Geoffrey Chaucer is an English writer and poet who was born in London in the 1340s and died in 1400 in that same city. His most famous work is Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales are, with Sire Gauvain and the Green Knight (from an anonymous person) and Peter the Plowman (by William Langland), the very first great works of English literature. Here is the first tale: the priest.
Canterburry Tales: The Cure's Tale
Here follows the prologue of the Curé's Tale.
When the manciple had finished his tale,
the sun had declined from the south line
so low that it was no longer, in my eyes,
only at the height of twenty-nine degrees.
It was four o'clock then, according to my calculation:
because eleven feet, or hardly more nor less,
measured my shadow at this hour, in this place,
of those feet that would have divided my waist
in six equal feet in proportion.
10D’ailleurs l’exaltation de la Lune,
I mean Libra, began its ascent,
as we arrived at the entrance of a hamlet;
this is why our host, who was accustomed to guiding,
as in this case, our happy company,
spoke in these terms: "Messeigneurs, each and every one,
now we only need one tale.
My decision and judgment have been executed;
I think we've heard all kinds of it.
Almost everything was done according to my order;
20je prie Dieu qu’il donne bonne chance
to whoever will tell us this tale joyfully.
Sir priest (he said), are you curate?
or are you pastor? tell the truth, by your faith!
Whoever you are, don't interrupt our game,
because everyone here, except you, has told his tale.
Take off the buckle and show us what you have in your bag;
because really is my opinion, to your mine,
that you must know how to hatch a great story.
Tell us a tale, soon, palsambleu! "
30 Notre curé lui répondit tout aussitôt :
“You will not have a fairy tale, as far as I am concerned;
for Paul, writing to Timothy,
blame those who stray from the truth
and content with fables and other nonsense.
Why would I go and sow the chaff from my hand,
when I can sow wheat, if I like it?
That's why I say that please listen
a morality and an edifying material,
and then if you want to lend me an ear,
40 je vous donnerai volontiers, en toute révérence envers le Christ,
entertainment allowed, my best.
But know it well, I am a southerner;
I don't know how to tell a story by repeating the letters - rum, ram, ruf ;
and, God is my witness, I do not appreciate the rhyme much better;
and that is why, please, I will not use periphrases.
I will tell you a pleasant tale in prose
to end this whole party and to end it.
And may Jesus, in his goodness, send me wisdom
to show you the way, during our trip,
50 de ce parfait et glorieux pèlerinage
what is called the heavenly Jerusalem!
And, if you allow it, nothing more
I will start my tale, on which I beg you
to give me your opinion, I can not say better.
But nevertheless, this meditation,
I submit it to any correction
clerics, because I am not textual,
I only take the meaning, believe me.
Also I make a statement
60 que j’accepterai toute correction. »
Thereupon we hastened to give our assent,
because, it seemed to us, it was something to do
to end with some edifying instruction,
and to give the parish priest time and audience;
and we invited our host to tell him
that we all beg him to tell his tale.
Our box spoke for all of us:
“Sir priest (he said), heaven bless you!
Say what you like and we'll be happy to listen. "
70 Et à ces paroles il ajouta quelques mots en cette sorte :
"Tell us (he said) your meditation,
but hurry, the sun is about to set.
Speak fruitfully, and that in a short time,
and to do well that God gives you grace. "
Explicit Prohemium.⁂Le Conte du Curé.Here begins the Tale of the Curé.
[Despite the hostel's cautious advice, the good Curé should not be in haste to tell his tale, or rather his sermon. The text of this homily in prose spans 43 pages in two very tight columns in the Student's Chaucer. Here again a summary was essential, the matter not being not new, the original existing for the most part in French, as we will see in the note. A brief analysis will therefore be found in the following pages, in which the words of the Sum French. We indicate during this analysis our feeling on the authenticity of the work, a question which does not seem to have concerned commentators much.]
State super vias and videte and interrogate de viis antiquis, quæ sit via bona; and ambulate in ea, and invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris. (Jer.)
Exordium. - The roads which lead to Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the reign of glory are numerous. One of them is called Penance. It is important for any man to inquire about it. This is why the preacher will define Penance, will show how it works, and what the different kinds are. But what things are necessary for true and perfect Penance? Three things: Contrition of heart, Confession of mouth, and Satisfaction. Penance is like a tree whose root is Contrition, Confession the branches and leaves, Satisfaction the fruit.
First point. — Contrition est la douleur que l’homme éprouve en son cœur pour ses péchés. Elle doit être déterminée par six causes : et d’abord « la souvenance des péchés ; pensez en effet que d’enfants de Dieu vous êtes devenus membres du démon, un scandale pour Sainte Église, la pâture du perfide serpent ; vous retombez souventefois en le mal, comme le chien retourne à son vomissement ». Telles réflexions inspirent à l’homme de la honte pour son péché. Les autres causes sont le sentiment d’être esclave du péché, la crainte de l’enfer, la souvenance des bonnes œuvres rendues vaines par l’inconduite qui s’ensuivit ou des bonnes œuvres qui par insouciance ne furent point faites ; c’est bien à propos que celui qui n’a point fait de bonne œuvre, pourra chanter cette récente chanson française : « J’ay tout perdu, mon temps et mon labeur ». La cinquième cause est la souvenance de la Passion de Notre Seigneur pour nos péchés, et la dernière est l’espoir du pardon, de la sanctification et de la vie éternelle. — L’homme doit maintenant connaître les modes de la contrition, laquelle sera universelle et totale. Repentance ne concerne pas seulement les actes mais aussi les intentions ; pas seulement les faits, mais aussi les paroles. Contrition s’accompagne de merveilleuse angoisse, Contrition est continuelle, car tant qu’elle dure, l’homme peut espérer le pardon obtenir. — Contrition a enfin pour effect to free man from sin. “It destroys the prison of hell, it irritates and weakens the forces of the devil, restores the gifts of the Holy Spirit and all good virtues. Much wise is who wants to apply himself to these things, because in truth during all his life he will never have the courage to sin, but will dedicate his body and his Soul to the service of Jesus Christ, and will do him homage, because in truth, our sweet Lord Jesus Christ has so easy-going spared us in our follies that, if it had not had pity on the souls of men, we would all be in the case of singing a sad song. "
Second point. - The second part of Penance is Confession, which is a sign of Contrition. Confession is the act by which one truly demonstrates one's sins to the priest; really, that is to say straightforward. For this, it is necessary to know where the sins come from, how they get worse, what they are. - Causes of sin: Sin entered the world with Adam, when he broke God's command. Original sin sums up all sins in itself: “the first idea comes from the devil, if as the serpent shows; we then see the carnal pleasure, if as shown by Eve; and after that the consent of reason, if as Adam shows ”. Sin therefore has three causes: temptation of Satan, lust of the flesh, assent of reason. - How can we understand the development of sin? Having its origin in the flesh, it grows through the weakness of the man who submits to the devil. “As a sword cuts a thing in two, so consent separates a man from God. "" Sin is mortal, or venial: mortal, when one loves the creature more than Jesus Christ; venial, when we love Jesus Christ less than we owe. "Let us beware of venial sins:" A big wave of the sea sometimes comes with such great violence that it engulfs the nave. And even misfortune, it is sometimes small drops of water which produce it, when they penetrate by a thin slit in the sentine and from there to the bottom of the nave, if the sailors do not care about emptying it. »Many sins that are thought to be insignificant are dangerous: namely, to drink and eat to excess, to talk too much, not to listen kindly to the poor, to neglect fasting, to arrive late for services, to give too much affection to the poor. wife and children. The remedies for all these shortcomings are easy: it is communion, it is holy water, alms, the recitation of the Confiteor at mass, it is the blessing of bishops and priests, and many other good works. .
[Here the sermon is interrupted. The preacher - it is perhaps an orthodox zealous who wanted by a pious fraud to invest with the authority of Chaucer a particularly popular chapter of the "Sum the King" - passes without transition to the question of the Seven Deadly Sins.]
Sequitur de Septem Peccatis Mortalibus et eorum dependenciis circumstanciis et speciebus. « Maintenant il convient de dire quels sont les péchés mortels, c’est-à-dire capitaux, car on les appelle capitaux, parce que ce sont les chefs d’où proviennent tous les autres. Orgueil est la racine d’où issent et naissent certaines branches, Ire, Envie, Paresse, Avarice, Gourmandise, et Luxure. Chacun de ces péchés capitaux a ses branches et ses rameaux comme il appert ci-après. »
From Superbia
From Pride are born so many branches that there is no clerk who knew how to number them. We must be content to cite a few, namely: Revolt, Boast, Hypocrisy, Repentance, Arrogance, Impudence, Insolence, Impatience, Presumption. “There are two kinds of pride, one is inside the heart, the other outside. But one is a sign of the other, as the cheerful cork of the tavern is a sign of the wine in the cellar. "Pride is found in superfluous clothing," not only the embroidery, but the fur of the coats, coats too long in truth, which trail in the mud and the garbage, so that the part which trails is lost, instead of the give to the poor, to the chagrin of these poor people ”. Pride is also seen in the insufficiency of clothing, so tight that instead of covering and veiling, they uncover and undress. "Ornamental sin is in things which concern horsemanship, such as the number of the horses of great price, and the many rascals who are fed because of them, the curious harnesses, the saddles, croupiers, chests and bridles, covered with precious and rich fabrics, bars and plates of gold and silver. What is the use of maintaining a large household where there is no profit in doing so. The table makes pride appear in the excess of meats and drinks, the excess of precious metal vessels, the abuse of music. Finally “Pride comes from the goods of nature such as health, strength, beauty of the body, a subtle spirit to find well, good memory to retain well; fortune goods such as wealth, honors, prosperity; goods of grace as science, virtuous contemplation, strength to resist temptation ”.
The remedy for Pride is humility and gentleness. “Now there are three kinds of humility, that of the heart, that of the lips, that of works. There are four kinds of humility of heart: the first when man considers himself nothing in the face of God; the second when he does not despise any other man; the third when he does not care about the contempt of others; the fourth when he does not regret his shame. Likewise there are four kinds of humility of lips and humility of works.
From Invidia.
« Après Orgueil il convient de parler d’Envie qui est, selon le philosophe, chagrin pour la prospérité d’autrui, et selon saint Augustin, chagrin pour le bonheur d’autrui et joie pour le mal advenant à autrui. » Envie vient de Méchanceté. Méchanceté est de deux sortes : dureté de cœur et opposition à vérité. « Certes Envie est le pire des péchés, car tandis que tous les autres péchés combattent une vertu particulière, Envie les combat toutes. » Envie peut être le chagrin que cause la prospérité d’autrui ou la joie éprouvée an malheur d’autrui, ce qui fait ressembler l’homme au Diable son père, qui se délecte toujours du malheur des hommes. Envie engendre Médisance dont voici un exemple : « Quelques-uns font l’éloge de leur voisin avec mauvaise intention, faisant toujours un corn in closing who is worthy of more blame than is worth all the praise ”. There are five ways of Backbiting. Afterwards come frequent murmurs among the servants "who, not daring to openly resist the commandments of the Lord, speak ill of him, denigrating him, and murmur in spite", then Bitterness of heart, Discord, Contempt, Accusations, Malignity.
Love for God and neighbor is the remedy for this sin. “The neighbor must be considered as a brother, since all men have the same parents according to the flesh, namely Adam and Eve, and the same spiritual father, that is to say Our Heavenly Father. »Do to others what you want them to be done to you. Do not harm your neighbor, neither in his person, nor in his goods, nor in his soul, by deceiving him by bad examples. Do not covet his wife or anything that belongs to him. Love your enemy. When he says bad things about you, pray for him; when he wrongs you, show him proofs of goodness: Did not Jesus Christ die for his enemies? “As the Devil is confused by Humility, so is he wounded to death by our love for our enemy. Certainly Love is the medicine which purges the heart of man of the venom of Envy. "
From Ira.
Colère suit Envie, car quiconque envie son prochain, trouve sans peine matière à colère contre lui. Saint Augustin définit la colère la volonté de se venger par des paroles ou des actes. Il y a « deux manières de Ire : l’une est juste, l’autre est mauvaise ». La juste colère est sans rancune, ce sont les méfaits des hommes, non les hommes eux-mêmes qui la provoquent. Il y a deux mauvaises colères : l’une soudaine, l’autre calculée ; l’une est vénielle, l’autre mortelle. « Colère est agréable au diable, car elle est la fournaise du diable, qu’échauffe le feu d’Enfer. De même que nul élément n’est plus puissant que le feu pour détruire les choses terrestres, ainsi Colère est puissante pour détruire toutes choses spirituelles. Voyez comme ce feu de braise, presque mort sous la cendre, se réveillera au contact du soufre ; ainsi Colère se réveillera, si elle est touchée par Orgueil qui sommeille au fond du cœur humain. » Rancune nourrit et entretient Colère. « Il y a une espèce d’arbre, selon saint Isidore, qui, si les hommes en font du feu et en couvrent la flamme avec de la cendre, le feu en durera un an et plus. » Il en est ainsi de la rancune. De Ire sont engendrés Haine, Discorde, Guerre, Homicide. Homicide est spirituel ou matériel. Il y a six sortes d’homicide spirituel : homicide par haine, médisance, mauvais conseil, non paiement de gages, usure, refus de faire aumône ; et quatre sortes d’homicide matériel : par jugement, nécessité, imprudence, luxure. Autres péchés sont engendrés par Ire : ce sont jurons, parjures, conjurations de démons : « Que dire, en effet, de ceux qui croient aux divinations tirées du vol des oiseaux, des sorts, des rêves, d’une porte qui crie, d’un rat qui ronge, ou autres sottises pareilles ». Mais il faut en venir aux tromperies, que facilitent les mensonges et la flatterie. Doit-on parler des malédictions, des reproches, des mépris du cœur courroucé ? Colère inspire les mauvais conseils du traître, encourage l’homme à semer la discorde parmi ses semblables, à proférer des menaces et de vaines paroles, à prolonger les discussions, à prodiguer les moqueries.
The remedy is this virtue which is called Mansuétude or Bénignité. Patience is another virtue of which there are four varieties which help to suffer bad words, material harm, physical harm, excessive work respectively. “One day a philosopher, wanting to chastise his disciple, looked for a stick, and when the child saw the stick, he said to his master: What are you thinking of doing? - I want to strike you, said the master, in order to amend you. - In truth, cried the child, you should begin by amending yourself, who have lost all your patience for a child's fault. - In truth, cried the master, all in tears, you are telling the truth; take the stick from me and chastise me for my impatience. From Patience comes Obedience which is perfect, when a man does whatever he has to do.
From Aggidia.
If Envy blinds the heart of man and if Anger troubles it, Sloth weighs it down. It is a mortal sin, because the Book said, Cursed be he who does the service of God carelessly. In whatever state man finds himself, Sloth is his enemy. “In the state of innocence he should labor to glorify and worship God; in the state of sin, to pray for his amendment; in the state of grace, he is bound to perform the works of penance. But Sloth suffers neither pain nor penance. To combat this sin man must accustom himself to doing good works. “Work, says Saint Bernard, gives the worker strong arms and hard muscles, Laziness weakens and irritates him. Then comes Despair engendered by excessive pain or fear. He who despairs does not hesitate before any sin, witness Judas. What does he not think of the divine mercy of which every repentant sinner may be the object, of the prodigal son, of the good thief on the cross? Drowsiness comes next, which numbs body and soul, and Negligence, "nurturer of all evil as Ignorance is its mother", and Tarditas who alienates man from God, and Tristicia which causes the death of the soul.
The called virtue Fortitudo is the remedy to be used against this sin. “It is of various kinds: Magnanimity, that is to say great courage, Magnificence, when a man completes the great works of good which he has begun, Constance or stability of courage. There are other remedies for this sin in various works, in the meditation on eternal sorrows and the joys of Paradise, in faith in the grace of the Holy Spirit.
From Avaricia.
Avarice, according to Saint Augustine, is lust of the heart for the goods of the earth. We must distinguish between greed and covetousness, “covetousness is coveting what you don't have, avarice is keeping what you have, without needing it”. "What difference is there between an idolater and a stout miser, that the idolater by adventure has only one idol or two, and the miser has several? For all the florins in his chest are idols to him. From lust comes plunder from the lords, who claim that it is justice to skin their poor men by excessive sizes and customs, saying that the serf has no temporal good which does not belong to his lord. But serfdom is not prescribed by nature, it is only the punishment for a fault. “Lords should not boast of their lordships since in their natural condition they are not lords of serfs. Think of this seed from which serfs were born, also lords were born. Serf can be saved as well as lord. The same death who takes a slave takes a lord. So I say: act with your serf as you would like your lord to do with you, if you were in such sad condition. Every sinner is a slave to sin. What about those who plunder and plunder the Church? The sword given to the knight means that he must defend the Holy Church, not steal it, and he who does so is a traitor to Christ. Then comes Losengerie (flattery, deceit) between merchants, for commerce is in two ways, one is honest, enjoined by God, the other made of perjury and lies. Simonie is "dishonest spiritual commerce, that is to say the desire to acquire what concerns the sanctuary of God and the healing of souls." Through Simony thieves are introduced into the Church to steal the souls of Jesus Christ and destroy his heritage. It is to drive out the chosen one of God and to put in his place the child of the Devil. Then come the game, the false testimonies which make it possible to rob others, spiritual theft or sacrilege.
Mercy and pity are the remedies of Avarice. We must imitate Our Lord who gave us his person. Another remedy is reasonable expenditure, and here we must give thanks for the goods we have and remember that we do not know when or how we will die, and by giving, beware of lavishness. “He who spends badly, he is like a horse seeking to drink troubled water instead of drinking water from the clear fountain. "
From Gula.
Gloutonnerie est un appétit démesuré pour manger et boire. C’est le péché qui a corrompu le monde comme on le voit au péché d’Adam et d’Ève. Celui qui y succombe ne peut résister à nul autre. Ce péché est de plusieurs sortes : Ivrognerie est la sépulture de la raison humaine ; quand un homme est ivre, il perd la raison et c’est péché mortel ; pourtant si un homme n’est pas habitué aux boissons fortes ou ne connaît pas la force de la boisson, ou a trop peiné, et se laisse surprendre par la boisson, le péché est véniel. « Ivrognerie cause dérangement d’esprit et perte de mémoire. Excès de viandes amène corruption des humeurs corporelles. » Saint Grégoire distingue autrement les branches de ce péché : « La première est manger devant heure, la seconde est rechercher viande et boisson délicates, la troisième est manger outre mesure, la quatrième est curiosité à cuire et appareiller les viandes, la cinquième est manger gloutonnement. Ce sont là les cinq doigts de la main du diable, au moyen desquels il attire les hommes au péché. »
Abstinence is the remedy for Gluttony, says Galen; but it is not meritorious to practice it only for the health of the body. Saint Augustine wants it to be accompanied by patience. Other remedies are Temperance, Shame, Sobriety, Economy.
From Luxuria
Après Gloutonnerie vient Luxure, car ces deux péchés sont cousins. « Ce péché est chose déplaisante pour Dieu qui a dit : Ne forniquez point. » Aussi, dans les anciennes lois, a-t-il prescrit des peines sévères contre ce péché. Une femme esclave coupable de ce péché mourait sous le bâton, une femme de naissance noble était lapidée, une fille d’évêque brûlée. Parlons d’abord d’Adultère qui sera puni en Enfer par feu et soufre. Ce péché moult grief perd l’âme, consume le corps, dissipe les biens. Il enlève à l’homme et à la femme leur bonne renommée et tout leur honneur. « C’est l’autre main du diable avec ses cinq doigts pour entraîner le peuple à vilenie : le premier doigt est fol regard, le second faux attouchements, car quiconque touche femme prend dans ses doigts serpent qui mord ou poix qui tache, le tiers est paroles sales semblables à feu qui dévore le cœur, le quart est baisers : en vérité insensé est celui qui approche les lèvres d’une fournaise, même en légitime mariage, car on peut se tuer avec son propre couteau ou s’enivrer en buvant à sa tonne. Le cinquième doigt est le péché puant de Paillardise. Certes, les cinq doigts de Gloutonnerie, le diable les met dans le ventre de l’homme, et des cinq doigts de Paillardise il le saisit par les reins et le précipite dans la fournaise d’Enfer, où il souffrira éternellement par le feu et le ver rongeur, et il y aura des pleurs et des gémissements, extrême faim et soif, et l’horreur des diables qui le fouleront aux pieds, sans répit et sans fin. » Luxure est de différentes sortes, comme fornication entre personnes qui n’ont nul lien de mariage, défloration de vierge, adultère ; et bien qu’adultère ait été mentionné, il est bon d’y revenir. Adultère est un vol, c’est violation d’un sacrement, le coupable peut sans le savoir avoir commerce avec une parente. Que dire aussi des folles femmes qui pour un peu de gain s’abandonnent à péché, quelquefois au profit du mari. Adultère est Homicide, puisqu’il sépare ceux dont Dieu a fait une seule chair. Néanmoins par la loi de Jésus-Christ qui est loi de pitié, le pardon de cet énorme péché est accordé après pénitence, ainsi que Jésus-Christ le dit à la femme prise en adultère et qui devait être lapidée selon la loi des Juifs : Va, lui dit Notre Seigneur, et n’aie plus volonté de pécher, ou bien veuille ne plus commettre péché. Il y a d’autres variétés encore à ce péché : quand les coupables sont hommes de religion, démons et non anges de lumière, fils d’Hélie et enfants de Bélial, car certes un mauvais prêtre suffit pour corrompre toute une paroisse, comme un taureau lâché est assez pour toute une ville ; le mariage aussi peut devenir adultère quand ce sacrement n’est pas traité honnêtement ni gardé en grande révérence ou quand le mari et la femme sont parents à un certain degré ; adultère enfin est ce péché abominable que à grande peine peut-on nommer. « Ce péché déplaît tant à Dieu qu’il en fit pleuvoir feu ardent et soufre sur la cité de Sodome et de Gomorrhe et en fondit cinq cités en abîmes. » Adonc les hommes doivent se comporter sagement sans quoi ils peuvent très grièvement pécher.
Chastity and Continence are the remedies of Lust. Chastity is in two ways, in marriage and in widowhood. Marriage is the legitimate union of the man and the woman who receive by virtue of the sacrament the bond which cannot be separated during all the life, that is to say while they both live. In order to sanctify the marriage, God attended a wedding where he changed the water into wine. Marriage erases fornication and reunites the hearts as well as the flesh of those who are husband and wife. This is true marriage. The man must behave with his wife in patience and respect: it is not from the head of Adam that God drew the woman, so that she might have dominion over him, nor from his foot so that she was beyond measure. humbled, but from Adam's rib, that she might be his companion. The wife must obey the husband, serve him honestly, be modest in appearance, have restraint and restraint in his words and conduct, and finally keep his faith as he keeps it. Because marriage has three ends, to have lineage, to reciprocally donate one's body, to avoid bawling. - Chastity is also in widowhood. Widows should be clean in heart as well as in body and mind, modest in dress, sober in food and drink, in word and deed. - Remaining a virgin is a third way of being chaste. Virginity deserves the praises of this world, it brings martyrs together, it has in itself what lips cannot say nor heart can conceive. - Other remedies are to flee the excess of table, and bad company and that no man trusts his own perfection unless he is stronger than Samson, holier than David, wiser than Solomon.
Now, after listing the Seven Deadly Sins, some of their branches and their remedies, I would, if I could, tell you about the Ten Commandments; but such a lofty doctrine I leave to theologians. Nevertheless, it pleases God that we have been touched by this treaty, all to the last.
[Here the preacher returns to his subject by a rather awkward transition, suggesting the interpolation].
From Confessione.
Or, comme la seconde partie de Pénitence consiste en Confession des lèvres, ainsi qu’il a été dit au premier chapitre, je dis, selon saint Augustin, que péché est toute parole, tout acte, toute intention contraire à la loi de Jésus-Christ, c’est-à-dire pécher par le cœur, les lèvres, en fait, par les cinq sens. Il faut considérer qui tu es qui commets le péché, si tu es homme ou femme, jeune ou vieux, noble ou serf, affranchi ou esclave, en bonne santé ou malade, marié ou célibataire, dans les ordres ou non, sage ou fol, clerc ou séculier. Autre circonstance est si le péché a été commis par fornication, adultère ou inceste ; si c’est un homicide, un horrible grand péché ou un petit, et combien de temps le péché s’est prolongé. Autre considération est le lieu où l’on a péché, quels en furent les complices, le nombre de fois qu’on a failli, par suite de quelles tentations et en quelle manière. L’homme et la femme, chacun de son côté, diront tout ouvertement, afin que le prêtre, qui est un juge, prononce son arrêt en connaissance de cause, après contrition du pécheur. — Pour que Confession soit profitable, il faut quatre conditions ; premier elle doit être faite dans l’amertume et le chagrin du cœur ; laquelle condition a cinq signes : honte, humilité, larmes, désir de parler malgré honte ressentie, obéissance à la pénitence imposée, chacun desquels signes se voit dans la confession du publicain, de saint Pierre et de Madeleine. Une autre condition à Confession est qu’elle soit faite rapidement, de peur de mort subite. Néanmoins il n’y faut pas mettre de la précipitation puisque la récapitulation des péchés exige quelque réflexion. Autres conditions sont les suivantes : Confession doit être faite librement, un prêtre régulièrement ordonné doit la recevoir, elle ne doit renfermer aucun mensonge, enfin elle doit être fréquente. « Une fois l’an au moins, car certes une fois l’an toutes choses sont renouvelées. »
Third and last point. - The third part of Penance is satisfaction which consists of alms and corporal punishment. Alms are of three kinds: contrition of heart, when man makes an offering of himself to God; compassion for others; gift of good spiritual and temporal advice. Man indeed needs food, clothing, refuge, charitable advice, visits when he is in prison or sick, a burial after his death. Such is alms and you will hear about it on the day of judgment. These alms you will give them according to your capacities and while hiding. - Corporal punishments are prayers, vigils, fasting, teaching of prayers. The prime prayer is the Paternoster, in which Jesus understood most of the things; in three things is this privileged prayer: Jesus Christ made it, it is short and easy to remember, it contains in itself all the others. This prayer must be said with faith, honesty and charity. Afterwards we must watch, because watch, said Jesus Christ, and pray for fear of falling into temptation. Then fasting, or fasting is of three kinds, according to whether the man abstains from meat, from rejoicings, from sins. Teaching or discipline consists in setting the example by the word, the writing, the behavior; to wear the hairshirt, to strike one's chest, to flagellate oneself, to remain on one's knees, to endure great and pitiful tribulations. Four things disturb Penance: fear, shame, hope, despair; fear of suffering; ashamed to recite one's sins; hope to live long and to deserve the mercy of Christ; despair of divine mercy and its own amendment.
Peroration. — Ainsi pourra-t-on comprendre quel est le fruit de Pénitence, à savoir, selon la parole de Jésus-Christ, l’éternelle béatitude du ciel ; là, joie n’a ni contrariété de malheur ni chagrin ; là, c’en est fini de tous les maux de la présente vie ; là, le corps de l’homme, naguère ord et noir, est plus brillant que le soleil ; là, le corps, naguère maladif, frêle et faible et mortel, est immortel et si fort et si sain que rien ne pourra lui nuire ; là, n’est ni soif, ni faim, ni froid, ainsi chaque âme est portée à la perfection par la vue et la connaissance de Dieu. Ce règne de béatitude, les hommes peuvent l’acquérir par la pauvreté en esprit, cette gloire par l’humilité ; cette abondance de joie par la faim et la soif ; et le reste par l’excès de leur labeur ; et la vie par la mort et la mortification du péché.
Here the author of the book takes leave of his readers.
“Now I pray all who hear this little treatise or read it, if there is anything in it that pleases them, to thank Our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom all intelligence and goodness proceed, And if there is something in the treatise something that displeases them, I also beg them to attribute it to the fault of my ignorance, and not to my will, which would have willingly said better if I had had knowledge. Because our book says: everything that is written is written to instruct us, and that is my intention. Now therefore I humbly beg you in the name of merciful God, to pray for me, that Christ may have mercy and forgive me my sins and, namely, my translations and editions of earthly vanities, which I repudiate in my retractions: such are the book of Troilus, the book of Fame, the book of the Nineteen Ladies; the Duchess's book; the Parliament of the Birds Valentine's Book; the Canterbury Tales, insofar as they lead to sin; the book of the Lion, and many others books if I remembered them, and many a song and many a lustful lay, may Christ, in his great mercy, forgive me the sin of them! But for the translation of Boëce by Consolatione and other books by legends Saints, homilies, morality and devotion, I thank Our Lord Jesus Christ and his blessed mother and all the saints in heaven, begging them henceforth and until the end of my life, to send me the grace to mourn my sins and apply myself to the salvation of my soul; and to grant me the grace to do true penance, confession and satisfaction in this present life; by the benevolent grace of Him who is king of kings, priest above all priests, who redeemed us with the precious blood of his heart; so that I may be one of those who on the day of judgment will be saved: who cum patre, etc. "
Here ends the book of Canterbury Tales, compiled by Geoffroy Chaucer, on whose soul may Jesus Christ have mercy. Amen.
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