devotion and of exposition, translated in their mother language; why should not English men have the same in their mother language, I can not wit, no but for falseness and negligence of clerks, either for our people is not worthy to have so great grace and gift of God, in pain of their old sins. God for his mercy amend these evil causes, and make our people to have, and con, and keep truly holy writ, to life and death! But in translating of words equivocal, that is, that hath many significations under one letter, may lightly be peril, for Austin saith in the 2nd book of Christian Teaching, that if equivocal words be not translated into the sense, either understanding, of the author, it is error; as in that place of the Psalm, _the feet of them be swift to shed out blood_, the Greek word is equivocal to _sharp_ and _swift_, and he that translated _sharp feet_, erred, and a book that hath _sharp feet_, is false, and must be amended; as that sentence _unkind young trees shall not give deep roots_, oweth to be thus, _plantings of aoutrry shall not give deep roots_. Austin saith this there. Therefore a translator hath great need to study well the sentence, both before and after, and look that such equivocal words accord with the sentence, and he hath need to live a clean life, and be full devout in prayers, and have not his wit occupied about worldly things, that the Holy Spirit, author of wisdom, and cunning, and truth, dress him in his work, and suffer him not for to err. Also this word _ex_ signifieth sometimes _of_, and sometimes it signifieth _by_, as Jerome saith; and this word _enim_ signifieth commonly _forsooth_, and, as Jerome saith, it signifieth _cause thus, for why_; and this word _secundum_ is taken for _after_, as many men say, and commonly, but it signifieth well _by_, either _up_, thus _by your word_, either _up your word_. Many such adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions be set oft one for another, and at free choice of authors sometimes; and now they shall be taken as it accordeth best to the sentence. By this manner, with good living and great travail, men may come to true and clear translating, and true understanding of holy writ, seem it never so hard at the beginning. God grant to us all grace to con well, and keep well holy writ, and suffer joyfully some pain for it at the last! Amen. Footnotes: [27] _Nicolaus de Lyra._ [28] Bohemians. _Dialogue between a LORD and a CLERK upon Translation._ [From TREVISA'S Translation of HIGDEN'S _Polychronicon_.] _Dialogue between a Lord and a Clerk upon Translation._ From Trevisa's Translation of Higden's _Polychronicon_. =1387 ?=