[6-text p 671] for to complysshe thilke brennynge delyte they reke nevir howe / ofte / sothlye it is dedely synne and yet with sorwe some folke woll peyne hem more to do then to the appetite sufficith /
[944] The secounde maner off chastite is to be a clene widdowe and eschewe the enbrasynges of a man [[Addit. MS. 5140 ends.]] ] [Christchurch MS. folio 274a] and desiren the embrasynge of Ihesu criste. [945] These ben thoo that [h]an ben wyues. & han forgoon hir hous|bondes. and eke women that han doon leccherie & ben releued by penitence / [946] And certes if that a wife koude kepen hire all chaste by licence of hire housbonde. so that shee nere noon occasion that he agilte; it were to hire a grete merite / [947] These manere women that obseruen chastitee most be clene in herte. as wele as in body. & in thought. & mesurable in clothynge. & in countenaunce // Abstinent in etynge and drynkynge in spekyng & in dede / And thanne is she the vessell. or the boiste of the blessed Mawdelene. that fulfilleth holy chirche full of good odour // [948] The .iij.e manere of chastite is virginite. and it behoueth that she be holy in hert & clene of body / and than is she spouse to Ihesu criste and she is the lyfe of Aungels / [949] she is the preisyng of this world/. and she is as theȝ Martirs in egalite / she hath in hire that tunge may nat telle / [950] virginite bare oure lorde criste / & virgyn was hym //
[951] A nother remedie agaynst leccherie is/ specially to withdrawe swiche thyngis as yeuen occasion to thilke vylenye as ease. etyng & drynkynge. For certes whan the potte boilleth strongely. the best remedye is to with|drawe the fuyr [952] Slepynge longe in grete quiete is eke a grete norise to leccherie //
[953] A nother remedye agayns leccherie. is that a man or a woman eschew the compangny of hem of whiche he douteth to be tempted / For alle be it so. that the dede be withstonde; yet is there grete temptacion.
