the Body Speketh to
the Sowle
Capitulo lviii
Thenne lyft he vp a lytel
his fowle lothely vysage, and
beganne to opene his horrible mouthe, seyng in this
wyse. `Wat seist thou?', quoda he. `Euel comen
be thou that now begynnest thus to despysen me, that
oweth for to comfortenb me as moche as were in
the. Ne thynketh thou nought that thou somtyme were
mayster and gouernour of my flesshe, and that thou
shalt in that same flesshe come in to Iugementc
at the General Resurrexion of me & of al other
dede?
`Hast thou not vnderstanden here bifore the wordes
of Ezechyel40,
that somtyme was here in the same feld and in this
same place, seynge in this wyse: "the drye
bones, here ye the word of God", at whiche voys
euery bone went to other, ioynynge them self in
theyr propre places, and sewyngly
the spyrytes repayred to the bones, soo that they
stoden vp as men in the same persones, ryght as they
were byfore, withouten ony spot or vylonye, wherfor thou owest
nought so fowle to despyse me, ne soo rudely for to
blame me. For sothly this syght that Ezechyel sawe
in spyryte, it shal be fulfylled at the Day of
Iugement, veryly bodely withouten, ony doute.
Therfor sholdest thou not soo shortely
sette me at nought, for cause that I am now thus
fowle deformed and thus greuously tormentid in
stynke and fylthe amonges wormes and al fowle
corrupcion, for thou hast better ryght to blame thy
self than to pleyne on me, for of al my fowle horribilite
thy self art the cause.
`What reson hath the fyre to pleyne
vpon the wode, whiche, when hit
had caught hit, brenneth in to asshes. Why shold
these asshes be blamed or rebuked for theyr vnthryftynesse?
`Noo cause', quod I, `of skyle
hath no wyght for to blame the asshes, but bytwene
the and me this maner of lykenes is [47r]d not comparable.'
`Sothly',quod this body, `this lykenes is acordaunte. Vnderstandist
thou not that when I was departid
fro my moder wombe, with me thou were, and after
that tyme alweyes occupyedest me, til I was thus
vtterly wasted, and whan thou fondest in me nomore
for to waste, thou forsoke me and leftest me like
vnto asshes. And I suppose wel that yf thou haddest
lefte me sodenly in my helthe, or els that thou
haddest by vyolence be cast oute fro me, thenne
woldest thou nought haue despysed me as askes, but parauenture called me
black forbrent coles.'
