d/ and he shall
do to the good And hit behoueth that the labourer entende to his labour
on the werkedayes for to recuyell and gadre to gyder the fruyt of his
labour/ And also he ought to reste on the holy day/ bothe he and his
bestes. And a good labourer ought to norysshe and kepe his bestes/ And
this is signefied by the rodde that he hath. Whiche is for to lede and
dryue them to the pasture/ The fiste pastour that euer was/ was Abel
whiche was Iuste and trewe/ and offryd to god the bestes vnto his
sacrefice/ And hym ought he to folowe in craft & maners But no man that
vseth the malice of Caym may ensue and folowe Abel/ And thus hit
apperteyneth to the labourer to sette and graffe trees and vygnes/ and
also to plante and cutte them And so dyde noe whiche was the first that
planted the vygne after y'e deluge and flood For as Iosephus reherceth
in y'e book of naturell thinges Noe was he that fonde fyrst the vygne/
And he fonde hym bitter and wylde/ And therfore he toke .iiii. maners of
blood/ that is to wete the blood of a lyon. the blood of a lamb, the
blood of a swyne. and the blood of an ape and medlid them alto geder
with the erthe/ And than he cutte the vygne/ And put this aboute the
rootes therof. To thende that the bitternes shold be put away/ and that
hyt shold be swete/ And whan he had dronken of the fruyt of this vygne/
hit was so good and mighty that he becam so dronke/ that he dispoylled
hym in suche wise y't his pryuy membres might be seen/ And his yongest
sone cham mocqued and skorned hym And whan Noe was awakid & was sobre &
fastinge/ he assemblid his sones and shewid to them the nature of the
vygne and of the wyn/ And told to them the caufe why y't he had put the
blood of the bestes aboute the roote of the vygne and that they shold
knowe well y't otherwhile by y'e strength of the wyn men be made as
hardy as the lyon and yrous And otherwhile they be made symple &
shamefast as a lambe And lecherous as a fwyn/ And curyous and full of
playe as an Ape/ For the Ape is of suche nature that whan he seeth one
do a thynge he enforceth hym to doo the same/ and so doo many whan they
ben dronke/ they will medle them wyth alle officers & matiers that
apperteyne no thynge to them/ And whan they ben fastynge & sobre they
can scarfely accomplisshe theyr owne thynges And therfore valerian
reherceth that of auncyente and in olde tyme women dranke no wyn for as
moche as by dronkenship they myght falle in ony filthe or vilonye A