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

¶ Incipit/ secunda pars . [folio 94a]

NOght fer / fro thilke paleys honurable [‖ ffuit haut procul a palacio &cetera. ] Ther as this Markys / shoope his mariage There stood a throope / of site delitable In which / that poure folk/ of that village Line 200 Hadden hir beestes / and hir herbergage And of hire labour / tooke hir sustenance After that the erthe / yaf hem habundance Line 203

Amonges thise poure folk/ ther dwelte a man Line 204 Which þat was holden / pourest of hem alle But hye god / som tyme senden kan His grace / in to a litel oxes stalle Line 207 Ianicula / men of that throope hym calle A doghter hadde he / fair ynogh to sighte And Grisildis / this yonge mayden highte Line 210

[6-text p 410] Line 210

But for to speke / of vertuous bountee Line 211 Thanne was she / oon the faireste vnder sonne ffor poureliche / yfostred vp was she No likerous lust /was thurgh hire herte yronne Line 214 Wel ofter / of the welle / than of the tonne She drank/ and for she wolde vertu plese She knew wel labour/ but noon ydel ese Line 217

But thogh this mayde / tendre were of age Line 218 Yet in the brest of hire virginitee Ther was enclosed / rype and sad corage And in greet reuerence / and charitee Line 221 Hir olde poure fader/ fostred shee A fewe sheepe / spynnynge on feeld she kepte She wolde noght been ydel til she slepte Line 224

And whan she homward cam / she wolde brynge Line 225 Wortes / or othere herbes / tymes ofte The whiche she shredde / and seeth for hir lyuynge And made hir bed / ful harde and no thyng softe Line 228 And ay she kepte / hir fadres lyf on lofte With euerich obeisaunce and diligence That child may doon / to fadres reuerence Line 231

¶ Vp on Grisilde / this poure creature Line 232 fful ofte sithe / this Markys caste his eye As he / on huntyng rood parauenture And whan þat it fil / þat he myghte hire espye Line 235 He noght/ with wantowne lookyng of folye Hise eyen caste on hire / but in sad wyse Vp on hir chiere / he gan hym ofte auyse Line 238

Commendynge in his herte / hir wommanhede [folio 94b] And eek hir vertu / passynge any wight Of so yong age / as wel in chiere as dede ffor thogh the peple / hadde no greet insight Line 242

[6-text p 411] Line 242 In vertu / he considered ful right/ Hir bountee / and disposed that he wolde Wedde hire oonly / if euere he wedde sholde Line 245

¶ The day of weddyng cam / but no wight kan Line 246 Telle / what womman / that it sholde be ffor which merueille / wondred many a man And seyden / whan that they were in priuetee Line 249 Wol nat oure lord / yet leue his vanytee? Wol he nat wedde / allas allas the while? Why wole he thus / hym self and vs bigile? Line 252

¶ But nathelees / this Markys hath doon make Line 253 Of gemmes / set in gold and in Asure Brooches and rynges / for Grisildis sake And of hir clothyng took he the mesure Line 256 By a mayde / lyk to hire stature And eek of othere aornementes alle That vn-to swich a weddyng sholde falle Line 259

The time of vndren / of the same day Line 260 Approcheth / that this weddyng sholde be And al the paleys / put was in array Bothe halle and chambres / ech in his degree Line 263 Houses of office / stuffed with plentee Ther maystow seen / of deynteuous vitaille That may be founde / as fer as last ytaille Line 266

This roial Markys / richely arrayed Line 267 Lordes and ladyes / in his compaignye The whiche / that to the feeste weren yprayed And of his retenue / the bachelrye Line 270 With many a soun / of sondry melodye Vn-to the village / of the which I tolde In this array / the righte wey han holde Line 273

[6-text p 412] Line 273

¶ Grisilde of this / god woot ful Innocent Line 274 That for hire / shapen was al this array To fecchen water at a welle is went And comth hoom / as soone as euer she may Line 277 ffor wel she hadde herd seyd / that thilke day The Markys sholde wedde / and if she myghte She wolde fayn / han seyn / som of that sighte Line 280

She thoghte / I wole / with othere maydens stonde [folio 95a] [¶ Vt expeditis curis alijs ad videndum domini sui sponsam cum puellis comitibus propararet/ ] That been my felawes / in oure dore and se The Markysesse / and therfore wol I fonde To doon at hoom / as soone as it may be Line 284 The labour / which that longeth vn-to me And thanne I may / at leyser hire biholde If she this wey / vn-to the Castel holde Line 287

And as she wolde / ouer hir thresshfold gon Line 288 The Markys cam / and gan hire for to calle And she set doun / hir water pot anon Biside the thresshfold/ in an Oxes stalle Line 291 And doun vp-on hir knes she gan to falle And with sad contenance / kneleth stille Til she had herd / what was the lordes will Line 294

¶ This thoghtful Markys / spak vn-to this mayde [¶ quum Walterus cogitabundus cedens eamque compellans nomine. ] Line 295 fful sobrely / and seyde in this manere Where is youre fader / o Grisildis he sayde And she with reuerence / in humble cheere Line 298 Answerde . lord / he is al redy heere And In she gooth / with outen lenger lette And to the Markys / she hir fader fette Line 301

He by the hand / thanne took this olde man Line 302 And seyde thus / whan he hym hadde asyde Ianicula / I neither may ne kan Lenger / the plesance of myn herte hyde Line 305

[6-text p 413] Line 305 If that thou vouche sauf what so bityde Thy doghter wol I take / er þat I wende As for my wyf vn-to hir lyues ende Line 308

Thou louest me / I woot it wel certeyn Line 309 And art my feithful / lige man ybore And all that/ liketh me / I dar wel seyn It liketh thee / and specially therfore Line 312 Tel me that poynt / that I haue seyd bifore If that thou wolt vn-to that purpos drawe To take me / as for thy sone in lawe Line 315

¶ This sodeyn cas / this man astonyed so Line 316 That reed he wax abayst and al quakyng He stood / vnnethes seyde he wordes mo But oonly thus / lord quod he / my willynge? Line 319 Is as ye wole / ne ayeyns / youre likynge? I wol no thyng ye be my lord so deere Right as yow lust gouerneth this mateere Line 322

¶ Yet wol I / quod this Markys softely [folio 95b] That in thy chambre / I. and thou / and she Haue a collacion / and wostow why? ffor I wol axe / if it hire wille be Line 326 To be my wyf / and reule hire after me And al this shal be doon / in thy presence I wol noght speke / out of thyn Audience Line 329

¶ And in the chambre / whil they were aboute Line 330 Hir tretys / which as ye shal after heere The peple cam / vn-to the hous with oute And wondred hem / in how honeste manere Line 333 And tentifly / she kepte hir fader deere But outrely / Grisildis wondre myghte ffor neuere erst ne saugh she swich a sighte Line 336

[6-text p 414] Line 336

No wonder is / thogh she were astoned [¶ Et insolito tanti hospitis aduentu stupidam inuenit. ] Line 337 To seen so greet a gest come in that place She neuere was / to swiche gestes woned ffor which / she looked / with ful pale face Line 340 But shortly / forth this tale for to chace Thise arn the wordes / þat the Markys sayde To this benigne / verray feithful mayde Line 343

¶ Grisilde he seyde / ye shal wel vnderstonde [¶ Et patri tuo placet inquid & mihi vt vxor mea sis / et credo idipsum tibi placeat/ sed habeo ex te querere & cetera. ] Line 344 It liketh to youre fader and to me That I yow / wedde / and eek it may so stonde As I suppose / ye wol that it so be Line 347 But thise demandes / axe I first quod he That sith it shal be doon / in hastif wyse Wol ye assente / or elles yow auyse Line 350

I seye this / be ye redy with good herte Line 351 To al my lust and that I frely may As me best thynketh / do yow laughe or smerte And neuere ye to grucche it nyght ne day Line 354 And eek whan I sey ye / ne sey nat nay Neither by word / ne frownyng contenance [¶ sine vlla frontis aut verbi inpugnacione.] Swere this / and heere I swere yow alliance Line 357

¶ Wondrynge vp on this word / quakynge for drede [¶ Nil ego vnquam sciens nedum faciam set eciam cogitabo quod contra animum tuum sit/ nec tu aliquid facies / et si me mori iusseris quod moleste feram &cetera. ] Line 358 She seyde lord / vndigne and vnworthy? Am I / to thilke honour/ þat ye me beede But as ye wole youre self right so wol .I. Line 361 And heere I swere / that neuere willyngly In werk ne thoght I nyl yow disobeye ffor to be deed / though me were looth to deye Line 364

¶ This is ynogh / Grisilde myn quod he [folio 96a] Line 365 And forth he gooth / with a ful sobre cheere Out at the dore / and after that cam she And to the peple / he seyde in this manere Line 368

[6-text p 415] Line 368 This is my wyf quod he / þat standeth heere Honoureth hire / and loueth hire I preye Who so me loueth / ther is namoore to seye Line 371

And for that no thyng of hir olde geere [¶ dehinc/ ne quid reliquiarum fortune veteris nouam inferat in domum / nudari eam iusserit/ ] Line 372 She sholde brynge in to his hous / he bad? That wommen / sholde dispoillen hire right theere Of which thise ladyes / were nat right glad Line 375 To handle hir clothes / wher Inne she was clad But nathelees / this mayde bright of hewe ffro foot to heed / they clothed han al newe Line 378

Hir heris han they kembd / that lay vntressed Line 379 fful rudely / and with hir fyngres smale A corone on hire heed / they han ydressed And sette hire / ful of Nowches grete and smale Line 382 Of hire array / what sholde I make a tale Vnnethe the peple hire knew / for hire fairnesse Whan she translated was in swich richesse Line 385

¶ This Markys / hath hire spoused with a ryng Line 386 Broght for the same cause / and thanne hire sette Vp on an hors snow whit and wel amblyng And to his paleys / er he lenger lette Line 389 With ioyful peple þat hire ladde and mette Conuoyed hire / and thus the day they spende In reuel / til the sonne gan descende Line 392

And shortly / forth this tale for to chace Line 393 I seye / that to this newe Markysesse God hath swich fauour / sent hire of his grace That it ne semed nat by liklynesse Line 396 That she was / born and fed in rudenesse As in a cote / or in an Oxe Stalle But norissed / in an Emperoures halle Line 399

[6-text p 416] Line 399

¶ To euery wight/ she woxen is so deere [¶ Atque apud omnes supra fidem cara & vene|rabilis facta est/ vix quod hijs ipsis qui illius originem nouerant persuaderi posset Ianicule natam esse tantus vite / tantus morum decor ea verborum grauitas atque dulcedo quibus omnium animos nexu sibi magni amoris astrinxerat / ] Line 400 And worshipful / þat folk ther she was bore And from hire birthe / knewe hire yeer by yeere Vnnethe trowed they / but dorste han swore Line 403 That she to Ianicle / of which I spak bifore She doghter were / for as by coniecture Hem thoughte / she was another creature Line 406

ffor though that euere vertuous was she [folio 96b] Line 407 She was encressed / in swich excellence Of thewes goode / yset in heigh bountee And so discreet and fair of eloquence Line 410 So benigne / and so digne of reuerence And koude so / the peples herte embrace That ech hire louede / that looked on hir face Line 413

¶ Noght oonly of Saluces in the toun Line 414 Publiced was / the beautee of hir name But eek biside / in many a regioun If oon seide wel / another seyde the same Line 417 So spradde / of hire heighe bountee the name That men and wommen / as wel yonge as olde Goon to Saluce / vpon hire to bihold Line 420

Thus Walter lowely? nay / but roially [¶ sic Walterus humili quidem / set/ insigni ac prospero matrimonio honestatis summa dei in pace & cetera. ] Line 421 Wedded / with fortunat honestetee In goddes pees / lyueth ful esily At hoom / and outward / grace ynogh had he Line 424 And for he saugh / that vnder heigh degree [¶ quodque eximiam virtutem tanta sub inopia latitantem tam perspicaciter deprendisset/ vulgo prudentissimus habebatur. ] Was vertu hid / the peple hym heelde A prudent man / and that is seyn ful seelde Line 427

¶ Nat oonly this Grisildis / thurgh hir wit [¶ Neque vero solers sponsa muliebria tantum ac domestica / sed vbi res posceret publica eciam subibat officia. ] Koude al the feet of wyfly humblenesse But eek whan that the cas required it The commune profit koude she redresse Line 431

[6-text p 417] Line 431 Ther nas discord / rancour / ne heuynesse In al that land / that she ne koude apese And wisely / brynge hem alle in reste and ese Line 434

Though that hire housbonde absent were/ anon? [¶ Viro absente / lites patrie / nobilium dis|cordias dirimens atque componens tam grauibus responsis tanta que maturitate, & Iudicij equitate vt omnes ad salutem publicam demissa celo feminam predicarent/ [MS, leaf 97, back.]] Line 435 If gentil men / or othere of hire contree Were wrothe / she wolde bryngen hem aton So wise / and rype wordes hadde she Line 438 And Iuggementz of so greet equitee That she from heuene / sent was as men wende Peple to saue / and euery wrong tamende Line 441

¶ Nat longe tyme / after/ that this Grisild Line 442 Was wedded / she a doghter hath ybore Al had hire leuere / haue born a man child Glad was this Markys / and the folk therfore Line 445 ffor though a mayde child / coome al bifore She may / vn-to a man child atteyne By liklihede / syn she nys nat bareyne Line 448

¶ Explicit secunda pars .