om or sleuys/
wherof he was accusid vnto the kynge After dyner than the kynge callid
hym and demanded hym wherfore he had taken his vayssell And he answerd/
Syre kynge my lord I pray the to vnderstande and take heede thy self and
also thy knyghtes/ I haue herd moche of thy grete hyenes And y't thou
art more myghty and puyssant in cheualrye & in dispensis than is
Alexander/ and therfore I am come to the a pour knyght whiche am named
Antygone for to serue the/ Than hit is the custome in the Courte of
Alexandre/ that what thynge a knyght is seruyd wyth all is alle his/
mete and vayssell and cuppe And therfore I had supposid that this
custome had ben kept in thy court for thou art richer than he/ whan the
knyghtes herd this/ an[=o]n they lefte porus/ and wente for to serue
alixandre/ and thus he drewe to hym y'e hertes of them by yeftes/ whiche
afterward slewe Porus that was kynge of Inde/ And they made Alexandra
kynge therof Therfore remembre knyght alleway that wyth a closid and
shette purse shalt thou neuer haue victorye. Ouyde sayth that he that
taketh yeftes/ he is glad therwyth/ For they wynne wyth yeftes the
hertes of the goddes and of men For yf Iupiter were angrid/ wyth yestes
he wold be plesid/ The knyghtes ought to be stronge not only of body but
also in corage. Ther ben many stronge and grete of body/ that ben faynt
and feble in the herte/ he is stronge that may not be vaynquysshid and
ouercomen/ how well that he suffryth moche otherwhile/ And so we beleue
that they that be not ouer grete ne ouer lityll ben most corageous &
beste in batayll. We rede that cadrus duc of athenes shold haue a
batayll agayn them of polipe/ And he was warned and had a reuelacion of
the goddes/ that they shold haue the victorie of whom the prynce shold
be slayn in the batayll/ And the prince whiche was of a grete corage and
trewe herte Toke other armes of a poure man/ And put hymself in the
fronte of the batayll to thende that he might be slain And so he was/
for the right trewe prince had leuer dye Than his peple shold be
ouercomen/ And so they had the victorye/ Certes hyt was a noble and fayr
thynge to expose hym self to the deth for to deffende his contrey. But
no man wold doo so/ but yf he hopyd to haue a better thynge therfore/
Therfore the lawe sayth that they lyue in her sowles gloriously that ben
slain in the warre for the comyn wele A knyght ought also to be
mercifull and pyetous For ther is nothynge y't maketh a knyght so
reno