THE SECOND HEAD OF THE BEAST OF HELL.
The second head of the wicked beast is envy, which is the adder that poisons all. Envy is mother to death, for by the envy of the devil came death into the world; it is the sin which most immediately makes man like the devil his father. For the devil hates not but others’ good, and loves not but others’ harm, and so does the envious. The envious man cannot see the good of others, any more than the owl or the bat (can see) the brightness of the sun. The same sin divides chiefly into three boughs. For the same sin envenoms first of all the heart of the envious, and afterwards the mouth, and afterwards the works. The heart of the envious is envenomed and goes astray, so that he cannot see other men’s good without repenting within his heart and judging evilly, and what he sees or what he hears takes it in a bad sense, and of all makes (his) harm, so much (so) that to the heart of the envious [come] venomous thoughts of false judgment, that one cannot tell (them). Afterwards, when the envious hears or sees other men’s ill, whatever it be, either ill of body, as death or sickness, or ill of chance (hap), as poverty or adversity, or spiritual ill, as when he hears that some, that one held good men, are blamed for some vice. At such things he rejoices in his heart. Afterwards, when he sees or hears the good of others, be it good of nature, or good of hap, or good of grace, whereof we have spoken above, then there comes a sorrow to his heart, so that he cannot be at rest, nor make gladness, nor fair pretence. Now, thou canst see that the venomous heart of the envious sins generally in three ways: in false judgments, in wicked gladness, in worse sorrows; he sins also by the mouth. For it behoves that such wine as there is in the tun should run by the tap. And because the heart was full of venom, it behoves that it leap out by the mouth. Then from the mouth of the envious come out three kinds of venomous words, whereof David speaks in the Psalter, ‘The mouth of the envious is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of treason.’ Of cursing, for the goods of others he defames, and depreciates them as much as he can. Of bitterness, for the ills of others he exaggerates and increases according to his might. Of treason, for all that he sees or hears, he turns it to ill and judges it falsely. Afterwards, the envious has three kinds of venom indeed, as he hath in mouth and in heart; for the nature of the envious is to withdraw and destroy all good by his might, be it little, be it less, be it perfected. He is then of the nature of the basilisk, for no greenness can last before him, either in grass, or in bush, or in tree. Then, according to the Gospel, corn has three states, for it is first as in grass, afterwards in the ear, afterwards is full of fruit and quite ripe. And so there are some that have a good beginning, in order to live well and to profit, and are as in grass; the same the envious takes pains to quench if he can. Others are as in the ear, which flowers well in goodness and by it is profitable to God or to the world; and the envious rebels in order to confound and to destroy those by his might. The others are perfect and in great state, and do much good to God and to the world. Their good fame to abate and their goodness to depreciate the envious prepares all his devices. For the greater that the goodness is, the more the envious sorrows. This sin is so perilous, that one can scarcely come to right repentance, because it (she) is contrary to the Holy Ghost, who is the well of all good. And God says in His Gospel, that whoever sins against the Holy Ghost (he) shall never have mercy in this world nor in the other, for he sins of his own wickedness, and one must in that wholly understand (it so). For there is no sin so great that God does not forgive in this world, if man repents and prays for mercy for the sin, that wars by its might against the grace of the Holy Ghost, in that it wars against other men’s spiritual good, as the Jews opposed Jesu Christ for the good things that He did.