B.13.407–56 (Sloth)
Commentary on these passages, including phrases and lines unique to the B.13 version, appears above, at C passus 6 and 7. Lines 271–74, 313–19, 342, 354–55, 399–400, and 457–59 maintain the framework of attention to the coat (and to Will, who keeps examining it ever more closely), culminating in Conscience’s courteously asking Haukyn why he doesn’t wash; naturally, these lines disappear in the C version.
B.13.275–312a Of pride here a plot … Nemo potest duobus dominis seruire: (Pride) = C.6.30–60a. 275 pride … vnbuxom speche: Cf. C.6.14 (I, pruyde) and 16 (Haue be vnbuxum. 276: Cf. C.6.22, 25. 277–79: C.6.30–32. 280: C.6.34. 281: = C.6.35. 282–83: C.6.36–37.
B.13.284 Yhabited as an heremyte … 290 þer he haþ noʒt to doone: Replaced by C.6.38–40. Both passages expand on non so popholy C.6.37 (B.13.283). In the B lines, Will, interpreting the dirty coat, asserts that Actyf in his pope-holiness has dressed up as a religious hermit, attached to no order and so obeying no rule, pretending to the lele lif of a true hermit, but in fact spending his time scolding others (preaching at them as sinners, presumably), then getting a name for holiness and attracting contributions (best for his body), in short butting into matters that are the proper business of those in orders. (Schmidt takes line 289 to mean “How best to get a reputation for sexual prowess,” but you don’t need Inwit and outwit to do that. I see the entire passage as about pope-holiness. How a hermit uses his wits for the good of his body is made clear in C.9.188–251.) This account of the man Actyf as pope-holy is changed in C to a focus on pope-holiness itself, which crops up in one order (sekt) or another, and in many a convent. The change was probably prompted by the insertion in C of the passage just mentioned, 9.188–251.
B.13.291–94: C.6.41–44. 293 Or strengest on stede, or styuest vnder girdel: Parodies the diction of alliterative romances; see 15.155n above. 295: Not in C, perhaps because the point about pope-holiness has been made fully above. 296–97: = C.6.46. 298–99: = C.6.47–48. 300–1 Pouere … speche: Not in C. These two lines are probably explained by Boldest of beggeris 302: Actyf begs effectively by appearing poor and browbeating passersby into giving. The lines are therefore unnecessary (and a little cryptic), and so are dropped. See also C.6.60 thow y pore seme. 302–4: = C.6.49–51. 305: Put in new words in C.6.52. 306: = C.6.53–54. 307–10: C.6.55–58. 311–12: = C.6.59–60. 312a: C.6.60a.
B.13.313–19 “By crist!” quod Conscience þan it first semed: This transition to the next deadly sin gives Conscience a chance to introduce the idea of washing the coat, which he will return to at the end of this passus and the beginning of the next. On body half: on the front. Frounces: wrinkles. Ever proud, Actyf seems to boast even of his slovenliness.
B.13.320–41 It was bidropped wiþ wraþe … my chief heele: (Wrath and Envy) = C.6.324–41, under Envy only. For L’s habit of treating Wrath and Envy as the same sin, see Lawler 1996:178–79 and 6.6–59n above. B.13.320–23: Not in C. B.13.324–30a: C.6.69–75a. B.13.331–32: Not in C. B.13.333–41: C.6.77–85.
B.13.342–53 I waitede wisloker … tellen: (Lechery) = C.6.178–85, perhaps 186, 193–94. B.13.343 as by lokynge of his eiʒe: Cf. C.6.177 in waytynge of eyes. B.13.344–51: C.6.178–85. B.13.352–53: Not in C, but cf. C.6.186, 193–94.
B.13.354–398a Thanne Pacience parceyued … cor tuum: (Greed) = C.6.260–85a; also perhaps 243, 247. B.13.354–60: Not in C, but line 359 is partially used at C.6.243. Vnkynde desiryng: acquisitiveness beyond what is natural; good: things; met: quantity, what is measured out.; wed: the security for the loan. B.13.361–67: C.6.260–66. B.13.368–69: Not in C. B.13.370–74: C.6.267–71. B.13.375–82: Not in C, except that 375 is partially used at C.6.247. B.13.375–76 And what body … som certeyn: And anybody who borrowed from me paid for the time (I gave him to repay) with presents given in secret, or paid me a certain amount (extra); cheped: offered to buy, OED, s.v.cheap, v., 3a. B.13.383–88: C.6.272–77. B.13.389–90 So if I kidde … conscience gan hange: Not in C. This murky couplet is best explained by the sentences before and after it. Both of those say that at Mass he cannot pray because he is always mourning his losses or worrying about the money at risk in his current ventures. This sentence may be paraphrased, “Likewise (So) if I was kind to others, it did not give me a good conscience (cf. me conforte 394), because my conscience, instead of telling me ‘This is the right thing to do,’ was instead saying, ‘This is a good investment.’” He has a conscience that focuses not on good or God but on goods, vpon a cruwel coueitise: “Moore to good þan to god þe gome his loue caste” (356). It is where his heart is (398a). L plays on the two meanings of “conscience,” with and without a moral dimension (see the OED entry). He toys also with Latin dicta about what conscience depends on, such as Aquinas’s “Iudicium conscientiae maxime dependet ex divinis mandatis” (ST, 1a 2ae 96.4.2.1), the conscience’s judgment depends mostly on God’s commandments. See also B.5.594, in Piers’s allegory of heaven, “Of almesdedes are þe hokes þat þe gates hangen on.” The previous two lines have spoken of prayers and penance. Neither prayers, penance, nor almsdeeds have any spiritual value for Actyf: what hooks him, what he is hung up on, is profit.
B.13.391–98a: C.6.278–85a.
B.13.399–406 Yet glotoun … wende nauʒt to be saued: Glotoun: As in the seven-sins passage earlier, uniquely with gluttony L names the sinner rather than the sin. The phrase grete oþes alliterates with “gloton” or “glotonye” three other times: A.2.64 (B.2.93, C.2.100), A.5.157 (B.5.306, C.6.361), A.11.37 (B.10.51), and the adjective grete with some other noun five times: B.5.353 (C.6.411), B.5.379, B.13.78 (C.15.85), B.14.235, C.16.76. Cf. the similar linkage of gluttony and swearing at PardT C471–72. The only phrases in this short account of Actyf’s gluttony that appear in C.6 are 399 grete oþes (C.6.361), 401 þere no nede was (C.6.428), and 403 moore … þan kynde myʒte defie (C.6.430). Line 401 illustrates fals speche 400. 402 þerby: i.e., by God’s name. 406 wanhope: despair; this starts the transition to Sloth. Actyf disappears during the treatment of Sloth, to re-emerge suddenly at line 457; however, he will experience something close to despair at the end of passus B.14.
B.13.407–56 The whiche is sleuþe … luciferis fiþele: (Sloth) = C.7.69–116. B.13.407–8: Not in C. Sleiʒtes: arts; strategies, special knacks. B.13.409–13: C.6.69–73. B.13.414: Not in C. heiʒ ferye: A synonym for halyday: a church festival falling on a weekday (ferye), later just called a “high day.” Cf. C.4.113. B.13.415: Expanded to C.7.74–75. B.13.416–56: C.7.76–116.
An address to lords, ladies, and churchmen about dinner parties (B.13.421–56)
B.13.421–56
