "Where Do-well, Do-bet, and Do-best been in lo Here is Will10 would y-wit, 11 if Wit couthe teach And whether he be man or no man, this man

And worken as they three would; this is his inter

Pas

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JEWS ARE MORE CHARITABLE TO ONE ANOTHER THAN

CHRISTIANS.

Should no Christian creature crien at the gate,
Ne fail pain1 ne potage, and prelates did as they shoulden.
A Jew would not see a Jew go jangling for defaute
For all the meubles on this mould, and he amend it mighte.
Alas, that a Christian creature shall be unkind till another,
Sithen Jews, that we judge Judas' fellows,

Either of them helpeth other of that that him needeth.
Why ne will we Christian of Christ's good be as kind
As Jews that been our lores-men! Shame to us alle !
The commune for their unkindness, I dreads me, shall abye ;
Bishops shall be blamed for beggars' sake.
He is worse than Judas that giveth a japer10 silver,
And biddeth the beggar go for his broke clothes.

Passus IX.

THE TRUEST CHARITY IS FOUND AMONG THE POOR.

But mirth and minstrelsy amongst men is noughte : Lecherie, losengerie, and loseles tales,11 Gluttony and great oathes, this mirth they loveth; And, if they carpen of Christ, these clerks 12 and these lewed, 13 Atte meat in their mirthes when minstrels been stille, Then telleth they of the Trinity a tale other 14 twain, And bringeth forth a bald reason and taken Bernard 15 to

witness,

And putten forth a presumption to prove the sothe. 16
Thus they drivel at their dais the Deity to know,
And gnawen God with the gorge when their gut is full.
And the careful 17 may cry and carpen at the gate,
Both a-hungred and a-thirst, and for chill quake.
Is 18 none to nimmen 19 him near, his annoy to amend;
But howlen on him as an hound and hoten him go hence.
Little loveth he that Lord that lent him all that bliss

That thus parteth 20 with the poor a parcel 21 when him needeth.
Ne were mercy in mean men more than in riche,

22

Mendicants meatless might go to bed.

3 Goods, or moveables, on his ground (Fr. meubles).

1 Bread.

2 Want.

4 To.

5 Since.

6 Instructors.

7 The people.

8 Fear.

9 Suffer penalty.

10 Jester.

11 Rascally stories.

12 Learned or churchmen.

13 Unlearned men or laity.

14 Or.

15 St. Bernard.

16 Truth.

17 Full of care, i.e. the poor.

18 There is 12 Call

20 Shareth

21 Scrap

22 Poor

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God is much in the gorge of these great masters But amongst mean men His mercy and His wor

HAWKIN, THE ACTIVE MAN.

And, as they 1 went by the way, of Do-well the They met with a minstrel, as me then thought. Patience opposed him first, and prayed him he

To Conscience what craft he couth 4 and to wha wold.5

"I am a minstrel," quoth that man: m Activa Vita:

All idle I hate, for of Active is my name :
A waferer, will ye wit, and serve many lordes,
And few robes I fonge, or furred gowns.
Couth I lie to do men laugh, then latchen 10 I sh
Other mantel or money amongst lordes minstrels
But, for I can neither tabor ne trump 11

ne

Ne neither sailly ne saute 13 ne sing with the ghite
I have none good giftes of these great lordes
For no bread that I bring forth, save a benis

I find pain 14 for the Pope, and provender for his And I had never of him, have God my truth !Neither provender ne parsonage yet of the Pope's Save a pardon with a peise of lead and two pollis 15 Had I a clerk that could write, I would cast him a That he sent me under his seal a salve for the pesti And that his blessing and his bulls botches might And then would I be priest to the people, paste for And buxom and busy about bread and drink."

I took good keep, by Christ, and Conscience bot Of Hawkin, the Active Man, and how he was y-clo He had a coat of Christendom, as Holy Kirk belie But it was moled 18 in many places with many sundr Of pride here a plot, and here a plot of unbuxom s Of scorning and of scoffing and of unskilful bearing

1 Conscience and Patience, who have set out as pilgrims to reform 2 Talked. 3 Serving-man. 4 Knew.

7 Baker. 8 Get, acquire.

5 Would go.

9 If I knew how to tell lies to mak

10 I should get either clothes or money, etc. 12 Stories

13 Leap and jump.

15 A pardon with the Pope's seal appended. 17 Respectably fashioned originally.

11 Play on the tab

14 Bread.

16 Send him a lette 18 Stained.

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