May hap be a gentleman, a courtier or captain;

And hap may so hazard he may go begging:

Perhaps that a gentleman, heir to great land,

Which selleth his living for money in hand,

In hazard it is the buying of more:

Perhaps he may ride, when spent is his store.

Hap may so hazard, the moon may so change,

That men may be masters, and wives will not range:

But in hazard it is in many a grange,

Lest wives wear the cod-piece, and maidens go strange.[175]