And sent for my Sustor, sothely, to you ;
And all giltes for-gyffen & greuans of old.
And of the awthwart onswares & angur to hym,
All the wise how it was ye wetyn your selfe.
Hit is knowen to your kynges & comyn with all,
Of the dishonour ye did to my dere legat,
And with spite in your speche dispiset my

Ye dishonoured my legate and despised my name.

name.

Here is plainly no place in þis plit now,
Your wille for to wirke for no wild threte.
I hope the grekes in hor grem shall neuer so gret

worthe,
To oppresse me with power, ne my plas take,
Ne my godis to gripe agaynes my wille.
I will Agamynon hit wete, & his weghes all,
þat for pes to his pepull pray will I neuer,
Ne folowe on hor frendship, þat me so foule

hyndryt; But I wond for my worship as wetheruns shuld

die ! And ye,so rebell and roide with your rugh speche, Wynnes yow now wightly for woche of my

sight! While I se you in certain I sourde full of yre, And bolne at þe brest all for bale angre

5048

5052

!”

THE WORDES OF DIAMED TO PRIAM,

Diomedes laughed
and said :-
" If we two cause
you such anger,
you shall have
abundance of
it when a hundred
thousand Greeks
Burround you.

When the worthy hade his wordes warpit to end,
Diamede full depely drough out a laughter,

And said to pat suffrayn sittyng agayne :
5056 “Now kyng, yf we be cause of þi kene yre,

And pou vnsaght of þi sight sothely of vs two,
While pou lyues in þis londe, leue for trew,

Withouten noy be bou neuer, & pin ene opon, 5060 Syn the grekes on the ground are of so gret

Book XII.

sorrow be so full on account

And pou faithly shall fynd, in a felle haste,
A hundrith thowsaund þro men þrinand in

armys,

The weghes to wound & warpe vnto dethe. 5064 And if pou sothely of sorow set be so full,

And if your ffor two buernes all bare & of body nakyd,

of two unarmed I hope your bolnyng with brest, & your brethe leue

men, I hope Toqwhiche pouer, playnly, pou proues no strenght, your bursting 5068 Ne no suertie, may saue fro þere sid harmys."

Mony knightes in the courte, þat by the kyng an army."

stode,
Wex wroth at his wordes, walt into yre ;

Enraged by the

speech of Warpit out wordes full swice at the kyng, Diomedes, the

knights of the 5072 And drogh taward Diamede to dere hym anon, court threaten to

ffor to britton þat buerne for his bolde speche.

breast may save you from the harins of such

kill him.

THE WORDES OF PRIAM AGAYN,

Priam prevents thens.

“ A wise man

who has done

Priam þen presit vp fro his proude sete,

Bade hom blym of hor brathe or hor bare lyues, 5076 hat no gome shuld hym greue with no grym

weppon,
Ne negh hym with noy for noght þat he said.

Syn the wit of no wise man shuld walt into yre, should not be

Ne be fuerse on a fole, þat foutly hath wroght; angry with a fool, 5080 ffor it falles to a fole his foly to shew,

foolishly.
And a wise man witterly his wordes to suffer.
As it is fre to a fole foly to carpe,

So is it wit, a wiseman his wordis to listyn,5084 Laghe at it lightly and let it ouer pas ;

ffor in speche may men spie the speker to know,
And wete, by his wordes, the wit þat he beires.
I wold sothely, my-seluyn, suffer full harde,

much before any 5088 Or any messanger were mysdon, or marrit with messenger were hond

injured within my Within my courtte, or my cumpany, for any

I would suffer

Book XII.

Therefore compose your selves, and do him no injury."

sone, sober

your wille,

ffor lightly a litil thyng, a lose may be tynt,

And a fame be defoulede, & fatid for euer ;
5092 Derfore set you

full
And non proffer, apon payne, to prese hym no

more,
Ne to warpe hym no worde, þat worship may

hyndur.”
Þen set þai sone, as said hom the kyng.

(fol. 79 b.)

THE WORDES OF ENEAS TO DIAMEDE.

Æneas, who sat 5096 And Eneas efterward etlid to say,-
next the king,
then angrily

pat sete by the souerayne, non sothely betwene,said :

Breke out full boldely all in breme wordis,

And spake full dispitously with a sprete felle :“Sir King! a 5100 “Sir kyng, it sittes not, sothely, for right, fool must not be favoured to speak

A fole to be fauoret folili to speke. folly.

But wo vnwisely with wordis walis his speche,

IIit is skille for his skorne, þat he scathe thole,

5104 And not cherist, hut chastist, by charge of his foly. You would doon

I might sothely so say, here syttyng yow by, me to death for such bold words;

hat ye wold deme to dethe for my derfe wordes, and any one, except your

pat right wold & reason by rewle of my-seluyn. Majesty, who

5108 should dare to

And, saue your magiste so mykell, þat men will
speak so, ought to
die.

He, þat warpes thies wordes in his wild foly,
Shuld degh, for his derfenes, by domys of right;
hat so dispitously hath spoken in spit of your

person,
5112 And meuyt your magesty with his mad wordes,

And angert vs all angardly sore,

With presumpcoun & prise of his proude hert. I therefore

I bid perfore barly, þat he bove herchyn,
cominand him to
leave this place 5116 And pas fro this place o payn of his lyfe.
on pain of his

If he faine will foly for a fyn wit,
And gyrt on no grete wordis to greue vs no

more."

obey,

life."

1

Book XII.

desire to thank

(fol. 80 a.)

that

you as a
counsellor."

Ulysses then

TH[E] ONSWARE OF DIAMEDE TO ENEAS.
Then Dyamed, the derfe kyng, withoutyn dyn

said :5120 “You, frynde, with þi fare, what freike so pou be, "Friend, I I wote, by your wordes, pou ert no wise juge ; thee for thy

friendship and But I deply dissyre in dedis to come,

thy threat.
bat I may fynd þe before hi frendship to ponke,
5124 And mede the after mesure of þi meke wille,

To thanke the of þi thret and þi þro wordis.
Now I se well, for-sothe, sely is the kyng, I see now plainly,

bat kepis the for counsell clene for hym seluyn, silly, who keeps 5128 þat well con his worship wisshe hym to saue,

And rede hym to redurs, þat rixles to shame !"
ben Vlixes, with vtterans vne vpponone,

The derfe wordis of Diamede dullit with speche; 5132 And wysely he waynet all his wild yre,

To prevent strife, þat he nomore in þe mater shuld mene at þat addressed the

king. tyme. And to Priam [the] price kyng prestly he said:- (MS. has " to ") “Kyng, we haue clenly consaiued bi wille.

“We clearly 5136 To Agamynon agayne we go with our onsware,

All bi saghes, for-sothe, þat souerain to telle !”
And so þai past fro þat pales, preset vnto horse, Agamemnon.”

Lepyn on lightly, launchet on hor way, 5140 Gone to pe grekes in a grete hast;

Ulysses and
Lighten at þere logges, leuyn þere horses,
And ferdon on fote fairly to-gedur ;

Agamemnon and Into the Emperours awne tent entrid belyue, 5144 Ther all the grete were gedrit Agamynon before

And toldyn all tomly, as hom tide hade,
The purpas of Priam tho prinses vntill.

Thai hade meruell full mekyll in hor mynd all, 5148 Of his authwart onswares, þat hym arghet no

understand
your answer, and
we shall now go
to report it to

Diomedes ride with all haste to the tent of

report the
answer of Priam,

more.

Then þo Kynges in counsell castyn hom anon,
And ordant on all wise paire enmeis to greue
Be wiles of wer, as ye shall wete after.

The council determine to prosecute the war.

168

xiij Boke. How the Grekys sent Achilles and Thelefon for vitaill for the Ost into

(Hessam.

(fol. 80 b.)

While the Greeks
lay at Tenedos
a council of war
was held

Agamemnon
thus addressed the
leaders :

5152 Kyngys and knyghtes and other kyde Dukes,

All the soucrayns hade selly, as I said ere,
Of priam, the price Kyng, þat prudly hade

saide.

Than gedrit were the grekes on a ground faire, 5156 Besyde tenydon truly, to talke of hor dedis.

Ordant by the emperour opunly to holde
A counsell in the case, with knowyng to all,
And procede on hor purpos, as prise men

of wer.
5160 When the souerayns assemblit were, as I said

first,
Agamynon, the gouernour, graithit hym to

speike,
To þo worthy thiez wordis warpit anone :-

“Noble sirs, in this note hit nedis vs to haue 5164 ffode till our folke, the formast of other,

bat no hongur vs happyn to harme in our werre, While our buernes in batell abiden here stille :

hat we faint not in fight, ne feble of strenght. 5168 And mykyll is the mete so mony bus haue,

If we shall proffet with proues, or any fose wyn: ffor þere as failes the fode, faint is the pepull;

And þere hongur is hote, hertis ben febill. 5172 Derfore, highly in hast, I hold for þe best,

"No sirs ! First of all, we must have fool for our soldiers;

and to supply
so large an army,
we must have it
in abundance.

Therefore, let us