2  A New Translation of verses 2439-2688

On this page, I offer my own traditional, static translation with notes. My translation attempts to account for the polysemous words in this passage of Silence. Where appropriate, I have taken etymologies into account. I welcome the reader’s contributions to improve this project.

Line	Roche-Mahdi (2007) OF Edition	My Translation
2439	Quant l’enfes est de tel doctrine	When the child had such learning Keeping "learning" here rather than emphasizing age is important because just before this passage Heldris describes the way the nurse and the seneschal educate Silence, and he repeats the word "doctrine" throughout that sequence.
	Qu’il entent bien qu’il est mescine,	that he well understood that he was a girl,
	Ses pere l’a mis a raison,	his father reasoned with him, "metre a raison" is to have a talk with someone or to address someone, but I think it is important to emphasize the word "reason" here since the allegorical figure "Reason" will soon arrive to talk to Silence.
	Se li demostre l’oquoison	and showed him the cause
	Por que on le coile si et cuevre.	for which they cultivated and covered him so. There is an apparent play on words here between the noun "coil" meaning "testicule" and the verb "coillier" meaning "to collect/to harvest/to gather". Here we see a connection between raising Silence as a boy and his family's ability to protect the inheritance of their lands. There is another apparent play on words between "cuevre" meaning "a quiver" and "cuivriier" (to torment), "covrir" (to cover).
2444	“Se li rois Ebayns seüst l’uevre	“If the king Ebain knew the creation
	Que nos de vos, bials fils, menons,	that we are making of you, fair son,
	De quanque nos sos ciel avons	of all that we have under heaven
	Estroit li vostre pars petite;	your portion would be small; "Portion" feels like the best word choice to me here because it recalls the Biblical theme of one's "portion" granted by God, which Silence will reference later in this passage.
	Car li rois, bials fils, desirite	for the king, fair son, disinherited
2449	Toltes les femes d’Engletiere,	all the women of England,
	Tolt par l’oquoison d’une guerre	all because of a war
	De .ii. contes ki en moururent	between two counts who died in it
	Par .ii. jumieles ki dunt furent.	for two twins with whom they were bound.
	Bials dols ciers fils, n’est pas por nos	Fair sweet dear son, it is not for us
2454	Cho que faisons, ainz est por vos.	that we do so, rather it is for you.
	Tolte l’oquoison, fils savés.	The whole cause, son, you know.
	Si chier come l’onor avés,	As dearly as you hold honor,
	Si vos covrés viers tolte gent.”	just so, you will cover yourself from everyone.” "Cover" here has the message of shielding oneself from harm. In this way, honor is made out to be a sort of shield one wears for self-protection, and Silence must use both honor and clothing to conceal identity and remain safe from harm. The playing on cover/discover will be important later.
	Et cil respont moult dolcement,	And this [child] responded so sweetly,
2459	Briément, al fuer de sage enfant:	briefly, with the disposition of a refined child: "Fuer" having the dual meaning of "price"/"rate" or "manner"/fashion" depending on context. Again we have a polysemous word connecting the ideas of behavior, character, and inheritance. "Disposition" is meant to reflect Silence's behavior and the legal situation he finds himself in concerning the transfer of property rights. I also like "refined" here because it refers to how Silence has been fashioned by his environment both physically and mentally. Silence is "refined" as in "educated" and "refined" as in "processed" goods.
	“Ne vos cremés, ne tant ne quant,	“Don’t sweat it one bit. "Cremer" can mean "bruler, embraser" or "craindre", so I've gone a bit informal here with "sweat it" to reflect the dual idea of worry and heat and to show Silence's youth. More abstractly "sweat" is also used in cooking and welding, which plays with the trades Nature engages with in the text.
	Car, se Deu plaist, bien le ferai,	For, so help me God, I’ll do it.
	Viers tolte gent me coverrai.”	I will cover myself from everyone.”
	Moult le castie biel li pere	The father often chastised him well, This choice of words is interesting because it combines the notion of reprimanding and purifying at the same time, as in "chastise"/"chasten" or "to make pure, chaste". Silence will be able to live as a "man" provided that (s)he is chaste as this is the only activity as a man that she cannot perform. This verb "castier" also obliquely brings to mind the similar verb "chastrer" meaning "to castrate."
2464	Et alsi fait sovent la mere,	And often so did the mother,
	Li senescals et la norice.	the seneschal, and the nurse.
	De faire bien cascun l’entice.	Each incited him to do well. The etymology of this word "entice" includes a connotation of flames from the Latin "titio" for "firebrand", "set on fire", "to fan the flames of", "to encourage." I'd love a word that includes the connotation of heat since Silence is changed with the exposure to the sun, but I've gone with "incite" because of its negative connotations. I see some humor in this verse as they are perhaps encouraging Silence to do the wrong thing but to do it well.
	Il est de tel entendement	He has such an intention I feel like Silence's choice in all of this has been somewhat downplayed. Silence proves him/herself capable of making choices, and clearly so many people would not be trying to reason with him/her if it weren't for the fear that (s)he would disobey their wishes.
	Qu’il croit bien lor castiement.	that he had faith in their chastisement.
2469	Li senescals por essaucier	The seneschal, to raise [him] in honor
	Et por apprendre a chevalcier	and to teach [him] to ride
	Le maine en bos et en rivieres	maneuvered him through woods and through streams I chose this verb "maneuvered" to reflect how the original word "maine" has the word "main" as in "hand" in it and to reflect how the seneschal is physically reshaping Silence. Plus, the word "maneuver" has the connotation of a military exercise, which is kind of what Silence is being trained for as (s)he gains knightly skills.
	Ki sunt el païs bien plenieres.	which were rather plentiful in the land.
	Sel mainne plus sovent el halle	He maneuvered him so very often in the broiling sun
2474	Par cho quel violt faire plus malle. /	so that such a beaten path might make [him] more male. One could simply interpret this word "violt" as "voloir", but other obliquely related words come to mind as well. From "voielete" as in "sentier" in Modern French ("path" in English), and the word also brings to mind the verb "vïoler" meaning either "to play the viol" (as Silence will later do during his career as a jongleur) or "to dishonor"/"to take by force"/"to violate". Here we can see how this word, especially when heard aloud, can bring up many ideas at once. I want to convey that this is a difficult path both literally and metaphorically that Silence is being forced onto. They are riding horses too, so bridlepath could work, but beaten path shows how this is a new, unfamiliar trail. Either option expresses how Silence is being physically manipulated.
	Il a us d’ome tant usé	He was so used to men’s customs
	Et cel de feme refusé	and had refused those of women
	Que poi en falt que il n’est malles:	that little was lacking for him to be male:
	Quanque on en voit est trestolt malles.	All that one saw of him was quite male. I like "quite" here because it lends itself to some ambiguity as different English speakers around the world perceive of "quite" differently as meaning either "very much" or only "somewhat".
2479	El a en tine que ferine:	But one cannot judge a book by its cover: The original verse is an old idiom literally reading "(S)he had in the bucket something other than flour." The ambiguity of "El" sounding like the pronoun "Elle" has been commented on by others. This idiom is playing on Silence being crafted by others, and the image of baking is especially relevant for the later appearance of Nature who is often described as forming beings through baking or forging. I really want there to be a more direct English idiom for this, but at least the English idiom I've provided here conveys both the motif of coverings and the motif of inscribing.
	Il est desos les dras mescine.	Under the covers, he was a girl.
	Li senescals sor tolte rien	The seneschal, against all else
	Es premiers an le garda bien.	in the early years, kept watch over him.
	Com plus croist l’enfes en grandece,	As the child grew in stature, My translation emphasizes Silence's growth in size as well as status.
2484	Tant amenrist plus sa destrece.	so the more diminished his distress. "Destrece" (and its English equivalent "distress") carries the connotations of both physical and financial hardship. As a legal term "distress" specifically refers to the seizure of property, which is the threat looming over Silence here.
	Quant on n’i puet folie ataindre	Since he couldn’t give rise to trouble there, "Ataindre" can have the connotation of parentage, so I almost translated it to "engender", but that felt a bit too on the nose.
	Por quoi le devroit on destraindre?	why should anyone hold him back?
	Cho qu’il crient sa droiture perdre	Since they feared losing his rights,
	Le fait plus a savoir aherdre.	that fact taught him to adhere even more. I see some irony in this verse as Silence's family is securing his "rights" while restricting his movements.
2489	Ses cuers meïsmes bien l’escole	His own heart schooled him
	Al deguerpir maniere fole.	to renounce foolish manners. I chose the verb "renounce" because of how it can be used to decline a role or position. Silence is forced to adopt one role while turning down another.
	Por cho a il lassor assés	Because of this, he had free rein. I'm playing here with the earlier references to horseback riding. With the given "lassor" (also spelled "laissor" or "loisir"), I also see the Old French verb "laissier," which can mean "to let run on a slack lead." Silence may have a long leash, but (s)he is still bridled. I also like the English pun of "rein" and "reign" that ties in the issue of social class and inheritance.
	Et quant il ot .xi. ans passés	And when he had passed eleven years [of age],
	N’i a un seul de lui plus maistre.	there was not a one more masterly than he. I think it's important to keep the word "master" here as Silence is being raised to be a young noble boy or "master" as (s)he masters these masculine skills.
2494	Quant il joent a le palaistre,	When they played at wrestling,
	A bohorder, n’a l’escremir,	at jousting, or at fencing,
	Il seus fait tols ses pers fremir.	he alone made all of his peers quiver. "Quiver" as in the noun appears several times in this narrative, and one might "quiver" with fear, pleasure, and anticipation. All of this physical contact with the other boys might have provoked the same effect Silence will later have on the King of France.
	[S]ilences forment s’enasprist,	They made Silence exasperated with himself
	Car ses corages li aprist	for his heart told him
2499	Ke si fesist par couverture.	that what he was doing was a sham. I like "sham" here because it conveys both a deception and a covering as in a pillow sham. Silence must remain undercover, and that deceit causes him/her to feel shame.
	Apriés .xii. ans si vint Nature	After twelve years, then came Nature
	Ki le blasme forment et coze.	who condemned and complained about their making of her.
	Dist li: “Chi a estrange coze,	She said to him: “What a strange case,
	Ki te deduis al fuer de malle,	that you play at being a male,
2504	Et vas si al vent et al halle,	and go out in the wind and the broiling sun,
	Car une speciäl forme ai	when I had a special frame
	Dont a mes .ii. mains te formai.	with which I formed you with my [own] two hands.
	Et la bialtet qu’ai tant celé[e]	And the beauty that I had so sealed away I am using "seal" in Nature's speech because it combines the actions of storing and concealing (as one might in a cellar) with the sealing of a legal agreement. Maintaining Silence's body as male is what seals the deal of her inheritance. This also supports Nature's use of the word "scel" in verse 2516.
	Ai tolte en toi amoncelee.	all of it I had accumulated in you.
2509	.m. gens me tienent por escarse	A thousand people take me for a miser
	Por la bialté, dont tu iés farse;	for the beauty I stuffed you with; "Farse" (or "farce") can refer to an absurdity, or in a culinary sense, it can also refer to stuffing. Here we can see a double meaning as Nature sees Silence making a mockery of her own substance so carefully prepared by Nature.
	Car jo ai de .m. gens retraite	for I retained from a thousand people
	La bialté, dont tu iés refaite.	the beauty with which you remain.
	.m. femes a en ceste vie	There are a thousand women in this life
2514	Ki de toi ont moult grant envie	who covet you so greatly
	Por le bialté qu’eles i voient,	for the beauty that they see in you;
	Car puet scel estre eles i croient	for they believe there may be sealed there
	Tel cose qu’en toi nen a mie.	a certain something that you don’t have at all.
	Et tels est ore moult t’amie /	And some woman who might love you so much now
2519	Qui te haroit de tolt le cuer,	who would harass you with all her heart,
	Se il de toi savoit le fuer,	if she knew about your lot... My use of "lot" here is meant to convey the multiple meanings of "fuer", which can refer to the price or amount of something as well as to a person's disposition (in this passage alone see also verses 2459, 2503, 2561). "Lot" also conveys how Silence's identity as a man is meant to secure a plot of land.
	Qu’el s’en tenroit a malballie	for in this she would count herself maltreated for it; Reading around this word "malballie" lends itself to some possibilities for sexual innuendo. For example in "malbaillir", we have the verb "baillier" meaning "céder la jouissance ou l'exploitation d'un bien pour un prix et une durée fixés par contrat", and from there we can see "bailliee" which refers to "permission de prendre du bois".
	Que s’esperance estroit fallie.	she and her aspirations would be crestfallen. This hypothetical scenario set forward by Nature is almost certainly foreshadowing Eufeme's later attempts on Silence who will herself describe their encounter in economic terms (see verses 3884-8).
	Tu me fais, certes, grant laidure	You do me, to be sure, an ugly thing The Matsumura dictionary also offers "parties génitales" as a possible use for the word "laidure." It may be that Nature is specifically referring to the misuse of her handiwork in that department.
2524	Quant tu maintiens tel noreture.	when you maintain such nurturing.
	Ne dois pas en bos converser,	You should not be out in the woods cavorting, "Converser" can mean "demeurer," "fréquenter," "avoir des rapports," or "avoir des relations charnelles".
	Lancier, ne traire, ne berser.	lancing, nor traipsing, nor shooting.
	Tol toi de chi!” cho dist Nature.	Get yourself out of here!” so said Nature.
	“Va en la cambre a la costure,	“Go sew in your chamber,” We have again a possible double entendre as "costure" can refer to sewing or the cultivation of land (a common metaphor for reproduction). I invite the English reader to hear sew/sow in this verse.
2529	Cho violt de nature li us.	This is Nature’s path, custom for him. Here again we can see desired paths for Silence (see also verses 2474, 2543, and 2614 in this passage). I have pulled this verse out of Nature's speech and given it to the narrator because it feels more natural as an interjected observation coming from the narrator.
	Tu nen es pas Scilentius!”	“You are not Silentius!”
	Et cil respont: “Tel n’oï onques!	And this [child] responded: “I never heard such a thing!
	Silencius! qui sui jo donques?	Silentius! Who am I then?
	Silencius ai non, jo cui,	I have the name Silentius, I thought,
2534	U jo sui altres que ne fui.	or I am somebody I wasn’t.
	Mais cho sai jo bien, par ma destre,	But well I know, by my right,
	Que jo ne puis pas altres estre!	that I can’t be anybody else!
	Donques sui jo Scilentius,	So I am Silentius,
	Cho m’est avis, u jo sui nus.”	it seems to me, or I am nobody.” Many have called attention to this word "nus" as implying nudity as well as negation. I have rendered it as "nobody" to call attention to Silence's body, which will be made nude at the end of the narrative.
2539	Dont se porpense en lui meïsme	Then he reflected on it himself
	Que Nature li fait sofime:	on the sophistry Nature made him:
	Por cho que l’-us est encontre us	That this -us was contrary to custom,
	N’a pas a non Scilentius.	that his name was not Silentius,
	Aler en violt a la costure	wanting him to go sew
2544	Si com li a rové Nature,	just as Nature had raved at him,
	Car por fief, ne por iretage,	that for neither fief nor heritage,
	Ne doit mener us si salvage.	he must not manifest a custom so savage. Pushing against both Psaki and Roche-Mahdi, I do not think Silence has been convinced by Nature so quickly. In this section, I see Silence mulling over Nature's suggestions without fully accepting them, especially since Nature's discourse is referred to as "sofime" (v. 2540).
	Atant i sorvint Noreture	Suddenly there came Nurture
	Et voit que parole a Nature.	who saw that he was talking to Nature.
2549	Di li: “Que fais tu, diva, chi?”	She said to him: “Say, what are you doing here?”
	Cil dist: “Nature tence a mi.	This [child] said, “Nature is contending with me.
	Et si n’est pas, par foi, a tort	And so it isn’t, by faith, wrong
	Qu’ele m’acostume et amort	that she accustom and mortify me
	A tel us ki est droitureus,	to such customs that are righteous,
2554	Car cis us n’es pas natureus.	for this custom is not natural.
	Ainc feme, voir, de mon parage,	See here, never did a woman of my parentage
	Ne mena mais si fait usage,	ever manifest such a usage,
	Ne jo plus longhes nel menrai:	nor will I manifest one any longer:
	A us de feme me tenrai.	I will handle myself as a woman customarily does.
2559	Jo ne voel pas moi estalcier,	I do not want to cut my hair short,
	Fendre mes dras, braies calcier,	to rip my clothes, to burn my breeches,
	Ne mais vivre a fuer de garçon,	or live in the manner of a boy, I want to play with the homophones "manner" and "manor" here.
	Prendre mon coivre, et mon arçon.	with my quiver and my bow. "Arçon" presents many possible interconnected meanings (certainly some sexual innuendos) including "bow" as in "bow and arrow" or for a musical instrument. "Arçon" can also refer to various arcs including the arc of a yoke or the arc of a saddle. And finally "estre ou monter es arçons" means to "faire l'amour", and "perdre (les) arçons" refers to falling from one's horse.
	Avint adonques mais a nule?	Well, has such a thing ever come to pass for anybody?
2564	Nenil! adunc quant jo m’afule	Never! So, when I clothe myself,
	Por moi de tel giu a retraire	I will restrain myself from such games Godefroy writes that the word "giu" (meaning "jeu") "s'employait souvent pour désigner l'acte amoureux".
	Com vallet suelent encor faire, /	as boys still play at thresholds. The word "suelent" is giving me a lot of trouble. Thorpe, Psaki, and Rochd-Mahdi do not offer guidance on it. In Godefroy, I find the verb "sueller" as in "mettre un seuil à, achever jusqu'au seuil." Are these amorous games played when young men cross thresholds?
	Dont dient tuit mi compagnon:	Then, all my companions will say:
	‘Cis avra moult le cuer felon	“This one will have quite the underhanded heart
2569	Se il vit longhes entressait.’	if he lives that long.”
	Mais ne sevent com moi estait.	But they don’t know how it is with me.
	Se me desful par aventure	If I undress myself for example The Matsumura dictionary includes "par exemple" as a possible interpretation of "par aventure". Here I do not see Silence being afraid of being seen nude exactly. Rather, I see Silence feeling anxiety about the fact that his/her "nature" changes simply by the act of undressing.
	Dont ai paor de ma nature.	I’m afraid of my nature.
	Conjoie moult diversement.	I experience pleasure so differently.
2574	En cort aloie conversant,	At court, I used to go cavorting. See verse 2525 for another use of "converser." This connection would seem to compare the woods and the court as similarly wild spaces.
	Tolt cho metrai ariere dos	I will put all of this behind me,
	Et viverai dont a repos.	and so, I will live at ease.
	Cis Dameldex qui me fist naistre	The Lord who engendered me
	Me puet bien governer et paistre:	can govern and shepherd me well:
2579	Queles! ja n’ai jo oï conté*	Doggone it! Haven’t I heard it recounted My translation is a bit silly here, but "queles" or "chaëles" is an interjection of exasperation similar to "For Heaven's sake!" But also, "chaële" is the diminutive for a dog. Thorpe gives "Que" and says "This line is hardly legible," so without access to the manuscript, I will take some liberties.
	Qu’il est plains de si grant bonté	that he is full of such great bounty
	Et done a tolte creäture	and gives to every creature
	Sofisalment lonc sa nature?	sufficiently according to his nature?
	Fu ainc mais feme si tanee	Was any woman ever so tanned "Tanee" can mean both "tanned" and "tormented". I kept tanned because the text spends a lot of time describing the tanning of Silence's skin. Plus to "tan someone's hide" is to punish them similar to the way Silence is being physically corrected by his/her guardians, and "tanning" may be another reference to the craftwork performed on Silence's body by the hands of Nurture.
2584	De vil barat, ne enganee	or engineered by such vile churning, With "engineered" I'm connecting "engan", which only refers to "tromperie", with "engin" which can refer to "tromperie" as well as "ingéniosité". Silence has been fooled and engineered by disingenuous actors. For "barat" (meaning "commerce," "agitation/confusion," "tromperie," or "voleur"), we also have the verb "barater" meaning "battre le crème dans une baratte," and "churning" is a term that can be used to refer to a type of financial securities fraud. This may be a big stretch on my part, but it's fun to make words work overtime.
	Que cho fesist par convoitise?	that she might act out of covetousness?
	Nel puis savoir en nule guise.”	I cannot think of one in such a guise.” The word "guise" can be easily translated to English as "guise", but in Old/Middle French with the alternative spellings "guige" or "guiche", this word can also refer to a "courroie qui sert à porter l'écu, le cor, etc." or a "bande servant de cache-sexe." In one word, we have connotations of heraldry, genitals, and dissimulation.
	Quant Noreture cho oï	When Nurture heard this,
	Cuidiés qu’ele s’en esjoï?	do you think that she rejoiced over it?
2589	Nenil! anchois fremist et groce.	Not at all! in fact she quivered and grumbled
	Enviers Nature se coroce	She was caustic toward Nature, With "caustic" I'm trying to pull in the double meaning of sarcastic/angry and corrosive, which is related etymologically with "corrocier".
	Et si l’esgarde surement.	and she glared at her so assuredly
	Puis li a dit moult durement:	Then she said to her so harshly:
	“Lassciés ester ma noreçon,	“Leave my nursling be,
2594	Nature, a la maleÿçon.	Nature, a curse upon you!
	Jo l’ai tolte desnaturee.	I have totally denatured her. It's interesting that Nurture refers to Silence in the feminine form considering Nurture is trying to reform Silence into a young man. Note the feminine ending used here for "desnaturee" and "duree" in the next verse.
	N’avra ja voir o vus duree.	Truly, she will endure you.
	Se ne lassciés icest anter	If you don’t leave off this haunting,
	Bien vos porés al loig vanter	you won’t be vaunting for long
2599	Se jo ne fac par noreture	when I by means of nurture make
	.m. gens ovrer contre nature.	a thousand people work against nature.
	Jo noris tres bien, c’est la some,	I nourish very well; this is the sum
	D’un noble enfant un malvais home.	of a noble child made unwholesome man. I've chosen "unwholesome" to communicate both physical and moral deficiency but also to convey Silence's incompleteness.
	Jo te desferai tolt ton conte.	I will undo all of your account. We might see "conte" implying both a quantity and a narrative here.
2604	Nature, envoies o ta honte.”	Nature, be on your way or shame on you.”
	Quant Nature s’en fu alee	When Nature had gone away
	Et o le roce a devalee	and had descended from the rock
	U Noreture ot si tencié,	where Nurture had so contended,
	Es vos l’estor recommencié	see how the restoration commenced "Estor" can be a "tournoi" or a "combat" as previous translations interpret it, but "estor" is also "équipement" or "provisions" and is the etymological origin of the English word "store." I see Nurture and Reason here taking back their project from Nature.
2609	Seur Silence: car la Raisons	to reassure Silence: for Reason By interpreting "seur" here as "sure" rather than "over" (as in "sur" in Modern French), Silence can be seen as a more active participant in this dialogue. This argument is about Silence, but importantly, it is Silence who must be convinced here.
	Li monstre, et dist les oquoisons	showed him and told him the causes Silence's father gives only one "oquoison" (see verses 2442, 2450, & 2455): King Ebain's disinheritance of all English women, but Reason provides Silence with other more personal "oquoisons" including the benefits of leading a masculine identity.
	Que poi li valt mains de la mort	for which he would go nearly into the hands of death
	Se il s’acostume et amort	if he accustomed and mortified himself See verse 2552 for a repeat of this phrasing.
	A deguerpir sa noreture	to renounce his nurture See verse 2490 for a repeat of this verb.
2614	Por faire cho que violt Nature. /	in order to do that which Nature desired.
	“Croi mon consel, amis Silence,	“Heed my counsel, friend Silence,
	Et aies en toi abstinence.	and abstain.
	Fai de ton cuer une ferté.	Make of your heart a fortress. I would love to find a word that factored in the "fierté" meaning of "ferté" as well.
	S’a lui te prent, de la verté,	If she pressured you, in truth,
2619	Nature, qui t’angoisce adés,	Nature, who is agonizing you plenty,
	Ja n’ieres mais vallés apriés.	Never again will you be a boy thereafter.
	Tolt perdrés cheval et carete.	You will lose horse and cart.
	Ne cuidiés pas li rois vos mete	Do not think that the king will deem you
	En l’onor, por estre parjure,	honorable for having perjured
2624	S’il aperçoit vostre nature.”	if he were to perceive your nature.” Both Psaki and Roche-Mahdi use the phrase "true nature" here, but that "true" is a modern insertion that I think goes too far to suggest that Silence's nature can be so easily determined.
	Raisons ja od li tant esté,	Reason stayed with him awhile
	Se li a tant admonesté	and had so admonished him
	Que Silences a bien veü	that Silence saw clearly
	Que fol consel avoir creü	that he had believed foolish counsel
2629	Quant onques pensa desuser	when he ever thought to disuse
	Son bon viel us et refuser,	and to refuse his good old custom,
	Por us de feme maintenir.	in order to maintain the customs of women.
	Donques li prent a sovenir	Then that made him remember
	Des jus c’on siolt es cambres faire	the games people play alone in chambers I wonder why the spelling of "giu" has changed here to "jus"? Compare with verses 2565 and 2649. Is this a play on the pronoun "je" which along with other variants can be spelled "ju" or "jo" as we see elsewhere in this passage? Is the author suggesting that these games are exercises that create gendered "jus"?
2634	Dont a oï sovent retraire,	of which he had often heard recounted, Note how the narrator also uses this verb "retraire" when discussing boys games earlier in this passage. See verse 2565.
	Et poise dont en son corage	and he weighed this in his heart
	Tolt l’us de feme a son usage,	all the customs of women against his usage,
	Et voit que miols valt li us d’ome	and he saw that the customs of men were worth more
	Que l’us de feme, c’est la some.	than the customs of women, that is the sum.
2639	“Voire,” fait il, “a la male eure	“Look,” he said, “in a malign hour With the exclamation "voire", Silence means to say "truly" or "indeed" (and not the command "look") as Psaki and Roche-Mahdi have respectively translated this verse, but in contemporary English, "look" is often used to draw attention to a point someone is trying to make. By translating this word as "look", we can see Silence as asserting his/her own point of view rather than being passively swayed by the admonishments of others.
	Irai desos, quant sui deseure.	will I bottom, when I’m a top. I'm trying to use "bottom" and "top" here in the sense of queer slang to combine Silence's sexual/gender role with his position in the social hierarchy. I'm sure this double entendre has been clear to readers for a long time, but leaning into this lingo makes the verse smoother in translation I think.
	Deseure sui, s’irai desos?	I’m on top, am I going to bottom out?
	Or sui jo moult vallans et pros.	Now I am so valiant and proud.
	Nel sui, par foi, ains sui honis	No I’m not, in faith; rather I’m ashamed.
2644	Quant as femes voel estre onis.	When I wanted to be one with the women,
	Gel pensai por moi aäsier.	in that way I thought to put myself at ease.
	Trop dure boche ai por baisier,	I have too hard a mouth for kissing,
	Et trop rois bras por acoler.	and too raw of arms for accolades. There is a lot that can be done with this verse. First, the verb "acoler" can refer to any embrace about the neck, but here I find especially apt the use of "acoler" in the process of being knighted. I have tried to accommodate both amorous embraces and knighthood with "accolades", but I think more can be done there. Then, the adjective "rois" can mean "dur"/"ferme," "impétueux"/"violent," "rudement," and I feel like there must be a pun here on "king" as well. I've gone with "raw" to refer to Silence's body as still being in development. I see Silence lamenting his/her liminal position as she is too hard for lovemaking and he is too fresh for knighthood.
	On me poroit tost afoler	One could totally make a fool of me
2649	Al giu c’on fait desos gordine,	at the game one plays under the curtains, Although "gordine" (or "cortine") can refer to the "couverture" or the "rideau qui entoure un lit", I've decided to go with curtains for two reasons: 1.) to distinguish this word from the others the author uses to play with covering/uncovering literally and metaphorically and 2.) to call extra attention to the sexual innuendo here. The Godefroy dicitonary lists "gordine" as a "femme galante, femme de mauvaise vie." Plus, the vulva is often described as having "curtains."
	Car vallés sui et nient mescine.	for I am a boy and in no way a girl.
	Ne voel perdre ma grant honor,	I don’t want to lose my high honor,
	Ne la voel tangier a menor.	nor do I want to touch a lesser, I've gone with "touch" for "tangier" here. "Tangier" does not seem to appear in any of my reference texts, but I imagine it comes from the Latin "tangere" ("to touch") as "tangible" or "tangent."
	Ne voel mon pere desmentir,	nor do I want to belie my father.
2654	Ainz me doinst Dex la mort sentir.	So, I would rather God should strike me down;
	Por quanque puet faire Nature	for whatever Nature may do
	Ja n’en ferai descoverture.”	never will I uncover it.” Both Psaki and Roche-Mahdi translate the "en" in this verse as "my/the secret," but I prefer to keep the referent for "en" more ambiguous.
	Si est li voirs, cho dist l’estorie	If this is the truth, according to the story
	Ki de Silence fait memorie,	that commits Silence to memory
2659	C’onques ne fu tels abstinence	there never was such abstinence
	Com poés oïr de Silence.	as you can hear about from Silence.
	Jo ne di pas qu’il ne pe[n]sast	I am not saying that he was not penanced
	Diversement, et ne tensast /	diversely, or that he did not tender
	Diverse cogitatiön	diverse cognitions These verses from the narrator are a bit awkward, but some have commented on Heldris the author as often seeming deliberately verbose and grandiose perhaps to subdue his authority as narrator and add humor to the text. It is worth noting a potential play on words between "cogitacïon" meaning "pensée" and "cognacïon" meaning "parentée."
2664	Com enfant de tel natiön,	like a child of such breeding I appreciate how "breeding" can accommodate both the act of reproduction and the good manners associated with the upper class. "Natiön" is working here in the same way.
	Meësmement enfant si tendre.	especially a child so tender
	Ki doit a tel usage entendre.	who had to render such usage.
	Et cuers s’est une creäture	And the heart is a creature
	Mervelles d’estrange nature:	of a marvelously strange nature:
2669	Qu’il pense voir moult largement,	In truth, it thinks so abundantly,
	Torne et retourne trop sovent	It turns and returns too often
	Les larges pensers que requelt	the large thoughts it recollects
	Dont motes foie[e]s se duel[l]t.	for which it grieves most of the time.
	Et por cho di jo de Scilence	And for this, I say of Silence
2674	Qu’i ert de moult grant abstinence,	that he had such great abstinence,
	Que ses pensers le tormentoit	that his thoughts tormented him,
	Et il le sentoit et sofroit.	and he felt them and suffered from them.
	Et tols jors ert pres a contraire	And every day he was ready to do contrary
	A cho que ses cuers voloit faire.	to that which his heart wanted to do.
2679	Et qui ouevre contre voloir	And he who works against his will
	Soventes fois l’estuet doloir.	oftentimes suffers himself.
	Silences ot le cuer diviers.	Silence had a divergent heart.
	Cho fu li dozimes iviers,	This was his twelfth winter.
	Li ans dozimes est entrés,	The twelfth year had begun
2684	Des qu’il fu primes engenrés.	since he was first engendered.
	Bien ert cruels, s’ert bials et pros,	It was certainly cruel; but he was fair and proud,
	Larges, courtois, amés de tols.	generous, courteous, loved by all.
	.ii. jors u .iii. mest o le pere,	Two days or three he would be with father,
	Quant il voloit, et o la mere.	when he wanted, or with mother.