Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's "De Consolatione Philosophiae" · Boethius
HACTENUS MENDACIS FORMA{M}.
_P._ þilke þinge þan q{uo}d she þat is oon {and} simple i{n} his nature. [Sidenote: [* fol. 20.]] þe wikkednesse of men departiþ it *diuidiþ it. {and} 2336 whan þei enforcen hem to gete p{ar}tie of a þing þat ne haþ no part. þei ne geten hem neiþer þilk[e] p{ar}tie þat nis none. ne þe þing al hole þat þei ne desire nat. [Sidenote: _B._ How is that?] _.b._ In whiche manere q{uo}d .I. [Sidenote: _P._ He that seeks riches in order to avoid poverty, is not solicitous about power; he prefers meanness and obscurity, and denies himself many natural pleasures that he may not lessen his heaps of pelf.] _p._ þilke man q{uo}d she þat 2340 sekeþ rychesse to fleen pouerte. he ne trauayleþ hym nat to for to gete power for he haþ leuer ben dirk {and} vile. {and} eke wiþdraweþ from hym selfe many naturel delitȝ for he nolde lesen þe moneye þat he haþ assembled. 2344 [Sidenote: He who lacks power, is pricked with trouble, and rendered an outcast and obscure by his sordid ways, does not possess sufficiency.] but certis in þis manere he ne getiþ hym nat [[pg 85]] suffisaunce þat power forletiþ. {and} þat moleste p{re}keþ. {and} þat filþe makeþ outcaste. {and} þat derknesse hideþ. [Sidenote: He who only aims at power squanders his riches, and despises delights and honours unaccompanied by power.]
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