And yet again there are six evil points whereby sloth brings man to his end. The first is disobedience, when the man will not do what one tells him in penance; or (when) one commands him something that seems to him hard, he excuses himself that he cannot do it; or if he receives it, he does it either little or naught. The second point is impatience; for as he can bear nothing in the way of obedience, he cannot endure in the way of patience, so that none dare speak to him of his good. The third is murmuring, for when one speaks to him for his good, he is angry and murmurs, and thinks that one despises him, and therefrom he falls into sorrow, which is the fourth vice. And the same sorrow overcomes him so much that all that one says to him, all that one does to him, all that he hears, all that he sees, it all annoys him, and so he falls into sorrow and into disinclination to live, so that he himself hastens and desires his death; and this is the fifth vice. After all these sorrowful points of sloth the devil gives him the deadly stroke, and brings him to despair. Therefore, he compasses his death and slays himself, as desperate and gives himself to all evils, and dreads not to do sin, whatever it be. To such an end sloth leads the man. These are eighteen points that the devil throws upon the slothful; it is no wonder though he lose the game. THE FIFTH HEAD OF THE BEAST. The fifth head of the beast before mentioned is the sin of avarice and of covetousness, which is the root of all evil, as says St. Paul. That is the mistress who has so large a school that all go therein to learn, as says the Scripture. For all manner of folk study in avarice, both great and small: kings, prelates, clerks, both lay and religious. Avarice is inordinate love, so inordinate it shows itself in three ways generally, in winning boldly, in withholding straitly, in spending niggardly. These are the three principal boughs which grow from this root. But specially and properly from the root of avarice go out many small roots, which are very great, deadly sins. The first is usury, the second theft, the third robbery, the fourth false claim, the fifth sacrilege, the sixth simony, the seventh wickedness, the eighth is in chaffer, the ninth is wicked craft, the tenth is in evil folk, and each of these small roots divides in many ways.