fol. 10r (cont.)I
pR.4.0: At the extreme right margin, on the same line as the passus rubric, there is a small, brown <p>, presumably the remains of a cropped guide.
R.4.0: Possibly other material was erased along with the parasign.Passus quartus de visione petri plowman . vt supra .
SessethR.4.1: There is no blue ornamental capital at the head of this line; instead, the <S> is the same size and color as all line initials. seyde þe kyng  I suffre ȝow no lengere .
Ȝe schal sauȝtne for-sothe  and serue me bothe .
Kysse hire quatz þe kyng  consience I hote .
R.4.4KD.4.4
Nay by crist quatz consience  congeye me for euere .
But reson rede me þere-to  rather wil I deye .
And I comande þe quod þe kyng  to consience þenne .
Rape þe to ride  and resoun þow fecche .
R.4.8KD.4.8
Comaunde hym þat he come  my conseille to here .
For he schal reule my reume  and rede me þe beste .R.4.9: Like most B manuscripts, R here lacks a following line attested in YOC2 as well as in the Crowley imprints and in versions A and C:
Of Mede and of mo oþere what man shal hire wedde.
And acounte with þe consience  so me crist helpe .
How þow lernest þe poeple  lered and lewede .R.4.11: R is unique in dropping two determiners from the Bx b-verse (þe lered and þe lewede). Cf. F's boþe lerede & þe lewede.
R.4.12KD.4.13
I am fayn of þat forward  seyde þe freke þanne .
And ritt riȝt to resoun  and rounneth in his ere .
And seyde as þe kyng bad  and sithes tok his leue .
I schal araie me to ride quatz resoun  reste þe a while .
R.4.16KD.4.17
And called caton his knaue  curteyse of speche .
And al-so thomme trewe tonge  telle me no tales .
Ne lesyng to lawe of  for I louede hem neuere .
And sette my sadel vppeR.4.19: R's vppe is unique; Bx reads vppon, the same reading found in Ax and Cx. suffre  til I se my tyme .
R.4.20KD.4.21
And let warrok it wel  with witti wordes gerthes .
And hange on hym þe heuy bridel  to heldeR.4.21: R's helde is a unique form; the other B copies read holde. his hede lowe
fol. 10vI
For he wil make wehe  tweyeR.4.22: Only LM agree with this R reading. Cf. F's to trewþe and the predominant beta reading twies. ere he be þere .
R.4.23: This paraph marker is blotted and smeared. Þanne consience vppon his capel  cayreth forth faste
R.4.24KD.4.25
And resoun with hym rit  rounynge togyderes .
Whiche maystries on eerth  mede þe mayde makethR.4.25: R's phrasing here reflects an alpha error; cf. beta's Mede maketh on þis erthe. Not only is the alliterative pattern of beta's a-verse appropriate (where alpha's is not); in its favor there is also the fact that Cx's a-verse (in a revised line) is identical to beta's.
On waryn wisdome  and witty his fere .
Folwed hem faste  R.4.27: R shares with L an omission (for þei) at the head of this b-verse. The reading of Ax agrees with that of the B majority. However, because of the extraordinary accuracy that the R and L scribes regularly demonstrate, and because these copies are at the top of any credible B stemma, it seems likelier that their shared mistake here attests the presence of a marginal correction in Bx (which both scribes overlooked) than a purely random convergence in ordinary omission. haued to done .
R.4.28KD.4.29
In þe chekerR.4.28: After cheker, R uniquely omits and. L and R then agree against all the other B copies in reading at(te) þe chauncerie where the majority reads in þe chauncerie with W (and, probably, Ax). F simply omits the prepositional phrase altogether, reading & Chawncerye. atte þe chauncerie  to be descharged of thinges .
And riden fast for resoun  schulde rede hem þe beste .
For to saue hem fro siluerR.4.30: R's fro siluer is a unique error but may reflect alpha; most other B manuscripts here read for siluer. Cf. F's & hem.  fram schame and fram harmes .
And consience knewe hem wel  þei louede coueytise .
R.4.32KD.4.33
And badR.4.32: R uniquely omits resoun from the phrase, And bad resoun ride. ride faste  and recche of here nother .
Þere arn wiles in here wordes  and with mede þei dwelleth .
Þere-as wrathe and wranglyng is  þere wynne þei siluer .
R.4.35: R uniquely omits the line-head conjunction witnessed in other B manuscripts as Ac (a majority), And or But. Cx reads Ac. Þere is loue and lewte  þei wole nouȝte come þere .
R.4.36KD.4.36α
Contricio & infelicitas in vijs eorum . &cetera .
Þei ne gyueth nouȝt of god  on gose wynge .
Non est timor dei ante oculos eorum .
For wote god þei wold do more  for a doseyne chikenes .
R.4.40KD.4.38.1
Or as many capounes  or for a sem of otes .
Þanne for loue of oure lorde  or alle hys leue seyntes .
For-thiR.4.42: R's omission of the vocative resoun after For-thi is derived from alpha and shared with F. late hem ride  þo riche be hem-selue .
For consience knoweth hem nouȝt  ne crist as I trowe .
R.4.44KD.4.42
And þanne resoun roed fast  þe riȝt hye gate .
As consience hym kennede  til þei come to þe kynge .
Curteiselich þe kynge þanne  come aȝeyne resoun .R.4.46: There is a superfluous bar over the <n> of resoun.
And bytwene hym-self and his sone  sette hym on benche .
R.4.48KD.4.46
And wordeddun wel wyseliche  a grete whyle to-gyderes .
And þanne come pees  in-to parlement  and putte forth a bille .
How wronge aȝeynes his wille  haued his wif taken .
fol. 11rI
And how he rauesched rose  raynaldes loue .
R.4.52KD.4.50
And margarete of hire maydenhode  mawgre hire chekes .
Bothe my gees and my gris  his gedelynges feccheth .
I dar nauȝt for fere of hym  fiȝt ne chide .
He borwed of me bayard  and brouȝt itR.4.55: Where the other B manuscripts read the pronoun reference to Bayard as hym, R uniquely reads it. Both Ax and Cx agree with the B majority. home neuere .
R.4.56KD.4.54
Ne no ferthyng þere-fore  for nauȝt I couthe plede .
He meynteneth his men  to murther myn heuuesR.4.57: The variant heuues derives from alpha. F's spelling here is heuuys ; cf. beta's hewen = "servants." Kane-Donaldson transcribe this variant in R as hennes and F's as hennys). What the R scribe actually thought he was writing is open to doubt since neither he nor the F scribe again uses <uu> for <w> after <e>. However, R writes the name "Stowe" as stouue at R5.28, and it is reasonable to assume that is what he intended here. .
He forstallethR.4.58: R uniquely adds He at line-head position. Cf. F's & to. Beta simply begins the line with Forstalleth. The Ax reading agrees with beta's, but Cx begins the line And forstalleth. my feyres  and fiȝteth in my chepynge .
And breketh vppe my bernesdorebernes dore  and bereth a-wey my whete .
R.4.60KD.4.58
And taketh me but a tayle  for ten quarteres of otes .
And ȝet he bet me þereto  and lyth by my mayde .
I am nauȝt hardy for hym  vnnethe to loke .
Þe kynge knewe he seyde sothe  For consience hym tolde .
R.4.64KD.4.62
Þat wronge was a wikked lusteR.4.64: R shares this obvious transcriptional error (luste for luft) with G and BmBoCot by convergent variation. F's wyght has the appearance of a typical smoothing, so R may have derived the error from alpha.  and muche sorwe wrouȝte .R.4.64: R's b-verse involves a transposition (uniquely shared with H) of the Bx phrase, which reads and wrouȝte moche sorwe.
Wronge was aferd þanne  and wysdom he souȝte .
To make pees with his pans  and profered hym manye .
And seyde hadde I loue ofR.4.67: Here alpha and Cr omit a stave; in beta the phrase would have read my lorde þe kynge. þe kynge  lytel wolde I recche .
R.4.68KD.4.66
Þeiȝ pees and his powere  pleyned hem euere .
Þo wanR.4.69: Only L and C agree with R's wan; F omits the entire line, while most beta copies read wente. The b-verse of this line is unmetrical and the entire line is a revision of the A version (K4.53), but the uniformity of attestation for its text from L and R (with C's concurrence) make it clearly a genuine Bx line. wysdom  and sire waryn þe witty .
For þat wronge hadde I-wrouȝte  so wikked a dede .
And warned wronge þo  with swyche a wise tale .
R.4.72KD.4.70
Hoo-so wercheth by wille  wreth maketh ofte .
I sey it by thi-self  þow schalt it wel fynde .
But if mede it make  þi meschief is vppe . The eleventh leaf of Rawlinson is slit (part of the same act as the cropping of leaves 1-7) at the right edge of the writing area for a space of some 3.5 cm, from R4.74-77.
For bothe þi lif and þi londe  lith in his grace .
R.4.76KD.4.74
Þanne wowede wronge  wisdom ful ȝerne .
To make his pees with his pans  handi-dandi payed .
Wisdom and wit þanne  wenten to-gyderes
And token mede myde hem  mercy to wynne .
R.4.80KD.4.78
Pees putte forth his hed  and his panne blody .
c iij
fol. 11vI
With-oute gult god it wote  gatt I þis skathe .
Consience and þe commune  knowen þe sothe .
Ac wisdom and witt  were aboute faste .
R.4.84KD.4.82
To ouercome þe kynge  with catel if þei myȝte .
Þe kyng swore by crist  and by his crowne bothe .
Þat wronge for his werkes  schuld wo thole .
And comanded a conestable  to casten hym in yrenes .
R.4.88KD.4.86
And lat hym nauȝte þis seuen ȝeere  seen his feet ones .
God wote quatz wisdom  þat were nauȝt þe best .
And he amendes mowe make  lat meynprise hym haue .
And be boruȝ for his bale  and buggen hym bote .
R.4.92KD.4.90
And so amende þat is mysdo  and euere beR.4.92: R's phrase, euere be, is unique, but alpha and Cr agree on euere; cf. beta's euermore. F reads the entire phrase as he shal do euere þe bettre. Both Ax and Cx agree with beta. þe bettere .
Witt acorded þere-with  and seyde þe same .
ÞatR.4.94: Þat is an alpha addition unattested by any beta manuscript. Both Ax and Cx agree with beta on the phrasing of this a-verse. bettere is þat bote  bale adoun brynge .
Þanne bale be I-bete  and bote neuere þe bettere .
R.4.96KD.4.94
And þanne gan mede to mekenR.4.96: Beta reads mengen, but clear majorities of both the A and C witnesses support alpha's reading. hire  and mercy heR.4.96: He, variant of heo, "she." See note at R.3.119:. bysouȝte .
And profered pees a present  alle of pure golde .
Haue þis man of me quatz sche  to amende þi scathe .
For I wil wage for wronge  he wil do so na more .
R.4.100KD.4.98
R.4.100: This paraph marker was mistakenly executed in red and then erased, in anticipation of being redrawn in blue. Pytousliche pees þanne  preyed to þe kynge .
To haue mercy on þat man  þat mysdede hym so ofte .
For he hath waged me wel  as wisdom hym tauȝte .
And I forgyue hym þat gult  with a goed wille .
R.4.104KD.4.102
So þat þe kyng assente  I can sey no bettere .
For mede hath made mynR.4.105: For alpha's myn, beta reads me. Both Ax and Cx attest possessive case for this pronoun rather than objective case. amendes  I may namore axe .
Nay quatz þe kyng þo  so me godR.4.106: R's god is an alpha reading; cf. beta's cryst. helpe .
Wronge wendeth nauȝt so awey  arst wil I wyte more .
R.4.108KD.4.106
For loupe he so liȝtly  leyȝhen he wolde .
And efte þe bolder be  to beten myn hewes .
fol. 12rI
But reson haue reuthe on hym  he schal rest in my stokkes .
And þat as longe as he lyueth  but lowenesse hyhy[m] borwe .
R.4.112KD.4.110
Summe men radde reson þo  to haue reuth on þat schrewe .
And for to consayle þe kyng  and consience after .
Þat mede moste be meynpernoure  reson þei besouȝte .
Rede me nauȝt quod reson  no reuth to haue 
R.4.116KD.4.114
Til lordes and ladyes  louyen alle treuthe .
And haten alle harlotrie  to heren it or to mouthe it .
Til peronelles purfil  be putte in hire hucche .
And childerne chirissynge  be chastyng with ȝerdes .
R.4.120KD.4.118
And harlotes holynesse  be holden for nauȝte .R.4.120: R's nauȝte is unique; cf. F's vanyte and beta's an hyne. The C version completely revises this b-verse, but the Ax version agrees exactly with beta's rendering.
Til clerkene coueytise  be to clothe þe pore and to fede .
And religiouse romares  recordare in here cloystres .
As seynt benet hem bad  bernard and Franceys .
R.4.124KD.4.122
And til prechoures prechynge  be proued on hem-selue .
Til þe kynges conseylle  be þe commune profit
Til bisshopes bayardes  ben beggereR.4.126: Beta shows the genitive plural beggeres; F reads beggerys in. chaumbres .
Here haukes and here houndes  help to pouere religiouses .R.4.127: R's plural form is unique; beta reads Religious, while F has relygyouse howsys.
R.4.128KD.4.126
And til seynt Iames be souȝt  þere I schal assygne .
Þat no man go to galys  but if he goo for euere .
And alle rome renneres  for robberes of by-ȝende .
Bere no siluer ouer see  þat signe of kyng scheweth .
R.4.132KD.4.130
Nother graue ne vn-graue  gold nother seluer .
Vppon forfeture of þat fee  ho-so fynt hym at douere .
But if it be marchant or his man  or messagere with lettres .
Prouisoure or preest  or penaunt for his synnes . The twelfth leaf of Rawlinson is slit (part of the same act as the cropping of leaves 1-7) at the right edge of the writing area for a space of some 2 cm, from R4.134-37.
R.4.136KD.4.134
R.4.136: This paraph marker was mistakenly executed in red and then erased, in anticipation of being redrawn in blue. And ȝet quod resoun be þe rode  I schal no reuthe haue .
While mede hath þe maystrie  in þis moot halle .
Ac I may schewe ensaumples  as I se othere otherwhileotherwhile .
I sey it be my-selue quod he  and it so were .
R.4.140KD.4.138
Þat I were kyng with crowne  to kepen a rewme .
Schuld neuere wrong in þis world  þat I witt miȝte 
c iiij
fol. 12vI
Ben vnpunesched in my powere  for peril of my soule .
Ne gete my grace þoruȝR.4.143: R's þoruȝ is an alpha variant shared exclusively with F. Beta reads for. Cx is revised immediately beyond this point in the line, but it agrees with alpha on the identity of this preposition. Ax reads the entire a-verse exactly as alpha does. gyftes  so me god saue .
R.4.144KD.4.142
Ne for no mede haue mercy  but mekenesse it made .
For nullum malum þe man  mette with inpunitum .
And bad nullum bonum  be irremuneratum .
Lat ȝoure confessoure sire kyng  construe þis vn-glosed .
R.4.148KD.4.146
And ȝif ȝe werkyn it in werke  I wedde myn eres .
Þat lawe schal ben a laborere  and lede afelde donge . A hand in the left margin points to these lines.
And loue schal lede þi londe  as þe leef lyketh .
Clerkes þat were confessores  couplede hem to-gyderes .
R.4.152KD.4.150
Alle to construe þis clause  and for þe kynges profit .
Ac nauȝt for conforte of þe commune  ne for þe kynges soule .
For I seyȝ mede in þe moot halle  on men of lawe wynken .
And þei lawhynge lope to hire  and left reson manye .
R.4.156KD.4.154
Waryn wysdom  wynkede vppon mede .
And seyde madame I am ȝoure man what-so my mouth iangle .
I falle in floreyns quod þeR.4.158: R's þe is an alpha variant (cf. beta's þat), shared by convergence with Cr2-3. freke  and faile speche ofte .
Alle riȝtful recordede  þat resounR.4.159: The scribe's rendering of this word is ambiguous; he has placed a dot over the final character rather than the customary nasal bar, but his typical spelling suggests that he intended this word to be construed here as resoun. trewthe tolde .
R.4.160KD.4.158
And witt acordede þere-with  and comended his wordes .
And þe most poeple in þisR.4.161: R's þis is unique. The other B manuscripts read þe. halle  and many of þe grete .
And leten mekenesse a maystere  and mede a mansed schrewe .
Loue loueLoue lett of hire lyȝte  and leute welR.4.163: R's wel is an alpha variant shared with Hm by convergence. Beta reads ȝit. Cx agrees with beta. lasse .
R.4.164KD.4.162
And seyde it so hye  þat alle þe halle it herde .
Ho-so wilneth hire to wyue  for welth of hire godes .
But he be knowe for a kokewolde  bitteR.4.166: R's bitte is unique error. The other B manuscripts read kut, which matches the line's alliterative pattern. Both Ax and Cx agree with the B majority's reading. of my nose .
Mede morned þo  and made heuy chere .
R.4.168KD.4.166
For þe most commune of þat courte  called hire an hore .
Ac a sysoure and a sompnoure  sued hire faste .
fol. 13rI
And a schirreuesclerkeschirreues clerke  by-schrewed alle þe route .
For ofte haue I quod he  I-hulpe ȝow atte barre .
R.4.172KD.4.170
And ȝet ȝeue ȝe me neuere  þe worth of a rusche .
Þe kyng called consience  and afterwardes resoun .
And recordede þat resoun  hadde riȝtfulliche yschewed .
And modiliche vppon mede miȝteþat kyng loke .R.4.175: Alpha wrongly construed myȝte as a modal instead of a noun.
R.4.176KD.4.174
And gan wax wroth with lawe  for mede almost had schent it .
And seyde þurȝ ȝoure lawe as I leue  I lese many chetes .
Mede ouer-maystrieth lawe  and muche treuthe letteth .
Ac resoun schal rekne with ȝow  ȝif I regne any while .
R.4.180KD.4.178
And deme ȝow be þis daye  as ȝe haue deseruede .
Mede schal nouȝt meynprise ȝow  be þe marie of heuene .
I wil haue lewte in lawe  and let be al ȝoure iangelynge .
And as alleR.4.183: R's alle is an alpha reading. Cf. beta's moste. If beta is original at this point, the omission of the second alliterating stave wel at the end of the a-verse is also derived from an alpha error but one shared with Cr, G, and H. However, it is quite conceivable that F's reading for this half-line is the authorial one (though unlikely to have been derived from alpha): & as alle wyȝes witnesse. folke witnesseth  wronge schal be ydemed .
R.4.184KD.4.182
quatz consience to þe kynge  but þe commune wil assente .
It is ful hard be my hed  herto to brynge it .
Alle ȝoureR.4.186: R uniquely omits beta's lige from the phrase lige leodes; cf. F's phrase, londys leedys. In the C tradition, the phrase is either identical to beta's (a majority of C witnesses) or more closely resembles beta's (XYcP2 = lege lordes). Most A witnesses also agree with beta. leedes  to lede þus euene .
By hym þat rauȝte on þe rode  quod resoun to þe kynge .
R.4.188KD.4.186
But if I rewle þus ȝoure rewme  rend oute my guttes .
If ȝe bydden buxumnesse  be of myn assente .
And I assente quatzR.4.190: Here beta probably read seith (the reading of LMCrW), but several beta witnesses (HmGOH) support alpha's quod (F) or quatz (R). Ax clearly agrees with the alpha reading, despite its deficient alliteration. þe kyng  by seint marie my lady .
Be my conseille I-come  of clerkes and of erles .
R.4.192KD.4.190
Ac redily resoun  þow schalte nouȝt ride fro me . In the right margin, in black ink, there is an early ownership stamp for the Bodleian Library. The thirteenth leaf of Rawlinson is slit (part of the same act as the cropping of leaves 1-7) at the right edge of the writing area for a space of some 2 cm, from R4.192-94.
For as longe as I lyue  leet þe InelleI nelle .
I am aredy quod resoun  to rest with ȝow euere .
So consience be of oure conseil  I kepe no bettere .
R.4.196KD.4.194
And I graunt quod þe kyng  godesforbodegodes forbode heR.4.196: For R's he, cf. F's þou and beta's it. Ax agrees with R's reading. faile .
As longe as oure lif lastR.4.197: Beta reads lasteth.  leue we to-gyderes .
MED