HOW THE GOOD WIFE TAUGHT HER DAUGHTER
THE good wife taught her daughter,
Full many a time and oft,
A full good woman to be;
For said she: “Daughter to me dear,
Something good now must thou hear,
If thou wilt prosper thee.
Daughter, if thou wilt be a wife,
Look wisely that thou work;
Look lovely and in good life,
Love God and Holy Kirk.[[84]]
Go to church whene’er thou may,
Look thou spare for no rain,
For best thou farest on that day;
To commune with God be fain.
He must needs well thrive,
That liveth well all his life,[[85]]
My lief[[86]] child.
Gladly give thy tithes and thy offerings both,
To the poor and the bed-rid—look thou be not loth.
Give of thine own goods and be not too hard,
For seldom is the house poor where God is stewárd.
Well is he provéd
Who the poor hath lovéd,
My lief child.
When thou sittest in the church, o’er thy beads bend;
Make thou no jangling with gossip or with friend.
Laugh thou to scorn neither old body nor young,
But be of fair bearing and of good tongue.
Through thy fair bearing
Thy worship hath increasing,
My lief child.
If any man offer thee courtship, and would marry thee,
Look that thou scorn him not, whatsoever he be;[[87]]
But show it to thy friends and conceal it naught.
Sit not by him nor stand where sin might be wrought,
For a slander raised of ill
Is evil for to still,
My lief child.
The man that shall thee wed before God with a ring,
Love thou him and honour most of earthly thing.
Meekly thou him answer and not as an atterling,[[88]]
So may’st thou slake his mood,[[89]] and be his dear darling.
A fair word and a meek
Doth anger slake,
My lief child.
Fair of speech shalt thou be, glad and of mild mood,
True in word and in deed, and in conscience good.
Keep thee from sin, from villainy and from blame;
And look thou bear thee so that none say of thee shame,
For he that in good life hath run,
Full oft his weal hath won,
My lief child.
Be of seemly semblance, wise, and other good cheer;
Change not thy countenance for aught that thou may hear.
Fare not as a gig,[[90]] for nought that may betide.
Laugh thou not too loud nor yawn thou not too wide.
But laugh thou soft and mild,
And be not of cheer too wild,
My lief child.
And when thou goest on thy way, go thou not too fast,
Brandish not with thy head, nor with thy shoulders cast,[[91]]
Have not too many words, from swearing keep aloof,
For all such manners come to an evil proof.
For he that catcheth to him an evil name,
It is to him a foul fame,
My lief child.
Go thou not into the town, as it were agaze,[[92]]
From one house to another, for to seek the maze;[[93]]
Nor to sell thy russet,[[94]] to the market shalt thou go,
And then to the tavern to bring thy credit low.
For they that taverns haunt
From thrift soon come to want,
My lief child.
And if thou be in any place where good ale is aloft,[[95]]
Whether that thou serve thereof or that thou sit soft,
Measurably thou take thereof, that thou fall in no blame,
For if thou be often drunk, it falleth to thy shame.
For those that be often drunk—
Thrift is from them sunk,
My lief child.
Go not to the wrestling or shooting at the cock,[[96]]
As it were a strumpet or a gigggelot[[97]];
Dwell at home, daughter, and love thy work much,
And so thou shalt, my lief child, wax the sooner rich.
A merry thing ’tis evermore,
A man to be served of his own store,
My lief child.
Acquaint thee not with each man that goeth by the street,
Though any man speak to thee, swiftly[[98]] thou him greet;
By him do not stand, but let him his way depart,
Lest he by his villainy should tempt thy heart.
For all men be not true
That fair words can shew,
My lief child.
Also, for covetousness gifts beware to take;
Unless thou know why else,[[99]] quickly them forsake;
For with gifts may men soon women overcome,
Though they were as true as steel or as stone.
Bound forsooth is she
That of any man takes fee,[[100]]
My lief child.
And wisely govern thy house, and serving maids and men,
Be thou not too bitter or too debonaire with them;
But look well what most needs to be done,
And set thy people at it, both rathely[[101]] and soon.
For ready is at need
A foredone[[102]] deed,
My lief child.
And if thy husband be from home, let not thy folk do ill,
But look who doeth well and who doeth nil;
And he that doeth well, quit him well his while,
But he that doeth other, serve him as the vile.
A foredone deed
Will another speed,[[103]]
My lief child.
And if thy time be strait and great be thy need,
Then like a housewife set to work with speed;
Then will they all do better that about thee stand,
For work is sooner done that hath full many a hand.
For many a hand and wight
Makes a heavy work light;
And after thy good service,
Thy name shall arise,
My lief child.
Whate’er thy household doth, about them must thou wend,
And as much as thou mayest, be at that one end,
If thou find any fault, make them soon amend,
As they have time and space, and may them defend.
To compel a deed be done, if there be no space,
It is but tyranny, without temperance and grace,
My lief child.
And look that all things be well when they their work forsake,
Forget thou not the keys into thy ward to take
And beware to whom thou trustest, and for no fancy spare,
For much harm hath fallen to them that be not ’ware.
But, daughter, look thou be wise, and do as I thee teach,
And trust none better than thyself, for no fair speech,
My lief child.
And give your household their hire at their term-day,[[104]]
Whether they dwell still with thee, or they wend away.
Do well by them of the goods thou hast in hold,
And then shall they say well of thee, both the young and old.
Thy good name to thy friends
Great joy and gladness lends,
My lief child.
And if thy neighbour’s wife hath on rich attire,
Therefore mock not, nor let scorn burn thee as a fire.
But thank thou God in heaven for what He may thee give,
And so shalt thou, my daughter dear, a good life live,
He hath ease in his power,
Who thanks the Lord every hour,
My lief child.
Housewifely thou shalt go on the working day,
For pride, rest, and idleness take thrift away;
But when the Holy Day is come, well clothéd shalt thou be,
The Holy Day to honour, and God will cherish thee.
Have in mind to worship God alway,
For much pride comes of the evil day,
My lief child.
When thou art a wife, a neighbour for to be,
Love then well thy neighbours as God hath commanded thee.
It behoveth thee so for to do,
And to do to them as thou would’st be done to.
If any discord happen, night or day,
Make it no worse, mend it if thou may,
My lief child.
And if thou art a rich wife, be not then too hard,
But welcome fair thy neighbours that come to-thee-ward
With meat, drink, and honest cheer, such as thou mayest bid,[[105]]
To each man after his degree, and help the poor at need.
And also for hap that may betide,
Please well thy neighbours that dwell thee beside,
My lief child.
Daughter, look that thou beware, whatsoever thee betide,
Make not thy husband poor with spending or with pride.
A man must spend as he may that hath but easy good,[[106]]
For as a wren hath veins, men must let her blood.[[107]]
His thrift waxeth thin
That spendeth ere he win,
My lief child.
Borrow not too busily, nor take thine hire first,
This may make the more need, and end by being worst.
Nor make thee not to seem rich with other men’s store,
Therefore spend thou never a farthing more.
For though thou borrow fast,
It must home again at last,
My lief child.
And if thy children be rebel and will not bow them low,
If any of them misdo, neither curse them nor blow;[[108]]
But take a smart rod and beat them in a row,
Till they cry mercy and their guilt well know.
Dear child, by this lore
They will love thee ever more,
My lief child.
And look to thy daughters that none of them be lorn;
From the very time that they are of thee born,
Busy thyself and gather fast for their marriage,
And give them to spousing as soon as they be of age.
Maidens be fair and amiable,
But in their love full unstable,
My lief child.
Now have I taught thee, daughter, as my mother did me;
Think thereon night and day, that forgotten it not be.
Have measure and lowness, as I have thee taught,
Then whatever man shall wed thee will regret it naught.
Better you were a child unbore
Than untaught in this wise lore,
My lief child.
Now thrift and speed be thine, my sweet bairn [near or far]!
Of all our former fathers that ever were or are,
Of all patriarchs and prophets that ever were alive,—
Their blessing may’st thou have, and well may’st thou thrive!
For well it is with that child
That with sin is not defiled,
My lief child.
The blessing of God may’st thou have, and of His mother bright,
Of all angels and archangels and every holy wight![[109]]
And may’st thou have grace to wend thy way full right,
To the bliss of heaven, where God sits in His might!”
Amen.