¶Of the derke ymage of synne / and of the clothyng ther••of / Caplm lxxxiiii. (Book 84)
BI this that I haue said may thou see a lityll the derknes of this ymage of syn̄e / not for I haue discryued it ful∣ly to the as it is for I can not / Neuertheles by this lityll thou maye see more yf thou loke well / But now sayst thou wher¦by wost thou that I bere suche an ymage aboute wyth me as thou spekest of / As on this I can answere / I maye take vpō me a worde sayd by the prophete / * 1.1 & it is this / Inueni idolū mi∣chi / That is to saye / I haue foūde a fals ymage that men cal¦len a mawmente in myself well fowle disfygured & forsha∣pen wyth wretchydnes of all thyse syn̄es whiche I haue spo∣ken of / by the whiche I am casten downe in many flesshly ly¦kynges & worldly vanytees fro clen̄es of herte & felyng of go∣ostly vertues more than I can or maye say. and that me repē¦teth & I crye god mercy / By this wretchidnesse that I fele in myselfe more than I haue sayd maye I the better telle the of thyn ymage / For all come we of adam & of eue clothed with clothes of a bestes hyde / as holy wrytte sayth of our lorde th{us}. Fecit deus ade & vrori eius tunicas pelliceas / * 1.2 Our lorde made to adam & to his wyfe clothes of a bestes hyde / In token that for his syn̄e he was forshapē lyke to a beste / with whiche bes¦tly clothes we al ben borne and vmbilapped and disfigured fro our kyndly shappe /