The Hengwrt ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.

. ¶ The prologe / of the Reues tale

WHan folk hadde laughen / at this nyce cas Of Absolon / and hende Nicholas Line 3856 Diuerse folk / diuersely they seyde But for the moore part they lowe and pleyde Ne at his tale I seigh no man hym greue But it were oonly / Osewold the Reue Line 3860 By-cause he was / of Carpenters craft A litel Ire / is in his herte ylaft He gan to grucche / and blamed it a lite So the ik quod he / ful wel koude I thee quyte Line 3864 With bleryng of a proud Millerys Iye If þat me liste / speke of rybaudye But ik am oold / me list no pleye for age Gras tyme is doon / my fodder is now forage Line 3868 This white tope / writeth myne olde yerys Myn herte / is also mowled / as myne herys But if ik fare / as dooth an Openers That ilke fruyt is euer lenger the wers Line 3872 Til it be roten / in Mollok / or in stree We olde men / I drede so fare we Til we be roten / kan we noght be rype We hoppe alwey / whil þat the world wol pipe Line 3876 ffor in oure wil / ther stiketh ever a nayl To haue an hoor heer / and a grene tayl As hath a leek / for thogh oure myght be goon Oure wil desireth folie / euere in oon Line 3880 ffor whan we may noght doon / than wol we speke Yet in oure asshen olde / is fyr yreke ffoure gleedes haue we / whiche I shal deuyse [folio 51a] Auauntyng lyyng Anger Coueitise Line 3884 Thise foure sparkles / longen vn to eelde Oure lymes / mowe wel been vnweelde

But wil ne shal noght faillen / that is sooth And yet I haue alwey / a coltes tooth Line 3888 As many a yeer / as it is passed henne Syn þat my tappe of lyf / bigan to renne ffor sikerlik whan ik was bore anon Deeth drogh the tappe of lyf / and leet it goon Line 3892 And euere sith / hath so the tappe yronne Til þat almoost / al empty is the tonne The streem of lyf / now droppeth on the chymbe The sely tonge / may wel rynge and chymbe Line 3896 Of wrecchednesse / þat passed is ful yoore With olde folk / saue dotage is namoore ¶ Whan þat oure hoost hadde herd this sermonyng He gan to speke / as lordly as a kyng Line 3900 He seyde / what amounteth al this wit What shal we speke al day / of holy writ The deuel made / a Reue for to preche Or of a Soutere / a Shipman / or a leche Line 3904 Sey forth thy tale / and tarie noght the tyme Lo Depeford / and it is half wey pryme Lo Grenewych / ther many a sherewe is Inne It were al tyme / thy tale to bigynne Line 3908 ¶ Now sires / quod this Osewold the Reue I pray yow alle / þat ye noght yow greue Thogh I answere / and som del sette his howue ffor leueful is / with force / force of showue Line 3912 This dronken Myllere / hath ytoold vs heer How þat / bigiled was a Carpenter Perauenture in scorn / for I am oon And by youre leue / I shal hym quyte anon Line 3916 Right / in his cherles termes / wol I speke I pray to god / his nekke mote to-breke He kan wel / in myn eye / seen a stalke But in his owene / he kan noght seen a balke [[No gap in the MS.]] Line 3920

Line 3920

AT Trompyngton / nat fer fro Cantebrygge [Narratio] Ther gooth a brook / and ouer that a brygge Vp on the which brook / ther stant a Melle [folio 51b] And this is verray soothe / þat I yow telle Line 3924 A Millere was ther dwellyng many a day As any Pecok he was proud and gay Pipen he koude / and fisshe / and nettes beete And torne coppes / and wel wrastle and sheete Line 3928 And by his belt he baar a long Panade And of a swerd / ful trenchaunt was the blade A ioly poppere / baar he in his pouche Ther was no man / for peril dorste hym touche Line 3932 A Sheffeld thwitel / baar he in his hose Round was his face / and camuse was his nose As piled as an Ape / was his skulle He was a Market betere / atte fulle Line 3936 Ther dorste no wight hand vp on hym legge That he ne swoor / he sholde anon abegge A theef he was for sothe / of corn and mele And þat a sleigh / and vsant for to stele Line 3940 His name was hoten / deynous Symkyn A wif he hadde / comen of noble kyn The person of the toun / hir fader was With hire he yaf / ful many a panne a bras Line 3944 ffor þat Symkyn / sholde in his blood allye She was yfostred / in a Nonnerye ffor Symkyn / wolde no wyf as he sayde But she were wel ynorissed and a mayde Line 3948 To sauen / his estaat of yemanrye And she was proud / and peert as is a pye A ful fair sighte / was it vp on hem two On halidayes / biforn hire wolde he go Line 3952

Line 3952 With his tipet wounden aboute his heed And she cam after / in a gyte of reed And Symkyn / hadde hosen of the same Ther dorste no wight clepen hire but dame Line 3956 Was noon so hardy / þat wente by the weye That with hire / dorste rage / or ones pleye But if he / wolde be slayn of Symkyn With panade / or with knyf or boydekyn Line 3960 ffor Ialous folk / been perilouse eueremo Algate / they wolde hir wyues wenden so And eek / for she was som del smoterlich [folio 52a] She was as diyne / as water in a dich Line 3964 And ful of hoker / and of bismare Hir thoghte / þat a lady sholde hir spare What for hir kynrede / and hir nortelrye That she hadde lerned / in the Nonnerye Line 3968 A doghter hadde they / bitwix hem two Of twenty yeer / with outen any mo Sauyng a child / þat was of hal[f] yeer age In Cradel it lay and was a propre page Line 3972 This wenche / thikke and wel ygrowen was With camuse nose / and eyen greye as glas With buttokes brode / and brestes rounde and hye But right fair was hir heer / I wol nat lye Line 3976 ¶ The person of the toun / for she was so feir In purpos was / to maken hire his heir Bothe of his catel / and his Mesuage. And straunge he made it of hir mariage Line 3980 His purpos was / for to bistowe hir hye In to som worthy blood of Auncetrye ffor holicherches good / moot been despended On holicherches blood / þat is descended Line 3984 Ther-fore he wolde his holy blood honoure Thogh þat he / holy chirche sholde deuoure ¶ Greet sokne / hath this Millere out of doute With whete and malt of al the lande aboute Line 3988

Line 3988 And nameliche / ther was a greet Collegge Men clepeth / the soler halle of Cantebregge Ther was hir whete / and eek hir malt ygrounde And on a day / it happed in a stounde Line 3992 Syk was this maunciple / on a maladie Men wenden wisly / þat he sholde dye ffor which this Millere / stal bothe mele and corn An hondred tyme / moore than biforn Line 3996 ffor ther biforn / he stal but curteisly But now / he was a theef outrageously ffor which the wardeyn / chidde and made fare But ther-of / sette the Millere noght a tare Line 4000 He craked boost / and swoor it was noght so Thanne were ther / yonge poure scolers two That dwelten in the halle / of which I seye [folio 52b] Testyf they were / and lusty for to pleye Line 4004 And oonly / for hir myrthe and reuerye Vp on the wardeyn / bisily they crye To yeue hem leue / but a litel stounde To go to Mille / and seen hir corn ygrounde Line 4008 And hardily / they dorste leye hir nekke The Millere / sholde noght stelen hem half a pekke Of corn by sleighte / ne by force hem reue And atte laste / the wardeyn yaf hem leue Line 4012 Iohn highte that oon / and Aleyn highte that oother Of oon town were they born / þat highte Strother ffer in the North / I kan noght telle where This Aleyn / maketh redy al his gere Line 4016 And on an hors / the sak he caste anon fforth gooth Aleyn the clerk/. and also Iohn With good swerd / and with bokeler by his syde Iohn knew the wey / hym neded no gyde Line 4020 And at the Mille / the sak adoun he layth ¶ Aleyn spak first al hayl Symkyn in fayth How fares thy faire doghter / and thy wyf ¶ Aleyn wel come / quod Symkyn by my lyf Line 4024

Line 4024 And Iohn also / how now / what do ye here ¶ By god quod Iohn·/ Symond nede has na peere Hym bihoues serue hym self / þat has na swayn Or ellis / he is a fool / as clerkes sayn Line 4028 Oure maunciple / I hope he wol be deed Swa werkes ay / the wanges in his heed And ther-fore is I come / and eek Alayn To grynde oure corn / and carie it heem agayn Line 4032 I pray yow / speed vs heythen / what ye may ¶ It shal be doon / quod Symkyn by my fay What wol ye doon / whil þat it is in hande By god / right by the hoper / wol I stande Line 4036 Quod Iohn / and se how the corn gas In Yet saw I neuere / by my fader kyn How þat the hoper / wagges til and fra ¶ Aleyn answerde / Iohan wiltow swa Line 4040 Thanne wol I be byneth / by my crown And se / how þat the mele falles down In to the trogh / that sal be my desport [folio 53a] ffor Iohn in faith / I may been of youre sort Line 4044 I is as ille a Millere / as ar ye ¶ This Millere / smyled of hir nycetee And thoghte / al this nys doon / but for a wyle They wene / þat no man may hem bigile Line 4048 But by my thrift / yet shal I blere hir Iye ffor al the sleighte / in hir Phislophye The moore queynte crekys / þat they make The moore wol I stele / whan I take Line 4052 In stede of flour / yet wol I yeue hem bren The grettest clerkes / been noght the wisest men As whilom to the wolf thus spak the mare Of al hir art counte I noght a tare Line 4056 Out of the dore / he gooth ful pryuely Whan þat he saugh his tyme / softely He looketh vp and doun / til he hath founde The clerkes hors / ther as it stood ybounde Line 4060

Line 4060 Bihynde the Mille / vnder a leefsel And to the hors / he gooth hym faire and wel He strepeth of the bridel / right anon And whan the hors was laus / he gynneth gon Line 4064 Toward the fen / ther wilde mares renne And forth with wehe / thurgh thikke and thenne This Millere gooth ayein / no word he seyde But dooth his note / and with the clerkes pleyde Line 4068 Til þat hir corn / was faire and wel ygrounde And whan the mele / was sakked and ybounde ¶ This Iohn gooth out and fynt his hors away And gan to crye / harrow and weilaway Line 4072 Oure hors is lost. Alayn for goddes banes Step on thy feet / com of man al atanes Allas oure wardeyn / has his palfrey lorn ¶ This Alayn al forgat bothe mele and corn Line 4076 Al was out of his mynde / his housbondrye What whilk wey is he gane / he gan to crye ¶ The wyf cam lepyng Inward with a ren She seyde allas / youre hors gooth to the fen Line 4080 With wilde mares / as faste as he may go Vnthank come on his hand / þat boond hym so And he þat bettre / sholde haue knyt the reyne [folio 53b] ¶ Allas quod Iohn / Aleyn for Cristes peyne Line 4084 Lay doun thy swerd / and I wol myn alswa I is ful wight / God waat as is a ra By god hert he sal nat scape vs bathe Why ne had thow / pit the capil in the lathe Line 4088 Il hail / by god Alayn / thow is a fonne ¶ This sely clerkes / haan ful faste yronne Toward the fen / bothe Alayn and eek Iohn And whan the Millere seigh / þat they were gon Line 4092 He half a busshel / of hir flour hath take And bad his wyf / go knede it in a cake He seyde I trowe / the clerkes were aferd Yet kan a Millere / maken a clerkes berd Line 4096

Line 4096 ffor al his art ye lat hem goon hir weye Lo where he gooth / ye lat the children pleye They gete hym noght so lightly / by my croun ¶ Thise sely clerkes / rennen vp and doun Line 4100 With keep / keep / stand / stand / Iossa warderere Ga whistle thow / and I sal kepe hym heere But shortly / til þat it was verray nyght They koude noght thogh they dide al hir myght Line 4104 Hir capyl cacche / he ran alwey so faste Til in a dych / they caughte hym at the laste ¶ Wery and weet as beest is in the reyn Comth sely Iohn / and with hym comth Aleyn Line 4108 Allas quod Iohn / the day þat I was born Now ar we dryuen / til hethyng and til scorn Oure corn is stole / men wil vs foolis calle Bothe the wardeyn / and oure felawes alle Line 4112 And namely the Millere / weilawey ¶ Thus pleyneth Iohn / as he gooth by the wey Toward the Mille / and Bayard in his hond The Millere / sittyng by the fyr he fond Line 4116 ffor it was nyght and ferther myghte they noght But for the loue of god / they hym bisoght Of herberwe and of ese / as for hir peny ¶ The Millere seide agayn / if ther be eny Line 4120 Swich as it is / yet shal ye haue youre part Myn hous is streyt but ye han lerned art Ye kan by argumentz / make a place [folio 54a] A myle brood / of twenty foot of space Line 4124 Lat se now / if this place may suffise Or make it rowm with speche / as is youre gyse ¶ Now Symond seyde this Iohn / by seint Cutberd Ay is thou myrie / and that is faire answerd Line 4128 I haue herd seye / men sal tak of twa thynges Swilk as he fyndes / or tak swilk as he brynges But specialy / I pray thee hoost deere Get vs som mete and drynke / and make vs cheere Line 4132

Line 4132 And we wol payen / trewely atte fulle With empty hand / men may none haukes tulle Lo heere oure siluer / redy for to spende ¶ This Millere in to town / his doghter sende Line 4136 ffor ale and breed / and rosted hem a goos And boond hir hors / it sholde namoore go loos And in his owene chambre / hem made a bed With shetes and with chalons / faire yspred Line 4140 Noght from his owene bed / but ten foot or twelue His doghter hadde a bed / al by hir selue Right in the same chambre by and by It myghte be no bet and cause why Line 4144 Ther was no rowmer herberwe / in the place They soupen / and they speken / hem to solace And drynken euere stroong ale / at the beste Aboute mydnyght / wente they to reste Line 4148 Wel hath this Millere / vernysshed his heed fful pale he was for-dronke / and noght reed He yexeth / and he speketh thurgh the nose As he were / on the quakke / or on the pose Line 4152 To bedde he goth / and with hym goth his wyf As any Iay / she light was and iolyf So was hir ioly whistle / wel ywet The Cradel / at hir beddes feet is set Line 4156 To rokken / and to yeue the child to sowke And whan þat dronken / al was in the Crowke To bedde wente / the doghter right anon To bedde gooth Aleyn / and also Iohn Line 4160 Ther nas namoore / hem neded no dwale This Millere / hath so wisly bibbed ale That as an hors / he snorteth in his sleepe [folio 54b] Ne of his tayl bihynde / he took no keepe Line 4164 His wyf bar hym / a burdon / a ful strong Men myghten hir routyng heren a furlong The wenche / routeth eek par compaignye ¶ Aleyn the clerc that herde this melodye Line 4168

Line 4168 He poked Iohn / and seyde slepestow Herd thow euere / slyk a sang er now Lo swilk a conplyng / is ymel hem alle A wilde fyr / on thair bodyes falle Line 4172 Wha herkned euere / swilk a ferly thyng Ye they sal haue / the flour of il endyng This lang night ther tydes me na reste But yet na force / al sal be for the beste Line 4176 ffor Iohn seyde he / als euere moot I thryue If þat I may / yon wenche wol I swyue Som esement / has lawe shapen vs ffor Iohn / ther is a lawe / þat says thus Line 4180 That gif a man / in a point be agreued That in another / he sal be releued Oure corn is stoln / soothly it is na nay And we han had / an ille fit to day Line 4184 And syn I sal / haue naan amendement Agayn my los / I wil haue esement By goddes saule / it sal naan other be ¶ This Iohn answerde / Aleyn auyse thee Line 4188 The Millere / is a perilous man he sayde And if þat he / out of his sleep abrayde He mighte doon vs bathe / a vileynye ¶ Aleyn answerde / I counte hym noght a flye Line 4192 And vp he rist / and by the wenche he crepte This wenche lay vp righte / and faste slepte Til he so neigh was / er she myghte aspie That it hadde been / to late for to crie Line 4196 And shortly for to seyn / they were at oon Now pley Aleyn / for I wol speke of Iohn ¶ This Iohn lith stille / a furlang wey or two And to hym self he maketh routhe and wo Line 4200 Allas quod he / this is a wikked Iape Now may I seyn / þat I is but an ape Yet has my felawe / som what for his harm [folio 55a] He has the Milleris doghter / in his arm Line 4204

Line 4204 He auntred hym / and has his nedes sped And I lye / as a draf sak / in my bed And whan this iape / is told another day I sal ben halden / a daf a Cokenay Line 4208 I wil arise and auntre it by my fayth Vnhardy is vnsely / thus men sayth ¶ And vp he roos / and softely he wente Vn to the Cradel / and in his hand it hente Line 4212 And baar it softe / vn to his beddes feet Soone after this / the wyf hir routynt leet And gan awake / and wente hir out to pisse And cam agayn / and gan hir Cradel mysse Line 4216 And groped heer and ther / but she foond noon Allas quod she / I hadde almoost mysgoon I hadde almoost goon to the clerkes bed Ey benedicite / thanne had I foule ysped Line 4220 And forth she gooth / til she the Cradel fond She gropeth alwey / forther with hir hond And foond the bed / and thoghte noght but good By cause / þat the Cradel by it stood Line 4224 And nyste wher she was / for it was derk But faire and wel / she creep in to the clerk And lyth ful stille / and wolde haue caught a sleepe With-Inne a while / this Iohn the clerk vp leepe Line 4228 And on this goode wyf / he leyth on soore So murie a fyt ne hadde she nat ful yoore He priketh harde and depe / as he were mad This ioly lyf / han thise two clerkes lad Line 4232 Til þat / the thridde cok bigan to synge ¶ Aleyn wax wery / in the dawenynge ffor he hadde swonken / al the longe nyght And seyde / fare wel Malyn swete wight Line 4236 The day is come / I may no lenger byde But eueremo / wher so I go or ryde I is thyn awen clerk so haue I sel ¶ Now deere lemman quod she / go fare wel Line 4240

Line 4240 But er thow go / o thyng I wol thee telle Whan that thow wendest / homward by the Melle Right at the entree / of the dore bihynde [folio 55b] Thow shalt a Cake / of half a busshel fynde Line 4244 That was ymaked / of thyn owene mele Which þat I heelp / my sire for to stele And good lemman / god thee saue and kepe And with that word / almoost he gan to wepe Line 4248 ¶ Aleyn vp rist and thoghte er þat it dawe I wol go crepen In / by my felawe And fond the Cradel / with his hond anon By god thoghte he / al wrang I haue mysgon Line 4252 Myn heed is toty / of my swynk to nyght That maketh me / þat I go noght aright I woot wel by the Cradel / I haue mysgo Here lyth the Millere / and his wyf also Line 4256 And forth he gooth / on twenty deueleway Vn to the bed / ther as the Millere lay He wende haue cropen / by his felawe Iohn And by the Millere / In he creep anoon Line 4260 And caughte hym by the nekke / and softe he spak He seyde thou Iohn / thow Swyneshed awak ffor cristes saule / and here a noble game ffor by that lord / þat called is Seint Iame Line 4264 As I haue thries / in this shorte nyght Swyued the Milleris doghter / bolt vp-right Whil thow hast as a coward been agast ¶ Ye false harlot quod the Millere hast Line 4268 A false traytour / false clerk quod he Thou shalt be deed / by goddes dignytee Who dorste be so bold / to disparage My doghter / that is come of swich lynage Line 4272 And by the throte bolle / he caughte Alayn And he hente hym / despitously agayn And on the nose / he smoot hym with his fest Doun ran the blody streem / vp on his brest Line 4276

Line 4276 And on the floor / with nose and mouth tobroke They walwen / as doon two pigges in a poke And vp they goon / and doun agayn anoon Til þat the Millere / sporned on a stoon Line 4280 And doun he fil / bakward vp on his wyf That wiste no thyng of this nyce stryf ffor she was falle aslepe / a litel wight [folio 56a] With Iohn the clerk / that waked hadde al nyght Line 4284 And with the fal / out of hir sleepe she brayde Help holy cros of Bromholm / she sayde In manus tuas / lord to thee I calle Awake Symond / the feend is on me falle Line 4288 Myn herte is broken / help I nam but ded Ther lyth oon vp on my wombe / and vp myn hed Help Symkyn / for the false clerkes fighte ¶ This Iohn sterte vp / as faste as euere he myghte Line 4292 And graspeth by the walles / to and fro To fynde a staf / and she sterte vp also And knew the estres / bet than dide this Iohn And by the wal / a staf she foond anon Line 4296 And saugh / a litel shymeryng of a light ffor at an hole / in shoon the moone bright And by that light she saugh hem bothe two But sikerly / she nyste who was who Line 4300 But as she saugh / a whit thyng in hir Iye And whan she gan / this white thyng espye She wende the clerk hadde wered a voluper And with the staf / she drow ay ner and ner Line 4304 And wende han hit / this Aleyn atte fulle And smoot the Millere / on the piled skulle That doun he gooth / and cryde harrow I dye Thise clerkes bette hym wel / and lete hym lye Line 4308 And greithen hem / and tooke hir hors anon And eek hir mele / and on hir wey they gon And at the Mille / yet they toke hir cake Of half a busshel flour / ful wel ybake Line 4312

Line 4312 ¶ Thus is the proude Millere / wel ybete And hath ylost the gryndyng of the whete And payed for the souper / euerydel Of Aleyn / and of Iohn / that bette hym wel Line 4316 His wyf is swyued / and his doghter als Lo which it is / a Millere to be fals And ther-fore this prouerbe / is seyd ful sooth Hym thar nat wene wel / þat yuele dooth Line 4320 A gilour shal hym self / bigiled be And god / that sitteth heighe in magestee Saue al this compaignie / grete and smale [folio 56b] Thus haue I quyt the Millere / in my tale Line 4324

¶ Here endeth the Reues tale. . [[Small break in the MS.]]