Anthenor was a baron of Troie, and when it com at the last to grete Troyenne bateylles, the Grekys that hadde long kepte sege afore the cete they wost not how they myght haue a conclusyon to take the cete, ffor it was of ryght grete streynghte, than by the tysyng[[567]] of Anthenor. For angre that he hadde to kyng Priaunt, he comforted theyme and seide that thei shulde make a pes with the kyng, and by that mene thei may putte theyme selue into the cete and they shall be youen a wey. Thus thei dede, by the which Troye was betrayed. And because that the treson hereoff was to grete and to evill, it is seide to the good knyght that all sich semblable, where he knoweth theyme, he shulde exile and chasse theyme awey, for sich pepill be gretili to hate. Platon seyth that disseyte is capteyne and gouernowre off shrewes.[[568]]
Be Anthenor, the which shulde be chassed awey, we may |f. 72.| vnderstonde that the goode sperite shulde dryve away all thynges whereby ony inconuenyence myght come to hyme. To this Seynt Austyn seith that he that is not besy to eschewe inconueniencees[[569]] is leche a btyrflye that turnyth so ofte abowte the fyre of the lampe that he birneth his wenges and thanne is drowned in the oyle, and to the birde that flieth so ofte abowte the glewe that he lesyth his feddris. Example of Seynte Petir, the which aboode so long in the princes courte of the lawe that he fell into sich an inconuenience to renye[[570]] his Maystir. And the wyse man seith, [“Fuge a via malorum, ne transeas per eam”].[[571]]
XCVI.
In Mynervez tempell to offir
Thou shulde not thi ennemye suffre.
Take thou goode hede to the hors of tre;
Troye hadde yet bene, had that not be.
The Grekes hade made a feynte pes[[572]] with the Troyens by Anthemores trayson. Thei seyde thei hadde avowed a gifte to Mynerve the godes, the which thei wolde offyr, and the hadde made a horse of tre of an huge grettenes, the which was full of men of armes, and it was so grete that the yate of the cete most be brokyn for to late it cum in. And the hors was sette opon whelis, that rolled it forth to the temple; and when nyght come and when the tovne was most in rest, than the knyghtes lepid owt of the hors and vent abowte in the cete, the which brente and kyllid and distroiid the towne. The[re]for it is seide to the good knyght that he shulde not trost in no sich fantasies ne offerynges. To this purpose a wyse man seith, “A man shulde dowte the sotiltees and the spies of his enemie, yif he be wise, and his shrewdenes,[[573]] yf he be a foole.”
By Minerve temple we may vnderstond holy chirch, where shulde not a been offird but prayer. And Seynt Awstyn seith in the booke of Feyth, that withowte the ffelechippe of holy chirch and baptym no thyng may availe, ne the dedes of mercye may not vaile to euerlastyng liffe, for withowte the lappe of the chirch non helthe may be. There[for] Dauid seith in the Sauter booke, [“Apud te laus mea in ecclesia magna”].[[574]]