University of Virginia Library

Howe Elenus, þe fourte sone of Priame, tolde & seid þat Troye shuld be subuerted, and Parys went into Grece.

“My lord,” quod he, “with supportacioun
Of ȝour grace, wher-in is most my trust,
Lat non offence ben vn-to ȝour lust,
Nor ȝou displese, þouȝ I sey my conceyt,
Sith ȝe knowe I mene no disceyt;
For neuer ȝet failed no sentence,
But þat it fil in experience,
Liche as I tolde, in party and in al,
In pryue trete & in general,
With-out menyng of any doubilnes,
Þat it folwede as I dide expresse;
Remembre ȝou, and ȝe schal fynd it trewe.
And ȝif God wil, I schal not now of newe
Spare for to seyn, liche as I conceyue,
Nor, to be ded, with fraude ȝou deceyue,
Declaryng first of trewe entencioun,
As it schal folwe in conclusion,
Þat ȝif Paris in-to Grece wende,
Trusteþ me wel, it wil vs alle schende.
Þe goddis han, by reuelacioun,
Made vn-to me demonstracioun;
And eke I knowe it by astronomye;
For neuer ȝet in my prophesye
Nas I deceyued of þat schuld[e] falle,
Nor noon þat list me to counseil calle,
So am I tauȝt of þing þat schal be-tyde.
Wherfor, I praye, for rancour nor for pride,
Nor for envie of [noon] old hatered,
To take vengaunce þat ȝe nat procede
In ȝour avis, liche as ȝe purpose;
I seye ȝou pleynly, for me list nat glose,
Ȝe schal repente ȝif ȝe Parys sende
In-to Grece, þe whiche God defende!
Wyteth þis wel, for þe conclusioun
Schal fully turne to oure destruccioun,
And fynally in-to oure ruyne,
Liche as to ȝow I can a-forn devyne.
For þis þe fyn þat þer folwe schal:
Subuersioun, bothe of tour and wal,
Of paleys, house, here in oure cite,
Al goth to nouȝt; ȝe gete no more of me;
For me semeth, it ouȝte I-now suffyse,
Þat I haue seid, sith þat ȝe be wyse:
For ȝif þat ȝe aduerte to my sawe,
I doute not, þat ȝe wil withdrawe
Ȝoure hand be-tyme, or þat more damage
Assaile ȝou by constreynt of þis rage.
For bet it is be-tymes to abstene
From þis purpos, whiche is ȝet but grene,
Þan of hede hastily assente
To þing for whiche we schal echon repente;
For plenerly þer schal no þing socoure,
Þat þer schal folwe of ȝou & alle ȝoure
Despitful deth, with-oute excepcioun,
Of on and alle abydyng in þis toun.
First on ȝour silf, pleynly to endyte,
Schal þe vengaunce of þe Grekis byte,
Þoruȝ þe furie of her mortal tene;
And ȝoure wyfe, Eccuba þe quene,
Schal lede hir lyf, þoruȝ Grekis cruelte,
In sorwe & wo and in captiuite;
And ȝoure leges by þe swerde schal pace
Of cruel deth, with-outen any grace;
And Innocentis mercyles schal blede,
In ȝour avis ȝif þat ȝe procede
Of wilfulnes a werre for to make,
And folily for to vndirtake
For to perturbe ȝour quiete and ȝour reste,
Whiche schal turne no þing for þe best,
But to ruyne of ȝow & of vs alle.
I can no more; but or þat meschef falle,
Mi conseil is a-forn for to prouyde,
And wilfulnes for to sette a-syde;
Specialy, whan deth, as I ȝow tolde,
Mote be þe fyn, ȝif ȝe ȝour purpos holde.
Loo, here is al, with-oute wordis mo,
In-to Grece ȝif þat Parys goo!”
And in þis wyse, whan þat Elenus
Had pleinly seid, as Guydo telleth vs,
Trist and hevy, with a pale face,
Ageyn resorteth to his sittyng place,
Of whos sentence astonyd euerychon
Sat in silence, stille as any stoon,
Powerles her hertis to reswme.
To speke a word no man dar preswme
Of alle þe pres, but kept her lippes clos,
Til at þe laste, Troylus up a-ros,
Ȝong, fresche, and lusty, & coraious also,
And ay desyrous for to haue a-do
In armys manly, as longeth to a knyȝt.
And when þat he, of chere ful glad & liȝt,
Sawe his fader and breþeren euerychon
So inly trowblid, þus he spak anon:
“O noble & worþi, sittyng enviroun,
Of hiȝe prudence & gret discrecioun,
Manful also, and of hiȝe corage,
What sodeyn fere haþ brouȝt ȝou in þis rage?
What new[e] trouble is cropen in ȝour brest,
For þe sentence of a cowarde prest?—
Sith þei echon, as ȝe schal euer fynde,
Desyre more, verrayly, of kynde,
To lyue in lust & voide awey traueyle,
And dedly hate to heren of bataille;
For þei her wit fynally applye
To swe her lust & lyue in glotonye,
To fille her stomak & restore her mawe,
To rest & ese euer for to drawe,
And to swe her inward appetite,
Þis her Ioye and þis is her delyte,
In etyng, drinkyng, and in couetyse
Is her studie, and fully to deuyse
How þei may folwe her lust, with-out[e] more,
Of riȝt nouȝt ellis sette þei no store.
Allas, for schame! whi be ȝe so dismaied,
And sitte mwet, astonyed & affrayed
For þe wordis of þis Elenus,
Ferful for drede as a litel mows,
Þat he quaketh to here speke of fiȝt;
And, more-our, ageyn al skil & riȝt,
In preiudise of þe goddis alle,
He takeþ on hym to seyn what schal be-falle,
Of þing futur for to specyfie,
As he had a spirit of profecye
Grauntid to hym allone in special,
As þauȝe he were in konyng perigal
To þe goddis, hauyng prescience
To schew a-forn, þoruȝ his sapience,
What schal be-tide, ouþer euel or good.
Lat be, lat be! for no wiȝt is so wood,
Þat haþ his witte, to ȝeue þer-to credence,
Þat any man by crafte or by science,
Þat mortal is, haþ konyng to devine
Fortunys cours, or fatys to termyne.
Swyche causis hid, conselid in secre,
Reserued ben to goddis priuete;
Men may devine, but al is but folye
To taken hede; for þei don but lye.
Wherfor, I rede, as in þis mater,
Boþe on and alle, & ȝou my lord so dere,
Texclude al drede & al þat may disturbe
Out of ȝour hert, and lat no þing perturbe
Ȝour hiȝe corages, þat Elenus haþ tolde;
And ȝif þat he of hert[e] be nat bolde,
As manhod wold, to help[e] venge our wronge,
Lat hym go hyde hym in þe temple strong,
And kepe hym clos in contemplacioun,
To wake and praye by deuocioun
With-oute socour, a-dayes and a-nyȝtes,
And suffreþ swiche as be lusty knyȝtes
To hante her ȝouþe & grene lustynes,
Manly in armys to preue her hardynes,
Þat þei may haue þe better acquaintaunce
In tyme comyng, for to do vengance
On her enmyes and her cruel foon.
And commaundeth þat Parys may forþe gon
To execute þe fyn of ȝour entent,
Aforn purposed in ȝour parlament,
Vp-on Grekis for her offencioun,
To parforme vp þe peyne of talioun
For wrongis old, of whiche ȝit þe fame
Rehersid is vn-to our alder schame
Þoruȝ-oute þe world, ȝe wot þis is no les.”
And þer-with-al Troylus held his pes.
And sodeynly alle þat were present
Be-gan attonys, al be on assent,
Troilus counseil gretly for to preyse,
And his manhod to þe heuene areyse,
His fresche corage and his hiȝe prowes,
His feruent ȝel and his hardines,
And of on hert gretly hym comende;
And riȝt anoon þer þei made an ende.
Þan Priamus, whan þat al was don,
Vp-on þe tyme of þe hour of noon,
To mete goth with-Inne Illyoun,
Alle his sonys sittyng enviroun.
And after mete he called haþ Parys
And Dephebus also, þat was ful wyse,
And secrely bad þei schuld[e] go
Þe same day with oþer lordis mo
To Panonye, in al þe hast þei may,
To make hem redy, aȝens a certeyn day,
With al þe array of worþi chyualry
Þat þei may gete in her company,
Toward[es] Grece to seylen hastyly.
And after þat, þe kyng al sodeynly
Þe next[e] day made his counseil calle;
And euene þus he seyde a-forn hem alle:
“O noble liges, beyng now present,
My purpos is to sey ȝow myn entent,
With-oute abood, to here it ȝef ȝe list.
As I suppose, to ȝow is nat vn-wist
How þe Grekis, of pride and tyrannye,
Of malis old compasid by envie,
In many wyse han ageyn vs wrouȝt,
Whiche is so grene þat I for-ȝete nouȝt.
For day by day, encresyng euer mo
By remembraunce, renewed is my wo,
Whan I record & cast[e] vp and doun
Oure greuys alle, & how þat Exyoun
In seruitute among hem doth soiourne.
Whiche oft a day causeth me to mourne,
And myn hert almost asondre ryue,
For to considre & seen it be my lyue;
Whos cruelte we han to dere abouȝt,
Nat-with-stondyng þat I haue menys souȝt
To ben in rest, with-outen any more,
Whan in-to Grece I sent Anthenor,
Peysibly my suster to recure,
And þe surplus paciently tendure.
But al for nouȝt; þei toke of it non hede,
For al þat I offered of goodlyhede;
It was nat herd, for lak of gentilnes,
Record of whiche doubleth my distres.
Wherfor, we most, as techeth sorgerye,
With scharp yrens sechyn remedye,
To kut awey, by þe rote rounde,
Þe prowde flesche þat growith in þe grounde,
Whiche wil not voide with oynementis softe,
Al-be þat þei be leid þer-to ful ofte.
Riȝt so be ensample, we most be duresse
Getyn recur, whan þat with fairnesse
We may noon haue: wherfor, be ȝour avys,
My purpos is to send[e] forþe Parys
In-to Grece, som lady þer to wynne,
And bring hir hom; & we schal her with-Inne
Kepe hir strong, maugre who seyth nay,
Til we sen som agreable day,
Þat þei be fayn, liche myn oppinioun,
To haue exchaunge for hir of Exyoun,
My dere suster, whom I loue so.
We may nat faile þat it schal be do,
So þe goddis be to vs fauourable,
And þis counseil be also acceptable
To ȝou echon, as it is to me;
For whan a þing toucheþ a commvnte—
Of wyse men as it is affermed—
Of alle þe comoun it ouȝte be confermed;
Þing touchyng al schuld[e] ben aprevid
Of alle echon, or it wer a-cheuyd:
Wherfor, I cast, be avis of ȝou echon,
Pleinly to werke.” & with þat word anoon
Þis noble Priam was sodeynly in pes.
And after þat, among[es] al þe pres,
Whan al was hust, in her alder siȝt,
A knyȝt vp ros, and Pentheus he hiȝt,
Þat son[e] was of Euforbius—
De transformatis, as seith Ovidius—
In-to whom he feyneth þat þer was
Whilom þe sowle of Pyctagoras
Holy transmewed, so as writ Ovide:
As touchyng þat, I wil no lenger byde,
But telle forþe of þis Pentheus,
A-fore þe kyng whiche gan his tale þus:
“My lige lord, vn-to ȝour hiȝe noblesse
Displese it nat, nor to ȝour worþines,
In presence of ȝour maieste
Þat I schal seyn, for taquite me
Towardis ȝow of my feith & trouþe;
For sothfastly in me may be no slouþe
Touchyng ȝoure honour, þat with-oute drede,
With ȝel of feith I brenne as doth þe glede,
Of alle harmys to bidden ȝow be war.
For dout[e]les afferme wel I dar,
Ȝif ȝe stond in ȝour first avis,
As ȝe purpos, to sende forþe Parys,
I dout[e] nat þat it schal ȝou rewe;
For God wel wot, of old & nat of newe,
I had a fader callid Euforbius,
Discret & wis, and riȝt vertuous,
And knowyng had a-forn of euery þing
By prescience and by for-wetyng,
To telle pleinly þoruȝ his philosophie,
So clere he saw with his hertis eye,
Þat þer ne was no þing so secre
Hid from his knowyng, nor no preuite
Þat he hit knewe; he was of witte so sage.
And at þe last, wan he was of age
An hundrid ȝere, with lokkis grey & hore,
I can remembre how he compleyned sore
And wepe also of pite tenderly,
Fully affermyng, ȝif Paris outterly
Went in-to Grece to ravische hym a wyf,
Þer schuld[e] folwe swiche a mortal stryf
Vp-on vs alle, þat sothly þis cite
Schuld in-to asches & cyndres turned be;
And þat þer schuld no þing vs socour;
Þat Grekis swerd schal cruelly deuour
Boþe hiȝe & lowe, & pleynly spare noon.
Wherfor, I praye, among ȝou euerychon,
Of þat I telle haueþ no dispit;
Ȝour wrong to venge putteth in respit;
And rancour old, I rede þat ȝe lete;
And þe tranquille now of ȝour quiete,
Of hastynes, þat ȝe [nat] submitte
To Fortune þat can so falsly flitte;
Perturbeth nat, for non olde enmyte,
With new[e] steryng ȝoure felicite:
For ȝif þat ȝe to þis iourne assent,
Ȝe euerychon ful sore schal repente;
And ȝif ȝe wiln algatis þedir sende,
In Paris stede lat som oþer wende,
List his viage be to ȝou no spede;
Þis my counceil, & þis is [ful] my rede,
Seide vnder support only of ȝour grace.”
And sodeinly þei gan echon to chace
At Pentheus, & lowde ageyn hym crie,
Reprevyng hym and þe prophesye
Of his fader to her confusioun.
But, o allas! þe reuolucioun
Of Ioye or wo, [or] of felicite!
For þing ordeyned nedes moste be;
Þe ordre of þinges with fate is so englued,
For þat schal falle may nat be eschewed;
Whiche caused hem for to assent in on,
Vndiscretly, þat Parys schulde gon—
Vnhappyly with hap þei were envoluyd;
And þus concludyng, her counseil is dissoluyd.
But casuely, it by-fil riȝt þan,
Þat þis avis vn-to þe eris ran
Of Cassandra, and sche with gret affray
Of sodeyn wo gan crye “weyllaway:”
“Allas!” quod sche, “allas! what wil ȝe don?
What! schal Parys now in-to Grece gon?”
And with þat word, sche barst oute to wepe
Ful pitously with inward syȝes depe;
Sche gan to waile & swone for þe peyne,
And furiously with noyse to compleyne;
With woful rage & many pitous sown
Sche made a mortal lamentacioun:
For to be ded, sche myȝt hir nat with-holde;
With here to-torn, and with fistes folde,
Sche seyde “allas” more þan an hundrid sythe—
“O stormy Fortune, why listow to kythe
Þi cruel force to oure aduersite,
Vp-on vs alle & vp-on þis cite,
Of mortal Ire and gery violence,
With swerde of vengaunce wers þan pestilence?
O Troye, Troye, what is þi gilt, allas!
What hastow don, what is þi trespas,
To ben euersed & turned in-to nouȝt
With wilde fyre? þi synne is dere [a]bouȝt!
A! Priam kyng! vncely is þi chance!
What hastow gilt, ouþer do greuaunce
To þi goddis, or wraþþid þoruȝ vnryȝt
Hem to prouoke to schewe her cruel myȝt
Vp-on þi blod? allas, what hastow do!
O moder myn! o Eccuba also!
What maner cryme or importable offence
Hastow wrouȝt to han swiche recompense
Þe day to abyde, o noble, worþi quene,
Of þi sonys swiche vengaunce for to sen!
O woful deth, cruel and horrible!
Allas! whi ar ȝe now no more credible
To my conseil swiche harmys to eschewe,
Ȝour mortal purpos fully to remewe,
Þat he go nat, as it is ordeyned;
For þouȝt of whiche I am so constreyned,
Þat vnneþe I may þe wo endure!”
And to hir fader þis woful creature
Halt streyȝt hir way, & falliþ plat to grounde,
And of hir wepyng al in water wounde—
By hir chekis so þe teris reyne—
And as sche myȝt, for constreint of hir peyne,
Vp-on hym sche gan to clepe & crye,
Besechyng hym to schape remedye,
With pitous vois, as sche þat knew ful wel
In þis mater pleynly euerydel,
What schal [be-]falle, & had it ful in mynde,
Þe sodeyn harmys þat swe schal be-hynde.
But al hir clamour was [nat] but in veyn;
For þat schal falle, as somme clerkis seyn,
Ne may nat wel of men eschewed be;
And eke Fortune, by gret aduersite,
Of hasty Ire furious and wood,
And vnkynde to þe Troyan blood,
Causeles ageyn[e]s hem a-grevid,
And of rancour sodeynly amevid
With blynde a-waites to cache hem in a traunce,
Be violence of hir vnhappy chaunce,
Hath with a swyȝe turned hir whele vnstable,
As sche þat is envious and mutable,
To haste Troyans to her confusioun,
Of wilfulnes and vndiscresioun
Ageyns Grekis a quarel for to make.
And þer-vppon han her conseil take,
And acheuyd, as ȝe han herd deuyse,
With-oute assent of þe most[e] wyse.
For ȝif þei had þe dissuasioun
Of Hector herde, concluded in resoun,
In þis mater, and of Elenus
The counseil take, and to Pentheus
Aduertid wysely, and to his sentence
With-oute feynyng ȝoue ful credence,
And of Cassandra, þat neuer koude lye,
Prudently herde þe prophesye,
Fro point to point for to cast a-forn,
In swiche meschef þei had nat be lorn,
But floured ȝit in her felicite,
With-oute damage and aduersite.
But Fortune wil haue hir cours alwey,
Whos purpos holt, who seyth ȝe or nay;
For sche it was þat made þis viage,
With forhed pleyn and [a] false visage,
With sugre out-schad, and venym in þe rote,
Bitter of tast, and in schewyng soote,
Wrinkled double, like an hornyd snail,
Feyth in hir face & fraude ay in þe tail,
To hast Troyans acorden in-to oon,
Þat Paris schuld in-to Grece goon,
As ȝe han herde: þer is no more to seyn;
For her-vppon þei cast hem & ordeyn.