Piers Ploughman (Wright)/Passus 7
Passus Septimus de Visione, ut supra.
And to Piers he sente,
To maken his teme
And tilien the erthe,
And purchaced hym a pardone
A pœna et a culpa, 4470
For hym and for hise heires,
For evere moore after,
And bad hym holde hym at home,
And erien hise leyes.
And alle that holpen hym to erye,
To sette or to sowe,
Or any oother mestier
That myghte Piers availle,
Pardon with Piers Plowman
Truthe hath y-graunted. 4480
Kynges and knyghtes,
That kepen holy chirche,
And rightfully in remes
Rulen the peple,
Han pardon thorugh purgatorie
To passen ful lightly,
With patriarkes and prophetes
In paradis to be felawe.
Bysshopes y-blessed,
If thei ben as thei sholde, 4490
Legistres of bothe lawes,
The lewed therwith to preche,
And in as muche as thei mowe
Amenden alle synfulle,
Arn peres with the Apostles,
This pardon Piers sheweth,
And at the day of dome
At the heighe deys sitte.
Marchauntz in the margyne
Hadde manye yeres, 4500
Ac noon a pœna et a culpa
The pope nolde hem graunte,
For thei holde noght hir hali-dayes
As holy chirche techeth,
And for thei swere by hir soule,
And so God moste hem helpe,
Ayein clene Conscience,
Hir catel to selle.
Ac under his secret seel
Truthe sente hem a lettre, 4510
That thei sholde buggen boldely
That hem best liked,
And sithenes selle it ayein,
And save the wynnyng,
And amende meson-dieux thermyd,
And mys-eise folk helpe,
And wikkede weyes
Wightly amende,
And do boote to brugges
That to-broke were, 4520
Marien maydenes,
Or maken hem nonnes,
Povere peple and prisons
Fynden hem hir foode,
And sette scolers to scole,
Or to som othere craftes,
Releve religion,
And renten hem bettre;
"And I shal sende yow myselve
Seint Michel myn archangel, 4530
That no devel shal yow dere,
Ne fere yow in youre deying,
And witen yow fro wanhope,
If ye wol thus werche,
And sende youre soules in saufté
To my seintes in joye."
Thanne were marchauntz murie,
Manye wepten for joye,
And preiseden Piers the Plowman,
That purchaced this bulle. 4540
Men of lawe leest pardon hadde,
That pleteden for Mede;
For the Sauter saveth hem noght,
Swiche as take giftes,
And nameliche of innocentz
That noon yvel ne konneth.
Super innocentem munera non accipies.[1]
Pledours sholde peynen hem
To plede for swiche and helpe; 4550
Princes and prelates
Sholde paie for hire travaille.
A regibus et principibus erit merces eorum.[1]
Ac many a justice and jurour
Wolde for Johan do moore
Than pro Dei pietate,
Leve thow noon oother.
Ac he that spendeth his speche,
And speketh for the povere 4560
That is innocent and nedy,
And no man apeireth,
Conforteth hym in that caas
Withouten coveitise of giftes,
And sheweth lawe for oure Lordes love,
As he it hath y-lerned,
Shal no devel at his deeth day
Deren hym a myte,
That he ne worth saaf and his soule,
The Sauter bereth witnesse: 4570
Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo?[1]
Ac to bugge water, ne wynd,
Ne wit, ne fir the ferthe,
Thise foure the fader of hevene
Made to this foold in commune.
Thise ben Truthes tresores
Trewe folk to helpe,
That nevere shul wexe ne wanye,
Withouten God hymselve. 4580
Whan thei drawen on to deye,
And indulgences wolde have,
Hir pardon is ful petit
At hir partyng hennes,
That any mede of mene men
For hir motyng taketh.
Ye legistres and lawieres,
Holdeth this for truthe,
That if that I lye,
Mathew is to blame, 4590
For he bad me make yow this,
And this proverbe me tolde,
Quodcunque vultis ut faciant vobis
homines, facite eis.
Alle libbynge laborers
That lyven with hir hondes,
That treweliche taken,
And treweliche wynnen,
And lyven in love and in lawe,
For hir lowe hertes 4600
Haveth the same absolucion
That sent was to Piers.
Beggeres ne bidderes
Ne beth noght in the bulle,
But if the suggestion be sooth
That shapeth hem to begge.
For he that beggeth or bit,
But if he have nede,
He is fals with the feend,
And defraudeth the nedy; 4610
And also he bi-gileth the gyvere,
Ageynes his wille;
For if he wiste he were noght nedy,
He wolde gyve that another
That were moore nedy than he,
So the nedieste sholde be holpe.
Caton kenneth me thus,
And the clerc of stories;
Cui des videto,
Is Catons techyng. 4620
And in the stories he techeth
To bistowe thyn almesse.
Sit elemosina tua in manu tua,
donec studes cui des.
Ac Gregory was a good man,
And bad us gyven alle
That asketh for his love
That us al leneth.
Non eligas cui miserearis, ne forte
prætereas illum qui meretur 4630
accipere. Quia incertum est
pro quo Deo magis placeas.
For wite ye nevere who is worthi,
Ac God woot who hath nede;
In hym that taketh is the trecherie,
If any treson walke.
For he that yeveth, yeldeth,
And yarketh hym to reste;
And he that biddeth, borweth,
And bryngeth hymself in dette. 4640
For beggeres borwen evere mo,
And hir borgh is God almyghty,
To yelden hem that yeveth hem,
And yet usure moore.
Quare non dedisti pecuniam meam
ad mensam, ut ego veniam cum
usuris exigere?
For-thi biddeth noght, ye beggeres,
But if ye have gret nede;
For who so hath to buggen hym breed, 4650
The book bereth witnesse,
He hath y-nough that hath breed y-nough,
Though he have noght ellis.
Satis dives est, qui non indiget pane.
Lat usage be youre solas,
Of seintes lyves redyng,
The book banneth beggerie,
And blameth hem in this manere:
Junior fui, et jam senui, et non vidi
justum derelictum, nec semen 4660
ejus, etc.
For ye lyve in no love,
Ne no lawe holde;
Manye of yow ne wedde noght
The womman that ye with deele,
But as wilde bestes with 'wehee!'
Worthen uppe and werchen,
And bryngen forth barnes,
That bastardes men calleth;
Or the bak or som boon 4670
He breketh in his youthe,
And siththe goon faiten with youre fauntes
For evere moore after.
Ther is moore mys-shapen peple
Amonges thise beggeres,
Than of alle manere men
That on this moolde walketh.
And thei that lyve thus hir lif,
Mowe lothe the tyme
That evere thei were men wroght, 4680
Whan thei shal hennes fare.
Ac olde men and hore,
Than help-lees ben of strengthe,
And wommen with childe
That werche ne mowe,
Blynde and bed-reden,
And broken hire membres,
That taken thise myschiefs mekeliche,
As mesels and othere,
Han as pleyn pardon 4690
As the plowman hymselve.
For love of hir lowe hertes,
Oure Lord hath hem graunted
Hir penaunce and hir purgatorie
Here on this erthe.
"Piers," quod a preest thoo,
"Thi pardon moste I rede;
For I wol construe ech clause,
And kenne it thee on Englisshe."
And Piers at his preiere 4700
The pardon unfoldeth;
And I by-hynde hem bothe
Biheld al the bulle,
And in two lynes it lay,
And noght a leef more,
And was writen right thus,
In witnesse of Truthe:
Et qui bona egerunt, ibunt in vitam eternam.[1]
Qui vero mala, in ignem eternum. 4710
"Peter," quod the preest thoo,
"I kan no pardon fynde,
But do wel and have wel,
And God shal have thi soule,
And do yvel and have yvel,
Hope thow noon oother,
But after thi deeth-day
The devel shal have thi soule."
And Piers for pure tene
Pulled it a-tweyne, 4720
And seide Si ambulavero in medio
umbræ mortis, non timebo mala,
quoniam tu mecum es.
"I shal cessen of my sowyng," quod Piers,[1]
"And swynke noght so harde,
Ne aboute my bely joye
So bisy be na-moore;
Of preieres and of penaunce
My plough shal ben herafter, 4730
And wepen whan I sholde slepe,
Though whete-breed me faille.
"The prophete his payn eet
In penaunce and in sorwe,
By that the Sauter seith,
So dide othere manye;
That loveth God lelly,
His liflode is ful esy.
Fuerunt mihi lacrimæ meæ panes
die ac nocte. 4740
"And but if Luc lye,
He lereth us by foweles,
We sholde noght be to bisy
Aboute the worldes blisse;
Ne soliciti sitis,
He seith in the Gospel,
And sheweth us by ensamples
Us selve to wisse.
The foweles in the feld,
Who fynt hem mete at wynter? 4750
Have thei no gerner to go to,
But God fynt hem alle."
"What!" quod the preest to Perkyn,
"Peter! as me thynketh,
Thow art lettred a litel:—
Who lerned thee on boke?"
"Abstynence the abbesse," quod Piers,
"Myn a.b.c. me taughte;
And Conscience cam afterward,
And kenned me muche moore." 4760
"Were thow a preest," quod he,
"Thou myghtest preche where thou sholdest,
As divinour in divinité,
With Dixit insipiens to thi teme."
"Lewed lorel!" quod Piers,
"Litel lokestow on the Bible;
On Salomons sawes
Selden thow biholdest:
Ejice derisores et jurgia cum eis, ne
crescant, etc." 4770
The preest and Perkyn
Opposeden either oother.
And I thorugh hir wordes a-wook,
And waited aboute,
And seigh the sonne in the south
Sitte that tyme,
Mete-lees and monei-lees
On Malverne hulles,
Musynge on this metels,
And my wey ich yede. 4780
Many tyme this metels
Hath maked me to studie
Of that I seigh slepynge,
If it so be myghte,
And also for Piers the Plowman
Ful pencif in herte,
And which a pardon Piers hadde
Al the peple to conforte,
And how the preest impugned it
With two propre wordes. 4790
Ac I have no savour in songewarie,
For I se it ofte faille;
Caton and canonistres
Counseillen us to leve
To sette sadnesse in songewarie,
For sompnia ne cures.
Ac for the book Bible
Bereth witnesse
How Daniel divined
The dreem of a kyng, 4800
That was Nabugodonosor
Nempned of clerkes.
Daniel seide, "Sire kyng,
Thi dremels bitokneth
That unkouthe knyghtes shul come
Thi kyngdom to cleyme;
Amonges lower lordes
Thi lond shal be departed."
And as Daniel divined,
In dede it fel after; 4810
The kyng lees his lordshipe,
And lower men it hadde.
And Joseph mette merveillously
How the moone and the sonne
And the ellevene sterres
Hailsed hym alle.
Thanne Jacob jugged
Josephes swevene.
"Beau fitz," quod his fader,
"For defaute we shullen, 4820
I myself and my sones,
Seche thee for nede."
It bifel as his fader seide,
In Pharaoes tyme,
That Joseph was justice
Egipte to loke;
It bifel as his fader tolde,
Hise frendes there hym soughte,
And al this maketh me
On this metels to thynke. 4830
And how the preest preved
No pardon to Do-wel,
And demed that Do-wel
Indulgences passed,
Biennals and triennals,
And bisshopes lettres;
And how Do-wel at the day of dome
Is digneliche underfongen,
And passeth al the pardon
Of seint Petres cherche. 4840
Now hath the pope power
Pardon to graunte the peple,
Withouten any penaunce
To passen into hevene;
This is oure bileve,
As lettred men us techeth:
Quodcumque ligaveris super terram,
erit ligatum et in cœlis, etc.[1]
And so I leve leelly, 4850
Lordes forbode ellis!
That pardon and penaunce
And preieres doon save
Soules that have synned
Seven sithes dedly;
Ac to truste to thise triennals,
Trewely me thynketh,
Is noght so siker for the soule,
Certes, as is Do-wel.
For-thi I rede yow, renkes, 4860
That riche ben on this erthe,
Upon trust of youre tresor
Triennals to have,
Be ye never the bolder
To breake the .x. hestes;
And namely ye maistres,
Meires and jugges,
That have the welthe of this world
And for wise men ben holden,
To purchace yow pardon 4870
And the popes bulles.
At the dredful dome,
Whan dede shulle rise,
And comen alle to-fore Crist
Acountes to yelde,
How thow laddest thi lif here,
And hise lawes keptest,
And how thow didest day by day,
The doom wole reherce.
A poke ful of pardon there, 4880
Ne provincials lettres,
Theigh ye be founde in the fraternité
Of alle the foure ordres,
And have indulgences double-fold,
But if Do-wel yow helpe,
I sette youre patentes and youre pardon
At one pies hele.
For-thi I counseille alle Cristene
To crie God mercy,
And Marie his moder 4890
Be oure meene bitwene,
That God gyve us grace here,
Er we go hennes,
Swiche werkes to werche
While we ben here,
That after oure deeth-day
Do-wel reherce
At the day of dome,
We dide as he highte. 4899