Chaucer's Translation of Boethius's "De Consolatione Philosophiae" · Boethius
SET CUM RACIONU{M} IAM IN TE.
For certys swiche is þe co{n}dic{i}ou{n} of al man kynde þat oonly whan it haþ knowyng of it 1292 self. þan passeþ it i{n} noblesse alle oþer þinges. [Sidenote: When he ceases to do so, he sinks below beasts.] and whan it forletiþ þe knowyng of it self. þan it is brouȝt byneþen alle beestes. [Sidenote: Ignorance is natural to beasts, but in men it is unnatural and criminal.] ¶ For-why alle oþer [leuynge] beestes han of kynde to knowe not hem 1296 self. but whan þat men leten þe knowyng of hem self. it comeþ hem of vice. [Sidenote: How weak an error is it to believe that anything foreign to your nature can be an ornament to it.] but how brode sheweþ þe erro{ur} {and} þe folie of ȝow men þat wenen þat ony þing may ben apparailled wiþ straunge apparaillementȝ ¶ but 1300 for-soþe þat may nat be don. [Sidenote: If a thing appear beautiful on account of its external embellishments, we admire and praise those embellishments alone.] for yif a wyȝt shyneþ wiþ þi{n}ges þat ben put to hym. as þus. yif þilke þinges shynen wiþ whiche a man is apparailled. ¶ Certis þilke þinges ben commendid {and} p{re}ised wiþ whiche 1304 he is apparailled. [Sidenote: The thing covered still continues in its natural impurity.] ¶ But naþeles þe þing þat is couered {and} wrapped vndir þat dwelleþ in his filþe.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.