Lancelot of the Laik Part 21

++"Maist{er}," q{uo}d he, "of yowre beneuolens, Y yow be?ech that tueching my{n} offens, ?he wald wich?aif your con?ell to me If [Sidenote: Arthur asks how he shall amend,]

How I ?al mend, and ek her-eftir leif." 1392 "Now," q{uo}d the mai?ter, "and I have m{er}well qwhy Yow a?kith con?ail, and wil in non affy, Nor wyrk thar-by; and ?hit yow may In tym, If yow lykith to amend the cryme." 1396 "?his," ?aith the king, "and ?uthfa?tly I will [Sidenote: and promises to fulfil his bidding.]

?our ordynans in eu{er}y thing fulfyll."

"And if the li?t at con?ail to abide, [Sidenote: The master replies, "Thou must first dread the Lord.]

The remed of thi harme to p{ro}uyde-- 1400 Fir?t, the begyning is of ?apiens, To dreid the lord and his mag{ni}ficens; And what thow haith in contrar hyme ofendit, Whill yow haith my{ch}t, of fre de?ir amend it;[T30] 1404 [Sidenote: Repent thy guilt.]

Repent thi gilt, repent thi gret tre?pa, And remembir one G.o.ddis richwy?ne; How for to hyme that wykitne anoyt, And how the way of ?ynaris he di?troit; 1408 And if ye lyk to ryng wnd{er} his pe, Ye wengans of his my{ch}ty hond yow ?e, This ?chalt yow do, if yow wil be p{er}fit.

Fir?t, mone yow be penitent and contrit 1412 Of euery thing that tuechith thi con?iens, Done of fre will, or ?hit of neglygens.

[Sidenote: Thy need requireth full contrition.]

Thi neid requirith ful contretioune, Princepaly with-out conclu?ioune; 1416 With humble hart and go?tly by?yne, Syne ?halt yow go deuotly the confe [Sidenote: Confess to some holy confessor.]

Ther-of vnto ?um haly confe??our, That the wil con?ail tueching thin arour; 1420 And to fulfill his will and ordynans, [Sidenote: Do penance, and amend all wrong."]

In ?ati?faccione and doing of penans, And to amend al wrang and al Iniure, By the ydone til euery Creature; 1424 If yow can In to thi hart fynde, [Fol. 18b.]

Contretioune well dege?t In to thi mynd.

Now go thi weie, for if it leful were, Confe??ioune to me, I ?huld It here." 1428

[Footnote T30: MS. "amendit."]

[Headnote: ARTHUR CONFESSES HIS SINS,]

[Sidenote: Arthur tries to remember every sin done since his years of innocence,]

++Than arthur, Richt obedient {and} mek, In to his wit memoratyvecan ?eik Of euery gilt wich that he can pens, Done frome he pa??ith the ?er{is} of Innocens; 1432 And as his mai?ter hyme commandit hade, [Sidenote: and made his confession with lamentable cheer.]

He goith and his confe??ione haith he maad Richt deuotly with lementable chere; The man{er} wich quho lykith for to here 1436 He may It fynd In to the holl romans, Of confe??ione o pa?ing c{er}c.u.m?tans.

I can It not, I am no confe??our, My wyt haith ewill con?at of that labour, 1440 Quharof I wot I aucht repent me ?ore.

The king wich was confe??it, what is more, Goith and til his mai?t{er} tellith hee, How euery ?yne In to his awn degree 1444 He shew, that mycht occuryng to his mynde.

[Sidenote: "Leftest thou aught behind," quoth the master, "about Ban, king of Albanak, and his disinherited wife?"]

"Now," q{uo}d the mai?tere, "left thow aght behynde Of albenak the vor?chipful king ban, The wich that vas in to my ?{er}uice ?lan, 1448 And of his wif di?heri?t eft al?o?

Bot of ther ?one, the wich was them fro, Ne ?pek[T31] y not;"--the king in his entent Aba?yt was, and furt{h}w{i}t{h} is he went 1452 [Sidenote: The king again confesses, and returns,]

A?ane, and to his confe??our declarith;

[Footnote T31: MS. apparently has "srpek;" but a comparison with line 1543 shews that the apparent _r_ is due to the meeting of two slight flourishes belonging to the _s_ and _p_.]

[Headnote: AND AGAIN ASKS FOR ADVICE.]

Syne to his mai?t{er} he ayane Reparith, To quhome he ?aith, "I aftir my cu{n}yng Your ordinans fulfillit in al thing; 1456 And now right hartly y be?eich and prey, ?he wald w{i}t{h}?chaif ?um thing to me ?ay, [Sidenote: prays for comfort,]

That may me comfort in my gret dreid, And how my men ar fal?et in my Neid, 1460 [Sidenote: and inquires about his dream.]

And of my dreme, the wich that is ?o dirk."

[Sidenote: The master saith, "If thou art bound to work by my counsel,]

This mai?t{er} ?aith, "and thow art bound to virk [T32] ++AT my con?ail, and if yow has maad Thi confe??ione, as yow before hath ?aid, 1464 And in thi conciens thinkith p{er}?euere, As I p{re}?ume that thow onon ?halt here That G.o.d hyme-?elf ?hal ?o for y^e p{ro}uide, [Sidenote: thou shalt abide in thy kingdom.]

Thow ?hal Remayne and In thi Ring abyd. 1468 And why thi men ar fal?et At this nede, [Fol. 19.]

At ?hort this is the cau, ?halt yow no{ch}t dred, Fore thow to G.o.de was frawart and p{er}wert; Thi ryngne and the he tho{ch}t for to ?ubwart; 1472 And yow ?al knaw na power may reci?t, In contrar quhat G.o.d lykith to a??i[?]t.

[Footnote T32: This line (though it should not) begins with an illuminated letter.]

[Headnote: KINGS DERIVE THEIR POWER FROM G.o.d.]

[Sidenote: Strength of victory cometh from G.o.d only.]

The vertw nore the ?trenth of victory It cu{m}myth not of man, bot an{er}ly 1476 Of hyme, the wich haith eu{er}y ?trinth; {and} than, If that the waiis ple??it hyme of man, He ?hal have for a?ane his e{n}nemys.

A-ryght agan apone the ?amyne vy, 1480 [Sidenote: Whoso displeases Him shall be subject to his enemies, as we read in the Bible concerning the Jews.]

If he di?ple vn to the lord, he ?hall Be to his fais a ?ubiet or a thrall, As that we may In to the bible red, Tueching the folk he tuk hyme-?elf to led 1484 In to the lond, the wich he them byhicht.

Ay when thei ?hed in to his ways Richt, Ther fois gon befor there ?uerd to no{ch}t; [Sidenote: When they wrought against Him, they were so full of fear that the sound of a falling leaf made a thousand flee.]

And when that thei ayanis hyme hath vro{ch}t, 1488 Thei war ?o full of radur and di??pare, That of o leif fleing in the air, The ?ound of It haith gart o thou?and tak At onys apone them-?elf the bak, 1492 And al ther manhed vterly foryhet; Sich dreid the lord apone ther hart{is} set.

So ?halt yow know no powar may w{i}t{h}?tond, Ther G.o.d hyme-?elf hath ton the cau on hond. 1496 [Sidenote: Thine own offence is the reason why thy people fail thee.]

And ye quhy ?tant in thyne awn offens, That al thi puple fal?het off defens.

And ?um ar fal?eing magre ther entent; Thei ar to quhom thow yewyne hath thi rent, 1500 Thi gret Reuard, thi riche and thi gold, And cheri??ith and held in thi hou?hold.

Bot the mo?t p{ar}t ar fal?heit the at wyll, [Sidenote: Thou hast shewn some of them unkindness,]

To quhome yow haith wnkyndne ?chawin till; 1504 Wrong and i{n}Iure, and ek defalt of law, And pwny?ing of qwhich that thei ?tand aw; And makith ?{er}uice but reward or fee, Syne haith no thonk bot fre{m}mytne of the. 1508 Such folk to the cu{m}myth bot for dred, Not of fre hart the for to help at nede.

And what awalith owthir ?held or ?per, Or hor or armoure according for ye were, 1512 Vith-outen man them for to ?tere and led? [Fol. 19b.]

[Sidenote: and a man that wanteth heart is dead.]

And man, yow wot, that vant.i.th hart is ded, That in to armys ?{er}uith he of noght; A cowart oft ful mekil harm haith vroght. 1516 In mult.i.tude nore ?hit in confluens Of ?ich, is nowther manhed nore defens.

[Sidenote: Thou hast so conducted thyself as to lose all thy people's hearts.]

And ?o thow hath the rewlyt, that almo?t Of al thi puple the hart{is} ben ylost; 1520 And tynt richt throw thyne awn my?gou{er}nans Of auerice and of thyne errogans.

[Sidenote: What is a prince without honour?]

What is o prince? quhat is o gou{er}noure W{i}t{h}outen fame of wor?chip and honour? 1524 What is his my{ch}t, ?uppos he be A lorde, If that his folk ?al no{ch}t to hyme accorde?

[Sidenote: Can he by himself sustain his kingdom, by serving his own appet.i.te?]

May he his Rigne, may he his holl Empire Su?ten al only of his owne de?yre, 1528 In ?erwyng of his wrechit appet.i.t Of awerice and of his awn delyt, And hald his men, wncheri?t, in thraldome?

[Sidenote: His oppression of his people consumes his high estate, and makes other kings war on them.]

Nay! that ?hal ?one his hie e?tat con?ome. 1532

[Headnote: UNJUST KINGS ARE PUNISHED.]

For many o kny{ch}t[T33] therby is broght ydoune, All vt{r}aly to ther confu?ioune; For oft it makith vther king{is} by To wer on them In tra?t of victory; 1536 And oft als throw his peple is di?troyth, That fyndith them agrewit or anoyth; [Sidenote: G.o.d also punishes their vices."]

And G.o.d al?o oft w{i}t{h} his awn ?werd, Puny?ith ther wy?is one this erd. 1540 Thus falith not o king but gou{er}nans, Boith realme and he goith one to my?chans."

[Footnote T33: "king" (?).]

[Headnote: A MESSAGE FROM GALIOT.]

[Sidenote: Meanwhile, the king of a hundred knights and the first-conquest king come from Galiot,]

++AS thai war thus ?peking of this thinge, Frome galiot cam two kny{ch}t{is} to the king; 1544 That one the king of hund{er}eth kny{ch}t{is} was; That other to nome the fyrst-co{n}que?t king[T34] has, At fir?t that galyot conquerit of one.

The n{er}e?t way one to the king thei gon, 1548 And vp he ro, as he that wel cout{h} do Honor, to quhome that It afferith to; And ?hit he wi?t not at thei king{is} were; So them[T35] thei boith and vyt{h} ry{ch}t knyghtly cher 1552 Reu{er}endly thei ?alu?t hyme, and thane [Sidenote: and the former delivers his message, to the effect that]

The king of hund{er} knyght{is} he began And ?aid hyme, "?{ir}, to ?ow my lord ws ?ende, Galiot, whilk bad ws ?ay he wende, 1556 [Fol. 20.]

That of this world the vorthie?t king wor ?he, Grete?t of men and of awtoritee.

[Footnote T34: MS. "kinghe," a spelling due to confusion with "knight." See l. 1533.]

[Headnote: A TRUCE PROPOSED AND ACCEPTED.]

[Sidenote: Galiot wonders at the feebleness of Arthur's folk,]

Wharof he has gret wond{er} that ?he ar So feble cu{m}myne In to his contrare, 1560 For to defend your c.u.n.tre {and} your londe, And knowith well ?he may hyme no{ch}t w{i}t{h}?tonde.

Wharfor he thinkith no wor?chip to conquere, Nore in the wer{is} more to p{er}?yuere; 1564 Con?iddir yowr wakne and yowr Indegens, A?anis hyme as now to mak defens.

[Sidenote: and is willing to grant a year's truce,]

Wharfore, my lord haith grant.i.t by vs here Trewis to yhow and re?put for o ?here, 1568 [Sidenote: if Arthur will return to fight against him in a year's time;]

If that yhow lykith by the ?her{is} ?pace For to retwrn ayane In to this place, Her to manteine yhour c.u.n.tre and w{i}t{h}?tond Hyme w{i}t{h} the holl power of yhour lond. 1572 And for the tyme the trewis ?hal endure, Yhour c.u.n.tre and yhour lond he will a??urre; And wit ?he ?hit his powar is no{ch}t here.

And als he bad ws ?ay yhow by the yhere, 1576 [Sidenote: and desires to have the red knight in his household.]

The gud kny{ch}t wich that the Red armys bure And in the feild maid the di?c.u.mfiture, The whilk the flour of kny{ch}thed may be cold, He thinkith hyme to haue of his hou?hold." 1580 "Well," q{uo}d the king, "I have hard quhat yhe ?ay, But if G.o.d will, and ek if that I may, In to ?ich wy I think for to with?tond, Yhour lord ?hall have no powar of my londe." 1584 [Sidenote: Arthur rejoices at the truce,]

Of this me?ag the king Reio?ing ha, And of the trewis wich that grant.i.t was, Bot anoyt ?hit of the kny{ch}t was he, Wich thei awant to have in ?uch dogre. 1588 Ther leif thei tuk; and when at thei war gon, [Sidenote: which the master attributes to G.o.d's providence, and exhorts him, saying,]

[T36] ++This mai?t{er} ?aith, "how lykith G.o.d di?pone!

[Footnote T35: "then" (?).]

[Footnote T36: The initial T is illuminated.]