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
Ceys was a kyng, a full good man, and loued wele Alchyon [Sidenote: f.
59.] his wyff. The kyng tooke a deuocion ffor to go a perlyows passage
on the see in a tempest, but Alchyon his wyffe, the whiche loued hym
ryght hertily, dyde gretyly hir besynes to meve hym fro[469] that vyage
and with grete teris of wepyng prayde hyme full besyly; but it myght not
be remedied by here ne he woold not suffir hir to goo with hym, stondyng
that she wolde all gates haue gone with hymme and at the departyng she
styrte on to the shepe.[470] But Ceys the kyng comfortyd hir and with
force made hyre to abyde, for the which she was full anggwyssous and
hevy and in ryght grete woo. Neuer the lesse Eolus,[471] the god of
wyndes, meved theyme soo gretely opon the see that the kyng Ceys within
fewe dayes perysshed on the see; ffor the which, whenne Alchyon knew
that aventure, she kest hire selfe into the see. The ffabill seith that
the godes had pyte þeroff and chawnged the bodyes of the .ii. louers
into .ii. birdes, to the intent that there grete loue myght be had in
perpetuell mynde. And yette þe same birdes flee opon the see syde, the
which be called Alchions and there fedres be whyte; and whan the
maryneris see theyme come, þan be they sekyr of a tempest.[472] The
ryght exposicion hereof may be that in mariage .ii^o. loueres loued
togedir in lich wyse, the which poyetes lykeneth to the .ii^o. byrdes
that hade sich a case and aventure. Therefor it is seide to the goode
knyght that he shulde not put hym in no perlyous passage ayens the
counsell off his good ffrendis. And Assaron[473] seyth that the wyse man
enforseth hym to draw hym fro hurtes, and the foole doth his diligence
to fynde hurtes.
For to beleue Alchion, it is to vnderstond that the goode speryte by
some evil temptacion is empeched with some errowe or dowte in his
thowght, in the which he shuld reporte hym to the openyon off the
cherche. For Seynt Ambrose seyth in the .ii. booke off Offices that he
is fro hym selfe that dispyseth the counsell of the cherche, for Joseph
helped kyng Pharaon more profitably with the cownsell off his prudence
than though he had yoven hyme eythir gold or syluer; for syluer myȝgh
not a purueyde for the famyn of Egypte the space of vii. yere. Therefor
it is concluded, “trust counsell and thou shalt not repent the.” To this
purpose the wyse man seith in his Proverbes to the persone of holy
chirch, [“Custodi legem atque consilium et erit vita animæ tuæ”].[474]
LXXX.
Off a chylde beleue notte the counsell,
For off Troylus remenbre the wele.
Trest[475] ye may men aged and prouede,
That in armes hath sore bene charged.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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