| prosody | miscellaneous |
Meraveill me com negus honratz bars, Montan, diz be, si no·l fai eissamen, Q'en loc del dir deu esser le chalars, Qan taing qe·l faitz veingna primieramen! E·m meraveill com hom, ses cor d'atendre, Pot prometre! qe fals prometres fai Cel qui promet per mensongier reprendre, Part l'avol crim qe l'enganç l'en atrai. S'entre·ls malvaz baros cor galiars, Meraveilla, en Sordel, no m'en pren: Tant es granz fais era prez e donars, Qe cor no pot far boca ver dicen! Mas avols hom s'en cuia aisi defendre Ab gen mentir! pero el s'en dechai: Q'als entendenz non pot hom far entendre Qe ben estei aisso qe mal estai. |
It is a wonder to me how some honoured baron, Montan, preaches good, when he doesn't do the same, for, instead of talk, silence should take place when it is passing that action come first! And I wonder how one, without meaning to keep his promise, can make one! For a false promise makes one reproach him that promises as a liar, aside from the vile reputation his deceit attracts. If deceit circulates among bad barons, Sordel, it is no wonder to me: virtue and generosity are such a burden, today, that the heart can't make the mouth truthful! But a bad man thinks he can thus defend himself: with gilded lying; in reality, it debases him: for one can't persuade the wise that what is unbecoming is becoming. |