XVIII.
Off all thyng that thou may se with ey
Fle euer the fals godes envie,
That made Aglaros[[228]] grennere than ivie,
The which to a ston chaunged was þerby.
A ffable seyth that Aglaros was systyr to Herce, the which was soo feire that for hir beaute Mercurius the god of langage wedded hyr, and thei weyre Cycropos doghters, kyng off Athenes. But Aglaros hade so mych envie to hir syster Herce, the which for beaute was so avaunced as to be maried to a god, that sche become throw here ensorgyng in envye dry[[229]] and discolourd and grene as ivy leffe for the envie that she hade to hyr systyr. On a day Aglaros was sette on the thresshefolde of the dore and lettyd Mercurius the entre into the hous, ne for no prayowr that he prayed hyre she woolde not suffre hym to hentre. Then the gode wexe wroothe and seide that euer myght she abide there stylle, as harde as hyr corage was; and than Aglaros becomme as hard as a stone. Thys fable may be lekend in leche case to fall to some personys. Mercurius may be a myghty man, weele spekynge, the which made his sistir to be presound or to dye for some displesure that she hade doon to hyme, and therefor it is seide that she was chaunged to a stone. And becawse it is to folow a aspotte[[230]] ayens ientylnes to be envyous, it is seide to the goode knyght that of all thynges he kepte hym therfro. And Socrates seyth, “He that beryth the fardell of envie hathe perpetuell peyne.”
Lyche as this auctorite dyffendyth the good knyghte envie the vice, Holy Scripture defendyth the good spyryte. And Seynt Austyn seyth[[231]] that envie ys hate of othir felycite, for the dedes of the envyos man strecheth ayens tho that be gretter than he by cawse that he is not so grete as they, ayens tho that be evenly to hyme because that he is notte gretter than they, and ayens tho that be lesse than he for fere that they shold wexe as grete as he. To this purpose Holy Scripture seyth, [“Nequam est oculus invidi et avertens faciem suam”].[[232]]