Mark Amsler's memory is good, and below is the relevant passage,
from Ch. 59 (OK, so his memory isn't perfect--whose is?), thorns
regularized to "th":
Than for hir frowardnes & hir vnbeleue owr Lord drow fro hir alle
good thowtys & alle good mendys of holy spechys & dalyawns & the hy
contemplacyon whech sche had ben vsyd to be-for-tyme, & suffyrd hir to
haue as many euyl thowtys as sche had be-forn of good thowtys. And this
vexacyon enduryd xij days to-gedyr, and, lyche as be-for-tyme sche had
iiij owrys of the for-noon in holy spechys & dalyawns wyth owr Lord, so
had sche now as many owrys of fowle thowtys & fowle mendys of letchery &
alle vnclennes as thow sche xulde a be comown to al maner of pepyl. & so
the Deuyl bar hyr on hande, dalying vn-to hir wyth cursyd thowtys liche
as owr Lord dalyid to hir be-forn-tyme with holy thowtys. And, as sche
beforn had many gloryows visyonys & hy contemplacyon in the manhod of owr
Lord, in owr Lady, & in many other holy seyntys, ryth euyn so had sche
now horybyl syghtys & abhominabyl, for anythyng that sche cowde do, of
beheldyng of mennys membrys & swech other abhominacyons. Sche sey as hir
thowt veryly dyuers men of religyon, preystys, & many other, bothyn
hethyn & Cristen comyn be-for hir syght that sche myth not enchewyn hem ne
puttyn hem owt of hir syght, schewyng her bar membrys vn-to hir. &
therwyth the Deuyl bad hir in hir mende chesyn whom sche wolde han fyrst
of hem alle & sche must be comown to hem alle. & he seyd sche lykyd
bettyr summe on of hem than alle the other. Hir thowt that he seyd
trewth; scho cowde not sey nay; & sche must nedys don hys byddyng, & 3et
wolde sche not a don it for alle this worlde. But 3et hir thowt that it
xulde be don, & hir thowt that thes horrybyl syghtys & cursyd mendys
abedyn wyth hir. Whan sche xulde se the Sacrament, makyn hir prayerys,
er don any other good dede, euyr swech cursydnes was putte in hir mende.
Sche was schreuyn & dede al that sche myth, but sche fonde no relesyng
tyl sche was ner at dispeyr. It can not be wretyn that peyn that sche
felt & the sorwe that sche was inne.
Typos are mine, this coming from pp. 144-45 of The Book of Margery Kempe,
EETS os 212.
Juris
Juris G. Lidaka Dept. of English
[log in to unmask] West Virginia State College
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