--_commendo spiritum meum_.

_Knowledge._ Now hath he suffered that we all shall endure;
The _Good-Deeds_ shall make all sure.
Now hath he made ending;
Methinketh that I hear angels sing
And make great joy and melody,
Where _Everyman's_ soul received shall be.

_Angel._ Come, excellent elect spouse to Jesu:
Hereabove thou shalt go
Because of thy singular virtue:
Now the soul is taken the body fro;
Thy reckoning is crystal-clear.
Now shalt thou into the heavenly sphere,
Unto the which all ye shall come
That liveth well before the day of doom.

_Doctor._ This moral men may have in mind;
Ye hearers, take it of worth, old and young,
And forsake pride, for he deceiveth you in the end,
And remember _Beauty_, _Five-wits_, _Strength_, and _Discretion_,
They all at the last do _Everyman_ forsake,
Save his _Good-Deeds_, there doth he take.
But beware, and they be small
Before God, he hath no help at all.
None excuse may be there for _Everyman_:
Alas, how shall he do then?
For after death amends may no man make,
For then mercy and pity do him forsake.
If his reckoning be not clear when he do come,
God will say--_ite maledicti in ignem aeternum_.
And he that hath his account whole and sound,
High in heaven he shall be crowned;
Unto which place God bring us all thither
That we may live body and soul together.
Thereto help the Trinity,
Amen, say ye, for saint _Charity_.

THUS ENDETH THIS MORALL PLAY OF EVERYMAN.

THE CHESTER PAGEANT OF THE WATER-LEADERS AND DRAWERS OF THE DEE
CONCERNING NOAH'S DELUGE

CHARACTERS

God
Noah
Shem
Ham
Japhet
Noah's Wife
Shem's Wife
Ham's Wife
Japhet's Wife

THE CHESTER PAGEANT OF THE DELUGE

_God._ I, God, that all the world have wrought
Heaven and Earth, and all of nought,
I see my people, in deed and thought,
Are foully set in sin.
My ghost shall not lodge in any man
That through fleshly liking is my fone,[18]
But till six score years be gone
To look if they will blynne.[19]
Man that I made I will destroy,
Beast, worm, and fowl to fly,
For on earth they me annoy,
The folk that is thereon.
For it harms me so hurtfully
The malice now that can multiply,
That sore it grieveth me inwardly,
That ever I made man.
Therefore Noah, my servant free,
That righteous man art, as I see,
A ship soon thou shalt make thee,
Of trees dry and light.
Little chambers therein thou make
And binding slich[20] also thou take
Within and out, thou not slake