Yet some folys say that ye arre ffurnysshyd with knakkes, That hang togedyr as fethyrs in the wynde; But lewdlye ar they lettyrd that your lernyng lackys, Barkyng and whyning, lyke churlysshe currys of kynde, For whoo lokythe wyselye in your warkys may fynde Muche frutefull mater: but now, for your defence Agayne all remordes arme yow with paciens. 300
_Ipse sagax æqui ceu verax nuntius ito._ _Morda[98] puros mal desires. Portugues._ _Penultimo die Octobris, 33ᵒ._
Passe forthe, Parotte, towardes some passengere, Require hym to convey yow ovyr the salte fome; Addressyng your selfe, lyke a sadde messengere, To ower soleyne seigneour Sadoke, desire hym to cum home, Makyng hys pylgrimage by _nostre dame de Crome_; For Jerico and Jerssey shall mete togethyr assone As he to exployte the man owte of the mone.
With porpose and graundepose he may fede hym fatte, Thowghe he pampyr not hys paunche with the grete seall: 310 We haue longyd and lokyd long tyme for that, Whyche cawsythe pore suters haue many a hongry mele: As presydent and regente he rulythe every deall. Now pas furthe, good Parott, ower Lorde be your stede,[99] In this your journey to prospere and spede!
And thowe sum dysdayne yow, and sey how ye prate, And howe your poemys arre barayne of polyshed eloquens, There is none that your name woll abbrogate Then nodypollys and gramatolys of smalle intellygens; To rude ys there reason to reche to your sentence: 320 Suche malyncoly mastyvys and mangye curre dogges Ar mete for a swyneherde to hunte after hogges.
_Psittace, perge[100] volans, fatuorum tela retundas._ _Morda[101] puros mall desers. Portugues._ _In diebus Novembris, 34._
Prepayre yow, Parrot, breuely your passage to take, Of Mercury vndyr the trynall aspecte, And sadlye salute ower solen syre Sydrake, And shewe hym that all the world dothe coniecte, How the maters he mellis in com to small effecte; For he wantythe of hys wyttes that all wold rule alone; Hyt is no lytyll bordon to bere a grete mylle stone: 330
To bryng all the see into a cheryston pytte, To nombyr all the sterrys in the fyrmament, To rule ix realmes by one mannes wytte, To suche thynges ympossybyll reason cannot consente: Muche money, men sey, there madly he hathe spente: Parrot, ye may prate thys vndyr protestacion, Was neuyr suche a senatour syn Crystes incarnacion.