University of Virginia Library

How fals Calchas of Troy was conveyede to þe presences of þe prinses of Grece, and howe he innaturelly exortyde them to make mortal were vpon his kynge and kynrede, as folowith.

“O sirs,” quod he, “and my lordis dere,
Kynges, princes, & dukis þat ben here,
So noble echon, worþi, and famus,
And eke so manly and so vertuus,
Which in þis place be now here present,
Is nat þe fyn & chef of [ȝ]oure entent,
And cause, also, why þat ȝe echon
Assemblid ben to Troye for to goon
Wiþ þis power and þis grete strengþe—
Your purpos is to longe drawe a lengþe
And differrid furthe fro day to day
To ȝour damage, platly þis no nay;
For to longe ȝe soiowre in þis Ile.
And trowe ȝe nat þat Priam in þis while
Hath his espies among ȝou preuily—
I wote it wel, I saie ȝou feithfully—
To knowe þe fyn of ȝoure gouernance,
And he þer-whiles may make puruyaunce
Hym to diffende, while ȝe in ydel reste!
Me semeth, sothly, ȝe do nat for þe beste:
For in abydyng & in swiche delaies
Gret harme may falle, certeyn þis no nay is.
I preue it þus: for pleynly while þat ȝe
To ȝoure enmyes graunt[e] liberte
Hem to purueye, þei may with myȝti honde
Enforcen hem ȝour power to wiþ-stonde
Wiþ her frendis and her alliance,
And at leiser make her ordynaunce.
It is foly þat ȝe so differre,
Sith ȝe be redy, for to make a werre
On ȝoure enmyes, with euery circumstance;
For no þing may a quarel so avaunce
As hasty swt, it wil þe scharper bite—
Þe Iren hoot, tyme is for to smyte;
And nat abide til þat it be colde:
For nouþer þanne it plie wil nor folde.
Goth, set vp-on, alle of oon acorde,
And to schip anoon with-Inne borde
Enhasteþ ȝou, for tyme is to remewe,
Wiþ al ȝour myȝt ȝour quarel to pursewe
Ageyn[e]s hem, þat han to ȝow trespassid.
How many daies ben of somer passid,
And many moneth ronne & ouer-slide!
And Titan ofte with his chare hath ryde
From est to west, and in þe wawes depe
His stremys baþed, whil ȝe han leyn a-slepe
And spent ȝour tyme in þis place þus,
Whil þat þe wynde, callid Ȝephirus,
Benignely enspired hath on lofte
Thatempre eyr, þe wedir fair & softe,
Þe calme see from wawis stille and pleyn,
Whil ȝe waste ȝoure daies here in veyn—
Þat whan ȝour foon her-to taken hede,
Þei wil suppose þat it be for drede,
And be more bolde to sette of ȝow but lite.
Trusteþ for soþe, for I wil me quite
Trewly to ȝow, like as I am bounde,
And þinke how ȝe han þe goddis founde
Her-toward benigne and fortunat,
Ȝoure honour savid in hiȝe and lowe estaat,
And so schal forþe, ȝif ȝou[r] ingratitude
Prouoke hem nat ȝoure purpos to delude,
Wilfully to slouþen ȝoure fortune:
No wondir is, þouȝ þei nat contune
Towardis ȝow for to schewe hir grace.
Wherfore I rede, hen[ne]s þat ȝe passe,
And schapeþ ȝou no lenger to lyn here,
But whil þe wedir is so fair & clere,
And lusty somer abideþ in his hete
Or wynter com with his reynys wete,
And whil þe sesoun is so fresche & grene
(I speke of hert, platly as I mene)
For ȝour expleit and ȝour alder ese
(Wher it so be, I anger ȝou or plese)
Þat forþe in haste to schip[pe] þat ȝe wende—
I can no more, my tale is at an ende.”
And alle attonys þei ben condescendid
To his avis, & han it wel commendid;
And in al hast, Agamenoun þe grete—
Þe lusty tyme and þe sesoun swete
Hastyng þe Grekis, boþen hiȝe & lowe—
Made a trompet to schipward to blowe;
And þei echon his biddyng dide obeie,
And to her schippes þei goon þe riȝt[e] weye
With-oute abood—þei wil no lenger dwelle.
What schulde I more of þe noumbre telle
Of her schippis, sith ȝe han herde a-fore?—
It nedeth nat reherse it any more;
I can nat se what it myȝt availe.
But furþe þei dresse hem & be-gan to saile;
And þis is soth, pleynly & no wene,
So gret a navie was neuer ȝit y-sene
In al þis worlde, ne to-gider met.
Þe wynde was good, þat þei wer nat let
On her weye first whan þei be-gonne;
But after sone gan þe schene sonne
Þe clerenes chaunge of his briȝt[e] face;
And dymme cloudis gan his liȝt embrace;
And sodeynly, in ful owgly wyse,
Þe heuen dirke & þe wynde gan ryse;
Þe hidous þonder & þe leuene clere
Smet in þe mast, briȝt as any fere;
And þe blaknes of þe smoky rayn
Blindeth þe eyr, þat no þing may be seyn;
And þe wawes gan to ryse a-lofte,
And in her schippes falle no þing softe,
But plounge a-doun and in her toppis smyte,
Þat hem þouȝt þei want[e] but a lite
To haue be ded, in þe silfe stounde:
Til Calchas hath by his crafte y-founde
Þe cause of al, [and] with his orisouns,
Wiþ his charmys and incantac[i]ouns
Made sodeynly þe tempest to apese,
And with his crafte don hem riȝt gret ese.
For he fonde oute þe cause of euerydel,
How Diane liked no þing wel
Þat þe Grekis durst[e] take on honde
To be [so] bolde to parte fro þe stronde
In-to þe se, in any maner wyse,
And do to hir no maner sacrifise,
Nouþer offre to-forn or þat þei goth:
For whiche þing þe goddes is so wroth
Toward Grekis, seyling in þe se,
Þat þei echon wend haue drownyd be.
Til at þe last, kyng Agamenoun
Hath be counseil and informacioun
Of wyse Calchas made sette vp to londe,
In-to an Ile, and fast his schippes bonde.
And Aulides þat litel Ile hiȝte,
In whiche he fonde vnwarly in his siȝte
A litel temple and an oratorie,
Founded of olde & made in memorie
Of Diane, to whiche anoon he wente
Ful deuoutly his offeryng to presente,
And quemyd hir with his oblaciouns,
And lay þer long in his orisouns,
After þe rytis vsid in his lawe,
Til þat he sawe þe tempest gan a-dawe.
But some bokis make mencioun
Touching þis þing, þat Agamenoun,
As Ovide reherseth in his boke,—
How þis kyng his owne douȝter toke,
Effigenya, benigne of face and chere,
And endelong vppon þe autere
Þis maide he laide, dispoiled of her wede,
To-fore Dyane to maken hir to blede,
To fyn only þat he þe heuenly quene
With blood þat was Innocent & clene
Apese myȝt, and quemen of hir rage.
And þe goddes gracius of visage
Hath mercy meint with hir magnificence,
To suffre a maide ful of Innocence
Gilt[e]les in her temple slawe,
Hath be miracle a-waye hir body drawe,
And conservid from al anoye & smerte,
And in hir stede vnwarly cast an herte,
By deth of whom, as bokys make mynde,
Agamenoun first gan grace fynde
In þe goddes for to modyfye
Hir cruel Ire: and clere gan þe skye,
Þe se wexe calme, and þe wedir fair;
And Phebus eke, to glade with þe eyr,
Gan schewe newe, & his bemys cast
In-to þe se; and þe kyng as fast
Vn-to schip repeired is a-geyn,
Þoruȝ help of hir which is, as clerkis seyn,
Lady & quene of wayes and passage;
And goddes is callid of viage,
After sentence and oppinioun
Of hem þat werke be calculacioun,
And ȝeue her domys by astronomye.
And most of al þei hir magnifye
In þe tenþe and þe twelþe house;
For þer sche is, þei sei, most gracious,
Best fortuned, cler or in hir schade,
Ȝif sche haue counfort of aspectis glade
Of planetis stondyng in good state—
I mene swiche as be fortunat
To viage or Iourne for to make.