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

GROUP B. (α. FRAGMENT II.)

§ 1. MAN OF LAW'S HEAD-LINK.

HENGWRT MS.

The prohemie of the Mannes tale of Lawe.

Ovre hoost saw wel / that the brighte sonne [folio 112a] The ark of his artificial day hath ronne The ferthe part and half an hour and moore And thogh he were nat depe ystert in loore Line 4 He wiste / it was the xviij^the. day Of April / that is messager to May And saw wel / þat the shadwe of euery tree Was as in lengthe / the same quantitee Line 8 That was the body erect that caused it And therfore by the shadwe / he took his wit That Phebus / which þat shoon so cleer and brighte Degrees was .xlv. clombe on highte Line 12 And for that day / as in that latitude It was ten at the Clokke / he gan conclude And sodeynly / he plighte his hors aboute ¶ Lordynges quod he / I warne yow al this route Line 16 The ferthe party / of this day is goon Now for the loue of god / and of Seint Iohn Leseth no tyme / as ferforth as ye may Lordynges the tyme / it wasteth nyght and day Line 20 And steleth from vs / what pryuely slepynge And what thurgh necligence / in oure wakynge As dooth the streem / þat turneth neuere agayn Descendynge / fro the montaigne in to playn Line 24 Wel kan Senec and many a Philosophre Biwaillen tyme / moore than gold in cofre ffor los of catel / may recouered be But los of tyme / shendeth vs quod he Line 28

[6-text p 130] Line 28 It wol nat come agayn / with outen drede Namoore / than wol Malkyns maydenhede Whan she hath lost it / in hir wantownesse Lat vs nat mowlen thus in ydelnesse Line 32 ¶ Sire man of lawe quod he / so haue ye blys Tel vs a tale anon / as forward is Ye been submitted thurgh youre free assent To stonden in this cas / at my Iuggement Line 36 [A]quiteth yow now / of youre biheste [folio 112b] Thanne haue ye doon youre deuoir atte leeste ¶ Hoost quod he depardieux ich assente To breken forward / is nat myn entente Line 40 Biheste is dette / and I wol holde fayn Al my biheste / I kan no bettre sayn ffor swich lawe / as a man yeueth another wight/ He sholde hym self / vsen it by right Line 44 Thus wol oure text / but nathelees certein I kan right now / no thrifty tale seyn That Chaucer / thogh he kan but lewedly On metres / and on rymyng craftily Line 48 Hath seyd hem / in swich englissh as he kan Of olde tyme / as knoweth many a man And if he ne haue nat seyd hem / leeue brother In o book he hath seyd hem in another Line 52 ffor he hath toold / of louers vp and doun Mo than Ouide / made of mencioun In his epistles / þat been ful olde What sholde I tellen hem / syn they been tolde Line 56 In yowthe he made / of Ceys and Alcione And sithen / hath he spoke of euerychone Thise noble wyues / and thise loueres eke Who so þat wole / his large volum seke Line 60 Clepyd / the Seintes legende of Cupide Ther maystow seen /. the large woundes wyde Of Lucresse / and of Babilan Tisbee The swerd of Dido / for the false Enee Line 64

[6-text p 131] Line 64 The tree of Phillis / for hir Demophon The pleinte of Dianire / and of hermyon Of Adriane / and of ysiphilee The barayne Ile / stondynge in the See Line 68 The dreynte leandre / for his Erro The terys of Eleyne / and eke the wo Of Brixseyde / and of the Ladomea The crueltee / of the queene Medea Line 72 The litel children / hangyng by the hals ffor thy Iason / that was of loue so fals O Ypermystra / Penolopee / Alceste Youre wifhod / he comendeth with the beste Line 76 But certeinly / no word ne writeth he [folio 113a] Of thilke wikke ensample / of Canacee That loued / hir owene brother synfully Of swiche cursed stories / I sey fy Line 80 Or ellis / of Tyro Appollonius How þat / the cursed kyng Antiochus Birafte his doghter / of hir maydenhede That is / so horrible a tale for to rede Line 84 When he hir threw / vp on the pauement And ther fore / he of ful auisement Nolde neuere write / in noon of his sermons Of swiche / vnkynde abhominacions Line 88 Ne I wol noon reherce / if þat I may But of my tale / how shal I doon this day Me were looth / be likned doutelees To Muses / þat been clepyd Pierides Line 92 Methamorphosios / woot what I mene But nathelees / I recche noght a bene Thogh I come after hym / with hawe bake I speke in prose / and lat hym rymes make Line 96 And with that word / he with a sobre cheere Bigan his tale / as ye shal after heere Line 98

[6-text p 132]

¶ Here bigynneth the tale.

[THE PROLOGUE.]

O hateful harm / condicion of pouerte Line 99 With thurst with cold / with hunger so confoundid To axen help / thee shameth in thyn herte If thou noon axe / with nede artow so woundid Line 102 That verray nede / vnwrappeth al thy wounde hid Maugree thyn heed / thou most for Indigence Or stele / or begge / or borwe thy despence Line 105

Thow blamest Crist and seist ful bitterly He mysdeparteth / richesse temporal Thy neghebore / thow witest synfully And seist thow hast to lite / and he hath al Line 109 Parfay seistow / som tyme he rekne shal Whan þat his tayl / shal brennen in the gleede ffor he noght helpeth / nedefulle in hir nede Line 112

[ [folio 113b] He]rke / what is the sentence of the wise Bet is to dyen / than haue Indigence Thy selue neghebor / wol thee despise If thow be pouere / fare wel thy reuerence Line 116 Yet of the wise man / tak this sentence Alle the dayes / of pouere men been wikke Be war ther fore / er thow come to that prikke Line 119

¶ If thou be pouere / thy brother hateth thee And alle thy freendes / fleen from thee allas O riche Marchauntz / ful of wele been ye O noble / O prudent folk / as in this cas Line 123 Youre bagges / been noght filled with ambes as But with sys cynk. that renneth for youre chaunce At Cristemasse / murye may ye daunce Line 126

[6-text p 133] Line 126

Ye seken lond and see / for youre wynnynges As wise folk ye knowen al thestat Of regnes / ye been fadres of tidynges And tales / bothe of pees and of debat Line 130 I were right now / of tales desolat Nere þat a Marchaunt / goon is many a yere Me taughte a tale / which þat ye shal heere Line 133

[6-text p 134]

[THE TALE.]

¶ In Surrye whilom / dwelte a compaignye Of chapmen riche / and ther-to sadde and trewe That wyde where / senten hir spicerye Clothes of gold / and Satyns riche of hewe Line 137 Hir cheffare / was so thrifty and so newe That euery wight hath deyntee to cheffare With hem / and eek to sellen hem hir ware Line 140

¶ Now fil it / that the maistres of that sort Han shapen hem / to Rome for to wende Were it for chaphod / or for desport Noon oother message / wolde they thider sende Line 144 But coomen hem self to Rome / this is the ende And in swich place / as thoughte hem auauntage ffor hir entente / they take hir herbergage Line 147

¶ Soiourned han thise Marchauntz / in that town [folio 114a] A certein tyme / as fil to hir plesaunce But so bifel / þat the excellent renoun Of the Emperours doghter / dame Custaunce Line 151 Reported was / with euery circumstaunce Vn to thise Surryen Marchauntz / in swich wise ffro day / to day / as I shal yow deuyse Line 154

¶ This was the commune voys / of euery man Oure Emperour of Rome / god hym se A doghter hath / þat syn the world bigan To rekne as wel / hir goodnesse as beautee Line 158 Nas neuere swich another / as is she I pray to god / in honour hir sustene And wolde she were / of al Europe the queene

[6-text p 135]

¶ In hire is heigh beautee / with oute pryde Youthe / with outen grenehede / or folye To alle hir werkes / vertu is hir gyde Humblesse / hath slayn in hire al tirannye Line 165 She is Mirour / of al curteisye Hir herte / is verray chambre of holynesse Hir hand Ministre / of fredam / for almesse Line 168

¶ And al this voys was sooth / as god is trewe But now to purpos / lat vs come agayn Thise Marchauntz / han doon fraught hir shippes newe And whan they han / this blisful mayden sayn Line 172 Hom to Surrye / been they went ful fayn And doon hir nedes / as they han doon yoore And lyuen in wele / I kan sey yow namoore Line 175

¶ Now fil it that thise Marchauntz stode in grace Of hym / that was the Sowdan of Surrye ffor whan they coome / from any straunge place He wolde / of his benygne curteisye Line 179 Maken hem good cheere / and bisily espye Tidynges / of sondry regnes for to leere The wondres / that they myghte seen or heere Line 182

¶ [Am]onges othere thynges specially [folio 114b] Thise Marchauntz han hym told / of dame Custaunce So greet noblesse / in ernest ceriously That this Sowdan / hath caught so greet plesaunce Line 186 To han hir figure / in his remembraunce That al his lust / and al his bisy cure Was for to loue hire / whil his lyf may dure Line 189

¶ Parauenture / in thilke large book Which þat men clepe the heuene / ywriten was With sterres / whan þat he his birthe took/ That he for loue / sholde han his deth allas Line 193

[6-text p 136] Line 193 ffor in the sterres / clerer than is glas Is writen god woot who so koude it rede The deeth of euery man / with outen drede Line 196

¶ In sterres / many a wynter / ther biforn Was writen the deeth / of Ector / Achilles Of Pompei / Iulius / er they were born The stryf of Thebes / and of Hercules Line 200 Of Sampson / Turnus / and of Socrates The deeth / but mennes wittes been so dulle That no wight kan wel rede it atte fulle Line 203

¶ This Sowdan / for his priuee conseil sente And shortly / of this matere for to pace He hath to hem / declared his entente And seyde hem certein / but he myghte haue grace Line 207 To han Custaunce / with Inne a litel space He nas but deed / and charged hem in hye To shapen / for his lyf som remedye Line 210

¶ Diuerse men / diuerse thynges seyden They argumenten / casten vp and doun Many a subtil reson / forth they leyden They speken of Magyk / and Abusioun Line 214 But finally / as in conclusioun They kan nat seen / in that noon Auauntage Ne in noon oother wey / saue mariage Line 217

¶ Thanne sawe they ther Inne / swich difficultee [folio 115a] By wey of reson / for to speke al playn By cause / þat ther was swich diuersitee Bitwene hir bothe lawes / þat they sayn Line 221 They trowe / þat no cristen Prince wolde fayn Wedden his child / vnder oure lawes swete That vs was taught by Mahoun oure prophete Line 224

[6-text p 137] Line 224

¶ And he answerde / rather than I lese Custaunce / I wol be cristned doutelees I moot ben hires / I may noon oother chese I pray yow / hold youre argumentz in pees Line 228 Saueth my lyf / and beth noght recchelees To geten hire / þat hath my lyf in cure ffor in this wo / I may nat longe endure Line 231

¶ What nedeth / gretter dilatacion I seye / by tretys / and embassadrye And by the Popes mediacion And al the chirche / and al the chiualrie Line 235 That in destruccion of Mawmetrie And in encrees / of Cristes lawe deere They been acorded / so as ye shal heere Line 238

¶ How þat the Sowdan / and his Baronage And alle his liges / sholde ycristned be And he shal han / Custaunce in mariage And certeyn gold / I noot what quantitee Line 242 And heer to / founden sufficient seuretee This same acord / was sworn on either syde Now faire Custaunce / al myghty god thee gyde Line 245

¶ Now wolde som men / waiten as I gesse That I sholde tellen / al the purueiaunce That Themperour / of his grete noblesse Hath shapen for his doghter / dame Custaunce Line 249 Wel may men knowen / þat so greet ordinaunce May no man tellen / in a litel clause As was arrayed / for so heigh a cause Line 252

[Bis]shopes been shapen / with hire for to wende [folio 115b] Lordes / ladies / knyghtes of renoun And oother folk ynowe / this is thende And notified is / thurgh out the town Line 256

[6-text p 138] Line 256 That euery wight with greet deuocioun Sholde preyen crist þat he this mariage Receyue in gree / and spede this viage Line 259

¶ The day is comen / of hir departynge I seye / the woful day fatal / is come That ther may be / no lenger taryynge But forthward they hem dresse / alle and some Line 263 Custaunce / that was with sorwe all ouercome fful pale arist and dresseth hire to wende ffor wel she seeth / ther nys noon oother ende Line 266

¶ Allas / what wonder is it/ thogh she wepte That shal be sent to straunge nacion ffro freendes / þat so tendrely hir kepte And to be bounden / vndur subieccion Line 270 Of oon / she knoweth noght his condicion Housbondes been alle goode / and han been yoore That knowen wyues / I dar sey yow namoore Line 273

¶ ffader she seyde / thy wrecched child Custaunce Thy yonge doghter / fostred vp so softe And ye my moder / my souereyn plesaunce Ouer alle thyng / outtaken crist on lofte Line 277 Custaunce youre child / hir recomaundeth ofte Vn to your grace / for I shal to Surrye Ne shal I neuere / seen yow moore with eye Line 280

¶ Allas / vn to the Barbre nacion I moste anon / syn þat it is youre wille But crist that starf for oure redempcion So yeue me grace / hise hestes to fulfille Line 284 I wrecche womman / no fors thogh I spille Wommen are born / to thraldom and penaunce And to been / vnder mannes gouernaunce Line 287

[6-text p 139] Line 287

¶ I trowe at Troye / whan Pirrus brak the wal [folio 116a] Or Ylion / brent hadde Thebes the Citee Nat Rome / for the harm thurgh Hanybal That Romayns / hath venquysshed tymes thre Line 291 Nas herd / swich tendre wepyng for pitee As in the chambre was / for hir departynge But forth she moot wher so she wepe or synge Line 294

¶ O firste moeuer / cruel firmament With thy diurnal sweigh / þat crowdest ay And hurlest al / fro Est / til Occident That naturelly / wolde holde another way Line 298 Thy crowdyng / set the heuene in swich array At bigynnyng of this fiers viage That cruel Mars / hath slayn this mariage Line 301

¶ Infortunat ascendent tortuous Of which the lord / is helplees falle allas Out of his angle / in to the derkest hous O. Mars / o. Atazir / as in this cas Line 305 O fieble Moone / vnhappy been thy pas Thow knyttest thee / ther thow nart nat receyued Ther thow were wel / fro thennes artow weyued Line 308

¶ Inprudent Emperour of Rome / allas Was ther no Philosophre / in al thy town Is no tyme bet than oother / in swich cas Of viage / is ther noon eleccioun Line 312 Namely / to folk of heigh condicioun Nat whan a roote / is of a burthe yknowe Allas / we been / to lewed or to slowe Line 315

¶ To shipe is broght this woful faire mayde Solempnely / with euery circumstaunce Now Ihesu crist be with yow alle / she seyde Ther nys namoore / but fare wel faire Custaunce Line 319

[6-text p 140] Line 319 She peyneth hire / to make good contenaunce And forth I lete hir Sayle / in this manere And turne I wole / agayn to my matere Line 322

¶ [T]he moder of the Sowdan / welle of vices [folio 116b] Espied hath / hir sones pleyn entente How he wol lete / his olde sacrifices And right anon / she for hir conseil sente Line 326 And they ben come / to knowen what she mente And whan assembled was / this folk in feere She sette hir down / and seyde as ye shal heere Line 329

¶ Lordes quod she / ye knowen euerychon How þat my sone / in point is for to lete The holy lawes / of oure Alkaron Yeuen by goddes message Makomete But oon avow / to grete god I hete The lyf shal rather / out of my body sterte Than Makometes lawe / out of myn herte Line 336

¶ What sholde vs tiden / of this newe lawe But thraldom to oure bodies / and penaunce And afterward / in helle to be drawe ffor we reneyed / Mahoun oure creaunce Line 340 But lordes / wol ye maken assuraunce As I shal seyn / assentyng to my loore And I shal make vs sauf / for euere moore Line 343

¶ They sworen / and assenten euery man To lyue with hire and dye / and by hir stonde And euerich / in the beste wise he kan To strengthen hire / shal alle hise freendes fonde Line 347 And she hath / this emprise ytake on honde Which ye shal heren / þat I shal deuyse And to hem alle / she spak right in this wise Line 350

[6-text p 141] Line 350

¶ We shul first feyne vs / cristendom to take Coold water / shal nat greue vs but a lite And I shal / swich a feste / and reuel make That as I trowe / I shal the Sowdan quyte Line 354 ffor thogh his wyf / be cristned neuer so whyte She shal haue nede / to wasshe awey the rede Thogh she / a font ful water with hir lede Line 357

¶ O Sowdanesse roote of Iniquitee [folio 117a] Virago / thow Semyrame the secounde O Serpent/ vnder femynynytee Lyk to the Serpent/ depe in helle ybounde Line 361 O feyned womman / al that may confounde Vertu and Innocence / thurgh thy malice Is bred in thee / as nest of euery vice Line 364

¶ O Sathan enuyous / syn thilke day That thow were chaced / from oure heritage Wel knowestow to wommen / the olde way Thow madest Eua / brynge vs in seruage Line 368 Thow wolt fordoon / this cristen mariage Thyn Instrument so weylawey the while Makestow of wommen / whan thou wolt bigile Line 371

¶ This Sowdanesse / whom I thus blame and warye Leet pryuely hir conseil / goon his way What sholde I in this tale / lenger tarye She rideth to the Sowdan / on a day Line 375 And seyde hym / þat she wolde reneye hir lay And cristendom / of preestes handes fonge Repentynge hire / she hethen was so longe Line 378

¶ Bisekyng hym / to doon hire that honour That she moste han / the cristen folk to feste To plesen hem / I shall do my labour The Sowdan seith / I wol doon at youre heste Line 382

[6-text p 142] Line 382 And knelynge / thanketh hire of that requeste So glad he was / he nyste what to seye She kiste hir sone / and hom she gooth hir weye Line 385

[PART II.]

¶ Arryued been this cristen folk to londe In Surrye / with a gret solempne route And hastily / this Sowdan sente his sonde ffirst to his moder / and al the regne aboute Line 389 And seyde his wyf / was comen out of doute And preyde hire / for to ryde agayn the queene The honour / of his regne to sustene Line 392

¶ Greet was the prees / and riche was tharray [folio 117b] Of Surryens / and Romayns met yfeere The moder of the Sowdan / riche and gay Receyueth hire / with also glad a cheere Line 396 As any moder / myghte hir doghter deere And to the nexte Citee / ther bisyde A softe paas / solempnely they ryde Line 399

¶ Naught trowe I / the triumphe of Iulius Of which þat lucan / maketh swich a boost Was roiallour / ne moore curyus Than was the assemblee / of this blisful oost Line 403 But this scorpion / this wikked goost The Sowdanesse / for al hir flaterynge Caste vnder this / ful mortally to stynge Line 406

¶ The Sowdan cometh hym self / soone after this So roially / þat wonder is to telle He welcometh hire / with alle ioye and blys And thus in myrthe and Ioye / I lete hem dwelle Line 410

[6-text p 143] Line 410 The fruyt of this matere / is þat I telle Whan tyme cam / men thoughte it for the beste That reuel stynte / and men go to hir reste Line 413

¶ The tyme cam / this olde Sowdanesse Ordeyned hath this feste / of which I tolde And to the feste / cristen folk hem dresse In general / ye bothe yonge and olde Line 417 Heer may men feste / and roialtee biholde And deyntees mo / than I kan yow deuyse But al to deere / they boghte it er they ryse Line 420

¶ O sodeyn wo / that euere art Successour To worldly blisse / spreynd with bitternesse The ende of the ioye / of oure worldly labour Wo ocupieth / the fyn of oure gladnesse Line 424 Herke this conseil / for thy sikernesse Vp on thy glade day / haue in thy mynde The vnwar wo / or harm / þat comth bihynde Line 427

¶ ffor shortly / for to tellen / at a word [folio 118a] The Sowdan / and the cristen euerychone Been al to-hewe / and stiked at the bord But it were oonly / dame Custaunce allone Line 431 This olde sowdanesse / cursed krone Hath with hir freendes / doon this cursed dede ffor she hir self / wolde al the contree lede Line 434

¶ Ne ther nas Surryen noon / þat was conuerted That of the conseil / of the Sowdan woot That he nas al tohewe / er he asterted And Custaunce / han they take anon foot hoot Line 438 And in a ship / al sterelees / god woot They han hir set and bidde hir lerne Sayle Out of Surrye / agaynward to Itaille Line 441

[6-text p 144] Line 441

¶ A certein tresor / that she thider ladde And sooth to seyn / vitaille gret plentee They han hir yeuen / and clothes eek she hadde And forth she sayleth / in the salte see Line 445 O my Custaunce / ful of benygnytee O Emperours / yonge doghter deere He þat is lord of ffortune be thy steere Line 448

¶ She blisseth hire / and with ful pitous voys Vn to the cros of Crist/ thus seyde she O clere / o weleful Auter / holy croys Reed of the lambes blood / ful of pitee Line 452 That wesshe the world / fro the olde Iniquitee Me fro the feend / and fro his clawes kepe That day / þat I shal drenchen in the depe Line 455

¶ Victorious tree / proteccion of trewe That oonly / worthy were for to bere The kyng of heuene / with his woundes newe The white lamb / that hurt was with a spere Line 459 fflemere of feendes / out of hym and here On which thy lymes / feithfully extenden Me kepe / and yeue me myght my lyf tamenden Line 462

[Ye]res and dayes / fleet this creature [folio 118b] Thurgh out the see of Grece / vn to the Strayte Of Marrok as it was hir auenture O many a sory meel / now may she bayte Line 466 After hir deth / ful often may she wayte Er þat the wilde wawes / wol hir dryue Vn to the place / ther she shal arryue Line 469

Men myghten axen / why she was noght slayn Eek at the feste / who myghte hir body saue And I answere / to that demaunde agayn Who saued Danyel / in the horrible Caue Line 473

[6-text p 145] Line 473 Ther euery wight saue he / maister and knaue Was with the leon frete / er he asterte No wight but god / þat he bar in his herte Line 476

¶ God liste to shewe / his wonderful miracle In hire / for we sholde seen / his myghty werkes Crist/ which þat is / to euery harm triacle By certein menes ofte / as knowen clerkes Line 480 Dooth thyng for certein ende / þat ful derk is To mannes wit þat for oure ignoraunce Ne konne noght knowe / his prudent purueiaunce Line 483

¶ Now sith she was nat / at the feste yslawe Who kepte hire / fro the drenchyng in the see Who kepte Ionas / in the fisshes mawe Til he / was spowted vp at Nynyuee Line 487 Wel may men knowe / it was no wight but hee That kepte peple Ebrayk / from hir drenchyng With drye feet thurgh out the see passyng Line 490

¶ Who bad / the foure Spiritz of tempest That power han / tanoyen lond and See Bothe North and South / and also west and Est Anoyeth neither / See / ne land / ne tree Line 494 Soothly / the comaundour of that was hee That fro the tempest ay this womman kepte As wel / whan she wook as whan she slepte Line 497

¶ Wher myghte this womman / mete and drynke haue [folio 119a] Thre yeer and moore / how lasteth hir vitaille Who fedde the Egipcien Marie / in the Caue Or in desert / no wight but crist sanz faille Line 501 ffyue thousand folk / it was as greet meruaille With loues fyue / and fisshes two to fede God sente his foyson / at hir grete nede Line 504

[6-text p 146] Line 504

¶ She dryueth forth / in to oure Occian Thurgh out the wilde see / til at the laste Vnder an hoold / þat nempnen I ne kan ffer in Northumberland / the wawe hir caste Line 508 And in the sond / hir shipe stiked so faste That thennes wolde it noght of al a tyde The wyl of crist was þat she sholde abyde Line 511

¶ The Constable of the Castel / down is fare To seen this wrak and al the shipe he soghte And foond this wery womman ful of care He foond also / the tresor þat she broghte Line 515 In hir langage / mercy she bisoghte The lyf / out of hir body for to twynne Hir to deliuere / of wo that she was Inne Line 518

¶ A manere latyn corrupt was hir speche But algates / ther by was she vnderstonde The Constable / whan hym liste no lenger seche This woful womman / broghte he to the londe Line 522 She kneleth doun / and thanketh goddes sonde But what she was / she wolde no man seye ffor foul ne fair / thogh þat she sholde deye Line 525

¶ She seyde / she was so mazed in the See That she forgat hir mynde / by hir trouthe The Constable / hath of hire so greet pitee And eek his wyf / that they wepten for routhe Line 529 She was so diligent with outen slouthe To serue and plese / euerich in that place That alle hir louen / that looken on hir face Line 532

This Constable / and dame Hermengyld his wyf [folio 119b] Were payens / and that contree euery where But hermengyld / loued hire right as hir lyf And Custaunce / hath so longe soiourned there Line 536

[6-text p 147] Line 536 In orisons / with many a bitter teere Til Ihesu / hath conuerted thurgh his grace Dame hermengyld / Constablesse of thilke place Line 539

¶ In al that land / no cristen dorste route Alle cristen folk / been fled fro that contree Thurgh Payens / þat conquereden al aboute The plages of the North / by land and see Line 543 To Walys / fledde the cristianytee Of olde Britons / dwellyng in this Ile Ther was hir refut for the mene while Line 546

¶ But yet nere cristen Britons / so exiled That ther nere somme / þat in hir pryuetee Honoured crist and hethen folk bigiled And neigh the Castel / swiche ther dwelten thre Line 550 That oon of hem / was blynd and myghte nat se But it were / with thilke eyen of his mynde With whiche men seen / after þat they been blynde Line 553

¶ Bright was the sonne / as in that Someres day ffor which the Constable / and his wyf also And Custaunce / han ytake the righte way Toward the see / a furlong wey / or two Line 557 To pleyen / and to romen to and fro And in hir walk this blynde man they mette Croked and old / with eyen faste yshette Line 560

¶ In name of Crist cryde this blynde Britoun Dame Hermengyld / yif me my sighte agayn This lady / weex affrayed of the sown Lest þat hir housbonde / shortly for to sayn Line 564 Wolde hire / for Ihesu cristes loue han slayn Til Custaunce made hir boold / and bad hir wirche The wyl of Crist as doghter of his chirche Line 567

[6-text p 148] Line 567

¶ The Constable / weex abasshed of that sight [folio 120a] And seide / What amounteth al this fare Custaunce answerde / sire it is Cristes myght That helpeth folk / out of the feendes snare Line 571 And so ferforth / she gan oure lay declare That she the Constable / er þat it was eue Conuerteth / and on Crist made hym bileue Line 574

¶ This Constable / was no thyng lord of this place Of which I speek ther he Custaunce fond But kepte it strongly / many wynter space Vnder Alla / kyng of al Northumberlond Line 578 That was ful wys / and worthy of his hond Agayn the Scottes / as men may wel heere But turne I wole / agayn to my matere Line 581

¶ Sathan / þat euere vs waiteth to bigile Saugh of Custaunce / al hir perfeccion And caste anon / how he myghte quite hir while And made a yong knyght þat dwelte in that town Line 585 Loue hire hote / of foul affeccioun That verraily / hym thoughte he sholde spille But he of hire / myghte ones haue his wille Line 588

¶ He woweth hire / but it auailleth noght She wolde do no synne / by no weye And for despit he compassed in his thoght To maken hire / on shameful deeth to deye Line 592 He wayteth / whan the Constable was aweye And priuely / vp on a nyght he crepte In Hermengildes chambre / whil she slepte Line 595

¶ Wery for-waked / in hir orisons Slepeth Custaunce / and hermengild also This knyght thurgh Sathans temptacions Al softely / is to the bed ygo Line 599

[6-text p 149] Line 599 And kitte the throte / of Hermengild atwo And leyde the blody knyf / by dame Custaunce And wente his wey / ther god yeue hym meschaunce Line 602

[So]one after / cometh this Constable hom agayn [folio 120b] And eek Alla / that kyng was of that lond And saw his wyf / despitously yslayn ffor which ful ofte / he weepe and wrong his hond Line 606 And in the bed / the blody knyf he fond By dame Custaunce / allas what myghte she seye ffor verray wo / hir wit was al aweye Line 609

¶ To kyng Alla / was told al this meschaunce And eek the tyme / and where / and in what wise That in a shipe / was founde this Custaunce As her biforn / þat ye han herd deuyse Line 613 The kynges herte / of pitee gan agryse Whan he saw / so benygne a creature ffalle in disese / and in mysauenture Line 616

¶ ffor as the lomb / toward his deeth is broght So stant this Innocent bifore the kyng This false knyght þat hath this treson wroght Bereth hire on hond / þat she hath doon this thyng Line 620 But nathelees / ther was greet moornyng Among the peple / and seyn they kan nat gesse That she had doon / so greet a wikkednesse Line 623

¶ ffor they han seyn hire / euere so vertuous And louyng Hermengild / right as hir lyf Of this baar witnesse / euerich in that hous Saue he þat Hermengild / slow with his knyf Line 627 This gentil kyng hath caught a gret motyf Of this witnesse / and thoghte he wolde enquere Depper in this / a trouthe for to lere Line 630

[6-text p 150] Line 630

¶ Allas Custaunce / thow nast no champion Ne fighte kanstow noght so weilawey But he þat starf / for oure redempcion And bond Sathan / and yet lyth ther he lay Line 634 So be thy stronge champion this day ffor but if Crist / open miracle kythe With outen gilt thow shalt been slayn as swythe Line 637

¶ She sette hir down on knees / and thus she sayde [folio 121a] Immortal god / that sauedest Susanne ffro fals blame / and thow merciful mayde Marie I mene / doghter to Seint Anne Line 641 Biforn whos child / Aungels synge Osanne If I be giltlees / of this felonye My socour be / for ellis shal I dye Line 644

¶ Haue ye nat seyn som tyme / a pale face Among a prees / of hym þat hath be lad Toward his deeth / wher as hym gat no grace And swich a colour / in his face hath had Line 648 Men myghte knowe his face / þat was bistad Amonges alle the faces / in that route So stant Custance / and looketh hire aboute Line 651

¶ O Queenes / lyuynge in prosperitee Duchesses / and ye ladies euerichon Haueth som reuthe / on hir aduersitee An Emperours doghter / stant allone Line 655 She hath no wight / to whom to make hir mone O blood roial / that stondest in this drede ffer be thy freendes / at thy grete nede Line 658

¶ This Alla kyng hath swich compassioun As gentil herte / is fulfild of pitee That from his eyen / ran the water doun Now hastily / do fecche a book / quod he Line 662

[6-text p 151] Line 662 And if this knyght. wol sweren how þat she This womman slow / yet wol we vs auyse Whom þat we wole / that shal been oure Iustise Line 665

A Briton book writen with Euaungiles Was fet and on this book he swoor anon She gilty was / and in the mene whiles An hand hym smoot vp on the nekke bon Line 669 That doun he fel / atones / as a stoon And bothe hise eyen / broste out of his face In sighte / of euery body in that place Line 672

[A vo]ys was herd / in general audience [folio 121b] And seyde / thow hast disclaundred giltlees The doghter of holy chirche / in heigh presence Thus hastow doon / and yet I holde my pees Line 676 Of this meruaille / agast was al the prees As mazed folk / they stoden euerychone ffor drede of wreche / saue Custance allone Line 679

¶ Greet was the drede / and eek the repentaunce Of hem / þat hadden wrong suspecion Vp on / this sely Innocent Custaunce And for this miracle / in conclusion Line 683 And by Custaunces mediacion The kyng and many another in that place Conuerted was / thanked be Cristes grace Line 686

¶ This false knyght was slayn for his vntrouthe By Iuggement of Alla hastily And yet Custaunce / hadde of his deeth greet routhe And after this / Ihesus of his mercy Line 690 Made Alla / wedden ful solempnely This holy mayden / þat is so bright and shene And thus hath Crist maad Custance a queene Line 693

[6-text p 152] Line 693

¶ But who was woful / if I shal nat lye Of this weddyng but Donegild and namo The kynges moder / ful of tirannye Hir thoughte / hir cursed herte brast atwo Line 697 She wolde noght hir sone had doon so Hir thoughte a despit þat he sholde take So straunge a creature / vn to his make Line 700

¶ Me list nat of the chaf / ne of the stree Maken so long a tale / as of the corn What sholde I tellen / of the realtee At mariages / or which cours gooth biforn Line 704 Who bloweth in trompe / or in an horn The fruyt of euery tale / is for to seye They ete and drynke / and daunce / & synge & pleye Line 707

¶ They goon to bedde as it was skile and right [folio 122a] ffor though þat wyues / been ful holy thynges They moste take / in pacience at nyght Swich manere necessaries / as been plesynges Line 711 To folk / that han ywedded hem with rynges And laye a lite / hir holynesse asyde As for the tyme / it may noon oother bityde Line 714

¶ On hire / he gat a knaue child anon And to a bisshope / and his Constable eke He took his wyf to kepe / whan he is gon To Scotlondward / his foomen for to seke Line 718 Now faire Custaunce / þat is so humble & meke So longe is goon with childe / til þat stille She halt hir chambre / abidyng cristes wille Line 721

¶ The tyme is come / a knaue child she beer Mauricius at the font stoon / they hym calle This Constable / dooth forth come a Messager And wroot vn to his kyng þat clepyd was Alle Line 725

[6-text p 153] Line 725 How þat / this blisful tidynge is bifalle And othere tidynges / speedful for to seye He tath the lettre / and forth he goth his weye Line 728

¶ This Messager / to doon his auauntage Vn to the kynges moder / rideth swithe And salueth ful faire / in his langage Ma dame quod he / ye may be glad and blithe Line 732 And thanketh god / an hundred thousand sithe My lady queene / hath child with outen doute To ioye and blisse / of al this regne aboute Line 735

¶ Lo here the lettres / seled of this thyng That I moot bere / with al the haste I may If ye wol aught vn to youre sone the kyng I am youre seruaunt bothe nyght and day Line 739 Donegild answerde / as now at this tyme nay But here al nyght I wol thow take thy reste To morwe / wol I seye thee what me leste Line 742

[Thi]s Messager / drank sadly ale and wyn [folio 122b] And stolen were / his lettres pryuely Out of his box / whil he sleep as a swyn And countrefeted / was ful subtilly Line 746 Another lettre / wroght ful synfully Vn to the kyng direct of this matere ffro his Constable / as ye shal after heere Line 749

¶ The lettre spak / the queene deliuered was Of so horrible / a fendlich creature That in the Castel / noon so hardy was That any while / dorste ther endure Line 753 The moder was an Elf / by auenture Ycomen / by charmes / or by sorcerye And euerich / hateth hir compaignye Line 756

[6-text p 154] Line 756

¶ Wo was this kyng whan he this lettre hadde seyn But to no wight he tolde his sorwes soore But of his owene hond / he wroot ageyn Welcome the sonde of Crist / for euere moore Line 760 To me / þat am now lerned in his loore Lord / welcome be thy lust and thy plesaunce My lust I putte al in thyn ordinaunce Line 763

¶ Kepeth this child / al be it foul or feir And eek my wyf / vn to myn hom comynge Crist whan hym list may sende me an heir Moore agreable than this / to my likynge Line 767 This lettre he seleth / pryuely wepynge Which to the Messager / was take soone And forth he goth / ther is namoore to doone Line 770

¶ O Messager / fulfild of dronkenesse Strong is thy breeth / thy lymes faltren ay And thow biwreyest al secrenesse The mynde is lorn / thow ianglest as a Iay Line 774 Thy face is turned / in a newe array Ther dronkenesse regneth / in any route Ther is no conseil hid / with outen doute Line 777

¶ O Donegild / I ne haue noon englissh digne [folio 123a] Vn to thy malice / and thy tirannye And ther fore / to the feend I thee resigne Lat hym enditen / of thy traitorie Line 781 ffy mannyssh fy / o nay by god I lye ffy fendlich spirit for I dar wel telle Thogh thow heere walke / thy spirit is in helle Line 784

¶ This Messager / comth fro the kyng agayn And at the kynges modres Court he lighte And she was / of this Messager ful fayn And plesed hym / in al that euere she myghte Line 788

[6-text p 155] Line 788 He drank / and wel his girdel vnder pighte He slepeth / and he fnorteth in his gyse Al nyght til the sonne gan aryse Line 791

¶ Eft were his lettres / stolen euerichon And countrefeted lettres / in this wyse The kyng comaundeth / his Constable anon Vp peyne of hangyng and on heigh Iuyse Line 795 That he ne sholde suffren / in no wyse Custance / in with his regne for tabyde Thre dayes / and a quarter of o tyde Line 798

¶ But in the same Shipe / as he hir fond Hire and hir yonge sone / and al hir geere He sholde putte / and crowde hir fro the lond And charge hire / þat she neuere eft coome there Line 802 O my Custaunce / wel may thy goost haue fere And slepyng in thy dreem / been in penaunce Whan Donegild / caste al this ordinaunce Line 805

¶ This Messager / on morwe whan he wook Vn to the Castel / halt the nexte wey And to the Constable / he the lettre took And whan þat he / this pitous lettre sey Line 809 fful ofte / he seyde allas and weilawey Lord crist quod he / how may this world endure So ful of synne / is many a creature. Line 812

[O] myghty god / if that it be thy wille [folio 123b] Sith thow art rightful Iuge / how may it be That thow wolt suffren / Innocentz to spille And wikked folk / regnen in prosperitee Line 816 O goode Custaunce / allas so wo is me That I moot be thy tormentour / or deye On shames deeth / ther nys noon oother weye Line 819

[6-text p 156] Line 819

¶ Wepen bothe yonge and olde / in al that place Whan þat the kyng this cursed lettre sente And Custance / with a dedly pale face The ferthe day / toward hir shipe she wente Line 823 But nathelees / she taketh in good entente The wyl of Crist / and knelyng on the Stronde She seyde lord / ay wel come be thy sonde Line 826

¶ He þat me kepte / fro the false blame Whil I was on the lond / amonges yow He kan me kepe / fro harm and eek fro shame In salte see / al thogh I se noght how Line 830 As strong as euere he was / he is yet now In hym triste I / and in his moder deere That is to me / my Sayl and eek my steere Line 833

¶ Hir litel child / lay wepyng in hir arm And knelyng pitously to hym she seyde Pees litel sone / I wol do thee noon harm With that hir couerchief / ouer hir hed she breyde Line 837 And ouer his litel eyen / she it leyde And in hir arm / she lulleth it ful faste And in to heuene / hir eyen vp she caste Line 840

¶ Moder quod she / and mayden bright Marie Sooth is / þat thurgh wommans eggement Mankynde was lorn / and dampned ay to dye ffor which thy child / was on a croys yrent Line 844 Thy blisful eyen / sawe al his torment Thanne is ther / no comparison bitwene Thy wo / and any wo man may sustene Line 847

¶ Thow saw thy child / yslayn bifor thyne eyen [folio 124a] And yet now / lyueth my litel child parfay Now lady bright to whom alle woful cryen Thow glorie of wommanhod / thow faire may Line 851

[6-text p 157] Line 851 Thow hauen of refut brighte sterre of day Rewe on my child / that of thy gentillesse Rewest on euery rewful in distresse Line 854

¶ O litel child / allas what is thy gilt That neuere wroghtest synne / as yet pardee Why wil thyn harde fader / han thee spilt O mercy deere Constable / quod she Line 858 As lat my litel child / dwelle here with thee And if thow darst noght sauen hym for blame So kys hym ones / in his fader name Line 861

¶ Ther with she looketh / bakward to the londe And seyde / fare wel housbonde routhelees And vp she rist and walketh doun the Stronde Toward the shipe / hir folweth al the prees Line 865 And euere / she preyeth hir child / to holde his pees And taketh hir leue / and with an holy entente She blesseth hire / and in to shipe she wente Line 868

¶ Vitailled was the shipe / it is no drede Habundantly for hire / ful longe space And othere necessaries / þat sholde nede She hadde ynow / heryed be goddes grace Line 872 ffor wynd and weder / almyghty god purchace And brynge hir hom / I kan no bettre seye But in the see / she dryueth forth hir weye Line 875

[PART III.]

¶ Alla the kyng comth hom soone after this Vn to his Castel / of the which I tolde And axeth / where his wyf / and his child is The Constable / gan aboute his herte colde Line 879

[6-text p 158] Line 879 And pleynly / al the manere he hym tolde As ye han herd / I kan telle it no bettre And sheweth the kyng his seel and his lettre Line 882

[A]nd seyde lord / as ye comaunded me [folio 124b] Vp peyne of deeth / so haue I do certein This Messager / tormented was / til he Moste biknowe / and tellen plat and pleyn Line 886 ffro nyght to nyght in what place he had leyn And thus by wit and subtil enquerynge Ymagined was / by whom this harm gan sprynge Line 889

¶ The hond was knowe / þat the lettre wroot And al the venym / of this cursed dede But in what wise / certeynly I noot Theffect is this / þat Alla out of drede Line 893 His moder slow / that may men pleynly rede ffor that she traytour was / to hir ligeaunce Thus endeth olde Donegild with meschaunce Line 896

¶ The sorwe þat this Alla / nyght and day Maketh for his wyf / and for his child also Ther is no tonge / that it telle may But now wol I / vn to Custaunce go Line 900 That fleteth in the See / in peyne and wo ffyue yeer and moore / as liked Cristes sonde Er þat hir shipe / approched vn to londe Line 903

¶ Vnder an hethen Castel / atte laste Of which the name / in my text noght I fynde Custaunce and eek hir child / the see vp caste Almyghty god / that saueth al mankynde Line 907 Haue on Custaunce / and on hir child som mynde That fallen is / in hethen hand eft soone In point to spille / as I shal telle yow soone Line 910

[6-text p 159] Line 910

¶ Down fro the Castel / comth ther many a wight To gauren on this Shipe / and on Custaunce But shortly from the Castel / on a nyght The lordes Styward / god yeue hym meschaunce Line 914 A theef / that hadde reneyed oure creaunce Cam in to shipe allone / and seyde he sholde Hir lemman be / wher so she wolde or nolde Line 917

¶ Wo was this wrecched womman tho bigon [folio 125a] Hir child cryde / and she cryde pitously But blisful Marie / heelp hire right anon ffor with hir strogelyng wel and myghtily Line 921 The theef / fil ouer bord / al sodeynly And in the see / he dreynte for vengeaunce And thus hath Crist vnwemmed kept Custaunce Line 924

¶ O foule lust of luxurie / lo thyn ende Nat oonly / þat thou fayntest mannes mynde But verraily / thow wolt his body shende Thende of thy werk/ or of thy lustes blynde Line 928 Is compleynyng how many oon may men fynde That noght for werk som tyme / but for thentente To doon this synne / been outher slayn or shente Line 931

¶ How may this wayke womman / han this strengthe Hir to defende / agayn this renegat O. Golias / vnmesurable of lengthe How myghte dauid / make thee so maat Line 935 So yong and of armure so desolat How dorste he looke / vp on thy dredful face Wel may men seen / it was but goddes grace Line 938

¶ Who yaf Iudith / corage / or hardynesse To sleen hym Olofernus / in his tente And to deliueren / out of wrecchednesse The peple of god / I sey for this entente Line 942

[6-text p 160] Line 942 That right as god / spirit of vigour sente To hem / and saued hem / out of meschaunce So sente he myght and vigour to Custaunce Line 945

¶ fforth gooth hir shipe / thurgh out the narwe mouth Of Iubaltare / and Septe / dryuyng ay Som tyme West and som tyme North and South And som tyme Est ful many a wery day Line 949 Til Cristes moder / blissed be she ay Hath shapen / thurgh hir endelees goodnesse To make an ende / of al hir heuynesse Line 952

[N]ow lat vs stynte of Custaunce / but a throwe [folio 125b] And speke we / of the Romayn Emperour That out of Surrye / hath by lettres knowe The slaughtre of cristen folk / and dishonour Line 956 Doon to his doghter / by a fals traytour I mene / the cursed wikked Sowdanesse That at the feeste / leet sleen bothe moore and lesse Line 959

¶ ffor which this Emperour / hath sent anon His Senatour / with Roial ordinaunce And othere lordes / god woot many oon On Surryens / to taken heigh vengeaunce Line 963 They brennen / sleen / and brynge hem to meschaunce fful many a day / but shortly this is thende Homward to Rome / they shapen hem to wende Line 966

¶ This senatour / repaireth with Victorie To Romeward / saylynge ful Roially And mette the ship dryuynge / as seith the stori In which Custaunce / sit ful pitously Line 970 No thyng ne knew he / what she was / ne why She was in swich array / ne she nyl seye Of hir estaat thogh she sholde deye Line 973

[6-text p 161] Line 973

¶ He bryngeth hire to Rome / and to his wyf He yaf hire / and hir yonge sone also And with the Senatour / she ladde hir lyf Thus kan oure lady / bryngen out of wo Woful Custaunce / and many another mo And longe tyme / dwelled she in that place In holy werkes euere / as was hir grace Line 980

¶ The senatours wyf / hir Aunte was But for al that she knew hir neuer the moore I wol no lenger / taryen in this cas But to kyng Alla / which I spak of yoore Line 984 That for his wyf / wepeth and siketh soore I wol retourne / and lete I wole Custaunce Vnder the Senatours gouernaunce Line 987

¶ Kyng Alla / which þat hadde his moder slayn [folio 126a] Vp on a day / fil in swich repentaunce That if I shortly / tellen shal and playn To Rome he cometh / to receyuen his penaunce Line 991 And putte hym / in the Popes ordinaunce In heigh and logh / and Ihesu Crist bisoghte fforyeue / his wikked werkes þat he wroghte Line 994

¶ The fame anon / thurgh Rome town is born How Alla kyng shal comen in pilgrymage By herbergeours / that wenten hym biforn ffor which the Senatour / as was vsage Line 998 Rood hym agayns / and many of his lynage As wel to shewen / his heighe magnyficence As to doon / any kyng a reuerence Line 1001

¶ Greet cheere / doth this noble Senatour To kyng Alla / and he to hym also Euerich of hem / dooth oother greet honour And so bifel / þat in a day / or two Line 1005

[6-text p 162] Line 1005 This Senatour / is to kyng Alla go To feste / and shortly / if I shal nat lye Custaunces sone / wente in his compaignye Line 1008

¶ Som men wolde seyn / at requeste of Custaunce This Senatour / hath lad this child to feste I may nat tellen / euerich circumstaunce Be as be may / ther was he atte leste Line 1012 But sooth is this / þat at his modres heste Biforn Alla / duryng the metes space The child stood / lookynge in the kynges face Line 1015

¶ This Alla kyng hath of this child greet wonder And to the Senatour / he seyde anon Whos is that faire child / that stondeth yonder I noot quod he / by god and by Seint Iohn Line 1019 A moder he hath / but fader hath he non That I of woot/ and shortly in a stounde He tolde Alla / how þat this child was founde Line 1022

[Bu]t god woot quod this Senatour also [folio 126b] So vertuous a lyuere / in my lyf Ne saw I neuere as she / ne herde of mo Of worldly wommen / mayde ne of wyf Line 1026 I dar wel seyn / hir hadde leuere a knyf Thurgh out hir brest/ than been a womman wikke Ther is no man / koude brynge hire to that prikke Line 1029

¶ Now was this child / as lyk vn to Custaunce As possible is / a creature to be This Alla / hath the face in remembraunce Of dame Custaunce / and ther on mused he Line 1033 If þat the childes moder / were aught she That is his wyf / and pryuely he sighte And spedde hym fro the table that he myghte Line 1036

[6-text p 163] Line 1036

¶ Parfay thoughte he / fantome is in myn heed I oghte deme / of skilful Iugement That in the salte see / my wif is deed And afterward / he made his argument Line 1040 What woot I / if þat Crist hath hider sent My wif by see / as wel as he hir sente To my contree / from thennes þat she wente Line 1043

¶ And after noon / hom with the Senatour Goth Alla / for to seen this wonder chaunce This Senatour / dooth Alla greet honour And hastily / he sente after Custaunce Line 1047 But tristeth wel / hir liste noght to daunce Whan that she wiste / wher fore was that sonde Vnnethe / vp on hir feet she myghte stonde Line 1050

¶ Whan Alla saugh his wyf / faire he hir grette And weepe / that it was routhe for to se ffor at the firste look / he on hir sette He knew wel verraily / þat it was she Line 1054 And she for sorwe / as domb stant as a tree So was hir herte shet in hir distresse Whan she remembred / his vnkyndenesse Line 1057

¶ Twies she swowneth / in his owene sighte [folio 127a] He weepe / and hym excuseth pitously Now god quod he / and his halwes brighte So wisly on my soule / as haue mercy Line 1061 That of youre harm / as giltlees am I. As is Maurice my sone / so lyk youre face Ellis the feend / me fecche out of this place Line 1064

¶ Long was the sobbyng and the bitter peyne Er þat / hir woful hertes myghte cesse Greet was the pitee / for to heere hem pleyne Thurgh whiche pleintes / gan hir wo encresse Line 1068

[6-text p 164] Line 1068 I pray yow / al my labour to relesse I may nat telle hir wo / vn til to morwe I am so wery / for to speke of sorwe Line 1071

¶ But finally / whan þat the sooth is wist/ That Alla / giltlees was of hir wo I trowe / an hundred tymes been they kist And swich a blisse / is ther bitwix hem two Line 1075 That saue the ioye / þat lasteth eueremo Ther is noon lyk / þat any creature Hath seyn / or shal / whil þat the world may dure Line 1078

¶ Tho preyde she / hir housbond mekely In relief / of hir longe pitous pyne That he wolde praye / hir fader specially That of his magestee / he wolde enclyne Line 1082 To vouche sauf / som day with hym to dyne She preyde hym eek he sholde by no weye Vn to hir fader / no word of hir seye Line 1085

¶ Som men wolde seyn / how þat the child Mauryce Dooth this message / vn to this Emperour But as I gesse / Alla was noght so nyce To hym þat was / of so souereyn honour Line 1089 As he þat is / of cristen folk the flour Sente any child / but it is bet to deme He wente hym self and so it may wel seme Line 1092

[Thi]s Emperour / hath graunted gentilly [folio 127b] To come to dyner / as he hym bisoghte And wel rede I / he looked bisily Vp on this child / and on his doghter thoghte Line 1096 Alla gooth to his In / and as hym oghte Arrayed for this feste in euery wise As ferforth / as his konnyng may suffise Line 1099

[6-text p 165] Line 1099

¶ The morwe cam / and Alla gan hym dresse And eek his wyf / this Emperour to meete And forth they ryde / in Ioye and in gladnesse And whan she say / hir fader in the Streete Line 1103 She lighte doun / and falleth hym to feete ffader quod she / youre yonge child Custaunce Is now ful clene / out of youre remembraunce Line 1106

¶ I am youre doghter Custance / quod she That whilom ye han sent / vn to Surrye It am I fader / that in the salte See Was put allone / and dampned for to dye Line 1110 Now goode fader / mercy I yow crye Seend me namoore / vn to noon hethenesse But thonke my lord heere / of his kyndenesse Line 1113

¶ Who kan the pitous Ioye / tellen al Bitwix hem thre / syn they be thus ymette But of my tale / make an ende I shal The day goth faste / I wol no lenger lette Line 1117 This glade folk to dyner they hem sette In ioye and blisse / at mete I lete hem dwelle A thousand fold / wel moore than I kan telle Line 1120

¶ This child Maurice / was sithen Emperour Maad by the Pope / and lyued cristenly To cristes chirche / he dide greet honour But I lete / al this storie passen by Line 1124 Of Custaunce / is my tale specially In the olde Romayn gestes / may men fynde Maurices lyf / I bere it noght in mynde Line 1127

¶ This kyng Alla / whan he his tyme say [folio 128a] With his Custaunce / his holy wif so swete To Engelond / been they com the righte way Wher as they lyue / in ioye and in quiete Line 1131

[6-text p 166] Line 1131 But litel while it lasteth I yow heete Ioye of this world / for tyme wol nat abyde ffro day to nyght it chaungeth as the tyde Line 1134

¶ Who lyued euere / in swich delit / a day That hym ne moeued / outher Conscience Or Ire / or talent or som kyn affray Enuye / or pryde / or passion / or offence Line 1138 I ne seye / but for this ende this sentence That litel while / in ioye / or in plesaunce Lasteth the blisse of Alla with Custaunce Line 1141

¶ ffor deeth that taketh / of heigh and logh his rente Whan passed was a yeer / euene as I gesse Out of this world / this kyng Alla he hente ffor whom Custaunce / hath ful greet heuynesse Line 1145 Now lat vs prayen god / his soule blesse And dame Custance / fynally to seye Toward the town of Rome / gooth hir weye Line 1148

¶ To Rome is come / this holy creature And fyndeth hir freendss / hoole and sownde Now is she scaped / al hir auenture And whan that she / hir fader hath yfownde Line 1152 Doun on hir knees / falleth she to grownd Wepynge for tendrenesse / in herte blythe She herieth god / an hondred thousand sythe Line 1155

¶ In vertue / and holy almes-dede They lyuen alle / and neuere asonder wende Til deeth departeth hem / this lyf they lede And fareth now wel / my tale is at an ende Line 1159 Now Ihesu crist that of his myght may sende Ioye after wo / gouerne vs in his grace And kepe vs alle / that been in this place Amen. [6-text p 479] Line 1162

¶ Here is ended / the tale / of the man of Lawe.

¶ Here bigynneth / the Squiers tale. [folio 129a]

AT Sarray / in the land of Tartarye Ther dwelte a kyng that werreyed Russye Thurgh which / ther deyde many a doghty man This noble kyng was clepid kambynskan Which in his tyme / was of so greet renoun That ther nas nowher in no Regioun So excellent a lord / in alle thyng Hym lakked noght þat longed to a kyng Line 16 As of the secte / of which þat he was born He kepte his lay / to which þat he was sworn And ther to / he was hardy / wys / and riche Pietous and Iust and euere moore yliche Line 20 Sooth of his word / benigne and honurable Of his corage / as any Centre stable Yong fressh / and strong in armes desirous As any Bachiler / of al his hous Line 24 A fair persone he was / and fortunat And kepte alwey / so wel Roial estat That ther nas no wher / swich another man ¶ This noble kyng / this Tartre Cambynskan Line 28 Hadde two sones / on Elfeta his wyf Of whiche / the eldeste highte Algarsyf/ That oother sone / was clepid Cambalo A doghter hadde / this worthy kyng also Line 32 That yongest was / and highte Canacee But for to telle yow / al hir beautee It lyth nat in my tonge / nyn my konnyng I dar nat vndertake / so heigh a thyng Line 36

[6-text p 480] Line 36 Myn englyssh eek / is insufficient It moste been / a Rethor excellent That koude his colours / longyng for that Art If he sholde hire / discryuen euery part Line 40 I am noon swich / I moot speke as I kan And so bifel / that whan this kambynskan Hath .xx. wynter / born his dyademe As he was wont fro yeer to yeer I deme Line 44 [He leet [folio 129b] the feste / of his Natiuitee [ Do]n crien / thurgh out Sarray his Citee The laste Idus of March / after the yeer Phebus the sonne / ful iolyf was and cleer Line 48 ffor he was ny his exaltacion In Martes face / and his mansion In Aries / the Coleryk hote signe fful lusty was the weder / and benygne Line 52 ffor which the foweles / agayn the sonne shene What for the seson / and the yonge grene fful loude songen / hir affeccions Hem semed / han geten hem proteccions Line 56 Agayn the swerd of wynter / kene and cold ¶ This Cambynskan / of which I haue yow told In Roial vestyment sit on his deys With dyademe / ful hye in his paleys Line 60 And halt his feste / solempne and so riche That in this world / ne was ther noon it liche Of which / if I shal tellen al tharray Thanne wolde it ocupie / a someres day Line 64 And eek it nedeth nat/ to deuyse At euery cours / the ordre of hir seruyse I wol nat tellen / of hir straunge sewes Ne of her swannes / ne of hir heron sewes Line 68 Eek in that land / as tellen knyghtes olde Ther is som mete / þat is ful deyntee holde That in this land / men recche of it but smal Ther nys no man / þat may reporten al Line 72

[6-text p 481] Line 72 I wol nat tarien yow / for it is pryme And for it is no fruyt but los of tyme Vn to my firste / I wol haue my recours ¶ And so bifel / þat after the thridde Cours Line 76 Whil þat this kyng sit thus / in his nobleye Herknynge his Mynstrals / hir thynges pleye Biforn hym at the bord / deliciously In at the halle dore / al sodeynly Line 80 Ther cam a knyght vp on a Steede of bras And in his hand / a brood Mirour of glas Vp on his thombe / he hadde / of gold a ryng And by his syde / a naked swerd hangyng Line 84 And vp he rydeth / to the heighe bord [folio 130a] In al the halle / ne was ther spoke a word ffor merueille of this knyght hym to biholde fful bisily / they wayten / yonge and olde Line 88 ¶ This straunge knyght that cam thus sodeynly Al armed saue his heed / ful richely Salueth kyng and queene / and lordes alle By ordre / as they seten in the halle Line 92 With so heigh reuerence / and obeisances As wel in his speche / as in his contenances That Gawayn / with his olde curteisye Thogh he were come agayn / out of ffairye Line 96 Ne koude hym nat amende / with a word And after this / biforn the hye bord He with a manly voys / seyde his message After the forme / vsed in his langage Line 100 With outen vice / of silable / or of lettre And for his tale / sholde seme the bettre Acordant to his wordes / was his cheere As techeth art of speche / hem þat it leere Line 104 Al be / þat I kan nat sowne / his style Ne kan nat clymben / ouer so heigh a style Yet seye I this / þat as to commune entente Thus muche amounteth / al that euere he mente Line 108

[6-text p 482] Line 108 If it so be / þat I haue it in my mynde ¶ He seyde / the kyng of Arabe / and of Inde My lige lord / on this solempne day Salueth yow / as he best kan and may Line 112 And sendeth yow / in honour of youre feste By me / that am al redy / at youre heste This Steede of bras / that esily and weel Kan in the space / of o day naturel Line 116 This is to seyn / in .xxiiij. houres Wher so yow list/ in droghte / or ellis shoures Beren youre body / in to euery place To which youre herte / wilneth for to pace Line 120 With outen wem of yow / thurgh foul or fair Or if yow list to flee as hye in the Ayr As dooth an Egle / whan hym list to soore This same Steede / shal bere yow euere moore Line 124 [With [folio 130b] ] outen harm / til ye be ther yow leste [Th]ough þat ye slepen / on his bak / or reste And turne agayn / with writhyng of a pyn He þat it wroghte / koude many a gyn Line 128 He wayted / many a constellacion Er he hadde doon / this operacion And knew ful many a seel / and many a bond ¶ This Mirour eek/ that I haue in myn hond Line 132 Hath swich a myght þat men may in it see Whan ther shal fallen / any aduersitee Vn to youre regne / or to your sel also And openly / who is youre freend / or fo Line 136 ¶ And ouer al this / if any lady bright Hath set hir herte / on any maner wight If he be fals / she shal his trayson see His newe loue / and al his subtiltee Line 140 So openly / þat ther shal no thyng hyde Wher fore / agayn this lusty Someres tyde This Mirour and this ryng/ þat ye may see He hath sent to my lady Canacee Line 144

[6-text p 483] Line 144 Youre excellente doghter/ þat is heere ¶ The vertu of the ryng if ye wol heere Is this / þat if hir list it for to were Vp on hir thombe / or in hir purs it bere Line 148 Ther nys no fowel / þat fleeth vnder the heuene That she ne shal wel / vnderstonde his steuene And knowe his menyng openly and pleyn And answere hym / in his langage ageyn Line 152 And euery gras / þat groweth vp on roote She shal eek knowe / and whom it wol doon boote Al be his woundes / neuer so depe and wyde ¶ This naked swerd / þat hangeth by my syde Line 156 Swich vertu hath / þat what man so ye smyte Thurgh out his armure / it wol kerue and byte Were it as thikke / as is a braunched ook And what man / þat is wounded with the Strook Line 160 Shal neuere be hool / til þat yow lust of grace To stroke hym with the platte / in thilke place Ther he is hurt this is as muche to seyn Ye moote / with the platte swerd ageyn Line 164 Stroke hym in the wounde / and it wol close [folio 131a] This is a verray sooth / with outen glose It failleth nat / whiles it is in youre hold And whan this knyght hath thus his tale ytold Line 168 He rideth out of halle / and doun he lighte ¶ His Steede which þat shoon / as sonne brighte Stant in the Court stille as any stoon This knyght is to his chambre lad anon Line 172 And is vnarmed / and to mete yset The presentz / been ful realliche yfet This is to seyn / the swerd and the Mirour And born anon / in to the heighe tour Line 176 With certein Officers / ordeyned ther fore And vn to Canacee / the ryng is bore Solempnely / ther she sit at the table But sikerly / with outen any fable Line 180

[6-text p 484] Line 180 The hors of bras / þat may nat been remewed It stant as it were / to the ground yglewed Ther may no man / out of the place it dryue ffor noon engyn / of wyndas or polyue Line 184 And cause why / for they kan nat the craft And ther fore / in the place / they han it laft Til þat the knyght hath taught hem the manere To voyden hym / as ye shal after heere Line 188 ¶ Greet was the prees / that swarmeth to and fro To gauren on this hors / that stondeth so ffor it so heigh was / and so brood and long So wel proporcioned / for to ben strong Line 192 Right as it were / a Steede of lumbardye Ther-with so horsly / and so quyk of eye As it a gentil Poyleys courser weere ffor certes / fro his tayl / vn to his eere Line 196 Nature / ne art ne koude hym nat amende In no degree / as al the peple wende ¶ But euere moore / hir mooste wonder was How þat it koude goon / and was of bras Line 200 It was a ffairye / as the peple semed Dyuerse folk/ dyuersely han demed As many heuedes / as many wittes ther been They murmured / as dooth a swarm of been Line 204 [And [folio 131b] ] maden skiles / after hir fantasies Rehersynge / of thise olde Poetries And seyden / it was lyk the Pegasee The hors / þat hadde wynges for to flee Line 208 Or ellis it was / the Grekys hors Synon That broghte Troye / to destruccion As men / in thise olde gestes rede ¶ Myn herte quod oon / is euere moore in drede Line 212 I trowe / som men of armes been ther Inne That shapen hem / this Citee for to wynne It were right good / þat al swich thyng were knowe ¶ Another rowned / to his felawe lowe Line 216

[6-text p 485] Line 216 And seyde he lyeth / for it is rather lyk An apparence / ymaad by som magyk As Iogelours pleyen / at thise festes grete Of sondry doutes / thus they iangle and trete Line 220 As lewed peple / demeth comunly Of thynges / þat been moore maad subtilly Than they kan / in hir lewednesse comprehende They demen gladly / to the badder ende Line 224 ¶ And somme of hem / wondren on the Mirour That born was vp / vn to the maister tour How men myghte in it/ swiche thynges se ¶ Another answerde / and seyde it myghte wel be Line 228 Naturelly / by composicions / Of anglis / and of sly reflexions And seiden / þat in Rome was swich oon They speke of Alocen / and Vitulon Line 232 Of Aristotle / þat writen in hir lyues Of queynte Mirours / and of perspectyues As knowen they / þat han hir bookes herd ¶ And oother folk/ han wondred on the swerd Line 236 That wolde percen / thurgh out euery thyng And fille in speche / of Thelophus the kyng And of Achilles / for his queynte spere ffor he koude with it/ bothe heele and dere Line 240 Right in swich wise / as men may / with the swerd Of which right now / ye han your seluen herd ¶ They speeke / of sondry hardyng of metal And speke of medicynes / ther with al Line 244 And how / and whanne / it sholde yharded be [folio 132a] Which is vnknowe / algates vn to me ¶ Tho speeke they / of Canacees ryng And seyden alle / þat swich a wonder thyng Line 248 Of craft of rynges / herde they neuere non Saue þat he Moyses / and kyng Salomon Hadde a name of konnyng in swich art Thus seyn the peple / and drawen hem a part Line 252

[6-text p 486] Line 252 ¶ But nathelees / somme seyden þat it was Wonder / to maken of fern asshen glas And yet is glas / nat lyk asshen of fern But for they han / knowen it so fern Line 256 Therfore / cesseth hir Ianglyng and hir wonder ¶ As soore wondren somme / on cause of thonder On ebbe and flood / on gossomer / and on myst And alle thyng til þat the cause is wist Line 260 Thus Ianglen they / and demen and deuyse Til that the kyng gan fro the bord aryse ¶ Phebus hath laft the angle Meridional And yet ascendyng is / the beest roial Line 264 The gentil leon / with his Aldiran Whan þat this tartre kyng Cambynskan Roos fro his bord / ther as he sat ful hye Biforn hym gooth / the loude Mynstralcye Line 268 Til he cam / to his chambre of parementz There as ther sownen / diuerse Instrumentz That it is lyk / an heuene for to heere Now dauncen / lusty Venus children deere Line 272 ffor in the fissh / hir lady sat ful hye And looketh on hem / with a freendly eye ¶ This noble kyng is set vp on his trone This straunge knyght is fet to hym ful soone Line 276 And on the daunce he gooth / with Canacee Here is / the reuel / and the Iolitee That is nat able / a dul man to deuyse He moste han knowe / loue and his seruyse Line 280 And been a festlich man / as fressh as May That sholde yow deuysen / swich array ¶ Who koude telle yow / the forme daunces So vnkouthe / and swiche fresshe contenaunces Line 284 [ [folio 132b] Sw]ich subtil lookyng and dissimulynges ffor drede / of Ialous mennes aperceyuynges No man but launcelot and he is deed Ther fore I passe / of al this lustiheed Line 288

[6-text p 487] Line 288 I sey namoore / but in this Iolynesse I lete hem / til men / to the souper dresse ¶ The Styward / byt Spices for to hye And eek the wyn / in al this melodye Line 292 The vsshers / and the Squyers / been ygon The Spices and the wyn / is come anon They ete and drynke / and whan this hadde an ende Vn to the temple / as reson was they wende Line 296 ¶ The seruyce doon / they soupen al by day What nedeth yow / rehercen hir array Ech man woot wel / þat at a kynges feste Hath plentee / to the meeste / and to the leeste Line 300 And deyntees / mo than been in my knowyng At after souper / gooth this noble kyng To seen this hors of bras / with al a route Of lordes / and of ladyes / hym aboute Line 304 ¶ Swich wondryng was ther/ on this hors of bras That syn the grete sege / of Troye was Ther as men wondreden / on an hors also Ne was ther / swich a wondryng as was tho Line 308 But finally / the kyng axeth this knyght The vertu of this Courser / and the myght And preyed hym / to telle his gouernaunce ¶ This hors anon / gan for to trippe and daunce Line 312 Whan þat this knyght leyde hand vp on his reyne And seyde sire / ther nys namoore to seyne But whan yow list to ryden any where Ye moten trille a pyn / stant in his ere Line 316 Which I shal yow telle / bitwixe vs two Ye mote nempne hym / to what place also Or to what contree / þat yow list to ryde And whan ye come / ther as yow list abyde Line 320 Byd hym descende / and tryl another pyn ffor ther Inne lyth / theffect of al the gyn And he wol doun descende / and doon youre wille And in that place / he wol abiden stille Line 324

[6-text p 488] Line 324 Theigh al the world / the contrarie hadde yswore [folio 133a] He shal nat thennes / be y-drawe nor ybore Or if yow list / bidde hym thennes gon Trille this pyn / and he wol vanysshe anon Line 328 Out of the sighte / of euery maner wight And come agayn / be it day or nyght Whan þat yow list to clepen hym ageyn In swich a gyse / as I shal to yow seyn Line 332 Bitwixen yow and me / and that ful soone Ryd whan yow lust ther is namoore to doone ¶ Enformed / whan the kyng was of that knyght And hath conceyued / in his wit aright Line 336 The manere / and the forme / of al this thyng fful glad and blythe / this noble doghty kyng Repeireth to his reuel / as biforn The brydel is / vn to the tour yborn Line 340 And kept among his Iewels / lief and deere The hors vanysshed / I noot in which manere Out of hir sighte / ye gete namoore for me But thus I lete / in lust and Iolitee Line 344 This Cambynskan / his lordes festeyynge Til wel neigh / the day bigan to sprynge

¶ Explicit prima pars.

¶ Incipit pars secunda.

The norice of digestion / the sleepe Gan on hem wynke / and bad hem take keepe Line 348 That muche drynke and labour / wol haue reste And with a galpyng mouth / hem alle he keste And seyde / that it was tyme / to lye adoun ffor blood / was in his domynacioun Line 352 Cherisseth blood / natures freend quod he They thanken hym galpynge / by two / by thre And euery wight gan drawe hym to his reste As sleepe hem bad / they take it for the beste Line 356

[6-text p 489] Line 356 ¶ Hir dremes / shul nat now be toold for me fful were hir heuedes / of fumositee [ [folio 133b] That cau]seth dreem / of which ther nys no charge [The]y slepen / til that it was pryme large Line 360 The mooste part but it were Canacee She was ful mesurable / as wommen be ffor of hir fader / hadde she take leue To goon to reste / soone after it was eue Line 364 Hir liste nat apalled for to be Nor on the morwe / vnfestlich for to se And slepte hir firste sleep / and awook ffor swich a ioye / she in her herte took Line 368 Bothe of hir queynte ryng and hir Mirour That .xx. tyme / she chaunged hir colour And in hir sleepe / right for impression Of hir Mirour / she hadde a vision Line 372 Wher fore / er þat the sonne gan vp glyde She clepyd / vp on hir maistresse / hir bisyde And seyde / þat hir liste for to ryse ¶ Thise olde wommen / þat been gladly wyse Line 376 As is hir maystresse / answerde hir anon And seyde / madame / whider wolde ye gon Thus erly / for the folk been alle on reste ¶ I wol quod she aryse / for me leste Line 380 No lenger for to slepe / and walke aboute Hir maistresse / clepith wommen / a gret route And vp they rysen / wel an .x. or .xij.^e Vp riseth / fresshe Canacee hir selue Line 384 As rody and bright as dooth the yonge sonne That in the ram / is .4. degrees vp ronne Noon hyere was he / whan she redy was And forth she walketh / esily a pas Line 388 Arrayed / after the lusty seson soote Lightly for to pleye / and walke on foote Nat but with .v. or .vj. of hir meynee And in a trench / forth in the park goth she Line 392

[6-text p 490] Line 392 ¶ The vapour / which þat fro the erthe glood Made the sonne / to seme rody and brood But nathelees / it was so fair a sighte That it made / al hir hertes for to lighte Line 396 What for the seson / and the morwenynge And for the fowles / that she herde synge ffor right anon / she wiste what they mente [folio 134a] Right by hir song and knew al hir entente Line 400 ¶ The knotte / why / that euery tale is told If it be taryed / til þat lust be cold Of hem / þat han it after herkned yoore The sauour passeth / euer lenger the moore Line 404 ffor fulsomnesse / of his prolixitee And by this same reson / thynketh me I scholde / to the knotte condescende And maken of hir walkyng soone an ende Line 408 ¶ Amydde a tree / for drye as whit as chalk/ As Canacee / was pleyynge in hir walk Ther sat a ffawkon / ouer hir heed ful hye And with a pitous voys / so gan to crye Line 412 That al the wode / resowned of hir cry ybeten hadde she hir self / so pitously with bothe hir wynges / til the rede blood Ran endelong the tree / ther as she stood Line 416 And euere in oon / she cryde alwey and shrighte And with hir beek hir seluen so she prighte That ther nys tygre / ne so cruel beest That dwelleth / outher in wode / or in fforest Line 420 That nolde han wept / if þat he wepe koude ffor sorwe of hire / she shrighte alwey so loude ¶ ffor ther nas neuere man / yet on lyue If þat I koude / a ffaukon wel discryue Line 424 That herde of swich another / of fairnesse As wel of plumage / as of gentillesse Of shape / of al that myghte yrekened be A ffaukon peregryn / thanne semed she Line 428

[6-text p 491] Line 428 Of fremde land / and euere moore as she stood She swowned now and now / for lakke of blood Til wel neigh / is she fallen / fro that tree ¶ This faire kynges doghter Canacee Line 432 That on hir fynger / baar the queynte ryng Thurgh which / she vnderstood wel euery thyng That any fowl / may in his ledne sayn And koude answere hym / in his ledne agayn Line 436 Hath vnderstonden / what this ffaukon seyde And wel neigh for the routhe / almoost she deyde [ [folio 134b] And t]o the tree / she goth ful hastily [A]nd on this ffaukon / looketh pitously Line 440 And heeld hir lappe abrood / for wel she wiste The ffaukon / moste fallen fro the twiste Whan þat it swowneth next for lakke of blood A long while / to wayten hir she stood Line 444 Til at the laste / she spak / in this manere Vn to the hauk / as ye shal after heere ¶ What is the cause / if it be for to telle That ye been / in this furial pyne of helle Line 448 Quod Canacee / vn to this hauk aboue Is this for sorwe of deeth / or los of loue ffor as I trowe / thise been causes two That causen moost/ a gentil herte wo Line 452 Of oother harm / it nedeth nat to speke ffor ye your self / vp on yow self yow wreke Which proeueth wel / þat outher Ire or drede Moot been encheson / of youre cruel dede Line 456 Syn þat I se / noon oother wight yow chace ffor loue of god / as dooth your seluen grace Or what may been youre help / for west nor Est Ne saw I neuere er now / no bryd ne beest Line 460 That ferde / with hym self so pitously Ye sleen me / with youre sorwe verraily I haue of yow / so greet compassioun ffor goddes loue / com fro the tree adoun Line 464

[6-text p 492] Line 464 And as I am / a kynges doghter trewe If þat I verraily / the cause knewe Of youre disese / if it laye in my myght I wolde amende it er that it were nyght Line 468 As wisly help me / grete god of kynde And herbes / shal I right ynowe fynde To heele with / youre hurtes hastily ¶ Tho shrighte this ffaukon / yet moore pitously Line 472 Than euer she dide / and fil to ground anon And lyth aswowne deed / and lik a ston Til Canacee / hath in hir lappe hir take Vn to that tyme / she gan of swowne awake Line 476 And aftere / that she of swow / gan abreyde Right in hir haukes ledne / thus she seyde That pitee renneth soone / in gentil herte [folio 135a] ffeelynge his similitude / in peynes smerte Line 480 Is proued al day / as men may it see As wel by werk/ as by auctoritee ffor gentil herte / kitheth gentilesse I se wel / þat ye han of my distresse Line 484 Compassion / my faire Canacee Of verray / wommanly benygnitee That nature / in youre principles hath set/ But for noon hope / for to fare the bet Line 488 But for to obeye / vn to youre herte free And for to maken othere / ywar by me As by the whelpe / chasted is the leon Right for that cause / and for that conclusion Line 492 Whil þat I haue / a leyser and a space Myn harm / I wol confessen / er I pace And euere / whil þat oon / hir sorwe tolde That oother weep / as she to water wolde Line 496 Til þat the ffaukon / bad hir to be stille And with a syk/ right thus she seyde hir wille ¶ Ther I was bred / allas that ilke day And fostred in a Roch / of Marbul gray Line 500

[6-text p 493] Line 500 So tendrely / þat no thyng eyled me I nyste nat what was aduersitee Til I koude fle / ful hye vnder the sky Tho dwelte a tercelet me faste by Line 504 That semed welle / of alle gentillesse Al were he ful / of trayson and falsnesse If was so wrapped / vnder humble cheere And vnder hewe of trouthe / in swich manere Line 508 Vnder plesaunce / and vnder bisy peyne That no wight wolde han wend / he koude feyne So depe in greyn / he dyed his colours Right as a serpent hit hym vnder floures Line 512 Til he may se his tyme / for to byte Right so / this god of loues ypocrite Dooth so his cerymonijs / and obeysances And kepeth in semblant alle hise obseruances Line 516 That sownen / in to gentilesse of loue As on a Tombe / is al the faire aboue [ [folio 135b] An]d vnder is the cors / swich as ye woot Swich was this ypocrite / bothe cold and hoot Line 520 And in this wise / he serued his entente That saue the feend / noon wiste what he mente Til he so longe / hadde wopen and compleyned A many a yeer / his seruice to me feyned Line 524 Til that myn herte / to pitous and to nyce Al Innocent of his crowned malice ffor-fered of his deeth / as thoughte me Vp on his othes / and his seuretee Line 528 Graunted hym loue / vp on this condicioun That euere mo / myn honour and renoun Were saued / bothe pryuee and apert That is to seyn / that after his desert Line 532 I yaf hym al myn herte / and my thoght God woot and he / þat oother wise noght And took his herte / in chaunge of myn for ay But sooth is seyd / goon sithen many a day Line 536

[6-text p 494] Line 536 A trewe wight and a theef / thynketh nat oon ¶ And whanne he saw the thyng so fer ygon That I hadde graunted hym fully my loue In swich a gise / as I haue seyd aboue Line 540 And yeuen hym / my trewe herte as fre As he swoor / he yaf his herte to me Anoon this tygre / ful of doublenesse ffil on his knees / with so deuout humblesse Line 544 With so heigh reuerence / and as by his cheere So lyk a gentil louere / of manere So rauysshed / as it semed for the ioye That neuere Iason / ne Parys of Troye Line 548 Iason certes / ne noon oother man Syn Lameth was / þat alderfirst bigan To louen two / as writen folk biforn Ne neuere / syn / the firste man was born Line 552 Ne koude man / by twenty thousand part Countrefete / the Sophymes of his art Ne were worthy / vnbokele his galoche Ther doublenesse / or feynyng sholde approche Line 556 Ne so koude thanke a wight as he did me His manere / was an heuene for to see Til any womman / were she neuer so wys [folio 136a] So peynted he / and kembde at poynt deuys Line 560 As wel his wordes / as his contenaunce And I so loued hym / for his obeisaunce And for the trouthe / I demed in his herte That if so weere / that any thyng hym smerte Line 564 Al were it neuer so litel / and I it wiste Me thoughte / I felte deeth myn herte twiste And shortly / so ferforth this thyng is went That my wyl / was his willes Instrument Line 568 This is to seyn / my wyl obeyed his wil In alle thyng as fer as reson fil Kepynge the boundes / of my worship euere Ne neuere hadde I thyng so lief ne leuere Line 572

[6-text p 495] Line 572 As hym god woot ne neuere shal namo ¶ This laste lenger / than a yeer / or two That I supposed of hym nat but good But finally / thus a the laste it stood Line 576 That ffortune wolde / þat he moste twynne Out of that place / which þat I was Inne Wher me was wo / that is no question I kan nat make of it descripsion Line 580 ffor o thyng dar I tellen boldely I knowe what is / the peyne of deeth ther by Swich harm I felte / for he ne myghte bileue So on a day / of me he took his leue Line 584 So sorwefully eek/ that I wende verraily That he hadde feelyd / as muche harm as I Whan that I herde hym speke / and saw his hewe But nathelees / I thoughte he was so trewe Line 588 And eek/ that he repeyre sholde agayn With Inne a litel while / sooth to sayn And reson wolde eek þat he moste go ffor his honour / as ofte happeth so Line 592 That I made / vertu of necessitee And took it wel / syn þat it moste be As I best myghte / I hidde from hym my sorwe And took hym by the hand / Seint Iohn to borwe Line 596 And seyde thus / lo I am youres al Beeth swich / as I to yow haue been and shal [What he [folio 136b] ] answerde / it nedeth nat reherse [Who] kan seyn bet than he / who kan doon werse Line 600 [W]han he hath al wel seyd / thanne hath he doon Ther fore bihoued hire / a ful long spoon That shal ete with a feend / thus herde I seye So at the laste / he moste forth his weye Line 604 And forth he fleeth / til he cam ther hym leste ¶ Whan it cam hym / to purpos for to reste I trowe he hadde / thilke text in mynde That alle thing repeiryng to his kynde

[6-text p 496] Gladeth hym self / thus seyn men as I gesse Men louen of propre kynde / Newfangelnesse As bryddes doon / that men in Cages feede ffor theigh thow / nyght and day / take of hem hede Line 612 And strawe hir Cages / faire / and softe as sylk/ And yeue hem sugre / hony / breed / and Milk Yet right anon / as þat his dore is vppe He with his feet wol sporne doun his cuppe Line 616 And to the wode he wole / and wormes ete So newfangel / been they of hir mete And louen nonelries / of propre kynde No gentilesse of blood / may hem bynde Line 620 ¶ So ferde this gentil tercelet allas the day Thogh he were gentil born / and fressh and gay And goodlich for to seen / and humble and free He saw vp on a tyme / a kyte flee Line 624 And sodeynly / he loued this kyte so That al his loue / is clene fro me ago And hath his trouthe / falsed in this wise Thus hath the kyte / my loue in hir seruyse Line 628 And I am lorn / with outen remedye And with that word / this ffaukon gan to crye And swowned eft/ in Canacees barm ¶ Greet was the sorwe / for the haukes harm Line 632 That Canacee / and alle hir wommen made They nyste / how þat they myghte the ffaukon glade But Canacee / hom bereth hire / in hir lappe And softely / in plastres gan hir wrappe Line 636 Ther as she with hir beek/ hadde hurt hir selue ¶ Now kan nat Canacee / but herbes delue Out of the grownd / and maken Saues newe [folio 137a] Of herbes preciouse / and fyn of hewe Line 640 To heelen with this hauk / fro day to nyght She dooth hir bisynesse / and al hir myght And by hir beddes heed / she made a Muwe And couered it / with veluettes blue Line 644

[6-text p 497] Line 644 In signe of trouthe / that is in wommen sene And al with oute / the Muwe is peynted grene In which were peynted / alle thise false fowles As been thise tydyues / terceletz / and Owles Line 648 Right for despit were peynted hem bisyde And Pyes / on hem / for to crye / and chyde ¶ Thus lete I Canacee / hir hauk kepyng I wol namoore as now / speke of hir ryng Line 652 Til it come eft to purpos for to seyn How that this ffaukon / gat hir loue ageyn Repentant / as the storie telleth vs By mediacion / of Cambalus Line 656 The kynges sone / of which I to yow tolde But hennes fort I wol my proces holde To speke of auentures / and of batailles That neuere yet was herd / so greet meruailles Line 660 ¶ ffirst wol I telle yow / of Cambynskan That in his tyme / many a Citee wan ¶ And after / wol I speke / of Algarsyf How that he wan / Theodora to his wyf Line 664 ffor whom ful ofte / in gret peril he was Ne hadde he been holpen / by the Steede of bras ¶ And after / wol I speke of Cambalo That faught in lystes / with the bretheren two Line 668 ffor Canacee / er that he myghte hir wynne And ther I lefte / I wol ayein bigynne

¶ Explicit secunda pars.

[Inci]pit tercia pars. [folio 137b]

Appollo whirleth vp / his Char so hye Til that / the god Mercuries hous the slye Line 672

[6-text p 498]

¶ The prologe / of the Marchantes tale. [folio 137b]

IN feith squyer/ thow hast thee wel yquyt And gentilly / I preise wel thy wit Quod the Marchant considerynge thy youthe So feelyngly thow spekest sire I allowthe Line 676 As to my doom / ther is noon þat is heere Of eloquence / þat shal be thy peere If þat thow lyue / god yeue thee good chaunce And in vertu / sende thee continuaunce Line 680 ffor of thy speche / I haue gret deyntee I haue a sone / and by the Trinitee I hadde leuere / than .xx.^ti pound worth lond Thogh it right now ./ were fallen in myn hond Line 684 He were a man / of swich discrecion As þat ye ben / fy on possession But if a man / be vertuous with al I haue my sone snybbed / and yit shal Line 688 ffor he to vertu / lusteth nat entende But for to pleye at dees / and to despende And lese al that he hath / is his vsage And he hath leuere / talken with a page Line 692 Than to commune / with any gentil wight Where he myghte lerne / gentillesse aright ¶ Straw for youre gentillesse / quod oure hoost What Marchant / pardee sire wel thow woost Line 696 That ech of yow / moot tellen atte leeste A tale / or two / or breken his biheste ¶ That knowe I wel sire / quod the Marchant certeyn I prey yow / haueth me nat in desdeyn Line 700

[6-text p 499] Line 700 Thogh to this man / I speke a word or two ¶ Telle on thy tale / with outen wordes mo ¶ Gladly sire hoost quod he / I wol obeye Vn to youre wyl / now herkneth what I seye Line 704 I wole yow nat contrarien / in no wise As fer / as þat my wittes wole suffise I prey to god / that it may plesen yow Thanne woot I wel / that it is good ynow Line 708

Explicit

[6-text p 443]

¶ Here bigynneth / the Marchantes tale. [folio 138a]

Whilom / ther was dwellynge in Lumbardye A worthy knyght / that born was of Pauye In which he lyuede / in greet prosperitee And .lx. yeer / a wiflees man was he Line 1248 And folwed ay / his bodily delit On wommen / ther as was his appetit As doon thise fooles / that been seculer And whan that he / was passed .lx. yeer Line 1252 Were it for holynesse / or for dotage I kan nat seye / but swich a greet corage Hadde this knyght to been a wedded man That day and nyght / he dooth al that he kan Line 1256 Tespien / where he myghte wedded be Preyynge oure lord / to graunten hym / þat he Mighte ones knowe / of thilke blisful lyf That is / bitwix an housbonde and his wyf Line 1260 And for to lyue / vnder that holy bond With which / þat god / man and womman boond Noon oother lyf seyde he / is worth a bene ffor wedlok is so esy / and so clene Line 1264 That in this world / it is a Paradys Thus seyde this olde knyght þat was so wys ¶ And certeynly / as sooth as god is kyng To take a wyf / it is a glorious thyng Line 1268 And namely / whan a man is old and hoor Thanne is a wyf / the fruyt of his tresor Thanne sholde he take/ a yong wyf and a feir On which he myghte / engendren hym an heir Line 1272

[6-text p 444] Line 1272 And lede his lyf in ioye / and in solas Wher/ as thise Bachilers / synge allas Whan þat they fynde / any aduersitee In loue / which nys but childissh vanytee Line 1276 And trewely / it sit wel to be so That Bachilers / haue ofte peyne and wo On brotil ground they bilde / and brotilnesse They fynde / whan they wene sikernesse Line 1280 [They ly [folio 138b] ]ue / but as bryd / or as a beest [In l]ibertee / and vnder noon arest [T]her as a wedded man / in his estat Lyueth a lyf / blisful and ordynat Line 1284 Vnder this yok of mariage ybounde Wel may his herte / in ioye and blisse habounde ffor who kan be / so buxom as a wyf Who is so trewe / and eek so ententyf Line 1288 To kepe hym syk and hool / as is his make ffor wele or wo / she wol hym nat forsake She nys nat wery / hym to loue / and serue Thogh þat he ly bedrede / til he sterue Line 1292 And yet som clerkes seyn / it is nat so Of whiche / he Theofraste / is oon of tho What force / thogh Theofraste liste lye ¶ Ne tak no wyf quod he / for housbondrye Line 1296 As for to spare / in houshold thy dispence A trewe seruant dooth moore diligence Thy good to kepe / than thyn owene wyf ffor she wol clayme / half part al hir lyf Line 1300 And if thow be syk / so god me saue Thy verray freendes / or a trewe knaue Wol kepe thee bet than she / that wayteth ay After thy good / and hath do many a day Line 1304 And if thow take a wyf /¹ she wole destroye Thy good substance / and thy body annoye¹ ¶ This sentence / and an hundred thynges worse Writeth this man / ther god his bones curse Line 1308

[6-text p 445] Line 1308 But tak no kepe / of al swich vanytee Diffye Theofraste / and herke me ¶ A wyf is goddes yifte verraily Alle othere manere yiftes hardily Line 1312 As londes / rentes / pasture / or comune Or moebles / alle been yiftes of fortune That passen / as a shadwe vp on the wal But dreed nat if pleynly speke I shal Line 1316 A wyf wol laste / and in thyn hous endure Wel lenger than thee lyst perauenture ¶ Mariage / is a ful greet sacrament He / which þat hath no wyf I holde hym shent Line 1320 He lyueth helplees / and al desolat [folio 139a] I speke of folk/ in seculer estat ¶ And herke why / I sey nat this for noght That womman is / for mannes helpe ywroght Line 1324 The hye god / whan he hadde Adam maked And seigh hym allone / bely naked God of his grete goodnesse seyde than Lat vs now make an help / vn-to this man Line 1328 Lyk to hym self and thanne he made hym Eue Here may ye see / and here may ye preeue That wyf is mannes helpe / and his confort His Paradys terrestre / and his disport Line 1332 So buxom / and so vertuous is she They moste nedes lyue in vnytee O flessh they been / and o flessh as I gesse Hath but oon herte / in wele and in distresse ¶ A wyf / a Seinte Marie benedicitee How myghte a man / han any aduersitee That hath a wyf / certes I kan nat seye The blisse / which þat is bitwix hem tweye Line 1340 Ther may no tonge telle / or herte thynke If he be poure / she helpeth hym to swynke She kepeth his good / and wasteth neuer a del Al that hir housbonde lust hir liketh wel Line 1344

[6-text p 446] Line 1344 She seith nat ones nay / whan he seith yee Do this seith he / al redy sire seith she ¶ O blisful ordre / o wedlok precious Thou art so murye / and eek so vertuous Line 1348 And so commended / and approued eek That any man / that halt hym worth a leek Vp on his bare knees / oghte al his lyf Thanken his god / that hym hath sent a wyf Line 1352 Or ellis preye to god / hym for to sende A wyf/ to laste vn to his lyues ende ffor thanne his lyf / is set in sikernesse He may nat be / deceyued / as I gesse Line 1356 So that he werke / after his wyues reed Thanne may he boldely / kepen vp his heed They been so trewe / and ther with al so wyse ffor which / if thow wolt werken as the wyse Line 1360 [Do al [folio 139b] ]wey so / as wommen wol thee rede [L]o how that Iacob / as thise clerkes rede By good conseil / of his moder Rebekke Boond the kydes skyn / aboute his nekke Line 1364 ffor which / his fadres benyson he wan ¶ Lo Iudith / as the storie eek telle kan By good conseil / she goddes peple kepte Line 1367 And slow hym Olofernus / whil he slepte ¶ Lo Abigayl / by good conseil / how she Saued hir housbonde Nabal / whan þat he Sholde han ben slayn / and looke Ester also By good conseil / delyuered out of wo Line 1372 The peple of god / and made hym Mardochee Of Assuere / enhaunced for to be ¶ Ther nys no thyng in gree superlatyf Line 1375 As seith Senec / aboue an humble wyf ¶ Suffre thy wyues tonge / as Caton byt She shal comaunde / and thow shalt suffren it / And yet she wol obeye of curteisye ¶ A wyf / is kepere of thyn housbondrye Line 1380

[6-text p 447] Line 1380 Wel may the sike man / biwaille and wepe Ther as ther is no wyf/ the hous to kepe I warne thee / if wisly thow wolt wirche Loue wel thy wyf/ as Crist loued his chirche If thow louest thy self / thow louest thy wif Line 1385 No man hateth his flessh / but in his lyf/ He fostreth it and ther-fore bidde I thee Cherisse thy wyf or thow shalt neuere thee Line 1388 Housbonde and wyf what so men Iaye or pleye Of worldly folk/ holden the siker weye They been so knyt / ther may noon harm bityde And namely / vp on the wyues syde Line 1392 ffor which this Ianuarie / of whom I tolde Considered hath / inwith his dayes olde The lusty lyf / the vertuous quyete That is in mariage / hony swete Line 1396 And for his freendes / on a day he sente To tellen hem / theffect of his entente ¶ With face sad / this tale he hath hem told He seyde freendes / I am hoor and old Line 1400 And almoost god woot on my pittes brynke [folio 140a] Vp on my soule / som what moste I thynke I haue my body / folily despended Blissed be god / þat it shal been amended Line 1404 ffor I wol be certeyn / a wedded man And that anon / in al the haste I kan Vn to som mayde / fair and tendre of age I pray yow / shapeth for my mariage Line 1408 Al sodeynly / for I wol nat abyde And I wol fonde / tespien on my side To whom I may / be wedded hastily But for as muche / as ye been mo than I. Line 1412 Ye shullen rather / swich a thing espien Than .I / and where me beste were to allien ¶ But o thyng warne I yow / my freendes deere I wol noon old wyf han / in no manere Line 1416

[6-text p 448] Line 1416 She shal nat passe / .xx. yer certeyn Old fissh / and yong flessh / wol I haue feyn Bet is quod he / a Pyk / than a Pykerel And bet than old boef / is the tendre vel Line 1420 I wol no womman / xxx^ti. yeer of age It is but bene straw / and greet forage And eek thise olde widwes / god it woot They konne so muche craft on Wades boot Line 1424 So muchel broken harm / whan hem leste That with hem / sholde I neuere lyue in reste ffor sondry scoles / maketh subtile clerkis Womman of many scoles / half a clerk is Line 1428 But certeinly / a yong thyng may men gye Right as men may warm wex / with handes plye Wherfore / I sey yow pleynly in a clause I wol noon old wyf han / right for this cause Line 1432 ffor if so were / I hadde swich meschaunce That I in hire / ne koude han no plesaunce Thanne sholde I lede my lyf / in avoutrye And go streight to the deuel / whan I dye Line 1436 Ne children sholde I none / vp on hir geten Yet were me leuere / houndes hadde me eten Than that myn heritage sholde falle In straunge hand / and this I telle yow alle Line 1440 [ [folio 140b] I d]ote nat/ I woot the cause why Men sholde wedde / and ferther moore woot I Ther speketh many a man of mariage That woot namoore of it/ than woot my page Line 1444 ffor whiche causes / man sholde take a wyf If he ne may nat lyue / chast his lyf Take hym a wyf/ with greet deuocion By cause / of leueful procreacion Line 1448 Of children / to thonour of god aboue And nat oonly / for paramour or loue And for they sholde / lecherye eschue And yelde hir dette / whan þat it is due Line 1452

[6-text p 449] Line 1452 Or for þat ech of hem / sholde helpen oother In meschief as a Suster shal the brother And lyue in chastitee / ful holily But sires by youre leue / that am nat I Line 1456 ffor god be thanked / I dar make auant I feele my lymes / stark and suffisant To do / al that a man bilongeth to I woot my self best what I may do Line 1460 ¶ Thogh I be hoor / I fare as dooth a tree That blosmeth / er the fruyt ywoxen be And blosmy tree / nys neither drye ne deed I feele me nowher hoor / but on myn heed Line 1464 Myn herte / and alle my lymes / been as grene As laurer thurgh the yeer is for to sene And syn þat ye han herd / al myn entente I pray yow / to my conseil ye wol assente Line 1468 ¶ Dyuerse men / diuersely hym tolde Of mariage / manye ensamples olde Somme blamed it somme preised it certeyn But at the laste / shortly for to seyn Line 1472 As alday / falleth altercacion Bitwixe freendes / in disputison Ther fil a stryf bitwix his bretheren two Of whiche / that oon was clepid Placebo Line 1476 Iustinus soothly / called was that oother ¶ Placebo seyde / o Ianuarie brother fful litel nede / hadde ye my lord so deere Conseil to axe / of any that is heere Line 1480 But þat ye been / so ful of Sapience [folio 141a] That yow ne liketh / for youre heigh prudence To weyuen / fro the word of Salomon This word seyde he / vn to vs euerichon Line 1484 Werk alle thyng by conseil / thus seyde he And thanne shaltow nat repenten thee But thogh þat Salamon / spak swich a word Myn owene deere brother / and my lord Line 1488

[6-text p 450] Line 1488 So wisly / god my soule brynge at reste I holde / your owene conseil is the beste ffor brother myn / of me tak this motyf I haue now been / a Court man al my lyf Line 1492 And god it woot thogh I vnworthy be I haue stonden / in ful greet degree Abouten lordes / in ful greet estat Yet hadde I neuere / with noon of hem debat Line 1496 I neuere hem contraryed / trewely I woot wel / þat my lord kan moore than I What that he seith / I holde it ferm and stable I seye the same / or ellis thyng semblable Line 1500 A ful greet fool / is any conseillour That serueth any lord / of heigh honour That dar presume / or ellis thenken it That his conseil / sholde passe his lordes wit Line 1504 Nay / lordes be no fooles by my fay Ye han your seluen / shewed heer to day So heigh sentence / so holily and weel That I consente / and conferme euery deel Line 1508 Youre wordes alle / and youre opynyoun By god / ther nys no man in al this toun Ne in Ytaille / koude bet han ysayd Crist halt hym of this conseil / ful wel apayd Line 1512 And trewely / it is an heigh corage Of any man / that stapen is an age To take a yong wyf / by my fader kyn Youre herte hangeth / on a iolyf pyn Line 1516 Dooth now in this matere / right as yow leste ffor fynally / I holde it for the beste ¶ Iustinus / that ay stille sat and herde Right in this wise / he to Placebo answerde Line 1520 [No [folio 141b] ]w brother myn / be pacient I preye [S]yn ye han seyd / and herkneth what I seye Senec amonges othere wordes wise Seith / þat a man / oghte hym right wel auyse Line 1524

[6-text p 451] Line 1524 To whom / he yeueth his lond / or his catel And syn I oghte / auysen me right wel To whom I yeeue my good / away fro me Wel muchel moore / I oghte auysed be Line 1528 To whom I yeeue my body / for alwey I warne yow wel / it is no childes pley To taken a wyf withouten auysement Men moste enquere / this is myn assent Line 1532 Wher she be wys and sobre / or dronkelewe Or proud/ or ellis oother weys a shrewe A chidester / or wastour of thy good Or riche / or poure / or ellis mannyssh wood Line 1536 Al be it so / þat no man fynden shal Noon in this world / that trotteth hool in al Ne man ne beest swich as men koude deuyse But nathelees / it oghte ynogh suffise Line 1540 With any wyf if so were þat she hadde Mo goode thewes / than hir vices badde And al this axeth leyser / for tenquere ffor god it woot I haue wept many a teere Line 1544 fful pryuely / syn þat I hadde a wyf Preyse who so wole / a wedded mannes lyf Certeyn I fynde in it but cost and care And obseruances / of alle blisses bare Line 1548 And yet god woot my neghebores aboute And namely / of wommen many a route Seyn þat I haue / the mooste stedefast wyf And eek the mekeste / that bereth lyf Line 1552 But I woot best where wryngeth me my sho Ye mowe for me / right as yow liketh do Auyseth yow / ye been a man of age How þat ye entren / in to mariage Line 1556 And namely / with a yong wyf and a feir By him þat made water / erthe and Eir The yongest man / þat is in al this route Is bisy ynow / to bryngen it aboute Line 1560

[6-text p 452] Line 1560 To han his wyf allone / trusteth me [folio 142a] Ye shul nat plesen hire / fully yeres thre This is to seyn / to doon hire ful plesance A wyf axeth / ful many an obseruance Line 1564 I pray yow / þat ye be nat yuele apayd ¶ Wel quod this Ianuarie / and hastow y-sayd Straw for thy Senec and for thy prouerbes I counte nat/ a panyer ful of herbes Line 1568 Of Scole termes / wiser man than thow As thow hast herd / assenteden right now To my purpos / Placebo what sey ye ¶ I seye / it is a cursed man quod he Line 1572 That letteth matrymoigne sikerly And with that word / they risen sodeynly And been assented fully / that he sholde Be wedded whan hym liste / and wher he wolde Line 1576 ¶ Heigh fantasie / and curious bisynesse ffro day to day / gan in the soule impresse Of Ianuarie / aboute his mariage Many fair shape / and many a fair visage Line 1580 Ther passeth thurgh his herte / nyght by nyght As who so tooke a Mirour / polisshed bright And sette it in a commune Market place Thanne sholde he se / ful many a figure pace Line 1584 By his Mirour / and in the same wise Gan Ianuarie / in with his thoght deuyse Of maydens / whiche þat dwelten hym bisyde He wiste nat wher þat he myghte abyde Line 1588 ffor if þat oon / haue beautee in hir face Another stant so / in the peples grace ffor hir sadnesse / and hir benygnytee That of the peple / grettest voys hath she Line 1592 And somme were riche / and hadden badde name But nathelees / bitwene ernest and game He atte laste / apoynted hym on oon And leet alle othere / from his herte goon Line 1596

[6-text p 453] Line 1596 And chees hire / of his owene auctoritee ffor loue is blynd alday / and may nat see And whan that he / was in his bed ybroght He purtreyde / in his herte / and in his thoght Line 1600 [Hir [folio 142b] ] fresshe beautee / and hir age tendre [H]ir myddel smal / hir armes longe and sklendre Hir wise gouernance / hir gentilesse Hir wommanly beryng and hir sadnesse Line 1604 And whan þat he on hire / was condescended Hym thoughte / his choys myghte nat ben amended ffor whan þat he hym self/ concluded hadde Hym thoughte / ech oother mannes wit was badde Line 1608 That impossible / it weere to replye Agayn his choys / this was his fantasie ¶ His freendes sente he to / at his instance And preyde hem / to doon hym that plesance Line 1612 That hastily / they wolden to hym come He wolde abregge hir labour alle and some Nedeth namoore / for hym to go ne ryde He was apointed / ther he wolde abyde Line 1616 ¶ Placebo cam / and eek his freendes soone And alderfirst he bad hem alle a boone That noon of hem / none argumentes make Agayn the purpos / which þat he hath take Line 1620 Which purpos / was plesant to god seyde he And verray ground / of his prosperitee ¶ He seyde / ther was a mayden in the toun Which þat of beautee / hadde greet renoun Line 1624 Al were it so / she were of smal degree Suffiseth hym / hir youthe and hir beautee Which mayde he seyde / he wolde han to his wyf To lede in ese / and holynesse his lyf Line 1628 And thanked god / þat he myghte han hire al That no wight his blisse parten shal And preyde hem / to labouren in this nede And shapen / þat he faille nat to spede Line 1632

[6-text p 454] Line 1632 ffor thanne he seyde / his Spirit was at ese Thanne is quod he / no thyng may me displese Saue o thyng priketh in my conscience The which I wol reherce in youre presence Line 1636 ¶ I haue quod he herd seyd / ful yoore ago Ther may no man / han parfite blisses two This is to seye / in erthe and eek in heuene ffor thogh he kepe hym / fro the synnes seuene Line 1640 And eek from euery branche / of thilke tree [folio 143a] Yet is ther / so parfit felicitee And so greet ese / and lust in mariage That euere I am agast now in myn age Line 1644 That I shal lede now / so murye a lyf So delicat with outen wo and stryf That I shal han myn heuene / in erthe heere ffor sith þat verray heuene / is boght so deere Line 1648 With tribulacions / and greet penance How sholde I thanne / that lyue in swich plesance As alle wedded men / doon with hir wyuys Come to the blisse / that Crist eterne on lyue is Line 1652 This is my drede / and ye my bretheren tweye Assoileth me / this question I preye ¶ Iustinus which þat hated his folye Answerde anon / right in his iaperye Line 1656 And for he wolde / his longe tale abregge He wolde / noon auctoritee allegge But seide sire / so ther be noon obstacle Oother than this / god of his hye myracle Line 1660 And of his mercy / may so for yow werche That er ye haue / your right of holy cherche Ye may repente / of wedded mannes lyf In which ye seyn / ther is no wo ne stryf Line 1664 And ellis god forbede / but he sente A wedded man / hym grace to repente Wel ofte / rather than a sengle man And ther fore sire / the beste reed I kan Line 1668

[6-text p 455] Line 1668 Dispeire yow noght but haue in youre memorie Paraunter / she may be youre purgatorie She may be goddes mene / and goddes whippe Thanne shal your soule / vp to heuene skippe Line 1672 Swifter / than dooth an arwe / out of a bowe I hope to god / heer after ye shul knowe That ther nys / noon so greet felicitee In mariage / ne neuere mo shal be Line 1676 That yow shal lette / of youre saluacion So that ye vse / as skile is and reson The lustes of youre wyf / attemprely And þat / ye plese hire / nat to amorously Line 1680 [An [folio 143b] ]d that ye kepe yow eek / from oother synne My tale is doon / for my wit is thynne Beth nat agast her-of / my brother deere But lat vs waden / out of this matere Line 1684 The wyf of Bathe / if ye han vnderstonde Of mariage / which we han on honde Declared hath ful wel / in litel space ffareth now wel / god haue yow in his grace Line 1688 ¶ And with that word / this lustyn and his brother Han take hir leue / and ech of hem of oother ffor whan they sawe / þat it moste nedes be They wroghten so / by sly / and wys tretee Line 1692 That she this mayden / which that Mayus highte As hastily / as euer þat she myghte Shal wedded be / vn to this Ianuarie ¶ I trowe / it were to longe yow to tarye Line 1696 If I yow tolde / of euery scrit and bond By which / þat she was feffed / in his lond Or for to herknen / of hir riche array But finally / ycomen is that day Line 1700 That to the chirche / bothe be they went ffor to receyue / the holy sacrament ¶ fforth comth the preest with stoole aboute his nekke And bad hire be lyk / Sarra and Rebekke Line 1704

[6-text p 456] Line 1704 In wisdom / and in trouthe of mariage And seyde his orisons / as is vsage And croucheth hem / and bad / god sholde hem blesse And made al siker ynow / with holynesse Line 1708 ¶ Thus been they wedded / with solempnitee And at the laste / sitteth he and she With oother worthy folk / vp on the deys Al ful of ioye and blisse / is the paleys Line 1712 And ful of Instrumentz / and of vitaille The mooste deynteuous / of al Ytaille Bi-forn hem stoode swiche Instrumentz of swich soun That Orpheus / nof Thebes Amphioun Line 1716 Ne maden neuere / swich a melodye At euery cours / thanne cam loud mynstralcye That neuere tromped / Ioab / for to heere Ne he Theodomas / yet half so cleere Line 1720 At Thebes / whan the Citee was in doute [folio 144a] Bacus / the wyn hem shenketh al aboute And Venus laugheth / vp on euery wight ffor Ianuarie / was bicome hir knyght Line 1724 And wolde / bothe assayen his corage In libertee / and eek in mariage And with hir firbrond / in hir hand aboute Daunceth bifore the bryde / and al the route Line 1728 And certeinly / I dar right wel seye this Ymeneus / that god of weddyng is Say neuere his lyf / so murye a wedded man Hoold thow thy pees / thou Poete Marcian Line 1732 That writest vs / that ilke weddyng murye Of hire Philologie / and he Mercurie And of the songes / that the Muses songe To smal / is bothe thy penne / and eek thy tonge Line 1736 ffor to discryuen / of this mariage Whan tendre youthe / hath wedded stoupyng age Ther is swich murthe / that it may nat be writen Assayeth it your self/ than may ye witen Line 1740

[6-text p 457] Line 1740 If that I lye or noon / in this matere ¶ Mayus that sit with so benygne a cheere Hir to biholde / it semed ffairye Queene Ester / looked neuere with swich an eye Line 1744 On Assuer / so meke a look hath she I may yow nat deuyse / al hir beautee But thus muche / of hir beautee / telle I may That she was lyk the brighte morwe of May Line 1748 ffulfild / of alle beautee and plesaunce ¶ This Ianuarie / is rauysshed in a traunce At euery tyme / he looked on hir face But in his herte / he gan hir to manace Line 1752 That he that nyght in armes wolde hir streyne Harder than euere / Parys dide Eleyne But nathelees / yet hadde he gret pitee That thilke nyght offenden hire moste he Line 1756 And thoghte allas / o tendre creature Now wolde god / ye myghte wel endure Al my corage / it is so sharpe and kene :I am agast ye shul it nat sustene Line 1760 [ffor [folio 144b] ] god forbede / that I dide al my myght Now wolde god / that it were woxen nyght And þat the nyght wolde laste euere mo I wolde / that al this peple were ago Line 1764 And fynally / he dooth al his labour As he best myghte / sauyng his honour To haste hem fro the mete / in subtil wise The tyme cam / þat reson was to rise Line 1768 And after that men daunce / and drynken faste And Spices / al aboute the hous they caste And ful of ioye and blisse / is euery man Al but a Squyer / highte Damyan Line 1772 Which carf biforn the knyght ful many a day He was so rauysshed / on his lady May That for the verray peyne / he was ny wood Almoost he swelte / and swowned as he stood Line 1776

[6-text p 458] Line 1776 So sore hath Venus / hurt hym with hir brond As that she baar it dauncyng in hir hond And to his bed / he wente hym hastily Namoore of hym / at this tyme speke .I Line 1780 But ther I lete hym / wepe ynow and pleyne Til fresshe May / wol rewen on his peyne ¶ O. perilous fyr / that in the bed straw bredeth O. famulier foo / that his seruice bedeth Line 1784 O. seruant traytour / false homly hewe Lyk to the Neddre in bosom / sly vntrewe God shilde vs alle / from youre aqueyntance O Ianuarie / dronken in plesance Line 1788 In mariage / se how thy Damyan Thyn owene Squyer / and thy born man Entendeth / for to do thee vileynye God grante thee / thyn homly fo espye Line 1792 ffor in this world / nys worse pestilence Than homly fo / alday in thy presence ¶ Parfourned hath the sonne / his Ark diurne No lenger / may the body of hym soiurne Line 1796 On thorisonte / as in that latitude Night with his mantel / that is derk and rude Gan ouersprede / Themysperies aboute ffor which / departed is / this lusty route Line 1800 ffor Ianuarie / with thank on euery syde [folio 145a] Hom to hir houses / lustily they ryde Wher as they doon hir thynges / as hem leste And whan they say hir tyme / go to reste Line 1804 ¶ Soone after þat this hasty Ianuarie Wol go to bedde / he wol no lenger tarie He drynketh Ypocras / Clarree and Vernage Of Spices hoote / tencressen his corage Line 1808 And many a letuarie / hadde he ful fyn Swich as the cursed Monk/ daun Constantyn Hath writen / in his book De coitu To eten hem alle / he nas no thyng eschu Line 1812

[6-text p 459] Line 1812 And to his pryuee freendes / thus seyde he ffor goddes loue / as soone as it may be Lat voyden al this hous / in curteis wise And they han doon / right as he wol deuyse Line 1816 Men drynken / and the trauers drawe anon The bryde was broght a bedde / as stille as stoon And whan the bed / was with the preest yblessed Out of the chambre / hath euery wight hym dressed Line 1820 And Ianuarie / hath faste in armes take His fresshe May / his Paradys / his make He lulleth hire / he kisseth hire / ful ofte With thilke bristles / of his berd vnsofte Line 1824 Lyk to the Skyn of houndfyssh / sharpe as brere ffor he was shaue al newe / in his manere He rubbeth hire / aboute hir tendre face And seyde thus / allas I moot trespace Line 1828 To yow my Spouse / and yow gretly offende Er tyme come / þat I wol doun descende But natheles / considereth this quod he Ther nys no werkman / what so euere he be Line 1832 That may bothe / werke wel and hastily This wol be doon / at leyser parfitly It is no fors / how longe þat we pleye In trewe wedlok coupled be we tweye Line 1836 And blessed be the yok / þat we been Inne ffor in [oure] actes / we mow do no synne A man / may do no synne with his wyf Ne hurte hym seluen / with his owene knyf/ Line 1840 [ffor [folio 145b] ] we han leue / to pleye vs by the lawe [T]hus laboureth he / til that the day gan dawe And thanne / he taketh a sope in fyn Clarree And vp right in his bed / thanne sitteth he Line 1844 And after that he song ful loude and clere And kiste his wyf / and made wantown cheere He was al coltyssh / ful of ragerye And ful of Iargon / as a flekked pye Line 1848

[6-text p 460] Line 1848 The slakke skyn / aboute his nekke shaketh Whil þat he song/ so chaunteth he and craketh But god woot what þat may thoghte in hir herte Whan she hym saw / vp sittyng in his sherte Line 1852 In his nyght cappe / and with his nekke lene She preiseth nat his pleyyng worth a bene Thanne seyde he thus / my reste wol I take Now day is come / I may no lenger wake Line 1856 And doun he leyde his heed / and sleepe til pryme And afterward / whan þat he saw his tyme Vp riseth Ianuarie / but fresshe May Heeld hir chambre / vn to the fourthe day Line 1860 As vsage is of wyues / for the beste ffor euery labour / som tyme moot han reste Or ellis / longe may he nat endure This is to seyn / no lyues creature Line 1864 Be it fissh / or bryd / or beest or man Now wol I speke / of woful damyan That langwissheth for loue / as ye shul heere Ther fore / I speke to hym / in this manere Line 1868 ¶ I seye / o sely Damyan allas Answere to my demaunde / as in this cas How shaltow / to thy lady fresshe May Telle thy wo / she wol alwey sey nay Line 1872 Eek if thow speke / she wol thy wo biwreye God be thyn helpe / I kan no bettre seye This syke damyan / in Venus fyr So brenneth / that he dyeth for desyr ffor which / he putte his lyf in auenture No lenger myghte he / in this wise endure But priuely / a penner gan he borwe And in a lettre / wroot he al his sorwe Line 1880 In manere of a compleynt or a lay [folio 146a] Vn to his faire / fresshe lady May And in a purs of sylk heng on his sherte He hath it put and leyd it at his herte Line 1884

[6-text p 461] Line 1884 ¶ The moone þat at Noon / was thilke day That Ianuarie / hath wedded fresshe May In two of Taur / was in to Cancre gliden So longe hath Mayus / in hir chambre abyden Line 1888 As custume is / vn to thise nobles alle A bryde / shal nat eten in the halle Til dayes foure / or thre dayes atte leeste Ypassed ben / thanne lat hir go to feste Line 1892 ¶ The fourthe day complet fro noon to noon Whan þat the heighe masse / was y-doon In halle / sit this Ianuarie and May As fressh / as in the brighte Someres day Line 1896 And so bifel / how that this goode man Remembred hym / vp on this Damyan And seyde / Seynte Marie how may it be That Damyan / entendeth nat to me Line 1900 Is he ay syk / or how may this bityde ¶ Hys Squyers / whiche þat stooden ther bisyde Excused hym / by cause of his siknesse Which letted hym / to doon his bisynesse Line 1904 Noon oother cause / myghte make hym tarye ¶ That me forthynketh / quod this Ianuarye He is a gentil Squyer / by my trouthe If þat he deyde / it were harm and routhe Line 1908 He is as wys / discret and eek secree As any man / I woot of his degree And ther-to manly / and eek seruysable And for to be a thrifty man / right able Line 1912 But after mete / as soone as euere I may I wol my self visite hym / and eek May To do hym / al the confort þat I kan And for that word / hym blessed euery man Line 1916 That of his bountee / and his gentilesse He wolde so / conforten in siknesse His Squyer / for it was a gentil dede ¶ Dame quod this Ianuarie / tak good hede Line 1920

[6-text p 462] Line 1920 [At af [folio 146b] ]ter mete / ye with youre wommen alle [Wh]an ye han ben in chambre / out of this halle [T]hat alle ye go / to this Damyan Dooth hym disport he is a gentil man Line 1924 And telleth hym / þat I wol hym visite Haue I no thyng but rested me a lite And spede yow faste / for I wol abide Til that ye slepe / faste by my syde Line 1928 And with that word / he gan to hym to calle A Squier / that was Marchal of his halle And tolde hym certein thynges / what he wolde ¶ This fresshe May / hath streight hir wey yholde Line 1932 With alle hir wommen / vn to Damyan Doun by his beddes syde / sit she than Confortyng hym / as goodly as she may ¶ This Damyan / whan þat his tyme he say Line 1936 In secree wise / his purs and eek his bille In which / þat he ywriten hadde his wille Hath put in to hir hand / with oute moore Saue þat he siketh / wonder depe and soore Line 1940 And softely to hire / right thus seyde he Mercy / and þat ye nat discouere me ffor I am deed / if þat this thyng be kyd This purs hath she / in with hir bosom hyd Line 1944 And wente hir wey / ye gete namoore of me But vn to Ianuarie / ycomen is she That on his beddes syde / sit ful softe And taketh hire / and kisseth hire ful ofte Line 1948 And leyde hym doun to slepe / and that anon She feyned hire / as þat she moste gon Ther as ye woot that euery wight moot nede And whan she of this bille / hath taken hede Line 1952 She rente it al to cloutes / at the laste And in the pryuee / softely it caste ¶ Who studieth now / but faire fresshe May Adoun / by olde Ianuarie she lay Line 1956

[6-text p 463] Line 1956 That sleepe / til þat the coghe hath hym awaked Anon he preyde / strepen hire al naked He wolde of hire he seyde / han som plesance He seyde / hir clothes / dide hym encombrance Line 1960 And she obeyeth / be hir lief or looth [folio 147a] But lest þat precious folk / be with me wrooth How þat he wroghte / I dar nat to yow telle Or wheithir / it thoughte Paradys / or helle Line 1964 But heere I lete hem werken / in hir wise Til euensong rong and þat they moste arise Were it by destynee / or by auenture Were it by Influence / or by nature Line 1968 Or constellacion / that in swich estat The heuene stood / that tyme fortunat As for to putte a bille / of Venus werkes ffor alle thyng hath tyme / as seyn thise clerkes Line 1972 To any womman / for to gete hir loue I kan nat seye / but grete god aboue That knoweth / þat noon Act is causelees He deme of al / for I wol holde my pees Line 1976 ¶ But sooth is this / how þat this fresshe May Hath taken / swich impression that day Of pitee / on this syke Damyan That from hir herte / she ne dryue kan Line 1980 The remembrance / for to doon hym ese Certeyn thoghte she / whom þat this thyng displese I rekke nat for here I hym assure To loue hym best of any creature Line 1984 Thogh he namoore hadde / than his sherte Loo / pitee renneth soone / in gentil herte ¶ Heere may ye se / how excellent franchise In wommen is / whan they hem narwe auyse Line 1988 Som tirant is / as ther be many oon That hath an herte / as hard as is a stoon Which wolde / han leten steruen / in the place Wel rather / than han graunted hym hir grace Line 1992

[6-text p 464] Line 1992 And hem reioysen / in hir cruel pryde And rekke nat to been an homycide ¶ This gentil May / fulfilled of pitee Right of hir hand / a lettre maked she Line 1996 In which she graunteth hym / hir verray grace Ther lakketh noght oonly / but day and place Wher that she myghte / vn to his lust suffise ffor it shal be / right as he wol deuyse Line 2000 [And] whan she saw hir tyme / vp on a day [folio 147b] [To] visite this Damyan / goth May And subtilly / this lettre doun she threste Vnder his pilwe / rede it if hym leste Line 2004 She taketh hym by the hand / and harde hym twiste So secrely / that no wight of it wiste And bad hym be al hool / and forth she wente To Ianuarie / whan þat he for hir sente Line 2008 ¶ Vp riseth Damyan / the nexte morwe Al passed was / his siknesse and his sorwe He kembeth hym / he prayneth hym and pyketh He dooth / al that his lady lust and lyketh Line 2012 And eek to Ianuarie / he goth as lowe As euer dide / a dogge for the bowe He is so plesant vn to euery man ffor craft is al / who so þat do it kan Line 2016 That euery wight is fayn to speke hym good And fully / in his ladyes grace he stood Thus lete I Damyan / aboute his nede And in my tale / forth I wol procede Line 2020 ¶ Somme clerkes / holden þat felicitee Stant in delit and therfore certeyn he This noble Ianuarie / with al his myght In honeste wise / as longeth to a knyght Line 2024 Shoope hym to lyue / ful deliciously His housyng his array / as honestly To his degree / was maked / as a kynges Amonges othere / of his honeste thynges Line 2028

[6-text p 465] Line 2028 He made a gardyn / walled al with stoon So fair a gardyn / woot I nowher noon ffor out of doute / I verraily suppose That he / þat wroot the Romance of the Rose Line 2032 Ne koude of it the beautee wel deuyse Ne Priapus / ne myghte nat suffise Thogh he be god of gardyns / for to telle The beautee / of the gardyn and the welle Line 2036 That stood vnder a laurer / alwey grene fful ofte tyme / he Pluto and his queene Proserpina / and al hir ffairye Disporten hem / and maken melodye Line 2040 Aboute that welle / and daunced as men tolde [folio 148a] This noble knyght this Ianuarie the olde Swich deyntee hath / in it to walke and pleye That he wol no wight suffre bere the keye Line 2044 Saue he hym self for of the smal wyket He bar alwey / of siluer a Clyket With which / whan þat hym leste / he it vnshette And whan he wolde / paye his wyf hir dette Line 2048 In somer seson / thider wolde he go And May his wyf/ and no wight but they two And thynges / whiche þat were nat doon abedde He in the gardyn / parfourned hem and spedde Line 2052 And in this wise / many a murye day Lyued this Ianuarie / and fresshe May But worldly ioye / may nat alwey dure To Ianuarie / ne to no creature Line 2056 ¶ O. sodeyn hape / o. thow ffortune vnstable Lyk to the Scorpion / so deceyuable That flaterest with thyn heed / whan thow wolt stynge Thy tayl is deeth / thurgh thyn enuenymynge Line 2060 O. brotil ioye / o. swete venym queynte O. Monstre / that so subtilly kanst peynte Thy yiftes / vnder hewe of stedefastnesse That thow deceyuest bothe moore and lesse Line 2064

[6-text p 466] Line 2064 Why hastow Ianuarie / thus deceyued That haddest hym / for thy fulle freend receyued And now thow hast biraft hym / bothe his eyen ffor sorwe of which / desireth he to dyen Line 2068 Allas / this noble Ianuarie free Amydde his lust and his prosperitee Is woxen blynd / and that al sodeynly He wepeth / and he waileth pitously Line 2072 And ther with al / the fyr of Ialousye Lest that his wyf/ sholde falle in som folye So brente his herte / þat he wolde fayn That som man / bothe hire and hym had slayn Line 2076 ffor neither after his deeth / ne in his lyf Ne wolde he / þat she were loue ne wyf But euere lyue as wydwe / in clothes blake Soul as the turtle / that lost hath hir make Line 2080 [Bu]t atte laste / after a Monthe or tweye [folio 148b] [H]is sorwe gan aswage / sooth to seye ffor whan he wiste / it may noon oother be He paciently / took his aduersitee Line 2084 Saue out of doute / he may nat forgoon That he nas Ialous / euere moore in oon Which Ialousye / it was so outrageous That neither in halle / ne in noon oother hous Line 2088 Ne in noon oother place / neuer the mo He nolde suffre hire / for to ryde or go But if þat he / hadde hond on hir alway ffor which ful ofte / wepeth fresshe May Line 2092 That loueth Damyan / so benygnely That she moot outher dyen sodeynly Or ellis / she moot han hym as hir leste She wayteth / whan hir herte wolde breste Line 2096 ¶ Vp on that oother syde / Damyan Bicomen is / the sorwefulleste man That euere was / for neither nyght ne day Ne myghte he speke a word to fresshe May Line 2100

[6-text p 467] Line 2100 As to his purpos / of no swich matere But if þat Ianuarie / moste it heere That hadde an hand / vp on hire euere mo But nathelees / by writyng to and fro Line 2104 And pryuee signes / wiste he what she mente And she knew eek / the fyn of his entente ¶ O· Ianuaire / what myghte it thee auaille Thow myghtest se / as fer as Shippes saille Line 2108 ffor as good / is blynd deceyued be As to be deceyued / whan a man may se Lo Argus / which þat hadde an hundred eyen ffor al that euere / he koude poure or pryen Line 2112 Yet was he blent and god woot so been mo That weneth wisly / that it be nat so Passe ouer is an ese / and sey namoore ¶ This fresshe May / that I spak of so yoore Line 2116 In warm wex / hath printed the Clyket That Ianuarie bar / of that smale wyket By which / in to his gardyn / ofte he wente And Damyan / that knew al his entente Line 2120 The Clyket countrefeted pryuely [folio 149a] Ther nys namoore to seye / but hastily Som wonder / by this Cliket shal bityde Which ye shal heren / if ye wol abyde Line 2124 ¶ O noble Ouyde / wel sooth seistow god woot What sleighte is it/ thogh it be long and hoot That he nel fynde it out in som manere By Pyramus and Thesbe / may men lere Line 2128 Thogh they were kept ful longe / streyte ouer al They been acorded / rownyng thurgh a wal Ther no wight koude / han founde out swich a sleighte But now to purpos / er that dayes eighte Line 2132 Were passed / er the Monthe of Iuyl bifille That Ianuarie / hath caught so greet a wille Thurgh eggyng of his wyf/ hym for to pleye In his gardyn / and no wight but they tweye Line 2136

[6-text p 468] Line 2136 That in a morwe / vn to his May seith he Rys vp my wyf/ my loue / my lady free The Turtles voys is herd / my dowue swete The wynter is goon / with reynes wete Line 2140 Com forth now / with thyne eyen Columbyn How fairer been thy brestes / than is wyn The gardyn / is enclosed al aboute Com forth my white spouse / out of doute Line 2144 Thow hast me wounded in myn herte / O wyf No spot of thee / ne knew I al my lyf Com forth / and lat vs taken oure desport I chees thee / for my wyf/ and my confort Line 2148 ¶ Swiche olde lewed wordes / vsed he On Damyan / a signe made she That he sholde go biforn / with his Clyket This Damyan thanne / hath opned the wyket Line 2152 And in he stirte / and that in swich manere That no wight myghte it se / neither yheere And stille he sit / vnder a bussh anon ¶ This Ianuarie / as blynd as is a stoon Line 2156 With Mayus in his hand / and no wight mo In to his fresshe gardyn / is ago And clapte to / the wyket sodeynly Now wyf quod he / here nys but thow and .I. Line 2160 [Th [folio 149b] ]at art the creature / that I best loue ffor by that lord / that sit in heuene aboue Leuere ich hadde / to dyen on a knyf Than thee offende / trewe deere wyf Line 2164 ffor goddes sake / thenk how I thee chees Noght for no coueitise doutelees But oonly / for the loue I hadde to thee And thogh þat I be old / and may nat see Line 2168 Beth to me trewe / and I wol telle yow why Thre thynges certes / shal ye wynne ther by ¶ ffirst loue of Crist and to your self honour And al myn heritage / toun and tour Line 2172

[6-text p 469] Line 2172 I yeue it yow / maketh chartres as ye leste This shal be doon to morwe / er sonne reste So wisly / god my soule / brynge in blisse I pray yow first in couenant ye me kisse Line 2176 And thogh þat I be Ialous / wyt me noght Ye been so depe / emprinted in my thoght That whan þat I / considere youre beautee And ther with al / the vnlikly elde of me Line 2180 I may noght certes / thogh I sholde dye fforbere / to been out of youre compaignye ffor verray loue / this is with outen doute Now kys me wyf and lat vs rome aboute Line 2184 ¶ This fresshe May / whan she thise wordes herde Benygnely / to Ianuarie answerde But first and forward / she bigan to wepe I haue quod she / a soule for to kepe Line 2188 As wel as ye / and also myn honour And of my wifhod / thilke tendre flour Which þat I haue / assured in youre hond Whan þat the preest to yow my body bond Line 2192 Wher fore / I wol answere in this manere By the leue of yow / my lord so deere I pray to god / þat neuere dawe the day That I ne sterue / as foule as womman may Line 2196 If euere I do / vn to my kyn that shame Or ellis / I empeyre so my name That I be fals / and if I do that lakke Do strepe me / and put me in a sakke Line 2200 And in the nexte Ryuer / do me drenche [folio 150a] I am a gentil womman / and no wenche Why speke ye thus / but men been euere vntrewe And wommen haue reproue / of yow ay newe Line 2204 Ye han / noon oother contenance I leue But speke to vs / of vntrust and repreue ¶ And with that word / she saw wher Damyan Sat in the bussh / and coghen she bigan Line 2208

[6-text p 470] Line 2208 And with hir fynger / signes made she That Damyan / sholde clymbe vp on a tree That charged was with fruyt and vp he wente ffor verraily / he knew al hir entente Line 2212 And euery signe / þat she koude make Wel bet than Ianuarie / hir owene make ffor in a lettre / she hadde told hym al Of this matere / how he werken shal Line 2216 And thus I lete hym sitte / vp on the purye And Ianuarie and May / romynge murye ¶ Bright was the day / and blew the firmament Phebus hath of gold / his stremys doun ysent Line 2220 To gladen euery flour / with his warmnesse He was that tyme / in Geminis as I gesse But litil / fro his declynacion Of Cancer / Iouis exaltacion Line 2224 And so bifel / that brighte morwe tyde That in that gardyn / in the ferther syde Pluto / that is the kyng of ffairye And many a lady / in his compaignye Line 2228 ffolwynge his wyf / the queene Proserpyne ²Whos answere hath doon many a man pyne² ¶ Whil that she gadrede / floures in the mede In Claudyan / ye may the stories rede Line 2232 How in his grysly Carte / he hir sette This kyng of ffairye / thanne adown hym sette Vp on a bench of turues / fressh and grene And right anon / thus seyde he to his queene Line 2236 ¶ My wyf quod he / ther may no wight sey nay Thexperience / so proueth euery day The treson / which þat womman dooth to man Ten hundred thousand / tellen I kan Line 2240 [N]otable / of youre vntrouthe and brotelnesse [folio 150b] O Salomon wys / and richest of richesse ffulfild of Sapience / and of worldly glorie fful worthy been thy wordes / to memorie Line 2244

[6-text p 471] Line 2244 To euery wight that wit and reson kan Thus preyseth he yet the bontee of man ¶ Amonges a thousand men / yet foond I oon But of wommen alle / foond I noon Line 2248 ¶ Thus seith the kyng þat knoweth youre wikkednesse And Ihesus filius Syrak as I gesse Ne speketh of yow / but selde reuerence A wilde fyr / and corrupt pestilence Line 2252 So falle vp on youre bodyes / yet to nyght Ne se ye noght this honurable knyght By cause allas / þat he is blynd and old His owene man / shal make hym Cokewold Line 2256 Lo where he sit the lechour in the tree Now wol I graunten / of my magestee Vn to this olde / blynde worthy knyght That he shal haue ayein / his eyen syght Line 2260 Whan þat his wyf wolde doon hym vileynye Thanne shal he knowen / al hir harlotrye Bothe in repreue of hire / and othere mo ¶ Ye shal quod Proserpyne / wol ye so Line 2264 Now by my modres sires soule / I swere That I shal yeuen hire / suffisant answere And alle wommen after / for hir sake That thogh they be / in any gilt ytake Line 2268 With face bold / they shul hem self excuse And bere hem doun / that wolde hem accuse ffor lakke of answere / noon of hem shal dyen Al hadde man seyn a thyng with bothe his eyen Line 2272 Yet shal we wommen / visagen it hardily And wepe and swere / and chide subtilly So that ye men / shul been as lewed as gees What rekketh me / of youre auctoritees Line 2276 ¶ I woot wel / þat this Iew / this Salomon ffand of vs wommen / folyes many oon But thogh þat he / ne fand no good womman Yet hath ther founde / many another man Line 2280

[6-text p 472] Line 2280 Wommen ful trewe / ful goode and vertuous [folio 151a] Witnesse on hem / that dwelle in Cristes hous With martirdom / they proued hir constaunce The Romayn geestes / eek maken remembraunce Line 2284 Of many a verray / trewe wyf also But sire ne be nat wrooth / al be it so Thogh þat he seyde / he foond no good womman I pray yow / taak the sentence of the man Line 2288 He mente thus / þat in souerayn bontee Nys noon but god / but neither he ne she ¶ Ey for verray god / that nys but oon What make ye / so muche of Salomon Line 2292 What thogh / he made a temple goddes hous What thogh he were riche and glorious So made he eek/ a temple / of false goddys How myghte he do a thyng þat moore forbode is Line 2296 Pardee / as faire / as ye his name emplastre He was a lechour / and an ydolastre And in his elde / he verray god forsook And if god ne hadde / as seith the book Line 2300 Yspared hym / for his fadres sake / he sholde Haue lost his regne / rather than he wolde I sette right noght of al the vileynye That ye of wommen write / a Boterflye Line 2304 I am a womman / nedes moot I speke Or ellis swelle / til myn herte breke ffor sithen he seyde / þat we been Iangleresses As euere hool / I mote brouke my tresses Line 2308 I shal nat spare / for no curteisye To speke hym harm / þat wolde vs vileynye ¶ Dame quod this Pluto / be no lenger wrooth I yeue it vp / but sith I swoor myn ooth Line 2312 That I wolde graunten hym / his sighte ayein My word shal stonde / I warne yow certeyn I am a kyng it sit me noght to lye ¶ And I quod she / a queene of ffairye Line 2316

[6-text p 473] Line 2316 Hir answere shal she haue / I vndertake Lat vs namoore wordes / her of make ffor sothe / I wol no lenger yow contrarie ¶ Now lat vs / turne agayn to Ianuarie Line 2320 [Th [folio 151b] ]at in the gardyn / with his faire May Syngeth ful murier / than the Papeiay Yow loue I best and shal and oother noon So longe / aboute the Aleyes is he goon Line 2324 Til he was come / agayns thilke pirye Wher as this Damyan / sitteth ful myrye An heigh / among the fresshe leues grene ¶ This fresshe May / that is so bright and shene Line 2328 Gan for to syke / and seyde allas my syde Now sire quod she / for aught þat may bityde I moste han / of the perys þat I se Or I moot dye / so sore longeth me Line 2332 To eten / of the smale perys grene Help for hir loue / þat is of heuene queene I telle yow wel / a womman in my plit May han to fruyt/ so gret an appetit Line 2336 That she may dyen / but she of it haue ¶ Allas quod he / þat I ne hadde here a knaue That koude clymbe / allas allas quod he ffor I am blynd / ye sire no fors quod she Line 2340 ¶ But wolde ye / vouche sauf / for goddes sake The pirye inwith youre armes / for to take ffor wel I woot þat ye mystruste me Thanne sholde I clymbe / wel ynow quod she Line 2344 So I my foot myghte sette vp on youre bak ¶ Certes quod he / ther on shal be no lak Mighte I yow helpen / with myn herte blood He stoupeth doun / and on his bak she stood Line 2348 And caughte hir by a twiste / and vp she goth Ladys I pray yow / þat ye be nat wroth I kan nat glose / .I a rude man And sodeynly / anon this Damyan Line 2352

[6-text p 474] Line 2352 Gan pullen vp the smok / and in he throng ¶ And whan þat Pluto / saugh this grete wrong To Ianuarie / he yaf agayn his sighte And made hym see / as wel as euere he myghte Line 2356 And whan that he / hadde caught his sighte agayn Ne was ther neuere man / of thyng so fayn But on his wyf/ his thoght was euere mo Vn to the tree / he caste his eyen two Line 2360 And say þat Damyan / his wyf had dressed [folio 152a] In swich manere / it may nat ben expressed But if I wolde speken / vncurteisly And vp he yaf/ a roryng and a cry Line 2364 As dooth the moder / whan the child shal dye Out help / allas / harrow / he gan to crye O. stronge lady stoore / what dostow ¶ And she answerde / sire what eyleth yow Line 2368 Haue pacience and reson / in youre mynde I haue yow holpe / on bothe youre eyen blynde Vp peril of my soule / .I shal nat lyen As me was taught to heele with youre eyen Line 2372 Was no thyng bet to make yow to se Than strugle with a man / vp on a tree God woot I dide it in ful good entente ¶ Strugled quod he / ye algate In it wente Line 2376 God yeue yow bothe / on shames deth to dyen He swyued thee / I saw it with myne eyen And ellis / be I hanged by the hals ¶ Thanne is quod she / my medicyne al fals Line 2380 ffor certeinly / if þat ye myghte se Ye wolde nat seyn / thise wordes vn to me Ye han som glymsynge / and no parfit sighte ¶ I se quod he / as wel as euere I myghte Line 2384 Thonked be god / with bothe myne eyen two And by my trouthe / me thoughte he dide thee so ¶ Ye maze maze / goode Sire quod she This thank haue I / for I haue maad yow se Line 2388

[6-text p 475] Line 2388 Allas quod she / þat euere I was so kynde Now dame quod he / lat al passe out of mynde Com doun my lief/ and if I haue myssayd God help me so / as I am yuele apayd Line 2392 But by my fadres soule / I wende haue seyn How þat this Damyan / hadde by thee leyn And þat thy Smok / hadde leyn vp on his bryst ¶ Ye sire quod she / ye may wene as yow lyst Line 2396 But sire / a man that waketh out of his sleepe He may nat sodeynly / wel taken keepe Vp on a thyng ne seen it parfitly Til that he be / adawed verraily Line 2400 [ [folio 152b] Rig]ht so a man / that longe hath blynd ybe [N]e may nat sodeynly / so wel yse ffirst whan his sighte / is newe come ageyn As he þat hath / a day or two yseyn Line 2404 Til þat youre sighte / ysatled be a while Ther may ful many a sighte yow bigile Beth war I pray yow / for by heuene kyng fful many a man / weneth to se a thyng Line 2408 And it is al another / than it semeth He þat mysconceyueth / he mysdemeth And with that word / she lepte doun fro the tree ¶ This Ianuarie / who is glad but he Line 2412 He kisseth hire / and clippeth hire ful ofte And on hir wombe / he stroketh hire ful softe And to his Palays / hom he hath hire lad Now goode men / I pray yow to be glad Line 2416 Thus endeth here / my tale of Ianuarie God blesse vs / and his moder Seinte Marie . Amen. [6-text p 476]

¶ Here is ended the Marchantes tale / of Ianuarie

¶ Here folwen the Wordes of the Worthy Hoost to the ffrankeleyn. [folio 153a]

[Blank of ten lines in the MS.]

Ey goddes mercy / seyde oure Hoost tho Now swich a wyf / I prey god kepe me fro Line 2420 Lo whiche sleightes / and subtiltees In wommen ben / for ay as bisy as bees Ben they / vs sely men for to deceyue And from a sooth / euere wol they weyue Line 2424 By this Marchantes tale / it preueth weel But doutelees / as trewe as any steel I haue a wyf / thogh þat she poore be But of hir tonge / a labbyng shrewe is she Line 2428 And yit she hath / an heep of vices mo Ther-of no fors / lat alle swiche thynges go But wite ye what in conseil be it seyd Me reweth soore / I am vn to hire teyd Line 2432 ffor and I sholde / rekenen euery vice Which þat she hath / ywis I were to nyce And cause why / it sholde reported be And toold to hire / of somme of this meynee Line 2436 Of whom? / it nedeth nat for to declare Syn wommen / konnen oute swich chaffare And eek my wit/ suffiseth nat ther to To tellen al / wher-fore my tale is do Line 2440

[6-text p 477] Line 2440

Notes

• [No break in the MS.]
• Rats.
• ¶ Europa est tercia pars mundi.
• .i. ceriose
• Ceptra phoronei / fratrum discordia Thebe fflammam Phetontis Decalionis aque In stellis Priami species audacia Turni Sensus vlixeus / herculeusque vigor.
• [Inkt out in the MS, and byshop written over it.]
• ¶ Vnde Ptholomeus libro .i^o. capitulum g[. . primi] motus celi duo sunt / quorum vnus est qui [movet totum] celum / semper ab Oriente in Occidentem vno [modo] super orbes &c / Ita aliter vero motus est qui mo[vet] orbem stellarum currencium / contra motum primum videlicet ab Occidente in Orientem super alios duos polos &c. [The MS is partly gnawn away by rats.]
• ¶ Omnes concordati sunt/ quod elecciones sint/ de|biles nisi in diuitibus / habent enim isti licet debilitentur eorum elecciones radicem .i. natiuitates eorum que confortat omnem / planetam / debilem in itinere &c.
• [a late curl for er is over the g.]
• ¶ nota de inopinato dolore ¶ Semper mundane leticie / tristicia repentina succedit / Mundana igitur felicitas multis ama|ritudinibus est respersa extrema gaudij luctus occupat / Audi ergo salubre consilium in die bonorum ne inmemor sis malorum.
• ¶ Quid turpius ebrioso / cui fetor in ore / tremor in corpore / qui promit stulta / prodit occulta / cui mens alienatur / facies transformatur / nullum enim latet secretum vbi regnat ebrietas.
• ¶ O. extrema libidinis turp[itudo] que non solum men|tem effemi[nat] set eciam corpus eneruat/ se[mper] sequntur dolor & penitencia post &[c].
• Maria mater omnium virtu|tum. [in a late hand]
• R Wryne
• [in the same late hand]
• ¶ A mane vsque [ad vesperam mu]tabitur tempus / t[enent tympa]num & gaudent ad s[onum organi]. [MS is gnawn away by rats.]
• ¶ Quis vnquam vnicam diem totam [duxit] in sua dileccione iocundam / quem [in ali]qua parte diei reatus con|sciencie / v[el] impetus ire / vel motus concupiscen[tie] non tur|bauerit/ quem liuor Inuidie vel ardor auaricie / vel tumor superbie non vexauerit / quem aliqua iactura vel offensa / vel passio non commouerit &c. [The MS is partly gnawn away.]
• [? MS kambyuskan]
• ¶ Centrum circuli.
• Rats.
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• Rats.
• hic
• audire
• Rats.
• .i. equs Pegaseus.
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• ¶ reditu suo singula gaudent.
• [Head-line.]
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• [^1_1 Written in a rather later ink and hand.]
• [? spurious]
• ¶ vxor est diligenda / quia donum dei est Ihesus filius Syrac; domus & diuicie dantur a parentibus / a domino autem proprie / vxor bona vel prudens.
• ¶ ffaciamus ei adiutorem / & ex[tracta costa de] corpore Ade fecit Euam / & dix[it pro vxore] relinquet homo patrem & matrem & [adherebit &c.] et erunt duo / in carne vna.
• nota
• Vna caro vnum Animum in omni Adversitate cogitat/.[, in a later hand.]
• nota
• [? whether the next 4 lines are Chaucer's.]
• Rats.
• Rats.
• ¶ Iacob enim per consilium matris sue Rebecce &cetera.
• Iudith &cetera / de manibus Oloferni.
• ¶ Et Abigail per suum bonum consilium / virum suum Nabal / ab ira dauid liberauit/.
• ¶ Ester &cetera Iudeos per bonum consilium simul cum Mardocheo in regno Assueri &cetera.
• ¶ Seneca / sicut nichil est superius benigna coniuge / ita nichil est crudelius infesta muliere.
• ¶ Cato // vxoris linguam / si frugi est/ ferre memento/
• ¶ Apostolus Paulus Ad Ephesianos // Diligite vxores vestras sicut christus dilexit ecclesiam &cetera.
• Apostolus // Ita viri debent diligere vxores suas vt corpora sua / quia qui suam vxorem diligit se ipsum diligit/ nemo vnquam carnem suam odio habuit/ set nutrit & fouet eam / et ¶ postea / vnusquisque suam vxorem sicut ¶ se ipsum diligat.
• Rats.
• ¶ Nota
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• Auctor
• [Ar]ke diurne . quidam circulus [....] .. meto vocatur Zodiacus [...] .. sol cotidie cressit.[MS. leaf 145, back,in a later hand and faint ink.]
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• Auctor
• venus. God of loue./
• [in a later hand.]
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• Auctor
• Rats.
• Rats.
• Rats.
• [the later]
• [^2_2 in a later hand]
• Rats.
• Rats.
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• Rats.
• [No break in the MS.]