[Headnote: THE WRETCHEDNESS OF THE WICKED IS DIMINISHED BY PUNISHMENT.]
but of þe þinges þat ben taken al so it is necessarie as who so seiþ it folweþ of þat whiche þat is p{ ur}posed byforn.
[Sidenote: _P._ That the wicked who have been punished for their crimes, are happier than if justice had allowed them to go unpunished.]
¶ certys q{ uo}d she þat is 3576 þat þ{ a}t þise wicked shrewes ben more blysful or ellys lasse wrecches. þat byen þe tourmentes þat þei han deserued. þan yif no peyne of Iustice ne chastied[e] hem.
[Sidenote: I do not appeal to popular arguments, that punishment corrects vice, that the fear of chastisement leads them to take the right path, and that the sufferings of evil-doers deter others from vice, but I believe that guilty men, unpunished, become much more unhappy in another way.]
ne þis ne seye I nat now for þat any man my[gh]t[e] 3580 þenk[e] þat þe maneres of shrewes ben coriged { and} chastised by veniaunce. { and} þat þei ben brou[gh]t to þe ry[gh]t wey by þe drede of þe tourment. ne for þat þei [gh]euen to oþer folk ensample to fleyen fro{ m} vices. ¶ But 3584 I vndirstonde [gh]itte [in] an oþer manere þat shrewes ben more vnsely whan þei ne ben nat punissed al be it so þat þere ne ben had no resou{ n} or lawe of correcc{ i}ou{ n}. ne none ensample of lokynge.
[Sidenote: _B._ In what way do you mean?]
¶ And what manere 3588 shal þat ben q{ uo}d I. ouþer þan haþ ben told here [[pg 126]] byforn
[Sidenote: _P._ Are not good people happy, and evil folk miserable?]
¶ Haue we nat graunted þan q{ uo}d she þat good[e] folk ben blysful. { and} shrewes ben wrecches.
[Sidenote: _P._ If good be added to the wretchedness of a man, will not he be happier than another whose misery has no element of good in it?]
[thanne q{ uod} she] [gh]if þat any good were 3592 added to þe wrecchenesse of any wy[gh]t. nis he nat more blisful þan he þat ne haþ no medelyng of goode in hys solitarie wrecchednesse.
[Sidenote: _P._ And if to the same wretched being another misery be annexed, does not he become more wretched than he whose misery is alleviated by the participation of some good?]
and what seyst þou þan q{ uo}d she of þilke wrecche þat lakkeþ alle 3596 goodes. so þat no goode nis medeled in hys wrecchednesse. { and} [gh]itte ouer alle hys wickednesse for whiche he is a wrecche þat þer be [gh]itte anoþer yuel anexid { and} knyt to hym. shal not men demen hym more vnsely 3600 þan þilke wrecche of whiche þe vnselynesse is re[le]ued by þe p{ ar}ticipac{ i}ou{ n} of som goode.