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.... 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 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, "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, 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. "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." 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 31 70 107 JEWS ARE MORE CHARITABLE TO ONE ANOTHER THAN CHRISTIANS. Should no Christian creature crien at the gate, Either of them helpeth other of that that him needeth. 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 That thus parteth 20 with the poor a parcel 21 when him needeth. 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 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 : ne Ne neither sailly ne saute 13 ne sing with the ghite 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. |