appraise her calf above twopence. And so pass
they not sixpence between them both. And therefore may I well eat
them twain at this one meal and break not my penance at all." And
so thereupon he did, without any scruple of conscience.

If such beasts could speak now, as Mother Maud said they could
then, some of them would, I daresay, tell a tale almost as wise as
this! Save for the diminishing of old Mother Maud's tale, a
shorter sermon would have served. But yet, as childish as the
parable is, in this it serveth for our purpose: that the night's
fear of a somewhat scrupulous conscience, though it be painful and
troublous to him who hath it, as this poor ass had here, is yet
less harm than a conscience that is over-large. And less harm is
it than a conscience such as a man pleases to frame himself for
his own fancy--now drawing it narrow, now stretching it in
breadth, after the manner of a leather thong--to serve on every
side for his own commodity, as did here the wily wolf.

But such folk are out of tribulation, and comfort need they none,
and therefore are they out of our matter. But he who is in the
night's fear of his own scrupulous conscience, let him well
beware, as I said, that the devil draw him not, for weariness of
the one, into the other, and while he would fly from Scilla draw
him into Charibdis. He must do as doth a ship coming into a haven
in the mouth of which lie secret rocks under the water on both
sides. If by mishap he be entered in among them that are on the
one side, and cannot tell how to get out, he must get a
substantial clever pilot who can so conduct him from the rocks on
that side that yet he bring him not into those that are on the
other side, but can guide him in the mid way. Let them, I say
therefore, who are in the troublous fear of heir own scrupulous
conscience, submit the rule of their conscience to the counsel of
some other good man, who after the variety and the nature of the
scruples may temper his advice.

Yea, although a man be very well learned himself, yet if he be in
this state let him learn the custom used among physicians. For if
one of them be never so learned, yet in his own disease and
sickness he never useth to trust all to himself, but sendeth for
such of his fellows as he knoweth to be able, and putteth himself
in their hands. This he doth for many considerations, and one of
the causes is fear. For upon some tokens in his own sickness he
may conceive a great deal mo