55r La Nouvele Complainte doutremer

Et Acres secorre et le Temple

Jone escuier au poil volage
Trop me plaing de votre folage
Qua nul bien faire ⋅ nentendeiz
Ne de rien ne vous amendeiz
Si fustes filz a mains preudoume
Teiz com jes vi je les vos nome
Et vos estes muzart et nice
Que nentendeiz a votre office
De veoir preudoume aveiz honte
Vostre esprevier sunt trop plus donte
Que vos niestes cest veriteiz
Car teil i a quant le geteiz
Seur le poing aporte la loe
Honiz soit ⋅ qui de lui se loe
Se nest Diex ne vostre pays
Li plus sages est foux nayx
Quant vos deveiz aucun bien faire
Qua aucun bien vos doie traire
Si le faites tout autrement
Car vos toleiz vilainnement
Povres puceles lor honeurs
Quant ne pueent avoir seigneurs
Lors si deviennent ⋅ dou grant nombre
Cest .i. pechiez qui vos encombre
Voz povres voizins soz marchiez
Ausi bien at ⋅ leans marchiez
Vendre voz bleiz et votre aumaille
Com cele autre ⋅ povre pietaille
Toute gentilesce effaciez ⋅
Il ne vous chaut que vous faciez
Tant que viellesce vos efface
Que ridee vos est la face
Que vos iestes viel et chenu
Por ce quil vos seroit tenu
A Gilemeir dou parentei
Non pas par vostre volentei
Sestes chevalier leiz la couche
Que vous douteiz .i. poi reproche
Mais se vos amissiez honeur
Et doutissiez la deshoneur
Et amissiez votre lignage
Vous fussiez et proudome et sage
Quant vostre tenz aveiz vescu
Quainz paiens ne vit votre escu
Que deveiz demandeir celui
Qui sacrefice fist de lui
Je ne sais quoi se Diex me voie
Quant vos ne teneiz droite voie

Prelat clerc chevalier borjois
Qui trois semainnes por .i. mois
Laissiez aleir a votre guise
Sens servir Dieu et sainte Eglise
Dites saveiz vos en queil livre
Hom trueve combien hon doit vivre
Je ne sai je nou puis troveir
Mais je vos puis par droit proveir
Que quant li hons commence a nestre
En cest siecle a il pou a estre
Ne ne seit quant partir en doit
La riens qui plus certainne soit
Si est que mors nos corra seure
La mains certainne si est leure

Prelat auz palefrois norrois
Qui bien saveiz par queil norrois?
Li filz dieu fu en la crois mis
Por confondre ces anemis
Vos sermoneiz aus gens menues
Et aus povres vielles chenues
Quelz soient plainnes de droiture

and rescue Acre and the Temple.
Downy-faced young squire,
I greatly lament your folly,
for you have no plans to do good
and no intention of mending your ways.
Yet you are the sons of great prudhommes^{1check for previous note},
(I know them and name them as such)
and you are lazy and half-witted,
and you do not concern yourself with your duties.
You are ashamed to encounter a prudhomme.
Your sparrowhawks are better trained
than you are, that is true.
For there are those that, when you release them,
return a lark to your hand.
Shame on him who praises you,
since neither God nor your country does so.
The wisest among you is a true fool.
When you ought to do something good
that would be to your benefit,
you do the complete opposite.
For you vilely take the
honor of poor young girls.
Then, they can longer have honorable men
and they become one of the many.
That is but one of the sins that weighs upon you.
You trample upon your poor neighbors:
you even go to the market
to sell your wheat and livestock
alongside these other poor wretches.
You wipe away all gentillesse.
You do not care about what you do
until old age renders you invisible,
when your face is wrinkled and
you are old and grey-haired.
Because of this, people will say you are

of Gilemeir's lineage^{1Gilemeir is said to be the uncle of Ganelon from the Song of Roland. See Zink note 1, pp 986-7}
which is something you would not want.
You were born into knighthood
and therefore you have some fear of reproach.
But if you loved honor
and feared dishonor
and loved your lineage
then you would be a wise man and a prudhomme.
When you have lived out your time
and no pagan^{3the word "pagan" was often used to refer to Muslims, and can be related to the erroneous attribution of Muslim practice to idol worship and polytheism} has ever seen your shield,
what might you ask of Him who
made a sacrifice of Himself?
With God as my witness, I do not know,
since you are not holding to the right path.
Prelates, clerics, knights, bourgeois,^{4a person living in a town or burg}
you who, at your whim, let three weeks of a month go by
without serving God and the Holy Church,
tell me, do you know in which book
one finds how long a man will live?
I do not know, I cannot find it.
But I can rightly prove to you
that once a man is born
he has little time to be in this world.
He does not know when he will have to depart.
What is more certain
is that death will run us down.
Less certain is at what hour.
Prelates on your Norwegian palfreys,²
you who know well by what ³barbaric deed
the son of God was put on the cross
to confound his enemies,
you sermonize to the little people
and the poor grey-haired old ladies
that they should be full of righteousness.

Et Acres secorre et le Temple
Jone escuier au poil volage
Trop me plaing de votre folage
Qua nul bien faire ⋅ nentendeiz
Ne de rien ne vous amendeiz
Si fustes filz a mains preudoume
Teiz com jes vi je les vos nome
Et vos estes muzart et nice
Que nentendeiz a votre office
De veoir preudoume aveiz honte
Vostre esprevier sunt trop plus donte
Que vos niestes cest veriteiz
Car teil i a quant le geteiz
Seur le poing aporte la loe
Honiz soit ⋅ qui de lui se loe
Se nest Diex ne vostre pays
Li plus sages est foux nayx
Quant vos deveiz aucun bien faire
Qua aucun bien vos doie traire
Si le faites tout autrement
Car vos toleiz vilainnement
Povres puceles lor honeurs
Quant ne pueent avoir seigneurs
Lors si deviennent ⋅ dou grant nombre
Cest .i. pechiez qui vos encombre
Voz povres voizins soz marchiez
Ausi bien at ⋅ leans marchiez
Vendre voz bleiz et votre aumaille
Com cele autre ⋅ povre pietaille
Toute gentilesce effaciez ⋅
Il ne vous chaut que vous faciez
Tant que viellesce vos efface
Que ridee vos est la face
Que vos iestes viel et chenu
Por ce quil vos seroit tenu

A Gilemeir dou parentei
Non pas par vostre volentei
Sestes chevalier leiz la couche
Que vous douteiz .i. poi reproche
Mais se vous amissiez honeur
Et doutissiez la deshoneur
Et amissiez votre lignage
Vous fussiez et proudome et sage
Quant vostre tenz aveiz vescu
Quainz paiens ne vit votre escu
Que deveiz demandeir celui
Qui sacrefice fist de lui
Je ne sais quoi se Diex me voie
Quant vos ne teneiz droite voie
Prelat clerc chevalier borjois
Qui trois semainnes por .i. mois
Laissiez aleir a votre guise
Sens servir Dieu et sainte Eglise
Dites saveiz vos en queil livre
Hom trueve combien hon doit vivre
Je ne sai je nou puis troveir
Mais je vos puis par droit proveir
Que quant li hons commence a nestre
En cest siecle a il pou a estre
Ne ne seit quant partir en doit
La riens qui plus certainne soit
Si est que mors nos corra seure
La mains certainne si est leure
Prelat auz palefrois norrois
Qui bien saveiz par queil norrois?
Li filz dieu fu en la crois mis
Por confondre ces anemis
Vos sermoneiz aus gens menues
Et aus povres vielles chenues
Quelz soient plaines de droiture

and rescue Acre and the Temple.
Downy-faced young squire,
I greatly lament your folly,
for you have no plans to do good
and no intention of mending your ways.
Yet you are the sons of great prudhommes^{1check for previous note},
(I know them and name them as such)
and you are lazy and half-witted,
and you do not concern yourself with your duties.
You are ashamed to encounter a prudhomme.
Your sparrowhawks are better trained
than you are, that is true.
For there are those that, when you release them,
return a lark to your hand.
Shame on him who praises you,
since neither God nor your country does so.
The wisest among you is a true fool.
When you ought to do something good
that would be to your benefit,
you do the complete opposite.
For you vilely take the
honor of poor young girls.
Then, they can longer have honorable men
and they become one of the many.
That is but one of the sins that weighs upon you.
You trample upon your poor neighbors:
you even go to the market
to sell your wheat and livestock
alongside these other poor wretches.
You wipe away all gentillesse.
You do not care about what you do
until old age renders you invisible,
when your face is wrinkled and
you are old and grey-haired.
Because of this, people will say you are

of Gilemeir's lineage^{1Gilemeir is said to be the uncle of Ganelon from the Song of Roland. See Zink note 1, pp 986-7}
which is something you would not want.
You were born into knighthood
and therefore you have some fear of reproach.
But if you loved honor
and feared dishonor
and loved your lineage
then you would be a wise man and a prudhomme.
When you have lived out your time
and no pagan^{3the word "pagan" was often used to refer to Muslims, and can be related to the erroneous attribution of Muslim practice to idol worship and polytheism} has ever seen your shield,
what might you ask of Him who
made a sacrifice of Himself?
With God as my witness, I do not know,
since you are not holding to the right path.
Prelates, clerics, knights, bourgeois,^{4a person living in a town or burg}
you who, at your whim, let three weeks of a month go by
without serving God and the Holy Church,
tell me, do you know in which book
one finds how long a man will live?
I do not know, I cannot find it.
But I can rightly prove to you
that once a man is born
he has little time to be in this world.
He does not know when he will have to depart.
What is more certain
is that death will run us down.
Less certain is at what hour.
Prelates on your Norwegian palfreys,²
you who know well by what ³barbaric deed
the son of God was put on the cross
to confound his enemies,
you sermonize to the little people
and the poor grey-haired old ladies
that they should be full of righteousness.