Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 2.pdf/34

To trap a rascal is no sin,
And well one does to snare him in
His proper net.
Evil-Tongue deserves hanging A caitiff-wretch
Is Evil-Tongue; although you stretch
Him till in half he falls, there still
A wretch remains, that style ne’er will7740
Be lost to him. No other name
Ought he to bear, for nought of shame
Hath he men’s good repute to steal,
Causing deep wounds no balm can heal.
Better were he on gibbet strung
Than half the wretched creatures hung
For filching dirty pence. The thieves
Who steal a farmer’s golden sheaves,
Or rob a clothes-line, being ta’en
Red hand, the law makes pay again7750
Four times the worth. But Evil-Tongue
So spreads his injuries among
All people, that, the harm once done,
A good name cannot back be won
From him to salve the wound, or stay
The poisonous flood for many a day.

One needs this miscreant to appease,
As men must sometimes, on their knees,
Touch with their lips a hand that well
Deserves the cleansing fires of hell.7760
Wherefore should not the wretch be sent
To Tarsus, where he might invent
Lies that no lovers need to fear?
’Twere well from off the earth to clear
So vile a scoundrel.