Three prose versions of the Secreta Secretorum / edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Steele and a glossary by T. Henderson

Of the maner of slepyng. Capitulum 39m

whan thou hast take thi refeccioun ley the to slepe on a soft bed on thi right side þe tyme of an houre, and than turne the and slepe on þat oþir side as the thynketh good is, for the left side is cold, and hath nede to be chafid, and if þou fele any disese in thi wombe or in thi stomak, lete hete an hoot cloth, [folio 17a] and ley it on thi stomak, or ellis take a fayre yong mayde and lete hir slepe in thyn armes, and that is the best hete for it is naturelle. Traveylyng afore mete yevith hete to thi stomak, but aftir mete it doth harme, and slepe before mete is not good for it drieth þe humiditees, but aftir mete it yevith norisshyng to the body, for whan a man slepith, than the kyndely hete drawith into the stomak alle that the which was spredde into alle the membris, and goth to the bottome of þi stomak on the refeccioun, and makith good digestioun, for the vertu naturelle makith good reste. And some philesofres seyne

that the refeccioun at morowe is werse than is that at eve, for the etyng at morowe grevith the stomak, for the hete of the day spryngith, and therbi is the body more travaylid, and on þat othir side a man chafith him silf with dyuerse bisynesse, in goyng, in spekyng, and othir occupacions that longith to man þat cometh by the hete of þe day, and enfeblisshith the naturelle hete within and doth harme to the stomak, and makith it of lesse myght to diffie that in him is, but at eve is alle contrary, for the body is more restid and lesse grevid of naturelle hete, and the hete of alle oþir membres are more at reste, than cometh þe coldenes of þe nyght, and alayeth the superfluitees of hete, and doth the stomak moche good, for than hath he nought but of nature.