¶ Thy loor{e} y dempne / it is adu{er}syte My frend maysthow nat reuen blynde goddesse Þ{a}t .I. thy frendes knowe .I. thanke to the Tak hem agayn / lat hem go lye on p{re}sse 52 The negardye in kepynge hyr rychesse P{re}nostik is thow wolt hir+ towr+ asayle Wikke appetyt comth ay before sykenesse [[pg 184]] In general this rewle may nat fayle 56 LE RESPOU{N}CE DE FORTUNE COU{N}TR{E} LE PLEINTIF ¶ Thow pynchest at my mutabylyte For .I. the lente a drope of my rychesse And now me lykyth to w{i}t{h}-drawe me Whi sholdysthow my realte ap{re}sse 60 The see may ebbe {and} flowen moor{e} or lesse The welkne hath myht to shyne reyne or hayle Ryht so mot .I. kythen my brutelnesse In general this rewle may nat fayle 64 LE PLEINTIF ¶ Lo excussyou{n} of the maieste Þ{a}t al purueyeth of his ryhtwysnesse That same thinge fortune clepyn ye Ye blynde beestys ful of lewednesse 68 The heuene hath p{ro}prete of sykyrnesse This world hath eu{er} resteles trauayle Thy laste day is ende of myn inter[e]sse In general this rewele may nat fayle 72 LENUOY DE FORTUNE ¶ Prynses .I. prey yow of yowr{e} gentilesses Lat nat this man on me thus crye {and} pleyne And .I. shal quyte yow yowr{e} bysynesse At my requeste as thre of yow or tweyne 76 Þ{a}t but yow lest releue hym of hys peyne Preyeth hys best frend of his noblesse That to som beter{e} estat he may attayne * * * * * * * * * _CHAUCER’S TEXT ONLY_ The following section contains the text alone of Chaucer’s translation of _De Consolatione Philosophiae_, without the editor’s annotations. It is followed by the Glossarial Index. LIBER PRIMUS. INCIPIT LIBER BOICII DE CO{N}SOLAC{I}O{N}E PHILOSOPHIE. Car{m}i{n}a qui q{u}onda{m} studio flore{n}te p{er}egi. [Sidenote: [The fyrste Met{ur}.]] ++Allas I wepyng am constreined to bygynne vers of sorouful matere. ¶ Þat whilom in florysching studie made delitable ditees. For loo rendyng muses of poetes enditen to me þinges to be writen. and drery v{er}s of wrecchednes weten my face wiþ v{er}ray teers. ¶ At þe leest no drede ne myȝt[e] ouer-come þo muses. þat þei ne were{n} felawes {and} folweden my wey. þat is to seyne when I was exiled. þei þat weren glorie of my youȝth whilom weleful {and} grene co{n}forten now þe sorouful werdes of me olde man. for elde is comen vnwarly vpon me hasted by þe harmes þat I haue. {and} sorou haþ comau{n}ded his age to be in me. ¶ Heeres hore ben schad ouertymelyche vpon myne heued. and þe slak[e] skyn trembleþ vpon myn emty body. þilk[e] deeþ of men is welful þat ne comeþ not in ȝeres þat ben swete (.i. mirie.) but comeþ to wrecches often yclepid.