¶The .xlviii. chapiter speketh of dayly hande laboure.
IDlenes is an vtter and extreme enemy of the sowle / and therfore certeyne tymes susters must be occupied Page [unnumbered] in laboure of the hande / and certayn tymes in redyng god∣li lectours or ī good meditaciōs And therfore we thinke bo∣the the sayd tymes in this wyse to be well ordred / that is to say that frō Easter vnto the Kalēdas of October in the mor∣ninge fro the firste houre of the day vnto almoste the .iiii. of the daye let theym laboure aboute suche thynges as be ne∣cessary. And from the .iiii. houre of the day / vnto almost the syxte houre / they must gyue them selfe to redynge. ¶Aftur the .vi. houre rysynge from the table / they shall reste a wyle in their bedd{is} / with all silence / or els if she woll gyue hir selfe to reding / let hir so rede softli bi hir selfe / that she trouble no∣ne other. And the houre of none must be executed at the hal∣fe houre before the .viii. houre of the daye. And then agayne what so euer is beste to be doon / let them laboure in it vnto euynsonge tyme. And if the necessite of the place or els po∣uerte compelleth that they muste be occupyed theym selfe / aboute the gatheringe in of Corne / they may not take it he∣uely nor be greued there with / for than they be very trewe mynchins / whan they lyue with the laboure of their owne handes / as dyd our faders and the appostles / notwithston∣dynge all thynges shalbe be doon in measure and with dis∣crecion / bycause of them that be feble and weke in bodye or spirite. From the kalēdas of October vnto shrouetyde / they shall gyue theym selfe vnto redynge / tyll the seconde houre of the day be full. And at the seconde houre of the daye they shall execute the thirde houre. And then vnto the .ix. houre of the day euery of theym shall laboure aboute hir busines / whiche is inioyned vnto hir. Than the firste signe of the .ix. houre stricken / euery oon of theym shall departe frome hir worke / that they may be redy / whan the .ii. sygne stryketh. And after they haue dyned / they shall gyue som to redynge of lessons / and som to redynge of psalmes. In the dayes of lent from the mornynge vnto the thirde houre of the daye / full they must gyue them selfe to redynge / and from that ty∣me tyll the .x. houre of the day full / they muste laboure in su∣che Page [unnumbered] occupacion as is committed vnto theym / in the whiche dayes of lent / euery of theym shall haue by her selfe a boke oute of the lybrary whyche boke she shall rede from the be∣ginninge to the endinge by order. and the same bokes must be delyuered vnto them at shrouetyde / Byfore all thyngys oon or two sustres of the eldest ī the religiō shalbe deputed whych shall goo aboute the monastery at all soche tymes & seasons as there susters be at there redinge / & ouersee theym lesse perauenture som suster be founde slothfull / which gy∣ueth hir selfe to idlenes & tellynge of tales / and is not myn∣dyd toward{is} redyng. And so is not oonly vn{pro}fytable to hir selfe / but also she disturbeth and letteth other / Suche oon if she (as god forbede) be founde / let hir be rebuked ones and the secōde tyme if she do not so amēde / let hir be submitted to correcciō regular / in suche wyse as other by hir may haue cause to be effrayde. Nether oon suster shall accompany hir selfe with a nother / but in houres and tymes conuenient. ¶Vppon the sonday they shall all gyue thē selfe to redinge / except those which be deputed to dyuers offices. And if any of them be so neglygent and slowthfull / that she wyl not / or elles she cannot gyue hir selfe to meditacion or to redynge / let some maner of busines be inioyned vnto hir / to thentent that she be not idle / The susters that be feble / or elles be ten∣dre / or haue be delicatly brought vp / to theym suche occupa∣cion or busines shalbe cōmitted / that nether they be idle / ne yeat oppressed with ouer moche laboure / where throughe they shulde forsake the monastery / whiche wekenes & ten∣drenesse muste be cōsydered by thabbasse after hir discreciō.
