¶ Here be Certain questions of King Bocthus of the manners/ tokens/ and conditions of man/ with the answers made to the same by the Philosopher Sydrac. ● divinely inspired colloquy depiction of the philosopher Sidrak Sydrac. depiction of King Bokkus Then King. ¶ The King asked by what manners/ tokens/ and fashion might a man know the manners and conditions of good folks and of evil. Sydrac. Answered. ☞ BY the Grace and wit that god hath given us, we shall show you shortly the manner, by the which ye may well know the conditions of folks, when ye se and be hold them by some tokens that they shall have in them, for it is a thing veritable & truly proved, for there are manners and conditions in folks. As the grain is within the fruit, that no man may well take it away but he bruise the fruit and break it, and even so it is of diver folks. ¶ The king asked what betokeneth it of a man that is white skinned and frekened. Sydrac. Answered. ☞ ☜ ¶ He that is white skinned and the most part frekened and grey eyen, it betokeneth a man to be shamefast and of good faith. And every man ought to keep him fro the sight of him that is all frekenes. And if he have a large forehead, and a little chin and great iowes, and the body all frekened, and moche and thick here on his heed, haunc not to much his company, nor meddle but little with him, for and thou do he will grieve the. ☞ ¶ The King asked what token is it when a man hath the here of his heed soft. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ A man that hath soft here on his heed, it betokeneth, that his brain is cold, & by reason they ought to be curtoyes and of little understanding. ¶ The King asked what betokeneth it of a man that hath much here on his breast and on his belly. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ They that have moche here on their breast, and on they bellies, it betokeneth that they that is so/ should be of divers and wild manners, & of little understanding, & should love well to do men wrong. ¶ The King asked what betokeneth when a man hath moche here on his brows. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath much here on his brows, by reason should be boistous in his deeds and language, & he that hath them small and long to the temples should be dysdaygnous, & he that hath them small equal black, & long, he should be wroth full, and of great understanding. And he that hath but little here on his brows by reason should be light and peaceable. ¶ The King ashed what tokens is there or men's eyen. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ The eyen of Men hath tokens that lie not, by a man's eyen a man may see the pleasure and the good will or the evil will that a man oweth another, he that hath the eyen great & grey without any spots by reason should be slothful, anuyous and dysdeynous. And he that hath his eyen mediate neither to great nor to small and not is grey but between both, he is apart and diligent & of good understanding and loveth troth. And he that hath the eyen redein his looking, By reason he should be bold and a great meddler, and if he have about the appull of the eyen yellow spots, it is the worst token that may be of all the tokens of the eyen. And when ye see a man that beholdeth and looketh often on you, boldly look on him also again. And if ne be shamefast and blench his sight from you, and he appeareth as a man that laugheth, & not by his good will, and his eyen waxeth full of water that ye may see the tears of his eyen, that man loveth and doughteth you. And if any man look on you and you on him and he look steadfastly and boldly on you & blencheth not, nor is not a dread nor a shamed to look on you, that man hath envy at you, and neither doughteth nor loveth you. And be well aware and trust him not, and keep you well from all evil adventured creatures, as if ye would keep you from your deadly Enemies. ¶ The King asked how should a man know, another by the tokens of his nose Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath the nose little and small he loveth strife and debates and he that hath the nose long till the mouth he by reason should be manly. And he that hath his nose snatted and great/ he should be covetous. And he that hath large nostrils should be wrath full & full of ire. And he that hath the nose great, and most greatest in the mids, by reason should be a great liar And he that hath the no emedyat, neither too great nor to small, nor to long nor to short, and his nostrils not large, he by reason should be wise and of good understanding. ¶ The King asked what tokens should a man have by another man's forehead. Sydrat. Answereth. ¶ He that hath the forehead large and not full of rivel nor long rays, he is deceivable and loveth guiles and barrattes, and also he is envious. And he that hath the forehead not to large but medyatly between two, by reason should be true, loving, wise, and well doctryned. ¶ The King asked what token is there of a man's lips. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath great lips is is rude, and should be of hard understanding, and he that hath them mediate neither too great nor to small, he should by reason be right temperate in his wits and deeds. ¶ The King asked what token is there of a man's mouth. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath the mouth reasoble large, by reason should be man lie. And he that hath a little straight mouth by reason should have but little faith, and as little wit. ¶ The King asked, what token is there to know a man by his teeth. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath the teeth welljoined and thick set together by reason he should be movable in his courage, and no man may be sure of him. ¶ The King asked by what token shall a man know another by his visage. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ When a man's visage is great and full, by reason he should be of rude nature, and he that hath the visage scryte and lean and yellow brown, by reason he should be sly and cunning of all things that he meddleth withal. ¶ The King asked what token is there to know a man by his ears. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ When a man hath great ears it betokeneth rudeness and boystuousnes. And he that the ears passing little should by reason be a fool and wrathful. ¶ The King asked what token is there to know a man by his voice and speech. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath the voice and speech great and Round he should be manly. And who so ever hath the voice temperate/ neither to great nor to small he should be of great knowledge and true. And he that hath the voice passing small, he should be hasty and a liar. And he that hath the voice passing great he should be of evil manners and of conditions slight. And he that hath the voice fair and clear, he is of great understanding and of great courage. ¶ The King asked what betokens it when a man hath a long neck. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath the neck long & small, by reason he should be full of folly, noise and cowardice. And he that hath a little heed should be a fool. And he that hath a great heed should be rude and a great eater. ¶ The King asked what tokeken is there of a man's Belie. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath a great Belie out of me sure, he should be rude, and by reason a coward and not wise. And he that hath a small belie and well breasted, he should be well witted and of true counsel. ¶ The King asked what token is there of a man's chin and of his shoulders. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath the chynnelarge, and his shoulders large he should be manly, mighty and not of great wit. And he that hath the chin and the back well furnished, he should be fierce and wrathful. ☞ And he that hath the chin straight and equal, it is a showing of goodness. And he that hath high shoulders is of evil will and dysdaygnous. ¶ The King asked what token is there to know a man by his arms. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath long arms that come to his knees, by reason he should have a free heart and a noble. And he that hath his arms passing short, by reason should be a coward and lone noise and debates. ☞ ¶ The King asked what token is there to know a man by his hands. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath long hands and fingers, by reason should do well all crafts and betrewe. And he that hath the palm of his hand soft should be wise and of good understanding. And he that hath the hands passings short and the fingers short, he should not be very wise. ¶ The King asked what token is there to know a man by his feet. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath his feet short and great, should have little understanding and not wise. And he that hath his feet small about the ankle, he should be a coward. And he that hath great feet and his legs great in the mids/ he should be big of body/ but he should be rude and boistous. ¶ The Kynke asked, what tokens have ye of them that be gelded. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that is Gelded by man's hand, he should be very wrathful and false. And he that hath neither stones nor beard, he is an evil sayer and a liar. And if he be frekened also, he is envious and of evil will, and loveth both to say evil and do evil. ¶ The King asked what token is there of the paces and g●ynge of a man. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath large paces and slow he is aventurous in all things, and yet he ought to think on that, that is to come, and purvey to keep himself. And he that hath his pace hasty and thick he is wrathful and of evil will. ¶ The King asked which be the best tokens to know a man by in all things. Sydrac. Answered. ¶ He that hath his skin whytete and soft, and that he be not to high nor to low, nor to great nor to small, and well melled with white and red, and his eyen between black and grey, and that his heed be not to great nor to small, the neck fair and straight and not to long, and that he have not to much flesh on his chin, nor on his thighs without forth, & that his voice and speech be clear, and the shoulders fair straight & large, and the paumes of his hands soft, the fingers long & small and that he be of few words, and that he laughed not to much nor to often, and that he have a gladsome looking/ and light cheryd, and that he be not to Coveytouse of other men's goods, and not to asking nor to werning. And this is the best figure of man that ever God made. And such mannered & figured men ought Kings and Lords to have with them in their company, for Lords hath more need of men, than men have of Lords, for Lords may not be without men, and men may be without Lords. And therefore a King ought to travail about the Land to draw such men about him. But he ought not to be to greatly moved in judgement to judge any man for any token or sign that he hath on him, but he ought to assemble one and other, and divide the one from the other, and take the best and leave those that be not virtuous nor of good conditions as farforth as it may be known, for of this shall come great profit & great goodness, and good adventure. ¶ Finis. ¶ Thus endeth the manners/ tokens/ and conditions of man. And hereafter followeth the properties of a good Horse. ¶ The properties of a good Horse. depiction of Pegasus and Bellerophon A Good Horse should have xu properties & conditions. That is to weet, three of a Man, three of a Woman, three of a Fox, three of an Hare, & three of an Ass. ¶ Of a man bold proud and hardy. ¶ Of a woman fair breasted▪ fair of here, and easy to leap upon. ¶ Of a Fox, a fair tail short ears, with a good trot. ¶ Of an hare a great eye, a dry heed, & well running. ¶ Of an Ass a big chin, a flat leg, & a good hoof. ¶ Well travailed women nor well travailed horse, were never good. ¶ Arise early. Serve God devoutly. And the world busily. Do thy work wisely. give thine alms secretly. Go by thy way sadly. Answer the people demurely. Go to thy meat appetytely. Sit thereat discreetly. Of thy tongue be not to liberally. Arise therefro temperately. Go to thy supper soberly. And to thy bed merrily. Be in thine Inn jocundly. Please thy love duly. And sleep surely. ¶ Mark well these four things. ¶ There been four things principally to be dread of every wise man. The 〈…〉 … urse of our holy father the ●●pe. ¶ The second is the indignation of a prince. (Quia indignatio regis vel principie more est.) ¶ The third is the favour or the will of a judge. ¶ The fourth is slander and the mutation of a communalty. ¶ who that maketh in christmas a dog to his larder. And in march a sow to his gardener. And in May a fool of a wise man's counsel. He shall never have good larder, fair garden, nor yet well kept counsel. ¶ far from thy kinsmen cast th●, wrath not thy neighbours next thee, In a good corn country threst the. And sit down Robin and rest the. ¶ There be four things full hard for to know which way that they will draw. The first is the ways of a y●●●●●an. ¶ The second is the course of a vessel in the see. ¶ The third of an adder or of a serpent sprent. ¶ The fourth of a fowl sitting on any thing. ¶ Two wives in one house, Two cats and one mouse Two dogs and one bone, Shall never accord in one. ¶ Who that manneth with his kin And closeth his croft with cheritres Shall have many hedges broken And also full little good seruyes. ¶ Finis. ¶ Imprinted by me Robert wire: Dwelling at the Sign of S. Iohn evangelist/ in S. martin's parish beside Charing Cross. ROBERT merchant's mark wire.