PARDONER

¶Here is a box full of humble bees That stonge Eve as she sat on her knees Tasting the fruit to her forbidden Who kysseth the bees within this hidden Shall have as much pardon of right As for any relyke he kyst this night. ¶You for God knoweth when it is need To send folks drink but by Saint Antony I ween he hath sent you to much all ready. ¶I am content that thou lie First ❧ Now lie you both by our lady Thou liest in boast of his honesty And he hath lied in affirming the ¶Well sir then mark what I can say I have been a pardoner many a day And done greater cures ghostly Then ever he did bodily Namely this one which you shall here Of one departed within this seven year A friend of mine and likewise I To her again was as friendly Who fell so syke so suddenly That deed she was even by and by And never spoke with pressed nor clerk Nor had no whyt of this holy work For I was them it could nat be Yet harden I say she asked for me But when I bethought me how this chanced And that I have to heaven advanced So many souls to me but strangers And could nat keep my friend from dangers But she to die so dangerously For her soul health especially That was the thing that grieved me So That nothing could release my woo Till I had tried even out of hand In what estate her soul did stand For which trial short tale to make I took this journey for her sake Give ear for here beginneth the story From hens I went to purgatory And took with me this gere in my fyste Whereby I may do there what I list I knocked and was let in quickly But lord how low the souls made courtesy And I to every soul again Did gyve a beck them to retain And axed them this question than If that the soul of such a woman Did late among them there appear Whereto they said she came nat here Then ferd I much it was nat well Alas thought I she is in hell For with her life I was so acqueynted That sure I thought she was nat sainted With this it chanced me to snese Christ help quoth a soul that lay for his fees Those words quoth I thou shalt nat lees Then with these pardons of all degrees I paid his tole and set him so quyght That strait to heaven he took his flight And I from them to hell that night To help this woman if I might Nat as who say by outhorite But by the way of entreat And First the devil that kept the gate I came and spoke after this rate All hail sir devil and made low courtesy Welcome quoth he this smillyngly He knew me well and I at last Remembered him sins long time past For as good happen would have it chance This devil and I were of old acqueyntaunce For oft in the play of corpus Christi He hath played the devil at Coventry By his acqueyntaunce and my behauoure He showed to me right friendly favour And to make my return the shorter I said to this devil good master porter For all old love if it lie in your power Help me to speak with my lord and your Be sure quoth he no tongue can tell What time thou couldst have come so well For this day lucyfer fell Which is our festyuall in hell Nothing unreasonable craved this day That shall in hell have any nay But yet be beware thou come nat in Till time thou may thy pasporte win Wherefore stand Still and I will wed If I can get thy save condyt He tarried nat but shortly got it Under seal and the devils hand at it In ample wise as you shall here Thus it began Lucyfere By the power of God chief devil of hell To all the devils that there do dwell And every of them we send greeting Under streygyt charge and commanding That they aiding and assystent be To such a pardoner and maned me So that he may at liberty Pass save without his jeopardy Till that he be from us extyncte And clearly out of hells precinct And his pardons to keep safeguard We will they lie in the porters ward Given in the fornes of our palys In our hie court of maters of malys Such a day and year of our rein God save the devil quoth I for playue I trust this writing to be sure Then put thy trust quoth he in ever Sins thou art sure to take no harm This devil and I walket arm in arm So far till he had brought me thither Where all the devils of hell together Stood in a ray in such apparel As for that day there metely fell Their horns well guilt their clowes full clean Their tailles well kempt and as I ween With Sothery butter their bodies anointed I never saw devils so well appointed The master devil sat in his jacket And all the souls were playing at racket None other rackettes they had in hand Save every soul a good fire brand Wherewith they played so prettily That Lucyfer laughed merely And all the resedew of the friends Did laugh full well togytther like friends But of my friend I saw no whyt Nor durst nat axe for her as yet Anon all this rout was brought in silens And I by and usher brought in presens Then to Lucyfer low as I could I kneeled which he so well allowed That thus he beckte and by Saint Antony He smiled on me well favoredly Bending his brows as broad as bairn durres Shaking his ears as uged as burrs Rolynge his yes as round as two bushels Flastynge the fire out of his nose thryls Gnashing his teeth so baynglorousely That me thought time to fallen to flattery Wherewith I told as I shall tell Oh Pleasant pictured Oh prince of hell Fevered in fashion abominable And sins that is inestimable For me to praise the worthily I leave of prays unworthy To give the prays beseeching the To hear my sewte and then to be So good to grant the thing I crave And to be short this would I have The soul of one which hither is flytted Delivered hens and to me remitted And in this doing though all be nat quit Yet some part I shall deserve it As thus I am a pardoner And over souls as a controller Through out the earth my power does stand Where many a soul lies on my hand That speed in maters as I use them As I receive them or refuse them Whereby what time thy pleasure is I shall require any partly of this The lest devil here that can come thither Shall chosen a soul and bring him hither Now quoth the devil we are well pleased What is his name thou wouldst have eased Nay quoth I be it good or evil My coming is for a she devil What calste her quoth he thou horyson Forsooth quoth I Margery coorson Now by our honour said Lucyfer No devil in hell shall withhold her And if thou wouldst have twenty more Were nat for justice they should goo For all we devils within this den Have more to do with two women Then with all the charge we have beside Wherefore if thou our friend will be tried Aply thy pardons to women so That unto us there come no more To do my b e I promised by oath Which I have kept for as the faith goes At this days to heaven I do procure Ten women to one man be sure Then of Lucyfer my leave I took And Straight unto the master coke I was h dde into the kechyn For Margaryes office was there in All thing handled there discretely For every soul beareth office metely Which might be seen to see her fit So bysely turning of the spit For many a spit here hath she turned And many a good spit hath she burned And many a spit full hoth hath toasted Before the meat could be half roasted And or the meat were half roasted in deed I took her then from the spit for speed But when she saw this brought to pass To tell the joy wherein she was And of all the devils for joy how they Did roar at her delyuery And how the chains in hell did ring And how all the souls therein did sing And how we were brought to the gate And how we took our leave thereat Be sure lack of time sufferyth nat To rehearse the .xx. part of that Wherefore this tale to conclude brevely This woman thanked me chiefly That she was rid of this endless death And so we departed on new market heth And if that any man do mind her Who list to seek her there shall he find her ⚜I never harden a greater by our lady ❧ And I desire as he hath said ⚜Nay First I be shrew your knaves Heart Or I take part in your knavery I will speak fair by one lady Sir I beseech your mashyp to be As good as you can be to me. ¶So help me God so were you better What should a beggar be a jetter It were no whyt your honesty To have us twain jet after you. ¶Marry sir I heartily thank you. ⚜And so will I for he hath said so well would we should follow his counsel. ¶And when you have gone as far as you can For all your labour and ghostly entente Yet welcome home as wise as you went ⚜If we did sir what is the mater ¶Sir you seem well seen in women's causes I pray you tell me what causeth this That women after their a ysynge Be so long in their apparelling ¶Sir you may show your beware for your mind But I think you shall no profit find ⚜And what helpeth skill where is no wit. ❧ So help me God it liketh nat me Where company is met and well agreed Good pastime does right well in deed But who can fit in dalyaunce Men fit in such a variance As we were set or you came in Which strife this man did First Begin Alleging that such men as use For love of God nat and refuse On fot to goo from place to place A pilgrimage calling for grace Shall in that pain with penitence Obtain discharge of conscience Comparing that life for the best Enduccyon to our endless rest Upon these words our mater grew For if he could avow them true As good to be a gardener As for to be a pardoner But when I harden him so far wide I then approached and replied Saying this that this indulgence Having the foresaid penitence Dyschargeth man of all offence With much more profit then this pretence I a ke but two pens at the most I wys this is nat very great cost And from all pain without despair My soul for his keep even his chair And when he dyeth he may be sure To come to heaven even at pleasure And more then heaven he can nat get How far so ever he list to et Then is his pain more then his wit To wake to heaven sins he may fit Sir as we were in this contention In came this daw with his invention Reveling us him self avanting That all the souls to heaven ascending Are most bound to the potycary Because he helpeth most men to die Before which death he sayeth in deed No soul in heaven can have his mede ⚜Now in good faith and I assent ¶By that boast ou semest a beggar in deed What can thy Queen etnesse help us at need If we should sta e thou hast nat I think One penny to buy S one pot of drink Nay if richesse myghe rule the roast Behold what cause I have to boast Lo here be pardons half a dosyn For ghostly riches they have no cousin And more over to me they bring Sufficient succour for my living And here be relics of such a kind As in this world no man can find Knee down all re and when you leave kissing Who list to off shall have my blessing Friends here shall you see even anon Of all Hallows the blessed jaw bone Kys it hardly with good devotion ¶Mark well this relyke here is awhipper My friends unfeigned here is a slypper Of one of the seven sleepers be sure Doutiesse this kys shall do you great pleasure For all these two days it shall so ease you That none other savours shall displease you. ¶Here is and ey that of the great Turk Whose eyes be on S set on this piece of work May happily less part of his eye sight But nat all till h e blind out right. ¶Marry sir you can no less do But thank him as much as it comes to And so will I do for my part Now a vengeance on thy knaves heart I never knew pedlar a judge before Nor never will trust pedlynge knave more What dost thou there thou horson nody. ¶Nay for God sir then did I rage I think you right well ocupied To seek these saints on every side Also your pain I nat dispraise it But yet I discomende your wit And or we go even so shall you If you in this will answer me I yray you show what the cause is You went all these pilgrimages ¶The longer you dwell in communication The less shall you like this ymagynacyon For you may perceive even at the First chop Your tale is trapped in such a stop That at the lest you seem worse then we ¶Nay nay my fr de that will nat be I am to good to wait on the. ¶Nay sirs behold here may you see The great toe of the trinity Who to this toe any money voweth And ones may role it in his moves All his life after I undertake He shall be rid of the tooth ache. ¶Small marry me thinketh he hath none at all. ¶Good friends I have yet here in this glass Which on the drink at the wedding was Of Adam and Eve undoubtedly If you honour this relyke devoutly All though you thirst no whyt the less Yet shall you drink the more doubtless After which drinking you shall be as meet To stand on your heed as on your feet ⚜In that I said the contrary I think from troth I did nat vary. ¶I thought you lied. ¶Truly I am a pardoner. ¶By the First part of this last tale It seemeth you come late from the ale For reason on your side so far does fail That you leave sonyng and Begin to rail Wherein you forget your own part clearly For you be as untrue as I And in one point you are beyond me For you may lie by aucthoryte that hath wandered so far That no man can be their controller And where you esteem your labour so much I say yet again my pardons be such That if there were a thousand souls on a hepe I would bring them all to heaven as good cheap As you have brought your self on pilgrimage In the lest quarter of your voyage Which is far a this side heaven by God There your labour and pardon is odd With small cost and without any pain These pardons bringeth them to heaven plain Give me but a penny or two pens And as soon as the soul departeth hens In half and hour or three quarters at most The soul is in heaven with the holy ghost ¶Now is your own confession lyckely To make your self a foal quyckely For I perceive you would obtain No neither thing for all your pain But only grace your soul to save Now mark in this what wit you have To seek so far and help so nigh Even here at home is remedy. For at your door my self does dwell Who could have saved your soul as well As all your wide wandering shall do Though you went thryes to Jericho Now sins you might have sped at home What have you won by running at Room. ¶If you kylde a thousand in and hour space When come they to heaven dying from state of grace