Previous: From Troilus and Criseyde, Book IV, lines 806-945: Pandarus speaks with his niece Criseyde and asks her to hide her grief when she meets Troilus

© Librarius All rights reserved.

	And shortly, al the sothe for to seye,
	He was so fallen in despeyr that day,
955	That outrely he shoop him for to deye.
	For right thus was his argument alwey:
	He seyde, he nas but loren, waylawey!
	`For al that comth, comth by necessitee;
	Thus to be lorn, it is my destinee.

960	`For certaynly, this woot I wel,' he seyde,
	`That forsight of divyne purveyaunce
	Hath seyn alwey me to forgon Criseyde,
	Syn God seeth every thing, out of doutaunce,
	And hem disponeth, thourgh his ordinaunce,
965	In hir merytes soothly for to be,
	As they shul comen by predestinee.

	`But nathelees, allas! Whom shal I leve?
	For ther ben grete clerkes many oon,
	That destinee thorugh argumentes preve;
970	And som men seyn that nedely ther is noon;
	But that free chois is yeven us everichon.
	O, welaway! So sleye arn clerkes olde,
	That I not whos opinion I may holde.

	`For som men seyn, if God seth al biforn,
975	Ne God may not deceyved ben, pardee,
	Than moot it fallen, though men hadde it sworn,
	That purveyaunce hath seyn bifore to be.
	Wherfor I seye, that from eterne if he
	Hath wist biforn our thought eek as our dede,
980	We have no free chois, as these clerkes rede.

	`For other thought nor other dede also
	Might never be, but swich as purveyaunce,
	Which may not ben deceyved nevermo,
	Hath feled biforn, withouten ignoraunce.
985	For if ther mighte been a variaunce
	To wrythen out fro goddes purveyinge,
	Ther nere no prescience of thing cominge;

	`But it were rather an opinioun
	Uncerteyn, and no stedfast forseinge;
990	And certes, that were an abusioun,
	That God shuld han no parfit cleer witinge
	More than we men that han doutous weninge.
	But swich an errour upon God to gesse
	Were fals and foul, and wikked corsednesse.

995	`Eek this is an opinioun of somme
	That han hir top ful heighe and smothe y-shore;
	They seyn right thus, that thing is not to come
	For that the prescience hath seyn bifore
	That it shal come; but they seyn that therfore
1000	That it shal come, therfore the purveyaunce
	Woot it biforn withouten ignoraunce;

	`And in this manere this necessitee
	Retorneth in his part contrarie agayn.
	For needfully bihoveth it not to be
1005	That thilke thinges fallen in certayn
	That ben purveyed; but nedely, as they seyn,
	Bihoveth it that thinges, whiche that falle,
	That they in certayn ben purveyed alle.

	`I mene as though I laboured me in this,
1010	To enqueren which thing cause of which thing be;
	As whether that the prescience of God is
	The certayn cause of the necessitee
	Of thinges that to comen been, pardee;
	Or if necessitee of thing cominge
1015	Be cause certeyn of the purveyinge.

	`But now ne enforce I me nat in shewinge
	How the ordre of causes stant; but wel woot I,
	That it bihoveth that the bifallinge
	Of thinges wist biforen certeynly
1020	Be necessarie, al seme it not therby
	That prescience put falling necessaire
	To thing to come, al falle it foule or faire.

	`For if ther sitte a man yond on a see,
	Than by necessitee bihoveth it
1025	That, certes, thyn opinioun sooth be,
	That wenest or conjectest that he sit;
	And ferther now ayenward yit,
	Lo, right so it is of the part contrarie,
	As thus; (now herkne, for I wol not tarie):

1030	`I seye, that if the opinioun of thee
	Be sooth, for that he sit, than seye I this,
	That he mot sitten by necessitee;
	And thus necessitee in either is.
	For in him nede of sittinge is, ywis,
1035	And in thee nede of sooth; and thus, forsothe,
	Ther moot necessitee ben in yow bothe.

	`But thou mayst seyn, the man sit not therfore,
	That thyn opinioun of sitting soth is;
	But rather, for the man sit ther bifore,
1040	Therfore is thyn opinioun sooth, y-wis.
	And I seye, though the cause of sooth of this
	Comth of his sitting, yet necessitee
	Is entrechaunged, bothe in him and thee.

	`Thus on this same wyse, out of doutaunce,
1045	I may wel maken, as it semeth me,
	My resoninge of goddes purveyaunce,
	And of the thinges that to comen be;
	By whiche reson men may wel ysee,
	That thilke thinges that in erthe falle,
1050	That by necessitee they comen alle.

	`For al-though that, for thing shal come, ywis,
	Therfore is it purveyed, certaynly,
	Nat that it comth for it purveyed is:
	Yet nathelees, bihoveth it nedfully,
1055	That thing to come be purveyed, trewely;
	Or elles, thinges that purveyed be,
	That they bityden by necessitee.

	`And this suffyseth right y-now, certeyn,
	For to destroye our free chois everydeel. --
1060	But now is this abusion, to seyn,
	That fallinge of the thinges temporel
	Is cause of goddes prescience eternel.
	Now trewely, that is a fals sentence,
	That thing to come sholde cause his prescience.

1065	`What mighte I wene, and I hadde swich a thought,
	But that God purveyth thing that is to come
	For that it is to come, and elles nought?
	So mighte I wene that thinges alle and some,
	That whilom been bifalle and overcome,
1070	Ben cause of thilke sovereyn purveyaunce,
	That forwoot al withouten ignoraunce.

	`And over al this, yet seye I more herto,
	That right as whan I woot ther is a thing,
	Y-wis, that thing mot nedefully be so;
1075	Eek right so, whan I woot a thing coming,
	So mot it come; and thus the bifalling
	Of thinges that ben wist bifore the tyde,
	They mowe not been eschewed on no syde.'

	Than seyde he thus, `Almighty Jove in trone,
1080	That wost of al this thing the soothfastnesse,
	Rewe on my sorwe, or do me deye sone,
	Or bring Criseyde and me fro this distresse.'
	And whyl he was in al this hevynesse,
	Disputinge with himself in this matere,
1085	Com Pandare in, and seyde as ye may here.

	`O mighty God,' quod Pandarus, `in trone,
	Ey! Who seigh ever a wys man faren so?
	Why, Troilus, what thenkestow to done?
	Hastow swich lust to been thyn owene fo?
1090	What, pardee, yet is not Criseyde a-go!
	Why list thee so thyself fordoon for drede,
	That in thyn heed thyn eyen semen dede?

	`Hastow not lived many a yeer biforn
	Withouten hir, and ferd ful wel at ese?
1095	Artow for hir and for non other born?
	Hath kinde thee wroughte al only hir to plese?
	Lat be, and thenk right thus in thy disese.
	That, in the dees right as ther fallen chaunces,
	Right so in love, ther come and goon plesaunces.

1100	`And yet this is a wonder most of alle,
	Why thou thus sorwest, syn thou nost not yit,
	Touching hir goinge, how that it shal falle,
	Ne if she can hirself distorben it.
	Thou hast not yet assayed al hir wit.
1105	A man may al by tyme his nekke bede
	Whan it shal of, and sorwen at the nede.

	`Forthy take hede of that that I shal seye;
	I have with hir yspoke and longe ybe,
	So as accorded was bitwixe us tweye.
1110	And ever-mor me thinketh thus, that she
	Hath somwhat in hir hertes privetee,
	Wher-with she can, if I shal right arede,
	Distorbe al this, of which thou art in drede.

	`For which my counseil is, whan it is night,
1115	Thou to hir go, and make of this an ende;
	And blisful Juno, thourgh hir grete mighte,
	Shal, as I hope, hir grace unto us sende.
	Myn herte seyth, "Certeyn, she shal not wende;"
	And forthy put thyn herte a whyle in reste;
1120	And hold this purpos, for it is the beste.'

	This Troilus answerde, and sighte sore,
	`Thou seyst right wel, and I wil do right so;'
	And what him liste, he seyde unto it more.
	And whan that it was tyme for to go,
1125	Ful prively himself, withouten mo,
	Unto hir com, as he was wont to done;
	And how they wroughte, I shal yow telle sone.

Next: From Troilus and Criseyde, Book IV, lines 1128-1148: Troilus and Criseyde embrace each other crying