The epistle of Othea to Hector; or, The boke of knyghthodeChristine, de Pisan
Philosophy
The epistle of Othea to Hector; or, The boke of knyghthode
Christine, de Pisan
Fastolf, John, 1378?-1459; French poetry -- To 1500 -- Translations into English
The fable seyth that Yragnes was a gentylwoman full sotyll and kunnyng
in schapyng, wevyng and sewyng, but she was too presumtuos of hir
connyng and indede she vaunted hire ayens Pallas. For the wyche the
godes was greued wyth here that fore that foly vauntyng sche schawneged
hyr into an yraigne and than seyde, “Thou vaunted the so myche in wevyng
and sewyng that thou shalt euer aftir this weve and spynne werke of no
value,” and fro thiens come the yraignes that be yite, the wiche sessyth
not of spynnyng and wevyng. It may be so vndirstonden that some persone
wanted ayens hir maystres, ffor the wiche in some wyse thei tooke harme.
Therefor it is seide to the good knyght that he shuld not vaunt hyme,
standyng it is a foule thyng for a knyght to be a vauntoure, for it may
abuse to myche the prayse of his bownte. And in the same wyse Platon
seyth, “When thou dost a t[h]yng,” seith he,[406] “better than anothir,
be ware thou avaunte not therof, for yf thou doo thyne avayle is myche
the lesse.”
For that a man shuld not vaunte hym, we may sey that the goode sperite
shulde be ware of wauntyng, for Seynt Austyn spekith ayens vauntyng in
the .xii. boke of the Cete of God, þat vauntyng is not mankyndly
praysyng, but is aturnyd to vyse of the sovle, the wich louyth mankyndly
praysynges and dispithet the wery wytnes of his propyr consyence. To
this purpose the wyse man seythe, [“Quid nobis profuit superbia, aut
diuitiarum jactantia?”].[407]
LXV.
Iff to grete desyre will them brynge
To loue mechell disporte of huntynge,
Dadonius[408] than remenbre may the,
For with a woode wilde bore dede was he.
Dadanius was a ioly gentylman[409] and of grete beaute. Venus loued hym
paramoures, but because he delytyd hym to myche in huntyng, Venus, the
wich douted that some hurt myth com to hym by some aventure, she prayed
hym ofte to be ware how he huntyd to grete bestes. But Dadonius wolde
not be ware, and therfor he was slayne wyth a wilde bore. Therfor it is
seyde to the good knyght that, yf he wille all gates hunte, late [hym]
kepe hym from sych huntyng that may doo hym harme. To this purpose the
profete Sedechias[410] seith that a knyght shulde not suffre his sone
hunte to myche ne be ydyll, but he shulde make hym to be enformed to
goode condicions and to fle vanyte.
How he shulde thynke on Dadonius may be vnderstondyn that, yif the goode
sperite be in any wyse out off the weye, that at the leste he shulde
thynke on the grete perell of perseuerance; for, as the fende hath grete
myght opon synners, Seynt Petir seythe in the secund Pystyll[411] that
synners ben bownde to corupcion and the fende hath power ouer theyme,
for he that in batayle is ouercome of an othir is becomyn bonde to hym.
And in tokyn therof it is seyde in the Pocalipse, [“Data est bestiæ
potestas in omnem tribum et populum.”][412]
LXVI.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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