sume to be dampnyd wipouten ende. And for þeise goodnessis and mercies banke þi God wip al pin hert, and preye hym to 3ive be grace to spende, in þat day and evermore, all be mitis of þi soule, as mynde, reson, witt and wille, and alle be mistis of þi bodi, as strenghe, bewte, and þi five wittis, in his servise and his worschipe; and in no ping forfete azenis his comaundementis, but redi to performe werkis of merci, and to ive good ensample of holi lif, bobe in word and in dede, to alle men aboute be. Hee is Luciferes Throw skaldand fyre, ay as thay skippit Thay gyrnd with hiddouss granis. 30 Than Yre come in with sturt and stryfe; His hand wes ay vpoun his knyfe, John Wyclif (Modernized on p. 78) A schort reule of life for ich man in general, and for prestis and lordis and laboreris in special, how ich man schal be savyd in his degre, if he wile hym silf. First, whanne bou risist or fulli wakist, þenk on be goodnesse of God; ffor his owne goodnesse and non oper nede he made al þing of nou3t, bobe angels and men, and alle oper creatures good in her kynde. pe seconde tyme benk on be gret passion and wilful dep þat Crist suffrid for mankynde. Whan no man mist make satisfaccion for þe gilt of Adam and Eve, and oper moo, ne non angel owe no my3t make asep þerfor, þan Crist of his endeles charite sufferid so gret passioun and peynful deb, þat no creature my3t suffre soo myche. And þenk be brid tyme, how God hab savyd þe fro deep and oper miscevis, and suffrid many bousyndis to be lost þat ni3t sum in watir, sume in fier, sume bi sodeyn deep, and He brandeist lyk a beir: Bostaris, braggaris, and barganeris, Eftir him passit in to pairis, All bodin in feir of weir; 35 querours & prynces, and also certeyn bookes of ensaumples and doctryne, many noble and dyuers gentylmen of thys royame of Englond camen and demaunded me many and oftymes, wherfore that I haue not do made & enprynte the noble hystorye of the saynt greal and of the moost renomed crysten kyng Arthur, whyche ought moost to be remembred emonge vs englysshe men tofore al other crysten kynges; for it is notoyrly knowen thorugh the vnyuersal world that there been ix worthy & the best that euer were. That is to wete thre paynyms, thre lewes and thre crysten men. As for the paynyms they were tofore the Incarnacyon of Cryst, whiche were named, the fyrst Hector of Troye, of whome thystorye is comen bothe in balade and in prose. The second Alysaunder the grete, & the thyrd Iulyus Cezar Emperour of Rome of whome thystoryes ben wel kno and had. And as for the thre lewes whyche also were tofore thyncarnacyon of our lord of whome the fyrst was Duc Iosue whyche brought the chyldren of Israhel in to the londe of byheste; the second Dauyd king of Iherusalem, & the thyrd Iudas Machabeus, of these thre the byble reherceth al theyr noble hystoryes & actes. And sythe the sayd Incarnacyon haue ben thre noble crysten men stalled and admytted thorugh the vnyuersal world in to the nombre of the ix beste & worthy, of whome was fyrst the noble Arthur, whos noble actes I purpose to wryte in thys present book here folowyng. The second was Charlemayn or Charles the grete, of whome thys torye is had in many places bothe in frenssbe and englysshe; and the thyrd and last was Godefray of boloyn, of whos actes & lyf I made a book vnto thexcellent prynce and kyng of noble memorye kyng Edward the fourt The sayd noble Ientylmen Instantly required me temprynte thystorye of the sayd noble kyn and conquerour kyng Arthur, and of his knyghts wyth thystorye of the saynt greal, and of the deth and endyng of the sayd Arthur, affermy that I out rather tenprynte his actes and note feates, than of godefroye of boloyne, or ony the other eyght, consyderyng that he was a max borne wythin this royame and kyng and Esperour of the same; and that there ben in frensshe dyuers and many noble volumes of his actes and also of his knyghtes. THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT The Perse owt off Northumbarlonde, The fattiste hartes in all Cheviat he sayd he wold kyll, and cary them away: 'Be my feth,' sayd the dougheti Doglas agayn, 'I will let that hontyng yf that I may.' (It must be remembered that the English language and orthography did not remain stationary after 1500; but that they have been, and, indeed, are still, subject to a continual, if unobtrusive, change. English spelling has changed since the sixteenth century and it is still changing; old words, old manners of expression, are constantly falling into disuse and being replaced by new. We sometimes forget that we commonly read our Shakespeare and Milton in a modernized spelling. But the changes in the language since 1500 have been, comparatively speaking, so trifling that it has not beet thought necessary to include any examples of the original texts later than that date.) |