POSTEA PAULISPER
CONTICUIT. — Prosa 1
Aftir this sche stynte a lytel;
and after that sche hadde ygadrede
by atempre stillenesse myn attencioun, she seyde thus (as who so
myghte
seyn thus: after thise thynges sche stynte a litil, and whan sche
aperceyved by atempre stillenesse that I was ententyf to herkne
hire
sche bygan to speke in this wyse): "If I," quod sche,
"have
undirstonden and knowen outrely the causes and the habyt of thy
maladye, thow languyssest and art desfeted for desir and talent of
thi
rather fortune. Sche (that ilke Fortune) oonly, that is chaunged,
as
thow feynest, to the-ward, hath perverted the cleernesse and the
estat
of thi corage. I undirstonde the felefolde colours and desceytes
of
thilke merveylous monstre Fortune and how
sche useth ful flaterynge famylarite with hem that sche enforceth
to
bygyle, so longe, til that sche confounde with unsuffrable sorwe
hem
that sche hath left in despeer unpurveied. And yif thou remembrest
wel
the kende, the maneris, and the desserte of thilke Fortune, thou
shalt
wel knowe that, as in hir, thow nevere ne haddest ne hast ylost any
fair thyng. But, as I trowe, I schal nat greetly travailen to don
the
remembren on thise thynges. For thow were wont to hurtlen and
despysen
hir with manly woordes whan sche was blaundyssching and present,
and
pursuydest hir with sentences that weren drawen out of myn entre
(that is to seyn, of myn
enformacioun). But no sodeyn
mutacioun ne bytideth noght withouten a manere chaungynge of
corages;
and so is it byfallen that thou art a litil departed fro the pees
of
thi thought.
"But now is tyme that thou drynke and ataste some
softe and delitable thynges, so that whanne thei ben entred withynne
the, it mowe maken wey to strengere drynkes of medycines. Com now
forth, therfore, the suasyoun of swetnesse rethorien, whiche that goth
oonly the righte wey while sche forsaketh nat myn estatutz. And with
Rethorice com forth Musice, a damoysele of our hous, that syngeth now
lightere moedes or prolacions, now hevyere. What eyleth the, man? What
is it that hath cast the into moornynge and into wepynge? I trow that
thou hast seyn some newe thyng and unkouth. Thou wenest that Fortune be
chaunged ayens the; but thow wenest wrong (yif thou that
wene): alway tho ben hir maneres. Sche hath rather kept, as to
the-ward, hir propre stablenesse in the chaungynge of hirself. Ryght
swiche was sche whan sche flateryd the and desseyved the with unleful
lykynges of false welefulnesse. Thou hast now knowen and ateynt the
doutous or double visage of thilke blynde goddesse Fortune. Sche,
that yit covereth and wympleth hir to other folk, hath schewyd hir every
del to the. Yif thou approvest here (and thynkest that sche
is good), use hir maneris and pleyne the nat; and yif thou
agrisest hir false trecherie, despise and cast awey hir that
pleyeth so harmfully. For sche, that is now cause of so mochel sorwe to the,
sholde hen cause to the of pees and of joye. Sche hath forsaken the,
forsothe, the whiche that nevere man mai hen siker that sche ne schal
forsaken hym. (Glose. But natheles some bookes han the
texte thus: forsothe sche hath forsaken the, ne ther nys no man siker
that sche ne hath nat forsake.) Holdestow thanne thilke
welefulnesse precious to the, that schal passen? And is present Fortune
dereworth to the, whiche that nys nat feithful for to duelle, and whan
sche goth awey that sche bryngeth a wyght in sorwe? For syn she may nat
ben withholden at a mannys wille, [and] sche maketh hym a wrecche whan
sche departeth fro hym, what other thyng is flyttynge Fortune but a
maner schewynge of wrecchidnesse that is to comen? Ne it suffiseth nat
oonly to loken on thyng that is present byforn the eien of a man; but
wisdom loketh and mesureth the ende of thynges. And the same chaungynge
from oon into another (that is to seyn, fro adversite
into prosperite) maketh that the manaces of Fortune ne ben nat
for to dreden, ne the flaterynges of hir to ben desired. Thus, at the
laste, it byhoveth the to suffren wyth evene wil in pacience al that is
doon inwith the floor of Fortune (that is to seyn, in this world), syn
thou hast oonys put thy nekke undir the yok of hir. For yif thow wilt
writen a lawe of wendynge and of duellynge to Fortune, whiche that thow
hast chosen frely to ben thi lady, artow nat wrongful in that, and
makest Fortune wroth and aspre by thyn inpacience? And yit thow mayst
nat chaungen hir. Yif thou committest and betakest thi seyles to the
wynd, thow schalt ben shoven, nat thider that thow woldest, but whider
that the wynd schouveth the. Yif thow castest thi seedes in the
feeldes, thou sholdest han in mynde that the yeres ben amonges,
outherwhile plentevous and outherwhile bareyne. Thow hast bytaken
thiself to the governaunce of Fortune and forthi it byhoveth the to ben
obeisaunt to the maneris of thi lady. Enforcestow the to aresten or
withholden the swyftnesse
and the sweighe of hir turnynge
wheel? O thow fool of alle mortel foolis! Yif Fortune bygan to duelle
stable, she cessede thanne to ben Fortune.