DIXERAT ORATIONISQUE
CURSUM. — Prosa 1
Sche hadde seyd, and torned the
cours of hir resoun to some
othere thingis to ben treted and to ben ispedd. Thanne seide I,
"Certes ryghtful is thin amonestynge and ful digne by
auctorite. But that thou seydest whilom that the questioun of the
devyne purveaunce is enlaced with many othere questiouns, I
undirstande wel and prove it by the same thing. But I axe yif
that thou wenest that hap be anything in any weys; and yif thou
wenest that hap be anything, what is it?"
Thanne quod sche, "I haste me to yelden and assoilen to
the the dette of my byheste, and to schewen and openen [the] the
wey, by whiche wey thou maist comen ayein to thi contre. But al
be it so that the thingis whiche that thou axest ben ryght
profitable to knowe, yit ben thei divers somwhat fro the path of
my purpos; and it is to douten that thou ne be makid weery by
mysweyes, so that thou ne maist nat suffise to mesuren the ryghte
weie."
"Ne doute the therof nothing," quod I; "for for
to knowen thilke thingis togidre, in the whiche thinges I delite
me gretly — that schal ben to me in stede of reste, syn it
nis nat
to douten of the thingis folwynge, whan every syde of thi
disputesoun schal han ben stedfast to me by undoutous feyth."
"Thanne," seide sche, "that manere wol I don
the," and bygan to speken ryght thus: "Certes," quod
sche, "yif any wyght diffynisse hap in this manere, that is
to seyn that 'hap is bytydynge ibrought forth by
foolisshe moevynge and by no knyttynge of causes,' I
conferme that hap nis ryght naught in no wise; and I deme al
outrely that hap nis [but an idel] voys (as who
seith, but an idel word), withouten any significacioun of
thing summitted to that voys. For what place myght ben left or
duellynge to folie and to disordenaunce, syn that God ledeth and
constreyneth alle thingis by ordre? For this sentence is verray
and soth, that 'no thing hath his beynge of
naught,' to the whiche sentence noon of thise oolde folk
ne withseide nevere; al be it so that they ne undirstoden ne
meneden it nat by God, prince and bygynnere of wirkynge, but thei
casten as a maner foundement of subject material (that is to
seyn, of the nature of alle resouns). And yif that any thing is
woxen or comen of no causes, thanne schal it seme that thilke
thing is comen or woxen of nawght; but yif this ne mai nat ben
don, thanne is it nat possible that hap be any swich thing as I
have difiynysschid a litil herebyforn."
"How schal it thanne be?" quod I. "Nys ther
thanne
nothing that by right may ben clepid other hap or elles aventure
of fortune; or is ther awght, al be it so that it is hidd fro the
peple, to whiche thing thise wordes ben covenable?"
"Myn Aristotle," quod sche, "in the book of his
Phisic diffynysseth this thing by schort resoun, and nyghe to the
sothe."
"In whiche manere?" quod I.
"As ofte," quod sche, "as men don any thing for
grace of any other thing, and another thing
than
thilke thing that men entenden to don bytideth by some causes,
it is clepid hap. Ryght as a man dalf the erthe bycause of
tylyinge of the feld, and founde ther a gobet of gold bydolven;
thanne wenen folk that it is byfalle by fortunous bytydynge. But
forsothe it nis nat of naught, for it hath his propre causes, of
whiche causes the cours unforseyn and unwar semeth to han makid
hap. For yif the tiliere of the feeld ne dulve nat in the erthe,
and yif the hidere of the gold ne hadde hyd the gold in thilke
place, the gold ne hadde nat ben founde. Thise ben thanne the
causes of the abregginge of fortuit hap, the whiche abreggynge
of fortuit hap cometh of causes encontrynge and flowynge togidere
to hemself, and nat by the entencioun of the doere. For neither
the hidere of the gold ne the delvere of the feeld ne undirstoden
nat that the gold sholde han ben founde; but, as I seide, it
bytidde and ran togidre that he dalf thare as that oothir had hid
the gold. Now mai I thus diffinysshen hap: hap is an unwar
betydinge of causes assembled in thingis that ben doon for som
oothir thing; but thilke ordre, procedinge by an uneschuable
byndinge togidre, whiche that descendeth fro the welle of
purveaunce that ordeyneth alle thingis in hir places and in hir
tymes, makith that the causes rennen and assemblen togidre.
