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Many men there ben that with eeres openly
sprad so moche swalowen the dely-
ciousnesse of jestes and of ryme by queynt knyttyng coloures
that of the goodnesse or
of the badnesse of the sentence take they lytel hede or els
none. Sothely, dul wytte and
a thoughtful soule so sore have myned and graffed in my
spyrites that suche craft of
endytyng wol not ben of myn acqueyntaunce. And, for rude
wordes and boystous,
percen the herte of the herer to the inrest poynte and
planten there the sentence of
thynges, so that with lytel helpe it is able to spring, this
boke, that nothyng hath of the
great floode of wyt ne of semelych colours, is dolven with
rude wordes and boystous,
and so drawe togyder to maken the catchers therof ben the
more redy to hent sentence.
Some men there ben that peynten with
colours ryche and some with vers as with red
ynke and some with coles and chalke; and yet is there good
matere to the leude people
of thilke chalky purtreyture, as hem thynketh for the tyme;
and afterwarde the syght of
the better colours yeven to hem more joye for the first
leudenesse. So, sothly, this leude
clowdy occupacion is not to prayse but by the leude; for
comenly leude leudenesse
commendeth. Eke it shal yeve syght that other precious
thynges shal be the more in
reverence. In Latyn and French hath many soverayne wyttes had
gret delyte to endyte
and have many noble thynges fulfylde; but, certes, there ben
some that speken their
poysye mater in Frenche of whiche speche the Frenche men have
as good a fantasye as
we have in heryng of Frenche mennes Englysshe. And many
termes there ben in Englysshe
whiche unneth we Englysshmen connen declare the knowlegynge:
howe shulde than a
Frenche man borne suche termes conne jumpere in his mater,
but as thejay chatereth
Englyssh? Right so, trewly, the understandyng of Englysshmen
wol not stretche to the
privy termes in Frenche whatsoever we bosten of straunge
langage. Let than clerkes
endyten in Latyn, for they have the propertie of science and
the knowynge in that
facultie; and lette Frenchmen in their Frenche also endyten
their queynt termes, for it is
kyndely to their mouthes; and let us shewe our fantasyes in
suche wordes as we lerneden
of our dames tonge.
And although this boke be lytel
thankeworthy for the leudnesse in travaile, yet suche
writynges exciten men to thilke thynges that ben necessarie.
For every man therby may,
as by a perpetual myrrour, sene the vyces or vertues of other
in whiche thyng lightly
may be conceyved to eschewe peryls and necessaryes to catche
after as aventures have
fallen to other people or persons. Certes, the soveraynst
thing of desyre and moste
creature reasonable have, or els shulde have, ful appetyte to
their perfection; unresonable
beestes mowen not, sythe reason hath in hem no werkyng. Than
reasonable that wol not
is comparysoned to unresonable and made lyke hem. Forsothe
the most soverayne and
fynal perfection of man is in knowyng of a sothe, withouten
any entent disceyvable,
and in love of one very God that is inchaungeable; that is,
to knowe and love his creatour.
Nowe, principally, the meane to bringe in
knowlegyng and lovyng his creatour is the
consyderacion of thynges made by the creatour, wherthrough be
thylke thynges that
ben made understonding here to our wyttes arne the unsene
privytees of God made to
us sightful and knowyng in our contemplacion and
understondyng. These thynges
than, forsoth, moche bringen us to the ful knowlegynge sothe
and to the parfyte love of
the maker of hevenly thynges. Lo, David sayth, "Thou haste
delyted me in makynge,"
as who sayth to have delyte in the tune, how God hath lent me
in consyderacion of thy
makynge. Wherof Aristotle in the boke de Animalibus
saythe to naturel phylosophers:
"It is a great lykyng in love of knowynge their creatour, and
also in knowynge of causes
in kyndely thynges consydred." Forsoth, the formes of kyndly
thynges and the shap, a
great kyndely love me shulde have to the werkman that hem
made. The crafte of a
werkman is shewed in the werke. Herfore, truly the
phylosophers with a lyvely studye
many noble thynges ryght precious and worthy to memory
writen, and, by a great
swetande travayle, to us leften of causes the propertyes in
natures of thynges. To
whiche, therfore, Phylosophers it was more joy, more lykynge,
more herty lust in
kyndely vertues and matters of reason, the perfection by busy
study to knowe, than to
have had al the treasour, al the richesse, al the vainglory
that the passed emperours,
prynces, or kynges hadden. Therfore the names of hem in the
boke of perpetual memory
in vertue and peace arn wryten; and, in the contrarye, that
is to sayne, in Stixe, the foule
pytte of helle, arn thilke pressed that suche goodnesse
hated. And bycause this boke
shal be of love and the pryme causes of sterynge in that
doynge, with passyons and
dyseases for wantynge of desyre I wyl that this boke be
cleped
But nowe, thou reder, who is thylke that
wyl not in scorne laughe to here a dwarfe or
els halfe a man, say he wyl rende out the swerde of Hercules
handes, and also he shulde
set Hercules Gades a myle yet ferther; and over that, he had
power of strengthe to pul
up the spere that Alisander the noble might never wagge?
And that passyng al thynge to ben mayster
of Fraunce by myght, thereas the noble
gracyous Edwarde the thyrde, for al his great prowesse in
victories, ne myght al yet
conquere?
Certes, I wote wel there shal be made more
scorne and jape of me, that I, so unworthely
clothed altogyder in the cloudy cloude of unconnynge, wyl
putten me in prees to speke
of love or els of the causes in that matter, sythen al the
grettest clerkes han had ynough
to don and, as who sayth, gathered up clene toforne hem, and
with theyr sharpe sythes
of connyng al mowen, and made therof great rekes and noble
ful of al plentyes to fede
me and many another. Envye forsothe commendeth nought his
reason that he hath in
hayn, be it never so trusty. And althoughe these noble
repers, as good workmen and
worthy theyr hyer, han al drawe and bounde up in the sheves
and made many shockes,
yet have I ensample to gader the smale crommes and fullyn my
walet of tho that
fallen from the borde amonge the smale houndes,
notwithstandynge the travayle of
the almoygner that hath drawe up in the cloth al the
remyssayles as trenchours and the
relyef to bere to the almesse. Yet also have I leve of the
noble husbande Boece, although
I be a straunger of connynge, to come after his doctryne and
these great workmen and
glene my handfuls of the shedynge after theyr handes; and, if
me fayle ought of my ful,
to encrease my porcyon with that I shal drawe by privytyes
out of the shocke. A slye
servaunt in his owne helpe is often moche commended; knoweyng
of trouth in causes
of thynges was more hardyer in the first sechers, and so
sayth Aristotle, and lyghter in
us that han folowed after. For theyr passyng study han
fresshed our wyttes, and our
understandynge han excyted in consideracion of trouth by
sharpnesse of theyr reasons.
Utterly, these thynges be no dremes ne japes to throwe to
hogges. It is lyfelyche meate
for chyldren of trouthe, and as they me betiden whan I
pilgrymaged out of my kyth in
wynter, whan the wether out of measure was boystous and the
wylde wynde Borias, as
his kynde asketh, with dryenge coldes maked the wawes of the
occian see so to aryse
unkyndely over the commune bankes that it was in poynte to
spyl al the erthe.
Thus endeth the prologue, and hereafter foloweth the fyrst
boke of The Testa-
ment of Love.
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