Now loke wele, how thow demes, [folio 37b]
Line 2477
Whiche of these best besemes."
I vysed longe these ladyes thre,
Me thoghte hem alle of gret beute;
Line 2480
But I saw hem alle In suche a poynt,
That thei were naked In ilke a Ioynt;
Thei seyde: thai nolde not for me spare;
Thei stode be-fore me naked and bare.
Line 2484
¶ To me Venus the fairest semed,
For-whi to hir the appul I demed;
And sche ther-of was fayn y-now
And smoterly on me sche low,
Line 2488
And hight me, or sche fro me ȝede,
That I scholde haue to my mede
The fairest wyff of Grece land
In my bandoun [MS. landoun.] and In my band.
Line 2492
And I am ther-of sekir and trayst,
That ȝe no-thyng be ther-of a-baist
To lete me pas the Greckis see;
For it is certes my destanee
Line 2496
To harme Gregeys & greue hem sore,
When I am come to hem thore;
For ȝe wot wele, and I wot als,
That goddis beheste is not ffals.'
Line 2500
When he hadde seyde, he spak no more,
But sette him doun as he sat ore.
BVt sir Dephebus ros vp than,
And his reson thus be-gan
Line 2504
And seide: 'lordynges, if it were so,
Off eche a thyng that men schulde do,
If thei caste that noght be-falle,
Nis no man [MS. noman.] of vs nowher, bonde ne thralle,
Line 2508
That any-thyng scholde be-gynne, fro drede
That he scholde fayle or euel spede.
