{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59399/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59399","id":"gutenberg_59399","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59399","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian life -- Early works to 1800","Devotional literature"],"text":"Produced by Turgut Dincer, Stephen Hutcheson, and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n(This file was produced from images generously made\navailable by The Internet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                  _Univ. Corr. Coll. Tutorial Series._\n\n\n\n\n                         THE AYENBITE OF INWYT.\n\n\n                        (REMORSE OF CONSCIENCE.)\n\n\n                            _A TRANSLATION_\n                     OF PARTS INTO MODERN ENGLISH.\n\n\n                                   BY\n                           A. J. WYATT, M.A.,\n              TUTOR OF UNIVERSITY CORRESPONDENCE COLLEGE.\n\n                       London: W. B. CLIVE & CO.\n                  UNIV. CORR. COLLEGE PRESS WAREHOUSE,\n                     Booksellers Row, Strand, W.C.\n\n\n\n\n                           AYENBITE OF INWYT.\n                        (REMORSE OF CONSCIENCE.)\n\n\n                             THE PROLOGUE.\n\nAlmighty God gave ten behests in the law of the Jews, that Moses\nreceived in the hill of Sinai in two tables of stone, that were written\nwith God\u2019s finger. And (Moses) himself, after his burial, commanded in\nhis story to each man that will be saved to keep and observe them. And\nwhoso sinneth in any of the same behests, shall repent thereof, and be\nshriven, and pray for God\u2019s mercy, if he will be saved.\n\nThis book is written for Englishmen, that they may know how they shall\nshrive themselves and make them clean in this life. This book is called\nby him who writes Ayenbite of Inwyt. First are the ten behests that all\nmen shall observe.\n\n\n                         THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe first behest that God made and commanded is this: \u2018Thou shalt not\nhave many gods;\u2019 that is to say, \u2018Thou shalt neither have, nor worship,\nnor serve any God but Me. And thou shalt not put thy trust but in Me.\u2019\nFor the same that puts his trust chiefly in a creature, sinneth deadly\nand acts against this behest. Such are they that worship the idols and\nmake their god of a creature, whatsoever it be.\n\nAgainst this behest sin those that love their goods too much, gold or\nsilver, or other earthly things. Whosoever sin in these things set their\nheart and their hope so much that they forget their Creator, and forsake\nHim who lends them all these goods. And therefore they should serve and\nthank, and love and worship Him above all things, as this first behest\nteaches thee.\n\n\n                        THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe second behest is as follows: \u2018Thou shalt not take God\u2019s name in\nvain;\u2019 that is to say, \u2018Thou shalt not swear for naught and without good\nreason,\u2019 which our Lord Himself forbids us in His Gospel, that one\nshould not swear, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by other\ncreature. Yet from good cause one may swear without sin, as in judgment,\nwhere one demands oath of truth, or out of judgment from other good\ncause, and with purity and reason. In no other manner is it right to\nswear. And, therefore, whosoever swears without reason the name of our\nLord, and for naught, if he wittingly swears false he forswears himself,\nand acts against this behest, and swears deadly, for he swears against\nconscience, that is to say (understand), when he forswears himself by\nthought and by long thinking. But he that swears true wittingly, and\nalways for naught or for some bad reason, not wickedly, but lightly and\nwithout slander, swears venially. Nevertheless the habit is sinful, and\nmay well turn to deadly sin unless he beware. But he that swears\nhorribly by God or by His saints, and breaks him in pieces, and says\nslanders about him that are not to be said, the same sins deadly. Nor\ncan he have reason, that he may excuse himself. And he that accustoms\nhimself to swear most, sins most.\n\n\n                         THE THIRD COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe third behest is this: \u2018Look that thou hallow the day of the sabbath\n(Saturday),\u2019 that is to say, thou shalt not do on the day of the sabbath\n(Saturday) thy business, nor thy works, that thou mightest do on other\ndays. But thou shalt rest thyself in order the better to prepare thyself\nto pray to and to serve thy Creator, who rested the seventh day from\nworks that He had made in the six days before, in which He made and\nordained (ordered) the world. This behest he spiritually fulfils who\nkeeps by his might the peace of his conscience, in order to serve God\nmore holily. Then this word \u2018Saturday,\u2019 which the Jews call \u2018sabbath,\u2019\nsignifies (as much as) rest.\n\nThis behest can none keep spiritually, that is conscious (in conscience)\nof deadly sin. For such conscience cannot be at rest the while that she\nis in such a state. And instead of the sabbath, which was strictly kept\nin the old law, holy Church sets the Sunday to be kept in the new law,\nfor our Lord arose from death to life on Sunday. And therefore one shall\nbeware and keep free so holily, and be at rest, from works over and\nabove the week; and more from works of sin; and give himself more to\nspiritual works and to God\u2019s service, and think on his Creator, and pray\nto Him, and thank Him for His goodness. And whoso breaks the Sunday and\nthe other high feasts that are ordained to be kept in holy Church, sins\ndeadly, for he acts against the aforesaid behest of God and of holy\nChurch, except it be for some business that holy Church allows. But he\nsins more that spends the Sunday and the feasts in sin, and in whoredom,\nand in other sins against God. These three behests direct us specially\nto God.\n\n\n                        THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe fourth behest is this: \u2018Honour thy father and thy mother, for thou\nshalt live the longer on the earth.\u2019 This behest admonishes us that we\nbeware that we anger not father nor mother wittingly. And whoso despises\nhis father and his mother wittingly, or slanders them, or angers with\nevil, sins deadly, and breaks this behest.\n\nIn this same behest is understood the honour that we shall bear to our\nspiritual fathers, that is, to them that have the care of teaching us\nand of chastising us, such as are the rulers of holy Church, and those\nthat have the care of our souls and of our bodies. And whoso will not\nbow to them that have the care of him, when they teach the good that one\nis bound to do, sins deadly; and the disobedience may be such that it is\ndeadly sin.\n\n\n                         THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe fifth behest is this: \u2018Thou shalt slay no man.\u2019 This behest forbids\nthat one shall slay another for revenge, or for his goods, or for other\nwicked reason, for that is deadly sin. Nevertheless to slay evildoers,\nin order to do and keep right, and for other good reason, (it) is good\nright by the law to him that shall do it and is bound thereto.\n\nIn this behest is forbidden sin of hate, and of wrath, and of great ire.\nFor, as saith the Scripture, he that hateth his brother, he is a\nman-slayer as to his will, and sins deadly; and he (also) that bears\nlong wrath against others; for such wrath, long held and befolded in the\nheart, is in wrath and in hate, which is deadly sin and against this\nbehest. And yet sins he more that does or purchases shame or harm to\nothers wrongfully, or is in counsel and in help to cause others to be\nharmed in order to avenge himself. Nevertheless wrath or contempt, that\ngoes lightly without great will and willingness to harm others, is not\ndeadly sin.\n\n\n                         THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe sixth behest is this: \u2018Thou shalt do no whoredom;\u2019 that is to say,\nthou shalt not desire carnal fellowship with other men\u2019s wives.\n\nIn this behest is forbidden us all sin of the flesh, that one calls\ngenerally lechery. That is one of the seven deadly sins, though there\nare some branches that are not deadly sin, as are many motions of the\nflesh, all of which one cannot flee. And those one shall bring to naught\nand withdraw from as much as one can, not nourish nor pursue them,\neither by too much meat or drink, or by evil thoughts too long holden,\nor by evil handlings. For in such things one may have harm of soul. In\nthis behest is forbidden all sins against nature, in whatever manner\nthey are done, either in his own body or in others.\n\n\n                        THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe seventh behest is this: \u2018Thou shalt do no theft.\u2019 This behest\nforbids us to take and withhold other men\u2019s thing, whatever it be, from\nwicked cause, against the will of him that owns it.\n\nIn this behest is forbidden robbery, theft, stealing, and usury, and\nunfair dealing with others, in order to have for his own. And he that\nacts against this behest is bound to give up what he has wrongly of\nother men\u2019s, if he knows to whom. And if he knows not, he is bound to\ngive it for God\u2019s love, or to act by the advice of holy Church. And he\nthat wrongly withholds other men\u2019s thing for a sinful reason sins\ndeadly, unless he give it up, where he owes, if he knows it and can do\nit, or unless he acts by the advice of holy Church.\n\n\n                        THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe eighth behest is this: \u2018Thou shalt say no false witness against thy\nfellow-Christian.\u2019\n\nIn this behest it is forbidden us that we should lie or forswear\nourselves, either in judgment or out of judgment, in order to cause thy\nfellow-Christian harm; and that one should bring none as a witness in\norder to impair his (one\u2019s fellow-Christian\u2019s) fame, or his grace that\nhe hath, for that is deadly sin. Against this behest those act that\nslander good men behind them willingly and wrongfully, which one calls\nthe sin of detraction; and those also that praise the wicked and the\ndeeds of their wickedness and of their follies, known, or seen, or\nheard. That is sin of flattery or of deceit, when one says it before\nthem; or falsehood or leasings, when he that one speaks of is not\npresent. For all those are false witnesses.\n\n\n                         THE NINTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe ninth behest is this: \u2018Thou shalt not desire thy neighbour\u2019s wife,\nnor desire her in thy heart.\u2019 That is to say, thou shalt not consent to\ndo sin with thy body.\n\nThis behest forbids to desire with will of heart to have carnal\nfellowship with all women out of marriage; and the sinful tokens that\nare made outwardly in order to lead to sin, as are sinful words of such\na kind, or gifts, or sinful handling. And the difference between this\nbehest and the sixth aforesaid is, that the sixth behest forbids the\ndeed without, but this forbids the consent within. For the consent to\nhave carnal fellowship with a woman (women), who is not his own for a\nwife, is deadly sin by the judgment of God\u2019s Word, which says: \u2018Whoever\nsees a woman and desires her in his heart, he hath sinned with her in\nhis heart,\u2019 that is to say, in open desire and in thought.\n\n\n                         THE TENTH COMMANDMENT.\n\nThe tenth behest is this: \u2018Thou shalt not desire a thing that is thy\nneighbour\u2019s.\u2019 This behest forbids the will to have other men\u2019s thing(s)\nfor a wicked reason.\n\nIn this behest is forbidden envy of other men\u2019s goods, or of other men\u2019s\ngrace. For the same envy comes of sinful covetousness to have the goods\nor the very grace that he sees in others. And the same covetousness,\nwhen the consent and the thoughts [are] thereto, is deadly sin, and\nagainst this behest. Nevertheless light covetousness to have other men\u2019s\nthings for a good reason is no sin. And if there is any evil desire,\nwithout will and without consent to harm others, it is no sin; and if\nthere is sin, it is light sin.\n\nThese are the ten behests, whereof the three first direct us well to\nGod; the other seven direct us to our neighbour. These ten behests are\nincumbent on each one that hath reason and age, to know and to do. For\nwhoever acts thereagainst wittingly, sins deadly.\n\n\n              THE TWELVE ARTICLES OF THE CHRISTIAN BELIEF.\n\nThese are the twelve articles of the Christian belief, that each\nChristian man shall believe steadfastly, for otherwise he cannot be\nsaved when he hath wit and reason. And thereof are twelve according to\nthe numbers of the twelve apostles, who appointed them to be observed\nand to be kept by all those that will be saved. The first, then, belongs\nto the Father, the next seven (seventh) to the Son, the last four\n(fourth) to the Holy Ghost; for that is the beginning of the belief,\n\u2018believe in the Holy Trinity;\u2019 that is, in the Father, and in the Son,\nand in the Holy Ghost, one God and three persons. All these articles are\ncontained in the creed, that the twelve apostles made, whereof each\nordained his own.\n\nThe first article is this: \u2018I believe in God, the Father Almighty,\nCreator of heaven and of earth.\u2019 This article St. Peter ordained.\n\nThe second article belongs to the Son, as to His Godhead; that is to\nsay, that He is God, and is this: \u2018I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord,\nthe Son of God the Father, and (He) is one with the Father in all things\nthat appertain to the Godhead, but, with regard to the person, who is\nother than the person of the Father.\u2019 This article St. John the\nEvangelist ordained.\n\nThe third article and the fifth, that follows after, belong to the Son\nas to His manhood; that is to say, as He is mortal man. Then in the\nthird article is contained, that He was conceived of the Holy Ghost, and\nborn of the maid Mary. By which it is to be understood that He was\nconceived in the maid Mary by the deed and by the virtue of the Holy\nGhost, and not at all by deed of man. And the maid Mary remained ever\nmaid and whole before and after. This article St. James, St. John\u2019s\nbrother, ordained.\n\nThe fourth article belongs to His passion; that is to say, that He\nsuffered death under Pontius Pilate, who was a pagan, and judge at that\ntime in Jerusalem, by the Romans. Under that judge was Jesus Christ\ncondemned wrongfully at the command of three wicked Jews, and crucified,\nand dead, and placed in a tomb. This article St. Andrew ordained.\n\nThe fifth article is as follows: that He went into hell after His death,\nin order to lead out thence and to deliver the souls of the holy\nfathers, and of all those that, from the beginning of the world, died in\ntrue and good belief, and in hope that they should be saved by Him,\nbecause of the sin of the first man. It behoved that all should go into\nhell and abide there, the good in sure hope that Jesus Christ, God\u2019s\nSon, should come to deliver them, according as He had promised by His\nprophets. And for that reason would He after His death go into hell,\nthat is to say, on that side where the saints were, not on that side\nwhere were the lost, who were dead in their sin and in their unbelief.\nAnd those He led not out, for they are lost for evermore. This article\nSt. Philip ordained.\n\nThe sixth article is of His resurrection, to wit, that the third day\nafter His death, in order to fulfil the Scriptures, He arose from death\nto life, and showed Himself to His disciples, and proved His\nresurrection to them in many ways for forty days. This article St.\nThomas ordained.\n\nThe seventh article is, that the fortieth day after His resurrection,\nwhen He had eaten with His disciples, He ascended before them quite\nopenly into heaven, who is above every creature that is in heaven, unto\nthe right hand of God the Father, where He made Him [sit]. This article\nSt. Bartholomew ordained.\n\nThe eighth article is, that He shall come at the day of judgment to\njudge the dead and the living, the good and the bad, and render to each\naccording as he hath deserved in this world. These are the articles that\nbelong to the Son. This article St. Matthew, the evangelist, ordained.\n\nThe ninth article and the three last belong to the Holy Ghost, and is\nthis: \u2018I believe in the Holy Ghost.\u2019 This article requires that one\nbelieve that the Holy Ghost is the gift and love of the Father and of\nthe Son, from whom comes all the good of grace, and that He is one God,\nand one with the Father and the Son, except the person, which is other\nthan the person of the Father and of the Son. This article St. James,\nSt. Simon\u2019s and St. Jude\u2019s brother, ordained.\n\nThe tenth article is this: \u2018I believe (in) the holy Catholic Church and\nthe communion of saints;\u2019 that is to say, the fellowship of all the\nsaints, and of all the good men that are, and shall be unto the end of\nthe world, and were since the beginning, together in the faith of Jesus\nChrist. And in this article are understood the seven sacraments that are\nin holy Church, to wit, christening, confirming, the sacrament of the\naltar, orders, marriage, the holy shrift, and the last anointing. This\narticle St. Simon ordained.\n\nThe eleventh is, to believe the forgiveness of sins, that God gives by\nthe virtue of His holy sacraments that are in holy Church. This article\nSt. Jude ordained.\n\nThe twelfth article is, to believe the general resurrection of the body,\nand the life without end, that is the bliss of Paradise, which God shall\ngive to them that have deserved it by good faith and by good works. This\narticle gives (us) to understand its contrary, that is, the torment\nwithout end that God hath prepared for the lost. This article shall be\nunderstood in such a manner, that each, be he good, be he bad, shall be\nat the day of judgment raised from death to life in his own body,\nwherein he shall have [lived], and receive his reward in body and in\nsoul, according as he has deserved in this life. And therefore shall the\ngood at that day in body and in soul be in life without end, and the\nwicked lost evermore in body and in soul. This article St. Matthew\nordained.\n\n\n          OF THE REVELATION THAT ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST SAW.\n\nMy lord, St. John, in the book of his visions, which is called the\nApocalypse, so says that he saw a beast that came out of the sea\nwonderfully adorned and exceedingly dreadful. For the body of the beast\nwas as a leopard, the feet were of a bear, the throat of a lion, and it\nhad seven heads and ten horns, and upon the ten horns ten crowns; and\nSt. John saw that the same evil beast had power of himself to fight with\nthe saints, and to overcome and to overmaster them. This same beast, so\nwonderful and so counterfeited and dreadful, betokens the devil, who\ncame out of the sea of hell, which is full of all sorrow and of all\nbitterness. The body of the beast, as St. John says, was so like the\nleopard because, as the leopard hath divers colours, so hath the devil\ndivers modes of watching and of dispute, in order to beguile and to\ntempt folk. The feet were like the feet of a bear, for as the bear,\nwhich hath its strength in its feet and in its arms, holds strongly and\nbinds what it hath under its feet, what it embraces, just so does the\ndevil them that he hath embraced and overthrown by sin. The throat was\nof a lion, because of his great cruelty, that will devour all.\n\n\n                 THE TOKENS OF THE HEADS OF THE BEASTS.\n\nThe seven heads of the beast of hell are the seven capital sins by which\nthe devil draws to himself also all the world. For scarcely it befalls\nthat one falls not into the throat of some of the seven heads, and\ntherefore St. John says well that it had power against the saints. For\non earth is no man so holy that he can perfectly escape all the kinds of\nsin that come of these seven heads without special privilege of grace,\nas it was in the maid Mary, or in some others by special grace, which\nthey had of God. The ten horns of the beast betoken the offences against\nthe ten behests of our Lord, which the devil obtains, as much as he can,\nby the seven aforesaid sins. The ten crowns above betoken the victory\nthat it (he) hath over all the sinful, because he causes them to sin\nagainst the ten behests.\n\n\n                      THE FIRST HEAD OF THE BEAST.\n\nThe first head of the beast of hell is pride; the second is envy; the\nthird, wrath; the fourth, sloth, which one calls in book-lore,\nindolence; the fifth, itching\u2014in book-lore, avarice, or covetousness;\nthe sixth, gluttony; the seventh, lechery, or luxury. Of these seven\nheads comes every kind of sin, and therefore they are called capital\nsins, because they are the head of all evil and of all sins, and the\nbeginning of all evil, be they deadly, be they venial. Then each of the\nsame seven divides into many divisions, and first we will talk of the\nsin of pride, because that was the first sin and the beginning of all\nevil. For pride first broke fellowship and order, when Lightbearer\n(Lucifer) the angel, because of his great beauty and his great wit,\nwould be above the other angels, and would make himself equal to God,\nwho had made him so fair and so good, and therefore he fell from heaven\nand became a devil, both he and all his fellowship. All the proud, who\nfellowship and order of men destroy and break, are like him, when they\nwill be above others, and be more famed and praised than any other that\nare more worthy.\n\n\n                          THE MIGHT OF PRIDE.\n\nThis sin of pride is too dreadful, for it (she) blinds men, so that they\nthemselves neither know nor see; it is a very strong and a very special\naid to the devil, whereby he beguiles the high men, and the fair, and\nthe rich, and the wise, and the hardy, and the honourable, and generally\nevery manner of folk, but especially the great lords, so that they\nthemselves neither know nor see their misdeeds, nor their follies, nor\ntheir faults (_read_ wytes); then is it the most perilous sickness of\n(all) others. Forsooth he is in great peril, to whom every remedy turns\ninto venom, as do teaching and chastisement to the proud. For the more\none reproves and blames and chastises him the more angry he is and the\nmore weary he becomes.\n\nPride is the devil\u2019s own daughter, who has a great share in his nature.\nPride wars against God because of His goodness, and God throws down\npride and wars against it. Pride is king of wicked habits. It (she) is\nthe lion that devours all. Pride destroys all the goodness and all the\ngraces and all the good works that are in man. For pride makes of alms\nsin, and of virtues vices, and by good works, whereby one should buy\nheaven, it makes us win hell.\n\nThis sin is the first that assails the knight our Lord, (and) whom it is\nthe last to leave, for when He hath all other evils overcome, then pride\nassails Him the more strongly.\n\n\n            HOW ONE SHALL DIVIDE THE SEVEN BOUGHS OF PRIDE.\n\nThis sin divides and spreads into so many parts that one can scarcely\nreckon them. But seven principal divisions there are, which are as seven\nboughs, which go out, and are born of a wicked root.\n\nThe first bough, then, of pride is untruth; the second, contempt; the\nthird, overweening, which we call presumption; the fourth,\nover-boldness, which we call ambition; the fifth, vainglory; the sixth,\nhypocrisy; the seventh, wicked dread. To these seven divisions belong\nall the sins that are born of pride. But each of these seven boughs has\nmany small twigs.\n\nThe first bough of pride, which is untruth, divides itself into three\nlittle boughs, whereof the first is bad, the second worse, the third\nworst of all. The one is crime, the second madness, the third apostasy.\nCrime generally is in every sin, for no sin is without crime, and so\nbegin all sins by crime. But the crime that we speak of here specially,\nwhich comes of pride, is a kind of untruth, is a vice, that is called in\nbook-lore ingratitude; that is, forgetfulness of God and of His gifts,\nthat one thanks Him not as one should do, nor yields Him thanks for His\ngifts that He hath given us.\n\nForsooth, he is indeed a villain and untrue towards his Lord, who hath\ndone him all good, and he does not thank Him, but forgets, and yields\nHim evil for good, and villainy for courtesy. The same villainy doth man\nto God when he bethinks him not of the gifts that God hath given him,\nand gives him always, and thanks Him not, but rather often opposes Him\nin that which he uses wickedly and against God\u2019s will.\n\nThat is very great villainy, as it appears to me, that he (should)\nreceive great goodness and not deign to say great thanks. And yet it is\ngreater when one forsakes Him, or when one forgets Him. But the same is\ntoo great, when each day he receives the goodnesses, and each day yields\nevil for good.\n\nHe then that thinks well, and often considers the gifts which God hath\ngiven him, and gives always, and that he has no good thing which God has\nnot given him, neither gifts of nature, as fairness and health and\nstrength of body, and sleight and natural wit as regards the soul; nor\ngifts of chance, as riches, honour, and nobility; nor gifts of grace, as\nare virtues and good works, well should he thank God for all His good\nthings; for one goodness demands another.\n\nThe second untruth that comes of pride is madness. One holds a man mad\nwho is out of his wits, in whom reason is gone astray. Then the same\ngrows right foolish and gone astray and well called mad, that wittingly\nand boldly the goods, that are not his but his Lord\u2019s goods\u2014whereof it\nbehoves him strictly to yield reckoning and account, to wit, the goods\nof such great price and the temporal goods that he hath in custody, the\nvirtues of the body, and the thoughts, and the consents, and the wills\nof the souls\u2014wastes and spends in follies and in excesses before the\neyes of his Lord, and provides not for his reckoning and knows well that\nit behoves him to reckon, and knows not when, neither the day nor the\nhour. Such folly is well called witlessness. Of such vices the great\nproud men are full, that use wickedly the great goods that God has lent\nthem.\n\nThe third untruth that comes of pride is apostasy. He is indeed an\napostate that puts the land that he holds of his Lord into the hand of\nthe enemy, and does him homage. Such sin makes him who sins mortal, for\nthen, as much as in him lies, he does homage to the devil, and becomes\nhis thrall, and yields him all that he holds of God, both body and soul\nand other good things, which he places at the service of the devil. And\nalthough he be by his saying a Christian, he denies by deed and shows\nthat he is not. But especially in three ways, is a man called an\napostate and false Christian, either because he believes not what he\nshould, as does the Bulgar, and the heretic, and the apostate, who deny\ntheir belief; or because he sins against the belief that he believes, as\ndo the perjured and the liars of the belief; or believes more than he\nshould, as do the diviners and the witches and the sorceresses, who work\nby the devil\u2019s power. And all those that in such things believe and put\ntheir trust, sin deadly. For all such things are against the belief, and\ntherefore holy Church forbids them. These are the kinds of untruth,\nwhich is the first bough of pride.\n\n\n                       THE SECOND BOUGH OF PRIDE.\n\nThe second bough that comes out of the stock of pride (so) is contempt\n(despite), which is a very great sin. And though it be so, that no\ndeadly sin is without contempt of God, always by that which we here\nspecially call contempt, by this sin one may sin in three ways: either\nbecause one praises not others aright in heart as one should, or because\none shows not honour and reverence where one should, or because one\nobeys not aright them that one should rightfully obey.\n\nNow, think right well in thy heart how often thou hast done the same sin\nthat thou hast in thy heart, despisest those that are more worthy than\nthou because of some external graces that God hath given thee, either\nbecause of nobility, or prowess, or riches, or wisdom, or fairness, or\nother gifts, whatever they may be; wherefore thou praisest thyself more\nthan thou shouldst, and others less.\n\nAfterwards, think how many times thou hast shown little honour and\nreverence to whom thou shouldst (have shown them); first to God, and to\nHis mother, and to His saints, and to the angels of heaven. For there is\nnone against whom thou hast not sinned in contempt (despite), or by the\ncontempt that thou hast oftentimes evilly and badly kept their feasts.\n\nAfter that, think how many times thou hast misserved our Lord Jesu\nChrist, either in this, that thou hast not joyfully heard His service,\nnor said His prayers, nor heard sermons; and when thou shouldst hear His\nmass or His sermon at church, thou chatteredst and jestedst before God,\nand in that thou showedst Him little honour.\n\nAfterwards (think) how thou hast many times shown little honour to the\nbody of Jesu Christ when thou sawest it or when thou receivedst it, in\nthat thou wast not worthily prepared by shrift and by repenting, or\nperchance, what is worse, that thou wittingly receivest in deadly sin,\nwhich is great contempt (despite).\n\nAfterwards, to thy sweet fellow, and to thy good guardian, thine angel,\nwho always guards thee: how many shames thou hast done him, in that thou\ndidst thy sins before him.\n\nAfterwards, think how many times thou hast been disobedient to thy\nfather and to thy mother, and to those to whom thou shouldst be obedient\nand show honour. If thou wilt in this manner call to mind thy life, thou\nshalt see that thou hast sinned more times in such kind of pride as is\ncalled contempt (despite) than (that not) thou canst reckon.\n\n\n                       THE THIRD BOUGH OF PRIDE.\n\nThe third bough of pride is arrogance, which one calls overweening or\npresumption, when the man thinks more of himself than he should; that is\nto say, that thinks he is worth more than he is, or that he can do more\nthan he can, or that he knows more than he does, or thinks that he is\nworth more, or more able, or more knowing than any other. This sin is\nthe strength of the devil, for it protects and nourishes all the great\nspiritual sins. This sin shows itself in many ways, either by deed or by\nspeech, but especially in six ways; to wit, in singularity, for the\nproud and the presumptuous thinks that he is more worthy and knows more\nthan any others, and deigns not to do as others that are more worthy\nthan he is, but rather will be singular in his deeds. That is the first\nsin by which overweening is (shown) in deed.\n\nThe second is foolish undertaking of great expense, which one calls\nprodigality, when he doth too much spending, either of his own or of\nother men\u2019s, in order to be praised, and therefore that one should hold\nhim (to be) the more liberal and the more courteous.\n\nThe third evil that comes of overweening is foolish undertaking of false\nstrife, as Solomon says; that is to say, whoever takes a false strife in\nhand, and knows well that it is false, and follows it.\n\nThe fourth twig of the same bough, whereby the proud shows the pride of\nhis heart, is boasting, which is a very foul sin both to God and to the\nworld. The boaster is the cuckoo, which cannot sing, but of himself.\nThis sin is found (bound) in him who by his own mouth boasts, either of\nhis wit, or of his kin, or of his works, or of his prowess. But it (the\nsin) doubles itself in those whom the boaster and the liar seeks, and\ncounsels, and gives them of his own, for them to praise and to say of\nhim (them) what he (they) dare not say, and to lie concerning him\n(them), and to boast his (their) nobility.\n\nThe fifth offshoot of the same stock is scorn. For that is the wont of\nthe proud overweener, that it is not enough for him to despise in his\nheart the others that have not the graces that he thinks he has, but\nmakes his mockings and his scorns, and, what is worse, mocks and scorns\nthe good men, and (of) those that he sees turn to good, which is very\ngreat sin and very dreadful. But by their evil tongues they turn aside\nmuch folk from doing well.\n\nThe sixth offshoot of the same bough is withstanding. That is when the\nman withstands all them that would do him good. For the proud\noverweener, if one reproves him, he excuses himself, if one chastens him\nhe is wroth, if one advises him well he believes none but his own wit.\nIt is a perilous sickness when one cannot endure that one may teach him,\nand to whom all medicines turn into venom.\n\n\n                       THE FOURTH BOUGH OF PRIDE.\n\nThe fourth bough of pride is foolish desire, which one calls in\nbook-learning ambition; that is, an evil desire to climb high. This sin\nis the devil\u2019s pan of hell, wherein he makes his fryings. This bough\nspreads in many ways right and left. For he that desires to climb high,\n(to) some he will please, and therefrom grow many sins, as on the right\nhand to wit, deceit, simulation, giving foolishly, in order that one\nshall esteem him courteous and liberal. (To) others he will harm, and\ntherefrom comes the sin on the left side, as to slander them whom he\nwill harm in order to exalt himself, and raises up blame for him and\ndesires the death of that (man), who holds what he weens to come into,\nand frauds, and evil counsel, conspiracies, strife, and many other sins,\nthat grow out of this evil bough.\n\n\n                       THE FIFTH BOUGH OF PRIDE.\n\nThe fifth bough of pride is idle bliss; that is, foolish liking of\nfoolish praise, when he feels in his heart knowingly that he is, or\nweens to be, praised for something that he has in him, or weens to have,\nand will be praised therefore, for which he should praise God. And\ntherefore idle bliss robs God, and steals what is His. For of all our\ngoods He shall have the honour and the praise, and we the gain.\n\nIdle bliss is the great wind that throws down the great towers and the\nhigh steeples, and throws to the ground the great beeches in woods, and\nmakes the great hills to quake, which are the high men and (those) that\nare most worthy. That is the devil\u2019s penny, wherewith he buys all the\nfair pennyworths in the market of this world, which are the good works.\nAnd because there are three kinds of goods that man hath of God, and\nthat the devil wall buy with his pence, therefore this bough divides\ninto three kinds of small boughs, whereof grows every kind of sin, which\nno clerk can tell. The same three kinds of goods that one has of God are\nthe gifts of nature, the gifts of hap, the gifts of grace. The natural\ngifts are those that one calls \u2018by nature,\u2019 either as to the body or as\nto the soul; as regards the body, as health, fairness, strength,\nprowess, nobility, good tongue, good speech; as regards the soul, as\nclear wit to understand well, and subtle wit to devise well, good memory\nto retain well, and the virtues of nature, whereby one is more natural\nthan another, or more liberal, or meeker, or more gracious, or contented\nand well ordered. For all these gifts one shall thank and serve God,\nbecause they all come from Him. Nevertheless the proud sells them to the\ndevil for the false penny of idle bliss, and often wars against God for\nall His gifts, for which he should thank God. And whoever takes good\nheed [may see that] in all these gifts of nature that I have briefly\ntold, it is sin by idle bliss in too many ways, which each may better\nsee in himself, if he will study well, than others can tell him.\n\nThe gifts of hap are exalted stations, riches, delights, and\nprosperities, whereof one thinks in many ways. For when the lady of hap\nhas turned her wheel to the man, and raised and set (him) to the height\nof her wheel, like the mill to the wind, and (he has) climbed high\nthere, there blow all the twelve winds of idle bliss. For when he that\nis arisen so high in prosperity thinks in his heart first of the\ndignity, afterwards of his prosperity, after that of his riches,\nafterwards of his lusts that his body has, after that of the great\nfellowship that follows him, afterwards of the fair company that serves\nhim, after that of his fair manner, afterwards of his fair ridings,\nafterwards of the plenty of fair robes, after that of the adorning of\nhis house with lustful ease and other kinds of equipment, (so) that so\nmuch is fair and noble, afterwards of the great presents and of the\ngreat feasts that one makes him everywhere, after that of his good fame,\nand of his praises, that fly everywhere. Thus the wretch rejoices and\nglories in his heart, so that he knows not where he is. These are the\ngifts that come of idle bliss, (that is) to wit, twelve kinds of\ntemptation of idle bliss, which those in high estate have, either in the\nworld or in religion, either cleric or layman.\n\nThe gifts of grace are virtues and good works. And against these gifts\nidle bliss often blows the more strongly, and often fells the great\ntrees and the highest, which are the best men. And [thou] shalt know\nthat in virtues and in good works the devil tempts by idle bliss in\nthree ways. The one is within in the heart, when one hears of the good\nthings that one does privily, as of prayers or of privy works, and the\nman thinks that he is better with God than he is. The second is when he\nhas a foolish bliss in him because he hears or sees of his good renown,\nand that he is praised and holden for a good man. The third is when he\ndesires and seeks and obtains fame and renown, and in such understanding\ndoth his good deeds, not for God properly, but for the world.\n\n\n                       THE SIXTH BOUGH OF PRIDE.\n\nThe sixth bough of pride is hypocrisy, which is a sin that makes one\nshow the good without that is not within. Those, then, are hypocrites\nwho pretend to be good men and are not, who pretend to have more\nstrength than name of good man, than truth and holiness. And this\n(bough) divides (herself) in three. For there is an hypocrisy foul, and\nanother foolish, and the third subtle. Those are foul hypocrites who do\ntheir foul deeds in corners and show themselves good before the people.\nSuch our Lord calls painted and gilded sepulchres. Those are foolish\nhypocrites who keep themselves cleanly enough as regards the body, and\ndo many and good penances principally for the fame of the world, because\none holds them to be good men. Those are indeed fools, for of good metal\nthey make false money. Those are subtle hypocrites who subtlely will\nclimb up and steal the dignities and the kingdoms. They do all that a\ngood man shall do, so that no man can know them until (then that) they\nare full grown and climbed high in dignities. And then show they the\nevils that were hidden and rooted in the heart, to wit, pride, avarice,\nmalice, and other evil deeds, whereby one knows openly that the tree\nnever was good, and that it was all deceit and hypocrisy, all that he\nhad before showed. Therefore it is truly said: \u2018Thou shalt never know\nwhat man is, until he is where he wishes to be.\u2019\n\n\n                      THE SEVENTH BOUGH OF PRIDE.\n\nThe seventh bough of pride is foolish dread and foolish shame, when one\nceases to do well because of the world, that one be not held a hypocrite\nor a canter, where one dreads the world more than God. The same shame\ncomes of sinful pleasing, by which one wishes to please the sinful. And\ntherefore chiefly is she daughter of pride and the seventh bough, and\noften makes (men) cease to do the good and do the evil, in order\nsinfully to please the world.\n\n\n                 THE SECOND HEAD OF THE BEAST OF HELL.\n\nThe second head of the wicked beast is envy, which is the adder that\npoisons all. Envy is mother to death, for by the envy of the devil came\ndeath into the world; it is the sin which most immediately makes man\nlike the devil his father. For the devil hates not but others\u2019 good, and\nloves not but others\u2019 harm, and so does the envious. The envious man\ncannot see the good of others, any more than the owl or the bat (can\nsee) the brightness of the sun. The same sin divides chiefly into three\nboughs. For the same sin envenoms first of all the heart of the envious,\nand afterwards the mouth, and afterwards the works. The heart of the\nenvious is envenomed and goes astray, so that he cannot see other men\u2019s\ngood without repenting within his heart and judging evilly, and what he\nsees or what he hears takes it in a bad sense, and of all makes (his)\nharm, so much (so) that to the heart of the envious [come] venomous\nthoughts of false judgment, that one cannot tell (them). Afterwards,\nwhen the envious hears or sees other men\u2019s ill, whatever it be, either\nill of body, as death or sickness, or ill of chance (hap), as poverty or\nadversity, or spiritual ill, as when he hears that some, that one held\ngood men, are blamed for some vice. At such things he rejoices in his\nheart. Afterwards, when he sees or hears the good of others, be it good\nof nature, or good of hap, or good of grace, whereof we have spoken\nabove, then there comes a sorrow to his heart, so that he cannot be at\nrest, nor make gladness, nor fair pretence. Now, thou canst see that the\nvenomous heart of the envious sins generally in three ways: in false\njudgments, in wicked gladness, in worse sorrows; he sins also by the\nmouth. For it behoves that such wine as there is in the tun should run\nby the tap. And because the heart was full of venom, it behoves that it\nleap out by the mouth. Then from the mouth of the envious come out three\nkinds of venomous words, whereof David speaks in the Psalter, \u2018The mouth\nof the envious is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of treason.\u2019\nOf cursing, for the goods of others he defames, and depreciates them as\nmuch as he can. Of bitterness, for the ills of others he exaggerates and\nincreases according to his might. Of treason, for all that he sees or\nhears, he turns it to ill and judges it falsely. Afterwards, the envious\nhas three kinds of venom indeed, as he hath in mouth and in heart; for\nthe nature of the envious is to withdraw and destroy all good by his\nmight, be it little, be it less, be it perfected. He is then of the\nnature of the basilisk, for no greenness can last before him, either in\ngrass, or in bush, or in tree. Then, according to the Gospel, corn has\nthree states, for it is first as in grass, afterwards in the ear,\nafterwards is full of fruit and quite ripe. And so there are some that\nhave a good beginning, in order to live well and to profit, and are as\nin grass; the same the envious takes pains to quench if he can. Others\nare as in the ear, which flowers well in goodness and by it is\nprofitable to God or to the world; and the envious rebels in order to\nconfound and to destroy those by his might. The others are perfect and\nin great state, and do much good to God and to the world. Their good\nfame to abate and their goodness to depreciate the envious prepares all\nhis devices. For the greater that the goodness is, the more the envious\nsorrows. This sin is so perilous, that one can scarcely come to right\nrepentance, because it (she) is contrary to the Holy Ghost, who is the\nwell of all good. And God says in His Gospel, that whoever sins against\nthe Holy Ghost (he) shall never have mercy in this world nor in the\nother, for he sins of his own wickedness, and one must in that wholly\nunderstand (it so). For there is no sin so great that God does not\nforgive in this world, if man repents and prays for mercy for the sin,\nthat wars by its might against the grace of the Holy Ghost, in that it\nwars against other men\u2019s spiritual good, as the Jews opposed Jesu Christ\nfor the good things that He did.\n\n\n                    THE SINS AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.\n\nAnd thou shalt know that there are six sins that are specially against\nthe Holy Ghost; to wit, overweening, which makes the mercy of our Lord\nspread too much, and praises His righteousness little, and therefore\nmany people sin in hope. The second is despair, which robs God of His\nmercy, as overweening (does) of His righteousness. The third is\nwithstanding, that is, hardness of heart, when man is hardened in his\nwickedness, so that one cannot turn him, and he will not amend. The\nfourth is contempt of penance; that is, when man ordains in his heart\nthat he shall not repent of his sin. The fifth is to oppose the grace of\nthe Holy Ghost in others. The sixth is to oppose truth wittingly, and\nespecially the truth of the Christian belief. All these sins are against\nthe goodness of the Holy Ghost, and are so great that (they) hardly come\nto right repentance, and therefore hardly are they forgiven.\n\n\n                   THE THIRD HEAD OF THE EVIL BEAST.\n\nThe third head of the beast is hate. But thou shalt know that there is\none hate, which is virtue, which the good man hath against evil;\nanother, which is very great sin, that is fierceness of heart, wherefrom\ncome many boughs, and chiefly four, (which) are the four wars that the\nfelon hath. The first is with himself, for when man bears (him) hate to\nthe torment (_read_ of) soul and body, so that man cannot sleep nor have\nany rest, sometimes it deprives him of meat and drink and makes him fall\ninto a fever, or into such sorrow that he receives death. That is a fire\nthat wastes all the goods of the house. The second war that the felon\nhath is with God. For wrath and felony so support and seize sometimes\nthe heart of the fierce one, because of some temporal adversity, or\nsickness, or death of friends, or some misfortune, when his will is not\ndone, that he murmurs against our Lord, and thanks God ill and His\nsaints, and swears and blasphemes against God and His saints. The third\nwar that the wrathful hath is with those that are under him, that is,\nwith his wife and with his household; for the man is sometimes so out of\nhis wits that he beats and smites both wife and children and household,\nand breaks pots and cups as if he were out of his wits; and so he is.\nThe fourth is war outside with his neighbours and with his nearest, that\nare all about him. And from this bough grow seven small boughs. For when\nwrath arises between two men there is first chiding, and then wrath that\nremains in the heart, afterwards wrath, afterwards strife often comes,\nafterwards desire of vengeance, afterwards sometimes manslaughter, and\nafterwards sometimes deadly war between the friends, whereof often comes\ntoo much evil, and perils that cannot be amended. For when there is war\nbetween two men, it often befalls that there are many people dead who\nhave no guilt, churches broken down, towns burnt up, abbeys, priories,\nbarns destroyed, and men and women and children disinherited and exiled,\nand lands destroyed, and too much other harm, which is done by reason of\nthose who are bound to amend what this brings, both the lord and all\nthose that are helping him (them), and (concerned) in such a business,\nand therefore they are in great peril of their health of soul, for they\nmay not be able to amend or give up the harm that they have done, and it\nbehoves them to give it up or to be hanged.\n\n\n               THE FOURTH HEAD OF THE EVIL BEAST OF HELL.\n\nThe fourth head of the wicked beast is sloth, that is, idleness and\ndisinclination to do well. This sin is too evil a root, that casts many\nevil boughs. This idleness, which is sloth, makes a man have evil\nbeginning, and more evil amending, and worse ending. Evil beginning has\nthe slothful through six sins. The first is thinness, when the man loves\nour Lord little and lukewarmly, whom he should love ardently, and\ntherefrom it comes that he is feeble and lukewarm to do all good things.\nThe second is timidity, that is, disinclination of heart, which is the\ndevil\u2019s bed, wherein he rests himself, and says to the man and to the\nwoman: \u2018Thou hast been too softly drawn forth, thou art too feeble in\nconstitution, thou canst not do the great penances, thou art too tender,\nthou wouldst very soon be dead;\u2019 and therefore the wretch lets himself\nfall to do the lusts of his flesh. The third is idleness, which is a sin\nthat causes much evil, as says the Scripture. For when the devil finds\nthe man idle he puts him to work, and causes him first to think evil,\nand afterwards to desire villainies, ribaldries, lecheries, and to lose\nhis time and many good things that he might do, whereby he might win\nparadise. The fourth is heaviness, when the man is so heavy that he\nloveth not but to lie and rest and sleep: sometimes they are necessarily\nso long (enough) awake, that they had rather lose four masses than a\nsweat or a sleep. The fifth is wickedness, that is when the man lies in\nsin, and feels the temptations of the devil and of his flesh that assail\nhim, and through downright wickedness will not raise the head to God in\nsorrow, nor cry \u2018Harou!\u2019 (Norman cry for assistance) in shrift, nor\nraise the hands in satisfaction (amends). The same is like the wretch\nthat would rather rot in a foul and stinking prison than have the\ntorment of steps to climb for his outgoing. The sixth is little will\n(inertness). In this sin are those that have dread for naught, that dare\nnot begin to do well because they have dread that God will fail them,\nwhich is the dread of the dreamers who have dread of their dreams. They\nare like him that dare not go in the path because of the snail which\nshows him his horns, and like the child that dare not go his way because\nof the goose that blows.\n\nThese are the six vices that rob the man of good beginning. Because of\nsix other vices the slothful cannot have good beginning or amendment.\nThey are the bad habits of an evil servant, who causes that no good man\nshall receive him (them) into his service when he is so slothful,\nuntrue, careless, forgetful, slack, and failing. The first vice is\nuntruth. For when God sets in the heart of man goodwill to do well, then\ncomes the devil and says to him: \u2018Thou shalt easily recover it; thou art\nyoung and strong; thou shalt live long,\u2019 and so the devil makes him to\ncease from doing well. Afterwards comes sloth; for he that does well and\ndoes it delayingly, it is no wonder if he does it slothfully. That is a\nvice whereby all the world is besmutted, (as) whoever takes good heed\n[may see]. For few folk there are that are diligent in what they are\nbound to do as regards God and their neighbour.\n\nAfter sloth is forgetting. For whoever is slothful often forgets.\nBecause of these two sins of forgetting it often befalls that he cannot\nbe shriven; he forgets his shortcomings and his sins, which is great\nperil. For none can have forgiveness without true shrift, which produces\nrepentance of heart, confession of mouth, obedience in deed; that is,\namending and reparation. There is no man so good that, if he saw well\nhis own shortcomings, would not find enough to say each day in his\nshrift. But sloth and forgetting make the sinners blind, so that they\nsee not in the book of their conscience.\n\n\n                        THE PERIL OF SLACKNESS.\n\nAfterwards comes slackness, which comes of want of heart, and of evil\nhabit, which so binds the man that with difficulty he gives himself to\nwell-doing. Sometimes it comes of ignorance and of foolish heat, whereby\nthe man so starves his heart and his body by fasts and by vigils and by\nother deeds, that he falls into feebleness and into such sickness that\nhe cannot labour in God\u2019s service, and perishes in the slackness because\nhe has neither taste nor devotion for well-doing. Afterwards comes\nweariness, which makes the man become weary and worse from day to day,\nuntil he is quite defeated and overcome with weariness. And this is the\nsixth vice of the evil servant, that he fails ere he come to the end or\nto his term, and one can say, whoever serves and serves not fully, he\nloses his reward.\n\n\n           THE SIX POINTS OF SLOTH THAT BRING MAN TO HIS END.\n\nAnd yet again there are six evil points whereby sloth brings man to his\nend. The first is disobedience, when the man will not do what one tells\nhim in penance; or (when) one commands him something that seems to him\nhard, he excuses himself that he cannot do it; or if he receives it, he\ndoes it either little or naught. The second point is impatience; for as\nhe can bear nothing in the way of obedience, he cannot endure in the way\nof patience, so that none dare speak to him of his good. The third is\nmurmuring, for when one speaks to him for his good, he is angry and\nmurmurs, and thinks that one despises him, and therefrom he falls into\nsorrow, which is the fourth vice. And the same sorrow overcomes him so\nmuch that all that one says to him, all that one does to him, all that\nhe hears, all that he sees, it all annoys him, and so he falls into\nsorrow and into disinclination to live, so that he himself hastens and\ndesires his death; and this is the fifth vice. After all these sorrowful\npoints of sloth the devil gives him the deadly stroke, and brings him to\ndespair. Therefore, he compasses his death and slays himself, as\ndesperate and gives himself to all evils, and dreads not to do sin,\nwhatever it be. To such an end sloth leads the man. These are eighteen\npoints that the devil throws upon the slothful; it is no wonder though\nhe lose the game.\n\n\n                      THE FIFTH HEAD OF THE BEAST.\n\nThe fifth head of the beast before mentioned is the sin of avarice and\nof covetousness, which is the root of all evil, as says St. Paul. That\nis the mistress who has so large a school that all go therein to learn,\nas says the Scripture. For all manner of folk study in avarice, both\ngreat and small: kings, prelates, clerks, both lay and religious.\nAvarice is inordinate love, so inordinate it shows itself in three ways\ngenerally, in winning boldly, in withholding straitly, in spending\nniggardly. These are the three principal boughs which grow from this\nroot.\n\nBut specially and properly from the root of avarice go out many small\nroots, which are very great, deadly sins. The first is usury, the second\ntheft, the third robbery, the fourth false claim, the fifth sacrilege,\nthe sixth simony, the seventh wickedness, the eighth is in chaffer, the\nninth is wicked craft, the tenth is in evil folk, and each of these\nsmall roots divides in many ways.\n\nThen the first root, which is usury, divides into seven outcastings. For\nthere are seven kinds of usurers: lending, who lend silver for others,\nand, above the principal, take the profits, either in pence, or in\nhorses, or in corn, or in wine, or in fruit of the ground, which they\ntake in mortgage, without reckoning the fruit in payment, and what is\nworse, they will reckon twice or thrice (in) the year in order to make\nthe usury increase, and will yet have gifts over and above for each\nterm, and often make of the usury a principal debt. These are usurers\nevil and foul. But there is another lender, courteous, who lends without\nbargain-making, always for profit, either in pence, or in horses, or in\ncups of gold or of silver, or robes, or tuns with wine, or in fat swine,\nmaterial services of horses, of carts, or food, to them or to their\nchildren, or in other things, and everywhere for usury, when one takes\nit by reason of the loan. The second kind of usury is in those that lend\nnot to their parson, but what their fathers and the fathers of their\nwives or their elders have obtained by usury they withhold, and will not\ngive it up. The third kind of usury is in them that have shame to lend\nwith their own hand; but they cause their servants or other men to lend\nof their pence. These are the master usurers. Of the same sin the great\nmen are not quit, who support and sustain Jews and the Saracens, who\nlend and destroy the country, and they take payments and great gifts,\nand sometimes the ransoms that are for the goods of the poor. The fourth\nkind is in them that lend of other men\u2019s silver, or take in pledge at\nlittle cost in order to lend at greater cost. These are like usurers\nthat learn such foul craft. The fifth kind is in unfair dealing: when\none sells the thing, whatever it be, for more than it is worth at the\ntime, and what is worse, the dishonest time-setter, when he sees the\nfolk most necessitous, then will he sell twice as dear as the thing is\nworth. Such folk do too much evil. By means of their time-setting they\ndestroy and make beggars the knights and the nobles that follow the\ntournaments, who assign their lands and their heritage in pledge of\nmortgage, which is not paid. Another sins in buying things, as corn or\nwine or other thing(s for) less by half than it is worth, for the pence\nwhich he pays at first, and then sells it them again twice or thrice as\ndear. Another buys things when they are worth least (and) very abundant\n(_or_ a great bargain), corn in harvest, wine in vintage (vendage _in\nGlossary_), or wares, in order to sell again, (and keeps them) until\nthey are most dear, and desires the dear time in order to sell the\ndearer. Another (buys) corn in grass, vines in bloom, when they are of\nfair appearance, by such a bargain that they may have, whatever chance\nbefall, their property safe. The sixth kind is of those that take their\npence to merchants, so that they may be partakers in the winning and not\nin the loss, or who entrust their beasts, as many as half, (to them,) so\nthat they may be of high price; that is to say, that if they die in the\nmeantime [they have to] put others in their stead worth as much. The\nseventh kind is in those that do [this] to their poor neighbours in\ntheir needs\u2014(and) because they have lent them a little silver or corn,\nor done some kindness, (and) when they see them poor and needy, then\nmake they a bargain with them to do their jobs, and the pence that they\ndelivered before to the poor man, or lent him a little corn, they have\nthree pennyworths of work for one penny.\n\n\n                   THE SECOND BOUGH OF COVETOUSNESS.\n\nThe second bough of avarice is theft; that is, to take or withhold other\nmen\u2019s things wrongfully, and without the knowledge and will of the\nowner. And that one may do in four ways after the manner of thieves. For\nthere is a thief open and a thief hidden, a thief privy and a\nfellow-thief.\n\nThe thief common and open are those that by such craft live, on whom one\ndoes judgment when one takes them. Of such there are many kinds on land\nand on sea. The hidden thief is he that steals in corners and secretly,\ngreat things or little by (their) fighting, or by treason, or by\ncunning.\n\nThe privy thieves are those that steal not of strangers, but of private\npersons. And of such there are of great and of small. The great are the\nsinful and dishonest reeves, provosts, beadles and constables, that\nsteal the fines and withhold the revenue of their lords, and reckon more\nin deeds and in expenditure, and less in receipts and in revenue. Such\nare the great officials that are in the house of rich men, that make\ngreat outlays, and give liberally the goods of their lords without their\nknowledge and without their will.\n\nTo this sin belong the sins of the wife, that does so much by her sin\nthat the children, that she knows well that she has by adultery, bear\naway the legitimacy. Such is the sin of the wife that steals the goods\nof her lord in order to give to her kin, or to put to sinful use; and of\nthem of religion that are owners, for they promise to live without\npossession.\n\nThe others are the little thieves, that steal in the house bread, wine\nand other things, whatever they may be; or of their neighbours, their\ncapons, hens, fruit of their gardens, or other things, whatever it may\nbe. Such are those that withhold the things that they find, and know\nwell whose they are, and will not give them up. For if thou findest and\nrestorest not, thou stealest it. And though they know not whose they\nare, they shall not therefore withhold it, but they shall act by the\nadvice of holy Church or that of their father confessors.\n\nThe thieves in fellowship are those that share in the theft, either\nbecause of partnership, or by gift, or by buying, or in other ways;\nafterwards those that consent, or advise, or command to do it. And those\nthat excuse the thieves, or support them in their wickedness, or receive\nthem into their house, or into his land, with their theft; afterwards\nthe wicked judges that suffer them, either through gifts, or through\nentreaties, or for other evil cause, and will not, or dare not, do\nright.\n\n\n                      THE THIRD BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe third bough of avarice is robbery, which hath many small roots. The\nfirst is in evil executors of bequests. The second is in evil lords, be\nhe knight or other, that fleece the poor men that they should protect,\nby tolls, by duties on corn and cattle (_read_ coruees), by loans, by\nevil customs, by lines, by threatenings, or by other customs that they\nseek or bethink how they may have of theirs. In this sin are the great\nprinces or barons that by their power take cities, castles, lands,\nbaronies, and the other rich men that rob their poor neighbours by force\nof lands, vines, or other things, and take on the right hand and on the\nleft, so that nothing can escape them. The third is in robbers and evil\ninnkeepers, that rob the pilgrims and the merchants and other wayfaring\nmen. The fourth is in them that will not pay what they must, and that\nwithhold wrongfully the wages of their servants, or of them that attend\nto their needs. The fifth is in these great prelates, that deprive and\nrob their underlings by too much procuring, or by some unlawful\nexactions, which they make in too many ways. Those are the wolves that\ndevour the sheep. The sixth is in such reeves, provosts, beadles, or\nofficial men, whatever they may be, as commit great robberies and wrongs\nupon the poor, and buy great heritages. There are so many other kinds of\nrobberies, which it would be a long business to tell, but some are\ncontinued above that that is (here) related.\n\n\n                      THE FOURTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe fourth bough of avarice is false claiming; that is, running upon\nothers wrongfully: to this sin belong all the fraud, all falsehoods, and\nall guile(s) that come in pleading. In this learning Dame Avarice has\nmany scholars, both of clerks and of laymen, and especially seven kinds\nof folk that all study thus. The first is the false plaintiffs, that\nmake false pleas, and seek false judges, and long time, and false\nwitnesses, false advocates, false letters, in order to grieve others and\noppress the people wrongfully, either in a Christian court or in a\nsecular court. The second are the false fugitives that flee and [do] not\nwhat is right, and seek exceptions and respites, in order to deprive\nothers of their own. The third is the false witnesses; these make the\nfalse marriages; these steal the heritages, (and) thus do so much evil\nand harm as none can amend; and all this they do through their great\ncovetousness. The fourth is the false pleaders, that receive and sustain\nwittingly false causes, and plead them for hire and for gifts, which\nthey take on the right hand and on the left, and often lose good suits\nby their sin, or because of ignorance or through sloth turn aside the\nrights and do all the wrongs on account of their covetousness, as those\nthat are masters of guile and of dispute and of false accusation. The\nfifth is the false notaries that make false letters and forge the seals,\nmake wicked libels and too many other falsehoods. The next is the false\njudges, that incline more to one side than another through gifts or\nthrough promises or through entreaties, or for love or for anger or for\ndread, and unbind suits wrongfully; and have great costs made, and take\ngreat gifts, sometimes from the one, sometimes from the other, sometimes\nfrom both, and sell their judgments, or let them come to nothing; and do\npoor men great harm, which they cannot amend. The last are the evil\nassessors, that give evil advice to the judges, and cause suits to be\nlost on account of the services that they give. All the persons before\nmentioned are bound to give up what they have had wrongfully of others,\nand the harm that others have had by them.\n\n\n                      THE FIFTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe fifth bough of avarice is sacrilege. Sacrilege is when one breaks or\ninjures, or takes away foully, the holy things, or the men of holy\nChurch, or the hallowed places that are appropriated to God\u2019s service,\nand that often cause covetousness in many ways. First, when one takes\naway foully the body of our Lord, as do the heretics and the witches and\nthe wicked priests, in order to make gain. Also I speak of the other\nsacraments. Afterwards, when one breaks, or steals, or takes away\nfoully, the hallowed things, the crosses, the chalices, the chrism, the\nfine linen, the consecrated vestments, and other consecrated things.\nAfterwards, when one burns or breaks churches, or holy places,\nchurch-towns, or religious houses, or when one takes those out that flee\nto holy Church, or into church-towns, in order to be protected.\nAfterwards, when one makes quarrels in church so that there is blood\nshed, or when one commits sin of lechery. Afterwards when one lays hands\nwickedly on clerk, or on man or on woman of religion. Afterwards, when\none steals, or carries out of the holy place for an evil cause\nconsecrated things or unconsecrated, whatever it may be. Of these sins\nthose are not quit that spend the goods of holy Church, the patrimony of\nJesu Christ, for an evil purpose, nor those any the more that steal, or\nwithhold by wrong or by force, or hide the things that are appropriated\nto holy Church, or pay them badly, as the rents, the offerings, the\ntithes, and the other rights of holy Church. Of this same sin those are\nnot quit that break Sundays, and the feasts that are to be observed. For\nthe holy day has its freedom, as have the holy places. These are the\nsmall boughs that grow from the bough of sacrilege.\n\n\n                      THE SIXTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe sixth bough of avarice is simony, which is so named because of a\nwizard, that was called Simon, who wished to buy of St. Peter the\nApostle the grace to do miracles, and offered great wealth, and\ntherefore all those are called Simoniacs, that will sell or buy\nspiritual things, which is, among all the deadly sins, one of the\ngreatest. And this bough has many twigs. The first is in them that sell\nor buy the holy orders, or the body of our Lord, or the other sacraments\nof holy Church. The second is in them that sell God\u2019s Word, and preach\nprincipally for pence. The third is in them that by gifts, or by\npromises, or by entreaties dreadful or carnal, prevail so far that they\nor others are chosen to dignities of holy Church, such as bishoprics,\nabbeys, or deaneries, or other dignities that one fills by election. The\nfourth is in them that through gifts, or through promises, or through\nterrible entreaties, or through unclean service, give the prebends and\nthe parishes, or other benefices of holy Church. The fifth is in them\nthat by bargain-making let or change their benefices. The sixth is in\nthem that by bargain-making go into religion, and in them that in such\nmanner receive them.\n\nMany other sins there are, and of divers cases, in simony. But they\nbelong more to clerks than to laymen. And this book is made more for\nlaymen than for clerks who have books. But always it is necessary for\nlaymen that they should keep themselves from this sin in three cases.\nOne is when they will help their kin or their friends to rise in\ndignities of holy Church. The second when they give prebends or\nbenefices that are in their gift. The third when they yield their\nchildren to religion. In these three points, if they give or receive\ngifts or evil entreaties or evil services, they might soon fall into\nthis sin of simony. For, as say the holy writings, there are three kinds\nof gifts that make simony: gift of land, gift of mouth, as entreaties,\ngift of uncleanly service. I call uncleanly when the services are done\nfor an uncleanly cause, or principally for a spiritual matter.\n\n\n                     THE SEVENTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe seventh bough of avarice is wickedness. I call wickedness, when the\nman is so wicked and such a devil, that he dreads not to do a great sin,\ndeadly and horrible, or great harm to others, for a little gain or for\nadvantage to himself. This bough has many twigs. The first is when any\nfor dread of poverty or for covetousness, in order to make gain,\nforsakes (denies) God and the Christian belief, and becomes a Bulgar, or\nJew, or Saracen. To this sin belongs the sin of them that for pence have\nthe devil summoned, and make enchantments, and cause to look into a\nsword or into the nail of the thumb, in order to overtake thieves or for\nother things. And of them also that cause or obtain by charms or by\nwitchcraft or by evil, whatever it be, that folk that are in wedlock\ntogether hate one another, or cannot have fellowship the one with the\nother in wedlock; or that folk, that are not in wedlock, love one\nanother foolishly and in sin. The second is the sin of grudging and of\ntreason (fraud), when the man for gain or for reward doth thing(s)\nwhereby they lead others to death, either by sword, or by poison, or in\nother way, whatever it may be. The third is the sin of them that for\ngain burn houses, towns, castles, cities, or churches, or destroy the\nvines, or corn, or do other harm for reward. The fourth is the sin of\nthem that sow discord, and obtain strife and wars in cities, or in\ncapitals, or between the nobles, because they think to gain more with\nstrife in war than in peace. The fifth is the sin of reeves, of\nprovosts, of beadles, of servants, that accuse and challenge poor folk,\nand cause them to be charged, and use them ill, for a little gain that\nthey have besides.\n\nTo this sin belongs the sin of false judges, and of false advocates, and\nof false witnesses, of whom we have spoken above. In many other ways the\nsin of wickedness is done. But it were a long business to tell, and\nbetter may each man read the same sin and the others in the book of his\nconscience, than in any sheepskin.\n\n\n                      THE EIGHTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe eighth bough of avarice is unfair dealing, wherein one sins in many\nways for temporal gain, and especially in seven ways. The first is to\nsell things as dear as one can, and to buy as cheap as one can. The\nsecond is lying, swearing, and forswearing, the dearer to sell their\nchaffer. The third way is what one does in weights and measures, and\nthat may be in three ways. The first when one has diverse weights or\ndiverse measures, and buys by the greatest weights or by the greatest\nmeasures, and sells by the least. The second way is when one has just\nweights and just measures, and sells dishonestly, as do these\ntavern-keepers that fill the measure with scum. The third way is when\nthose that sell by weight so procure and cause that the thing that one\nshall weigh shows more heavy. The fourth way to sin in unfair dealing is\nto sell to time; of this we have spoken above. The fifth way is to sell\nanother thing than one is shown before, as do these scriveners that show\na good letter at the beginning and afterwards make a bad one. The sixth\nis to hide the truth about the thing that one will sell, as do the\nfraudulent dealers. The seventh is to cause (to procure) that the thing\nthat one sells seems to have a better appearance than it has, as do\nthese sellers of cloth that choose dark places, where they sell their\ncloth. In many other ways one may sin in unfair dealings, but it would\nbe a long matter to tell.\n\n\n                      THE NINTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe ninth bough of avarice is in evil crafts. In this sin much folk in\nmany ways; as these foolish women, that for a little gain give\nthemselves to sin: also these heralds and these champions and many\nothers, that for pence or for temporal profit give themselves to\ndishonest craft, which cannot be done without sin, both of those that do\nit and of those that support them.\n\n\n                      THE TENTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.\n\nThe tenth bough of avarice is evil games, such as games of dice and of\ntables and others, whatever they may be, where one plays for pence or\nfor other temporal gain. Such evil games, especially of dice and of\ntables, are forbidden by right because of many sins that follow such\ngames. The first is covetousness, to win, and to despoil his fellow. The\nsecond is too great usury, as nine for twelve, not for a month, nor for\neight days, but in one self-same day. The third is to increase lies and\nidle words and, what is worse, great blasphemies of God and of His\nsaints, wherefore God is angry, as oftentimes He has taken too little\nvengeance. For sometimes their visage turns round, with the front\nbehind.\n\n\n                               _A Tale._\n\nThere was a knight that swore by God\u2019s eyes; in haste his one eye leapt\nupon the checker. An archer, because he had lost at gambling, took his\nbow and shot upwards at God. In the morning, when he sat at play, his\narrow fell upon the checker all bloody.\n\nThe fourth is the evil example, which he that plays gives to others that\nsee the game. The fifth is loss of time that one should occupy in good\nworks. And many other sins which it were a long matter to tell. One\nthing I shall not forget, that he that wins cannot well withhold what he\nwins, but shall give it for God\u2019s love, except it be in such a way that\nhe had it by fraud or by force, like him that by force causes others to\nplay. In that case he should restore it to him that has lost it. Also I\nspeak of what one wins at a tournament.\n\nThese are the boughs of avarice: there are enough others. But they are\nmore for clerks than for laymen. And this book is made more for laymen\nthan for clerks, who know the writings.\n\n\n                      THE SIXTH HEAD OF THE BEAST.\n\nThe sixth head of the evil beast is lechery; that is, excessive and\ninordinate love, in lust of loins or in fleshly lust. As regards this\nsin the devil tempts in five ways, as says St. Gregory. First in foolish\nsight, afterwards in foolish words, afterwards in foolish handling,\nafterwards in foolish kissing, afterwards one comes to the deed. For\nfrom foolish sight one comes to the speech, and from the speech to the\nhandling, from the handling to the kissing, from the kissing to the\ndeed. And thus subtlely the devil makes (one) go from one to another.\nThis sin divides first into two kinds, for there is lechery of heart and\nlechery of body. The lechery of heart has four steps. For the spirit of\nfornication, which attends on the fire of lechery, embraces the hearts;\nfirst makes the thoughts come, and the delights, and the imaginations of\nsin to the heart, and makes (it) think. Afterwards the heart dwells on\nthe thoughts, and so is delighted; yet it does not the deed for\nanything. And in this dwelling and in the same lust is the second step,\nwhich may be deadly sin. The great sin may be the lust. The third step\nis the consenting of heart, and of the reason, and of the will. And such\nconsentings are always deadly sin. After the consenting comes the desire\nand the great heat that they have to sin, and do more than twenty sins\nin the day, in sight of ladies and of maidens, who show themselves\nfairly adorned, who often show and adorn themselves the more quaintly\nand the more beautifully in order to make fools wonder at them, and\nthink not to sin greatly because they have no will to do the deed. But\nforsooth they sin very grievously. For by reason of them are many souls\nlost. And there is much folk brought to death and to sin. For, as says\nthe proverb, \u2018Lady of fair adorning is arbalest to the tower.\u2019 For she\nhas not a limb in her body that is not a trap of the devil, as Solomon\nsays. Then it behoves at the day of judgment to give account of the\nsouls that by reason of them are lost: that is to say, when they give\noccasion to sin wittingly.\n\nLechery of body is divided into lechery of eyes, of ears, of mouth, of\nhands, and of all the senses of the body, and especially of the foul\ndeed. And how is it a foul deed since it is natural? Because God forbids\nit in His Gospel, and His Apostle Paul, who thus says: \u2018Let each man\nhave his own, because of fornication;\u2019 that is to say, his own wife. To\nthat sin belong all the things whereby the flesh rises and desires such\na deed, such as the great drinkers and eaters, the soft bed, pleasant\nclothes, and all manner of ease of body unnecessarily, and especially\nidleness.\n\nThe sin of the deed of lechery is divided into many boughs according to\nthe state of the persons that do it, and goes upwards from bad to worse.\nThe first is of man or of woman that have no bond, either of widowhood,\nor of wedlock, or of orders, or of religion, or of another kind. That is\nthe first deadly sin in the deed of lechery. The second is with a common\nwoman. This sin is harder because it (she) is older, and because such\nwomen are sometimes wives, or (women) of religion, and forsake no one,\nneither father, nor brother, nor son, nor kin. The third is of a single\nman with a widow, or the converse. The fourth is with a single woman.\nThe fifth is with a married woman; that is the sin of adultery, which is\nvery wrong, because there is breaking of troth, which the one shall bear\nto the other; afterwards there is a sacrilege, when one breaks the\nsacrament of marriage; sometimes desertion of heir befalls, and false\nmarriages. This sin is sometimes doubled, when it is of a married man\nwith a woman that has a husband. The sixth is when the man, (that) has\nhis own wife, does a thing that is forbidden and inordinate, against the\nnature of man and orders and marriage. And with his own sword a man may\nslay himself. Also he may with his own wife sin deadly. Therefore God\nsmote to an evil death Onan, Jacob\u2019s nephew. And the devil that was\ncalled Asmodeus strangled the seven husbands of the holy maid, Sara, who\nwas afterwards the wife of young Tobias. For all the sacraments of holy\nChurch one shall use cleanlily and with great honour. The seventh is of\na man with his godmother or with his goddaughter, or of a godson with\nthe children of his sponsors, for those children cannot come together\nwithout deadly sin, not even in marriage. The eighth is of a man with\nhis kin, and the same sin is increased and lessened according as the\nkinship is near or far. The ninth is of the man with the kin of his\nwife, or, on the contrary, of the wife with the kin of her husband. The\nsame sin is very dreadful. For when the man hath fellowship with any\nwoman, he can no longer in marriage have any of her kin, and if he takes\nany the marriage is naught. And if he takes a wife and afterwards\n[another woman] on the side of her kin, he loses the right that he had\nto his wife, inasmuch as she may not afterwards dwell with him, except\nshe beg for it before. The tenth is of women with hooded clerks. This\nsin is increased and lessened according to the hoods and the esteem. The\neleventh is of a man of the world with a woman of religion, or, on the\ncontrary, of a woman of the world with a man of religion. The twelfth is\nof a man of religion and a woman of religion, and this sin is increased\nand lessened according to the state of the persons that do it. The\nthirteenth is of prelates, who should be a pattern and example of\nholiness and of cleanness to all the world. The last is most foul and\nmost loathsome, which is not to be named. The same sin is against\nnature, which the devil teaches to man or to woman in many ways, which\nare not to be named because of the matter, which is too abominable. But\nin shrift the same shall name it, to whom it is befallen. For as much\nmore foul and more horrible the sin is, the more shrift avails. For the\nshame that one has in the telling is a great part of the penance. This\nsin is so hateful to God that He did rain burning fire and stinking\nbrimstone upon the city of Sodom, and of Gomorrah, and caused five\ncities to sink into hell. The devil himself, who brings it about, has\nshame when man does it, and the air is envenomed with the deed.\n\n\n                     THE SEVENTH HEAD OF THE BEAST.\n\nThe seventh head of the evil beast is the sin of the mouth; and because\nthe mouth has two offices, whereof the one belongs to the swallow, as to\nmeat and to drink, the other is in speech; therefore the same sin is\ndivided principally into two parts: to wit, into the sin of gluttony,\nwhich is in meat and in drink; and into the sin of an evil tongue, that\nis, foolish speaking. And first let us speak of the sin of gluttony,\nwhich is a vice that the devil is much pleased with, and (which) much\ndispleases God. Through such sin has the devil very great power over\nman. Whereof we read in the Gospel, that God gave the devils leave to go\ninto the swine, and when they were in them (they) drowned them in the\nsea, as a sign that gluttons lead the life of swine, and the devil has\nleave to go into them, and drown them in the sea of hell, and to cause\nthem to eat so much that they burst asunder, and to drink so much that\nthey drown themselves.\n\nWhen the champion has felled his man and holds him by the throat, with\ngreat difficulty he arises. And so it is with those that the devil holds\nthrough sin, and therefore blithely he runs at the throat, like the wolf\nto the sheep, in order to strangle him, as he did to Eve and to Adam in\nthe terrestrial paradise. That is the fisherman of hell, who takes the\nfish by the throat and by the chin. This sin much displeases God. For\nthe glutton works too great a shame when he makes his god of a sack full\nof dung, that is, of his belly, which he loves more than God, and in it\nremains, and serves it. God commands him to fast; the belly says: \u2018Thou\nshalt not, but eat long and continuously.\u2019 God commands him in the\nmorning to arise; the belly says: \u2018Thou shalt not; I am too full, it\nbehoves me to sleep; the church is no hare, it can well await me.\u2019 And\nwhen he arises, he begins his matins and his prayers and his orisons,\nand says: \u2018Ah, God! what shall we eat to-day? whether one shall find\nanything that is worth (eating)?\u2019 After these matins come the praises,\nand he says: \u2018Ah, God! lo, we had good wine yester evening and good\nmeats.\u2019 And after that he beweeps his sins and says: \u2018Alas!\u2019 he says: \u2018I\nhave been nigh dead to-night; too strong was that wine last evening. My\nhead aches; I shall not be at ease until I have drunk.\u2019 Thus, too, the\nevil man says. This sin leads man to shame. For first of all he becomes\na tavern-goer, then he plays at dice, then he sells his own, then he\nbecomes ribald, a whoremonger and thief, and then one hangs him. This is\nthe scot (payment) that one often pays.\n\nThis sin is divided, as by St. Gregory, into five boughs. For in five\nways one sins by meat and by drink; either in that one eats and drinks\nbefore time, or too greedily, or out of measure, or too ardently, or too\nplenteously. The first bough, then, of this sin is to eat before time,\nand too foul a thing it is of a man that has age when he cannot wait for\nthe time to eat; and of great lechery of throat it comes that a man who\nis strong and whole of body without reasonable cause yearns for meat\nbefore the right hour, as does a dumb beast. And many sins come of the\nsame habit. Then it comes about that such a man says, that he cannot\nfast or do penance; for he has said this: \u2018I have too bad a head.\u2019 And\nhe says true, for he has made it such, and an evil heart also, which\nthat sin has made, and has caused him to break the fasts, which is a\ngreat sin. And if he damned himself by himself, thereof no matter; but\nhe will have fellows, that do as he does, whom he draws from well-doing,\nand leads them with him into hell. For he causes them to break their\nfasts and do their gluttonies, wherefrom they would keep themselves, if\nthere were no evil companions. For the drinker and the whoremonger,\namong the other evils that they do, [commit] one sin that is properly\nthe devil\u2019s, when they withdraw [others] from well-doing. They say that\nthey cannot fast, but they lie. For little love of God possesses them\nthat I speak of. For if they loved the true joy of heaven as much as\nthey do the idle bliss of this world, as they fast because of temporal\nneeds until night, as well might they fast until noon for God, if they\nloved Him so much. But they are just like the child that will always\nhave the bread in his hand. And thou shalt know that as one sins by too\nearly rising in order to eat, so also one sins in supping late. The\nfolk, then, that love to sup late, and to keep awake at night, and waste\nthe time in idleness, and go late to bed and rise late, sin in many\nways. First, in that they waste the time and misspend it, when they make\nof the night day and of the day night. Such folk God accurses by the\nprophet. For one shall by day do good, and by night praise God and pray;\nbut whoever lies abed when he should arise, sleep he must when he should\npray, and his service hear, and praise God; and thus he loses all his\ntime, both by night and by day. Afterwards in such vigils one does many\nevils, as play at chess or at games of hazard, and one says much scorn\nand folly, and thus the wretch wastes his time and his wits and his\ngoods, and angers God, and harms his body, and still more his soul.\n\nThe second bough is excess and want of moderation in meat and in drink.\nThe same are properly gluttons, who devour all, as does the kite with\nhis sparrow. There is great sense in observing moderation in meat and in\ndrink, and great health, for many people die, and often there come great\nsicknesses. But whoever will learn this moderation, he shall know and\nunderstand that there are many ways of living in the world. The first\nlives by the flesh, the second by his jollity, the third by his physic,\nthe fourth by his honesty, the fifth by what his (their) sins require,\nthe sixth by the spirit and by the love of God.\n\nThose that live by the flesh, as says St. Paul, slay their souls, for\nthey make their god of their belly. The same observe neither reason nor\nmeasures, and therefore they shall have in the other world torment\nwithout measure.\n\nThose that live by their jollity will keep their foolish fellowships, so\nthat they neither know how, nor are able to observe measure.\n\nThose that live by hypocrisy, who are the devil\u2019s martyrs, have two\nmeasures, for the two devils that torment the hypocrite are much opposed\nto each other. The one says to him: \u2018Eat enough, until thou art fair and\nfat;\u2019 the other says to him: \u2018Thou shalt not, but thou shalt fast until\nthou art pale and lean.\u2019 Now, it behoves to have two measures, one\nlittle and (one) scant that he uses before people; and another good and\nliberal, which he uses so that none sees; this holds not the right\nmeasure. He whom covetousness leads has such a measure as the purse\nwills, who is lady and hostess of the house. Then shall we between the\npurse and the belly of the glutton have a fair strife. The belly says:\n\u2018I will be full;\u2019 the purse says: \u2018I will be full.\u2019 The belly says: \u2018I\nwill that thou eat and drink, and that thou spend.\u2019 And the purse says:\n\u2018Thou shalt not; I will that thou keep and retrench.\u2019 Alas! what shall\nhe do, this wretch who is thrall to two such evil lords? Two measures\nmake the wight mad: the measure of the belly, in other men\u2019s house good\nand liberal; and the measure of the purse, of her who is sorrowful and\nsparing.\n\nThose that live by physic observe the measure of Hippocrates, which is\nlittle and narrow; and it often befalls that he that by physic lives by\nphysic dies.\n\nThose that live by their honesty, the same observe the measure of reason\nand live honourably to the world, who eat at the time and at the hour,\nand take with goodwill what they have both courteously and gladly.\n\nThose that live by what their sins demand observe such manner and\nmeasure as one enjoins on them in penance.\n\nThose that live by the Spirit are those that dwell in the love of God,\nwhom the Holy Ghost teaches to observe order and reason and measure;\nthose that have control over their bodies, who is so taught that he asks\nfor no extraordinary thing, and does what the Spirit commands without\nmurmuring and without contradiction.\n\nNow canst thou see, from what we have said here, that the devil has many\ngins to take people by the throat; for first he shows them wines and\nmeats that are fair and pleasant, as he did the apple to Eve. And if\nthat avails not, he says to him: \u2018Eat and drink like so and so and so\nand so; it behoves thee to keep fellowship, if thou wilt that one should\nnot starve thee, nor esteem thee a hypocrite;\u2019 or he says to him: \u2018The\nhealth of thy body thou shalt look after, for whoever hath not health\nhath naught. Be not thine own manslayer; thou owest to thy body\nsustenance.\u2019 Or he says to him: \u2018Take heed to the good things that thou\ndost or mayest do; thou eatest not for the lust of thy body, but to\nserve God; thou shalt keep thy strength for God, as David says.\u2019 These\nreasons are so convincing that the wisest and holiest man is sometimes\nbeguiled.\n\nThe third bough of this sin is to run hastily after meat, as does the\nhound after the hare; and the greater the haste is, the greater is the\nsin. For as it is no sin to have riches, but to love them too much; just\nso it is no sin to eat good meats, but to eat them too hastily or\nimmoderately. To eat meats is good for the good, and for them that use\nthem in reason and in measure, and take them with the sauce of the dread\nof our Lord. For one shall evermore have dread lest one mistake through\nexcess, and one shall praise God and yield Him thanks for His gifts. And\nby the sweetness of the meat, which otherwise cannot be, one shall think\nof God\u2019s sweetness and of that meat which fills the heart. Therefore one\nreads in a religious house at meat, in order that when the body takes\nits meat on the one hand the heart should take its on the other hand.\n\nThe fourth bough of this sin is of those that will live too nobly, who\nspend and waste, in order to fill (up the measure of) their gluttony,\n(that) whereby a hundred poor might live and sufficiently be filled.\nSuch folk sin in many ways. First, in the great spendings that they\nmake; afterwards in that they use it in too great heat and in too great\nlust; and afterwards in the idle bliss that they have. For it is not\nonly lechery of taste, but it is very often for boasting that they seek\nsuch rich meats and make so many messes, whereof come often many evils.\n\nThe fifth bough is the anxiety of gluttons, who seek only the delight of\ntheir swallow. These are properly lechers, who seek only the lust of\ntheir swallow. In three things especially lies the sin of such folk.\nFirst, in the great anxiety that they have to purchase and to prepare;\nafterwards, in the great lust that they have in the use; afterwards, in\nthe bliss that they have in the recalling. And who (is there) that could\ntell what trouble they take in order that their meats may be well\nprepared, and each to his own smack, and how they may make of one meat\nmany disguised messes because of their foul lust. And when the messes\nare come, one after the other, then are (there) jests and trifles for\n_entrements_, and in this manner goes the time. The wretch forgets\nhimself, reason sleeps, the stomach (in complaint) cries and says: \u2018Dame\nSwallow, thou slayest me; I am so full that I burst asunder.\u2019 But the\ntongue, the lickster, answers him and says: \u2018Though thou shouldst burst\nasunder, I will not let this mess escape.\u2019 After the lechery that is in\neating comes the bliss that is in him who recalls (it). Afterwards they\nwish that they had the necks of a crane and the belly of a cow, in order\nthat the morsels might remain longer in the throat, and (that they)\nmight devour more.\n\nNow thou hast heard the sins that come of gluttony and of lechery. And\nbecause such sins arise commonly in the tavern, which is a well of sin,\ntherefore I will touch a little upon the sins that are done in the\ntavern. The tavern is the school of the devil, where his disciples\nstudy, and his own chapel, where one performs his service, and where he\ndoes his miracles, such as it behoves the devil (to do). At church God\ncan show His virtues and do His miracles, to give sight to the blind, to\nmake the crooked straight, to restore the wits of the mad, speech to the\ndumb, hearing to the deaf. But the devil does all, on the contrary, in\nthe tavern. For when the glutton goes into the tavern, he goes upright;\nwhen he comes out, he has not a foot that can sustain or bear him. When\nhe goes therein, he sees and hears and speaks well and understands; when\nhe comes out, he has lost all this, just like one that has not wit or\nreason or understanding. Such are the miracles that the devil does. And\nwhat lessons he reads there! All filth he teaches there, gluttony,\nlechery, swearing, forswearing; to lie, to slander, to deny God, to\nmisreport, to dispute, and too many other kinds of sins. There arise\nchidings, strifes, manslaughters; there one teaches to steal and to be\nhanged. The tavern is a ditch to thieves, and the devil\u2019s castle in\norder to war against God and His saints; and those that sustain the\ntaverns are sharers in all the sins that are done in their taverns; and\nforsooth if one said or did as much shame to their father or to their\nmother or to their lads, as one does to their heavenly Father and to our\nLady and to the saints of paradise, they would grow very angry and take\nother counsel in regard to it than they do.\n\n  _To Dr. Skeat our cordial thanks are tendered for kindly looking over\n  the proof-sheets and making some valuable suggestions._\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook\n  is public-domain in the country of publication.\n\n--Silently corrected several palpable typos.\n\n--In the text versions only, delimited text in italics by _underscores_.","title":"The Ayenbite of Inwyt (Remorse of Conscience): A Translation of Parts into Modern English","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":17169}