I.
Othea, of prudence named godesse,
That setteth goode in worthynesse,
To the,[[106]] Hector, noble prince myghty,
That in armes is evere worthye,
The sone of Mars,[[107]] the god of bateyle,
In dedys of armes which wyll not fayle,
And of myghty Minerve, the godes, |f. 5.|
The whiche in armes is hy maystres,
Sucessoure of the noble Troyens,
Heyre[[108]] of Troye and of the ceteseyns,
Salutacion afore sette plenere
I sende, wyth love feyned in no manere.
O good lorde, how am I desyryng
Thi grete avayle, which I goo sekeyng,
And that aumented and preseruyd
It may be, and euer obseruede
Thy worchipe and worthines in old age,
That thow hast gretly hadde in thi fryst age.
Now for to schewe the my pistile playnely,
I wyll the enorte and telle verily
Off thyngges that be ful necessarie
To hye worthynesse and the contrarie,
To the opposite off worthinesse,
So that all goode hertys may theym dres[[109]]
For to gete be goode besy lernynge
The hors that in the eyre is flyynge
(It is named the Pegasus truly),
That all louers loueth hyly.[[110]]
And because of thi condycion
I knowe be rygth inclynacion
Able to take knythly dedys on hand
More than is in othir .v. score thowsand
(For as a godes I haue knovynge,
Not by the assay but by kunnyng,
Of thynges the which be on to kome),
I owthe to thynkke on the, hole and some[[111]];
For I knowe thowe shalte be euer duryng,
Worthiest of all the worthy lyvyng,
And schall afore all othir namyd be,
So that I may be belouyd of the.
Belovyd, why schuld not I be soo?
I am that the which arayeth all thoo
That loueth me and holdyth me dere;
I rede theym lessons in chaiere,
Which maketh theym clyme heuen onto.
I pray the that thow be oon off tho
That will here inne beleve me wele.[[112]]
Now sete it well thane in thy mynd and fele
The wordes that I wyll to the endyte,
And yf thowe here me owght telle, sey or wryte
Any thyng that for to come may be
As that I seye, vmbethynke the
As that they were past, so do thow oughte
Knowe ryght wele that they be in my thought
In the spyrite off profecie.
Vndirstonde wele nowe and greve not the,
For I shall no thyng sey but that schalle falle.
Thynke wele the comyng is not yet at all.
Othea opon the Greke may be takyn for the wysedome off man and woman[[113]], and as ancient pepyll of hold tyme, not havynge yit at that tyme lyght of feythe, wirchippyd many goddys, vndyr the which lawe be passed the hyest lordes that hathe ben in the world, as the reaume off Assire, of Perse, the Grekys, the Troyens, Alexandre, the Romaynes and many other, anamly the grettest philosophurs that[[114]] euer was—so as yet at that tyme God hade not oppenyd the ȝate off mercy, but we Crysten men and women now at this tyme by the grace of God enlumynid wyth very feyth may bryng ayene to morall mynde the oppinyons of ancient pepyll and thereopon many feyre allegories may be made—and as they hade |f. 6.| a costom to worchipe all thynge the which above the comon cours of thynges hade prerogatyue of some grace, many wyse ladyes in there tyme were called godesses. And trwe it ys, aftyr the storie, that in the tyme that grete[[115]] Troye fflorishede in his grete name a ful wyse ladie callede Othea, consyderyng the ffre thought[[116]] of Hector of Troye, the which that tyme ffloryshed in vertues, and that it be a shewynge of fortunes to be in hym in tyme commynge, sche sent hyme many grete and notabil yiftys, and namly the fayre stede that men callyd Galathee, the which had no felawe in all the worlde. And becavse that all wordly grace that a good man oughte for to have were in Hector, morally we may sey that he toke theyme by the cownsel of Othea, the which sent hyme this pystylle.
By Othea we schall vndirstond by the vertu of prudence and of wysedome, wherewyth he was arayed; and because the Cardinal Vertues ben necessarie to good pollicie, we schall speke of them, sewynge ich after othyr. And to þe fryst we have youen a name and takyn a maner of speche in some wyse poetykly, the bettyr to folewe owre matere acordyng to the very storie, and to owre purpoyse we schall take some auctoritees of ancient philosophres. Thus we schall sey that by the seyde lady this present was yovyn or sente to goode Hector, the which in lech wyse may be to all other desirynge bounte and wysedome. And as the vertue of prudence ought gretely to be recomendede, Aristotle, the prynce off philosophurs, seyth, “Becavse that wysedome is þe most noble off all othir thynges, it schulde be shevyd by the best resone and the most behouely maner that myghte be.”
Fore to bryng ayen to allegorie the purpos of owre matyr to owre wordes, we schall applique Holy Scrypture to edificacion of the soule, beyng in wrecheed worlde. As by the grete wysedome and hye myȝte of God all thynges that be resonabily made all scholde streche to the ende of hyme, and becawse that owre speryt, mad off God to hys lekenes, is made of thynges moste noble aftyr the aungelles, it is behouely and necessarie that it be arayed wyth vertues, whereby it may be conveyed to the ende for the which it was made. And becavse it was lettyd by the assautes of the wacches[[117]] of the enemy of helle, the which is his dedely enemye and aduersarie and oftyn distourbeth it to come to hys beaute,[[118]] we may calle mankyndely lyfe very cheualrie, as the Scripture seyth in many partes, and standyng[[119]] all erthyly thynges[[120]] be desceyvable,[[121]] we schulde haue in contynuell mynde the tyme |f. 7.| for to come, which is wythowte ende. And because this is the grete wysedome of perfite knygthhode and that all othir be of no comparison to regarde of the victorius peple the which be corounede in blys, we schal take a maner of speche of gostly knyhthode, that [is] to be done princypally to the preysynge of God and to the profyth of thoo þat wylle delyte theyme to here this present dittee.
Howe prudence and wysedome is modyr and conditoures of all vertues, wythowte the which the tothire may not be well gouernede, it is necessarie to gostly knyghthode to be arayed wyth prudence, as Seynte Austyn seyth in the book of Singularite off Clerkes,[[122]] that in what maner of place prudence be men may lyghtly cesse and amende[[123]] all contrarius thynges, but there w[h]ere prudence is despisyd all cont[r]arius thynges hath domynacyon. And to this purpoose Salamon seyth in his Proverbis, “Si [intraverit sapientia cor tuum et scientia animæ tuæ placuerit, consilium custodiet te et prudentia servabit te.”][[124]]