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

§ 4. THE SHIPMAN'S TALE.

¶ Heere bigynneth the Shipmannes tale. . [Elles.] [folio 147b]

A Marchant whilom dwelled at Seint Denys, That riche was / for which men helde hym wys A wyf he hadde / of excellent beautee [[Painting of the Shipman, on the left.]] And compaignable / and reuelous was she Which is a thyng that causeth more dispence Than worth is / al the chiere and reuerence Line 1196 That men hem doon / at festes and at daunces Swiche salutacions / and contenaunces Passen / as dooth a shadwe vp on the wal But wo is hym / that payen moot for al Line 1200 The sely housbonde / algate he moste paye He moot vs clothe / and he moot vs arraye Al for his owene worship richely In which array / we daunce iolily Line 1204 And if þat he noght may / par auenture Or ellis / list no swich dispence endure But thynketh / it is wasted / and ylost Thanne moot another / payen for oure cost Line 1208 Or lene vs gold / and that is perilous ¶ This noble Marchant heeld a worthy hous ffor which / he hadde alday so greet repair ffor his largesse / and for his wyf was fair Line 1212 That wonder is / but herkneth to my tale Amonges alle hise gestes / grete and smale Ther was a Monk a fair man and a boold I trowe of thritty wynter he was oold Line 1216 That euere in oon / was comynge to that place This yonge Monk / þat was so fair of face

[6-text p 169] Aqueynted was so / with the goode man Sith that / hir firste knoweliche bigan Line 1220 That in his hous / as famulier was he As it possible / any freend to be ¶ And for as muchel / as this goode man And eek this Monk of which þat I bigan Line 1224 Were bothe two / yborn in o village The Monk / hym claymeth / as for cosynage And he agayn / he seith nat ones nay But was as glad ther-of / as fowel of day Line 1228 ffor to his herte / it was a greet plesance Thus been they knyt with eterne alliance And ech of hem / gan oother for tassure Of bretherhede / whil þat hir lyf may dure Line 1232 ¶ ffree was Daun Iohn and namely of dispence [folio 148a] As in that hous / and ful of diligence To doon plesance / and also greet costage He noght forgat to yeue the leeste page Line 1236 In al the hous / but after hir degree He yaf the lord / and sitthe al his meynee Whan that he cam / som manere honest thyng ffor which / they were as glad of his comyng Line 1240 As fowel is fayn / whan þat the sonne vp riseth Na moore of this as now / for it suffiseth

But so bifel / this Marchant on a day Shoop hym / to make redy his array Line 1244 Toward / the toun of Brugges for to fare To byen there / a porcion of ware ffor which / he hath to Parys sent anon A Messager / and preyed hath daun Iohn Line 1248 That he sholde come / to Seint Denys to pleye With hym and with his wyf / a day or tweye Er he to Brugges wente / in alle wise ¶ This noble Monk of which I yow deuyse Line 1252 Hath of his Abbot as hym list licence By cause / he was a man / of heigh prudence

[6-text p 170] And eek an Officer / out for to ryde To seen hir graunges / and hire bernes wyde Line 1256 And vn-to Seint Denys / he comth anon Who was so welcome / as my lord Daun Iohn Oure deere cosyn / ful of curteisye With hym broghte he a Iubbe of Maluesye Line 1260 And eek another / ful of fyn vernage And volatyl / as ay was his vsage And thus / I lete hem drynke and pleye This Marchant and this Monk a day or tweye Line 1264 ¶ The thridde day / this Marchant vp ariseth And on hise nedes / sadly hym auyseth And vp / in to his Countour hous gooth he To rekene with hym self / wel may be Line 1268 Of thilke yeer / how þat it with hym stood And how þat he / despended hadde his good And if þat he / encressed were or noon Hise bookes / and his bagges many oon Line 1272 He leith biforn hym / on his countyng bord fful riche / was his tresor and his hord ffor which ful faste / his Countour dore he shette And eek he nolde / þat no man sholde hym lette Line 1276 Of hise accountes / for the meene tyme And thus he sit til it was passed pryme ¶ Daun Iohn was rysen / in the morwe also And in the gardyn / walketh to and fro Line 1280 And hath hise thynges seyd / ful curteisly [folio 148b] ¶ This goode wyf cam walkynge pryuely In to the gardyn / there he walketh softe And hym saleweth / as she hath doon ofte Line 1284 A mayde child / cam in hire compaignye Which as hir list she may gouerne and gye ffor yet vnder the yerde was the mayde O deere cosyn myn / daun Iohn she sayde Line 1288 What eyleth yow / so rathe for to ryse ¶ Nece quod he / it oghte ynough suffise

[6-text p 171] ffyue houres for to slepe / vp on a nyght But it were / for an old appalled wight Line 1292 As been thise wedded men / þat lye and dare As in a fourme / sit a wery hare Were al forstraught / with houndes grete and smale But deere Nece / why be ye so pale Line 1296 I trowe certes / that oure goode man Hath yow laboured / sith the nyght bigan That yow were nede / to resten hastily And with that word / he lough ful murily Line 1300 And of his owene thought he wax al reed ¶ This faire wyf gan for to shake hir heed And seyde thus / ye god woot al quod she Nay nay cosyn myn / it stant nat so with me Line 1304 ffor by that god / that yaf me soule and lyf/ In al the Reawme of ffrance / is ther no wyf That lasse lust hath / to that sory pley ffor I may synge / allas and weylawey Line 1308 That I was born / but to no wight quod she Dar I nat telle / how that it stant with me Wherfore I thynke / out of this land to wende Or elles / of my self to make an ende Line 1312 So ful am I / of drede / and eek of care ¶ This Monk bigan vp on this wyf to stare And / seyde / Allas my Nece god forbede That ye / for any sorwe / or any drede Line 1316 ffordo youre self / but tel me of youre grief Parauenture / I yow may / in youre meschief Conseille or helpe / and therfore telleth me All youre anoy / for it shal been secree Line 1320 ffor on my porthors / I make an ooth That neuere in my lyf / for lief ne looth Ne shal I / of no conseil yow biwreye ¶ The same agayn / to yow quod she I seye Line 1324 By god / and by this Porthors I yow swere Though men me wolde / al in to pieces tere

[6-text p 172] Ne shal I neuere / for to goon to helle Biwreye a word / of thyng þat ye me telle Line 1328 Nat for no cosynage / ne alliance [folio 149a] But verraily / for loue and affiance Thus been they sworn / and heer vpon they kiste And ech of hem / tolde oother what hem liste Line 1332 ¶ Cosyn quod she / if þat I hadde a space As I haue noon / and namely in this place Thanne wolde I telle / a legende of my lyf What I haue suffred / sith I was a wyf Line 1336 With myn housbonde / al be he of youre kyn ¶ Nay quod this Monk by god / and by seint Martyn He is / na moore cosyn vn-to me Than is this lief þat hangeth on the tree Line 1340 I clepe hym so / by Seint Denys of ffrance To haue / the moore cause of Aqueyntance Of yow / which I haue loued specially Abouen alle wommen sikerly Line 1344 This swere I yow / on my profession Telleth youre grief / lest þat he come adoun And hasteth yow / and gooth youre wey anon ¶ My deere loue quod she / o my daun Iohn Line 1348 fful lief were me / this conseil for to hyde But out it moot I may namoore abyde Myn housbonde / is to me the worste man That euere was / sith þat the world bigan Line 1352 But sith I am a wyf it sit nat me To tellen no wight / of oure priuetee Neither a bedde / ne in noon oother place God shilde / I sholde it tellen for his grace Line 1356 A wyf / ne shal nat seyn of hir housbonde But al honour / as I kan vnderstonde Saue vn to yow / thus muche I tellen shal As helpe me god / he is noght worth at al Line 1360 In no degree / the value of a flye But yet me greueth moost his nygardye

[6-text p 173] And wel ye woot þat wommen naturelly Desiren thynges sixe / as wel as I Line 1364 They wolde / that hir housbondes sholde be Hardy and wise / and riche and ther-to free And buxom vn to his wyf and fressh abedde But by that ilke lord / that for vs bledde Line 1368 ffor his honour / my self for to arraye A sonday next I moste nedes paye An hundred frankes / or ellis I am lorn Yet were me leuere / that I were vnborn Line 1372 Than me were doon / a sclaundre or vileynye And if myn housbonde / eek it myghte espye I nere but lost and therfore I yow preye Lene me this somme / or ellis moot I deye Line 1376 Daun Iohn I seye / lene me thise hundred frankes [folio 149b] Pardee / I wol nat faille yow my thankes If that yow list to doon that I yow praye ffor at a certeyn day / I wol yow paye Line 1380 And doon to yow / what plesance and seruice That I may doon / right as yow list deuise And but I do / god take on me vengeance As foul / as euere hadde Genylon of ffrance Line 1384 ¶ This gentil Monk / answerde in this manere Now trewely / myn owene lady deere I haue quod he / on yow so greet a routhe That I yow swere / and plighte yow my trouthe Line 1388 That whan youre housbonde / is to fflaundres fare I wol delyuere yow / out of this care ffor I wol brynge yow / an hundred frankes And with that word / he caughte hire by the flankes Line 1392 And hire embraceth harde / and kiste hire ofte Gooth now youre wey quod he / al stille and softe And lat us dyne / as soone as þat ye may ffor by my chilyndre / it is pryme of day Line 1396 Gooth now / and beeth as trewe as I shal be ¶ Now elles / god forbede sire quod she

[6-text p 174] And forth she gooth / as Iolif as a pye And bad the cookes / þat they sholde hem hye Line 1400 So þat men myghte dyne / and that anon Vp to hir housbonde / is this wyf ygon And knokketh / at his Countour boldely ¶ Who ther? quod he / Peter it am I. [¶ qi la?] Quod she / what sire / how longe wol ye faste? How longe tyme / wol ye rekene and caste? Youre sommes / and youre bookes / and youre thynges? The deuel haue part on alle swiche rekenynges Line 1408 Ye haue ynough pardee / of goddes sonde Com doun to day / and lat youre bagges stonde Ne be ye nat ashamed that Daun Iohn Shal fasting al this day alenge goon Line 1412 Lat vs heere a messe / and go we dyne ¶ Wyf quod this man / litel kanstow deuyne The curious bisynesse / that we haue ffor of vs Chapmen / al so god me saue Line 1416 And by that lord / þat clepid is Seint Yve Scarsly amonges .xij. ten shul thryue Continuelly / lastynge vn to oure age We may wel / make chiere / and good visage Line 1420 And dryue forth the world / as it may be And kepen / oure estaat in pryuetee Til we be deed / or elles that we pleye A pilgrymage / or goon out of the weye Line 1424 And therfore / haue I greet necessitee [folio 150a] Vp on this queynte world tauyse me ffor eueremoore / we moote stonde in drede Of hap and ffortune / in oure chapmanhede Line 1428 ¶ To fflaundres / wol I go / to morwe at day And come agayn / as soone as euere I may ffor which my deere wyf I thee biseke As be to euery wight buxom and meke Line 1432 And for to kepe oure good / be curious And honestly / gouerne wel oure hous

[6-text p 175] Thou hast ynough / in euery maner wise That / to a thrifty houshold may suffise Line 1436 Thee lakketh noon array / ne no vitaille Of siluer in thy purs / shaltow nat faille And with that word / his Countour dore he shette And doun he gooth / no lenger wolde he lette Line 1440 But hastily / a messe was ther seyd And spedily / the tables were yleyd And to the dyner / faste they hem spedde And richely / this Monk / the chapman fedde Line 1444 ¶ At after dyner / daun Iohn sobrely This Chapman took a-part and priuely He seyde hym thus / cosyn it standeth so That wel I se / to Brugges / wol ye go Line 1448 God and seint Austyn / spede yow and gyde I prey yow cosyn / wisely that ye ryde Gouerneth yow also / of youre diete Atemprely / and namely in this hete Line 1452 Bitwix vs two / nedeth no strange fare ffare wel cosyn / god shilde yow fro care And if þat any thyng by day or nyght If it lye in my power / and my myght Line 1456 That ye me wol comande in any wyse It shal be doon / right as ye wol deuyse ¶ O thyng er þat ye goon / if it may be I wolde prey yow / for to lene me Line 1460 An hundred frankes / for a wyke or tweye ffor certein beestes / þat I moste beye To stoore with a place þat is oures God helpe me so / I wolde it were youres Line 1464 I shal nat faille / surely at my day Nat for a thousand frankes a Mile way But lat this thyng be secree / I yow preye ffor yet to nyght / thise beestes moot I beye Line 1468 And fare now wel / myn owene cosyn deere Graunt mercy / of youre cost / and of youre cheere

[6-text p 176] ¶ This noble marchant / gentilly anon Answerde / and seyde o cosyn myn Daun Iohn Line 1472 Now sikerly / this is a smal requeste [folio 150b] My gold is youres / whan þat it yow leste And nat oonly my gold / but my chaffare Take what yow list god shilde þat ye spare Line 1476 ¶ But o thyng is / ye knowe it wel ynogh Of Chapmen / that hir moneie is hir plogh We may creaunce / whil we haue a name But goldlees for to be / it is no game Line 1480 Paye it agayn / whan it lith in youre ese After my myght / ful fayn wolde I yow plese ¶ Thise hundred frankes / he fette hym forth anon And priuely / he took hem to daun Iohn Line 1484 No wight in al this world / wiste of this loone Sauynge this Marchant / and daun Iohn alloone They drynke / and speke / and rome a while and pleye Til þat daun Iohn / rideth to his Abbeye Line 1488

The morwe cam / and forth this Marchant rideth To fflaundres ward / his prentys wel hym gydeth Til he cam / in to Brugges murily Now gooth this Marchant faste and bisily Line 1492 Aboute his nede / and byeth and creaunceth He neither / pleyeth at dees ne daunceth But as a Marchant shortly for to telle He let his lyf / and there I lete hym dwelle Line 1496

The sonday next this Marchant was agon To seint Denys / ycomen is Daun Iohn With crowne and berde all fressh and newe y-shaue In al the hous / ther nas so litel a knaue Line 1500 Ne no wight elles / þat he nas ful fayn That my lord Daun Iohn / was come agayn And shortly / right to the point for to gon This faire wyf accorded with daun Iohn Line 1504 That for thise hundred frankes / he sholde al nyght Haue hire in hise armes / bolt upright

[6-text p 177] And this acord / parfourned was in dede In myrthe al nyght a bisy lyf they lede Line 1508 Til it was day / þat Daun Iohn wente his way And bad the meynee / fare wel haue good day ffor noon of hem / ne no wight in the toun Hath of daun Iohn / right no suspecioun Line 1512 And forth he rydeth / hoom to his Abbeye Or where hym list. namoore of hym I seye

This Marchant whan þat ended was the faire To Seint Denys / he gan for to repaire Line 1516 And with his wyf he maketh feeste and cheere And telleth hire / that Chaffare is so deere That nedes / moste he make a cheuyssance ffor he was bounden / in a reconyssance Line 1520 To paye twenty thousand sheeld anon [folio 151a] ffor which / this Marchant is to Parys gon To borwe / of certeine freendes þat he hadde A certeyn frankes / and somme with him he ladde Line 1524 And whan þat he was come / in to the toun ffor greet chiertee / and greet affectioun Vn to daun Iohn / he gooth hym first to pleye Nat for to axe / or borwe of hym moneye Line 1528 But for to wite / and seen of his welfare And for to tellen hym / of his chaffare As freendes doon / whan they been met yfeere Daun Iohn / hym maketh feeste and murye cheere Line 1532 And he hym tolde agayn / ful specially How he hadde wel yboght and graciously Thanked be god / al hool his marchandise Saue þat he moste / in alle maner wise Line 1536 Maken a cheuyssance / as for his beste And thanne / he sholde been / in ioye and reste ¶ Daun Iohn answerde / certes I am fayn That ye in heele / ar comen hom agayn Line 1540 And if þat I were riche / as haue I blisse Of twenty thousand sheeld / shold ye nat mysse

[6-text p 178] ffor ye / so kyndely / this oother day Lente me gold / and as I kan and may Line 1544 I thanke yow / by god and by seint Iame But nathelees / I took vn to oure dame Youre wyf / at hom / the same gold ageyn Vpon youre bench / she woot it wel certeyn Line 1548 By certeyn tokenes / that I kan yow telle Now by youre leue / I may no lenger dwelle Oure Abbot wole out of this toun anon And in his compaignye / moot I goon Line 1552 Grete wel oure dame / myn owene Nece sweete And fare wel deere cosyn / til we meete

This Marchant which þat was ful war and wys Creanced hath / and payd eek in Parys Line 1556 To certeyn lumbardes / redy in hir hond [.i. obligacionem] The somme of gold / and hadde of hem his bond And hoom he gooth / murie / as a Papeiay ffor wel he knew / he stood in swich array Line 1560 That nedes moste he wynne in that viage A thousand frankes / abouen al his costage ¶ His wyf ful redy / mette hym atte gate As she was wont of oold vsage algate Line 1564 And al that nyght in myrthe they bisette ffor he was riche / and cleerly out of dette Whan it was day / this Marchant gan embrace His wyf / al newe / and kiste hire on hir face Line 1568 And vp he gooth / and maketh it ful tough [folio 151b] ¶ Namoore quod she / by god ye haue ynough And wantownely agayn / with hym she pleyde ¶ Til atte laste / this Marchant seyde Line 1572 By god quod he / I am a litel wrooth With yow my wyf / al-though it were me looth And woot ye why / by god as þat I gesse That ye han maad / a manere straungenesse Line 1576 Bitwixen me / and my cosyn daun Iohn Ye sholde han warned me / er I had gon

[6-text p 179] That he yow hadde / an hundred frankes payed By redy tokene / and heeld hym yuele apayed Line 1580 ffor þat I to hym spak of cheuyssance Me semed so / as by his contenance But nathelees / by god oure heuene kyng I thoughte nat to axen hym no thyng Line 1584 I prey thee wyf / as do namoore so Telle me alwey / er that I fro thee go If any dettour / hath in myn absence Ypayed thee / lest thurgh thy necligence Line 1588 I myghte hym axe / a thing that he hath payed ¶ This wyf was nat afered nor affrayed But boldely she seyde / and that anon Marie / I deffie / the false Monk / daun Iohn Line 1592 I kepe nat of hise tokenes / neuer a deel He took me certeyn gold / that woot I wee What yuel thedam / on his Monkes snowte ffor god it woot I wende withouten doute Line 1596 That he hadde yeue it me / bycause of yow To doon ther-with / myn honour and my prow ffor cosynage / and eek for beele cheere That he hath had / ful ofte tymes heere Line 1600 But sith I se / I stonde in this disioynt I wol answere yow / shortly to the poynt ¶ Ye han mo slakkere dettours / than am I ffor I wol paye yow / wel and redily Line 1604 ffor day to day / and if so be I faille I am youre wyf score it vp-on my taille And I shal paye / as soone as euer I may ffor by my trouthe / I haue on myn array Line 1608 And nat on wast bistowed euery deel And for I haue / bistowed it so weel ffor youre honour / for goddes sake I seye As be nat wrooth / but lat vs laughe and pleye Line 1612 Ye shal / my ioly body / haue to wedde By god I wol nat paye yow but a bedde

[6-text p 180] fforgyue it me / myn owene spouse deere Turne hiderward / and maketh bettre cheere Line 1616 ¶ This Marchant saugh / ther was no remedie [folio 152a] And for to chide / it nere but greet folie Sith that the thyng may nat amended be Now wyf he seyde / and I foryeue it thee Line 1620 But by thy lyf ne be namoore so large Keepe bet oure good / that yeue I thee in charge Thus endeth my tale / and god vs sende Taillynge ynough / vn-to oure lyues ende Amen . Line 1624

¶ Heere endeth / the Shipmannes tale .

[6-text p 181]

¶ Bihoold the murie wordes of the Hoost to the Shipman and to the lady Prioresse. [on leaf 152]

Wel seyd by corpus dominus quod our Hoost Now longe / moote thou saille by the cost Sire gentil maister / gentil Maryneer God yeue this Monk / a thousand last quade yeer Line 1628 A ha felawes / beth ware of swiche a Iape The Monk putte / in the mannes hood an Ape And in his wyues eek by Seint Austyn Draweth no Monkes / moore vn to youre In Line 1632 ¶ But now passe ouer / and lat vs seke aboute Who shal now / telle first of al this route Another tale / and with that word he sayde As curteisly / as it had ben a mayde Line 1636 My lady Prioresse / by youre leue So that I wiste / I sholde yow nat greue I wolde demen / that ye tellen sholde A tale next if so were that ye wolde Line 1640 Now wol ye vouche sauf my lady deere ¶ Gladly quod she / and seyde as ye shal heere

¶ Explicit. .