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

[6-text p 283]

¶ Heere bigynneth / the Nonnes Preestes tale of [folio 183a] the Cok and Hen Chauntecleer and Pertelote

A poure wydwe / somdel stape in Age Was whilom dwellyng. in a narwe cotage Line 4012 Beside a greue / stondynge in a dale This wydwe / of which I telle yow my tale Syn thilke day / that she was last a wyf/ [[Painting of the Nun's Priest]] In pacience / ladde a ful symple lyf/ Line 4016 ffor litel / was hir catel and hir rente By housbondrie / of swich as god hire sente She foond hir self / and eek hire doghtren two Thre large sowes / hadde she and namo Line 4020 Three keen / and eek a sheep þat highte Malle fful sooty / was hir bour/ and eek hire halle In which she eet ful many a sklendre Meel Of poynaunt sauce / hir neded neuer a deel Line 4024 No deyntee morsel / passed thurgh hir throte Hir diete / was accordant to hir Cote Repleccion / ne made hire neuere sik / Attempree diete / was al hir phisik / Line 4028 And exercise / and hertes suffisaunce The goute / lette hire no-thyng for to daunce Napoplexie / shente nat hir heed No wyn ne drank / she / neither whit ne reed Line 4032 Hir bord was serued moost with whit and blak Milk and broun breed / in which she foond no lak Seynd Bacon / and somtyme an Ey or tweye ffor she was / as it were / a maner deye Line 4036 ¶ A yeerd she hadde / enclosed al aboute With stikkes / and a drye dych with-oute In which / she hadde a Cok heet Chauntecleer In al the land / of crowyng nas his peer Line 4040

[6-text p 284] Line 4040 His voys was murier/ than the murie Orgon On Messedayes / that in the chirche gon Wel sikerer/ was his crowyng in his logge Than is a Clokke / or an abbey Orlogge Line 4044 By nature / he crew eche Ascencioun Of the equynoxial in thilke toun ffor whan degrees fiftene weren ascended Thanne crew he / that it myghte nat been amended Line 4048 His Coomb was redder / than the fyn coral And batailled / as it were a Castel wal His byle was blak and as the Ieet it shoon Lyk Asure / were hise legges and his toon Line 4052 Hise nayles / whiter than the lylye flour And lyk the burned gold / was his colour This gentil Cok. hadde in his gouernaunce [folio 183b] Seuene hennes / for to doon al his plesaunce Line 4056 Whiche were / hise sustres and his paramours And wonder lyk to hym / as of colours Of whiche / the faireste hewed / on hir throte Was cleped / faire damoysele Pertelote Line 4060 Curteys she was / discreet and debonaire And compaignable / and bar hyr self so faire Syn thilke day / þat she was seuen nyght oold That trewely / she hath the herte in hoold Line 4064 Of Chauntecleer / loken in euery lith He loued hire so / þat wel was hym therwith But swiche a ioye was it to here hem synge Whan þat / the brighte sonne / bigan to sprynge Line 4068 In sweete accord / My lief is faren in londe ffor thilke tyme / as I haue vnderstonde Beestes and briddes / koude speke and synge ¶ And so bifel / that in the dawenynge Line 4072 As Chauntecleer / among hise wyues alle Sat on his perche / that was in the halle And next hym / sat this faire Pertelote This Chauntecleer / gan gronen in his throte Line 4076

[6-text p 285] Line 4076 As man þat in his dreem / is drecched soore ¶ And whan that Pertelote / thus herde hym roore She was agast and seyde o herte deere What eyleth yow / to grone in this manere Line 4080 Ye been a verray sleper / fy for shame ¶ And he answerde / and seyde thus? / madame I pray yow / that ye take it nat agrief By god me thoughte / I was in swich meschief Line 4084 Right now / þat yet myn herte is soore afright Now god quod he / my sweuene recche aright And kepe my body / out of foul prisoun Me mette / how that I romed vp and doun Line 4088 With-Inne our yeerd / wheer as I saugh a beest Was lyk an hound / and wolde han maad areest Vpon my body / and han had me deed His colour/ was bitwixe yelow and reed Line 4092 And tipped was his tayl / and bothe hise eeris With blak / vnlyk the remenant of hise heeris His snowte smal / with glowynge eyen tweye Yet of his look. for feere almoost I deye Line 4096 This caused me / my gronyng doutelees ¶ Avoy quod she / fy on yow hertelees Allas quod she / for by that god aboue Now han ye lost myn herte and al my loue Line 4100 I kan nat loue a Coward / by my feith ffor certes / what so any womman seith We alle desiren / if it myghte bee [folio 184a] To han housbondes / hardy wise and free Line 4104 And secree / and no Nygard / ne no fool Ne hym / þat is agast of euery tool Ne noon auauntour / by that god aboue How dorste ye seyn for shame / vn-to youre loue Line 4108 That any thyng myghte make yow aferd Haue ye no mannes herte / and han a berd ¶ Allas and konne ye been agast of sweuenys No thyng god woot / but vanitee in sweuene is Line 4112

[6-text p 286] Line 4112 Sweuenes / engendren of repleccions And ofte of fume / and of compleccions Whan humours / been to habundant in a wight ¶ Certes this dreem / which ye han met to-nyght Line 4116 Cometh / of greet superfluytee Of youre rede Colera pardee Which causeth folk / to dreden in hir dremes Of Arwes / and of fyre with rede lemes Line 4120 Of grete beestes / that they wol hem byte Of contekes and of whelpes / grete and lyte Right as the humour/ of Malencolie Causeth ful many a man / in sleepe to crie Line 4124 ffor feere of blake beres / or boles blake Or elles / blake deueles wole hem take ¶ Of othere humours / koude I telle also That werken many a man / in sleepe ful wo Line 4128 But I wol passe / as lightly as I kan

LO Caton which þat was so wys a man Seyde he nat thus / ne do no fors of dremes ¶ Now sire quod she / whan ye flee fro the bemes Line 4132 ffor goddes loue / as taak som laxatyf Vp peril of my soule / and of my lyf I conseille yow the beste / I. wol nat lye That bothe of Colere / and of Malencolye Line 4136 Ye purge yow / and for ye shal nat tarie Though in this toun / is noon Apothecarie I shal my self. to herbes techen yow That shul been / for youre hele / and for youre prow Line 4140 And in oure yeerd / tho herbes shal I fynde The whiche han / of hire propretee by kynde To purge yow / bynethe and eek aboue fforyet nat this / for goddes owene loue Line 4144 Ye been ful coleryk of compleccion Ware the sonne / in his ascencion Ne fynde yow nat repleet of humours hoote. And if it do / I dar wel leye a grote Line 4148

[6-text p 287] Line 4148 That ye shul haue / a ffeuere terciane Or an Agu / that may be youre bane A day or two / ye shul haue digestyues [folio 184b] Of wormes / er ye take youre laxatyues Line 4152 Of lawriol / Centaure / and ffumetere Or elles of Ellebor / that groweth there Of katapuce / or of Gaitrys beryis Of herbe yue growyng in oure yeerd ther mery is Line 4156 Pekke hem vp right as they growe and ete hem yn Be myrie housbonde / for youre fader kyn Dredeth no dreem / I kan sey yow namoore

Madame quod he / graunt mercy of youre loore Line 4160 But nathelees / as touchyng Daun Catoun That hath of wysdom / swich a greet renoun Though that he bad / no dremes for to drede By god / men may / in olde bookes rede Line 4164 Of many a man / moore of Auctorite Than euere Caton was / so moot I thee That al the reuers seyn / of this sentence And han wel founden by experience Line 4168 That dremes / been significacions As wel of Ioye / as of tribulacions That folk enduren / in this lif present Ther nedeth / make of this noon Argument Line 4172 The verray preeue / sheweth it in dede ¶ Oon / of the gretteste Auctour / þat men rede [¶ Nota de Sompnio] Seith thus / þat whilom two felawes wente On pilgrimage / in a ful good entente Line 4176 And happed so / they coomen in a toun Wher as ther was / swich congregacioun Of peple / and eek so streit of herbergage That they ne founde / as muche as o cotage Line 4180 In which they bothe / myghte logged bee Wherfore / they mosten of necessitee As for that nyght departen compaignye And ech of hem / gooth to his hostelrye Line 4184

[6-text p 288] Line 4184 And took his loggyng as it wolde falle That oon of hem / was logged in a stalle ffer in a yeerd / with Oxen of the plough That oother man / was logged wel ynough Line 4188 As was his Auenture / or his ffortune That vs gouerneth alle / as in commune ¶ And so bifel / þat longe er it were day [.i. dremed] This man mette in his bed ther as he lay Line 4192 How þat his felawe / gan vp-on hym calle And seyde Allas / for in an Oxes stalle This nyght I shal be mordred / ther I lye Now helpe me deere brother / or I dye Line 4196 In alle haste / com to me he sayde ¶ This man out of his sleepe / for feere abrayde But whan that he was wakened / of his sleepe [folio 185a] He turned hym / and took of it no keepe Line 4200 Hym thoughte / his dreem nas but a vanitee Thus twies / in his slepyng dremed hee And atte thridde tyme / yet his felawe Cam as hym thoughte / and seide .I am now slawe Line 4204 Bihoold my bloody woundes depe and wyde Arys vp erly / in the morwe tyde And at the West gate / of the toun quod he A Carte / ful of donge / ther shaltow se Line 4208 In Which / my body is hid / ful priuely Do thilke Carte / arresten boldely My gold caused my mordre / sooth to sayn And tolde hym euery point how he was slayn Line 4212 With a ful pitous face / pale of hewe And truste wel / his dreem he foond ful trewe ffor on the morwe / as soone as it was day To his felawes In / he took the way Line 4216 And whan þat he cam / to this Oxes stalle After his felawe / he bigan to calle ¶ The hostiler / answerde hym anon And seyde sire / your felawe is agon Line 4220

[6-text p 289] Line 4220 As soone as day / he wente out of the toun ¶ This man / gan fallen in suspecioun Remembrynge / on hise dremes / þat he mette And forth he gooth / no lenger wolde he lette Line 4224 Vn-to the westgate of the toun / and fond A dong Carte / as it were to donge lond That was arrayed / in that same wise As ye han herd / the dede man deuyse Line 4228 And with an hardy herte / he gan to crye Vengeance and Iustice / of this felonye My felawe / mordred is / this same nyght And in this Carte / heere he lith gapyng vpright Line 4232 I crye out on the Ministres quod he That sholden kepe / and reulen this Citee Harrow allas / heere lith my felawe slayn What sholde I moore / vn-to this tale sayn Line 4236 The peple out sterte / and caste the Cart to grounde And in the myddel of the dong they founde The dede man / that mordred was al newe

O blisful god / that art so Iust and trewe [¶ Auctor] Lo / howe þat thou biwreyest mordre alway Line 4241 Mordre wol out / that se we day by day Mordre / is so wlatsom / and abhomynable To god / that is so Iust and resonable Line 4244 That he / ne wol nat/ suffre it heled be Though it abyde / a yeer / or two / or thre Mordre wol out this my conclusioun [folio 185b] And right anon / Ministres of that toun Line 4248 Han hent the Carter / and so soore hym pyned And eek the hostiler / so soore engyned That they biknewe / hire wikkednesse anon And were an-hanged / by the nekke bon Line 4252 ¶ Heere may men seen / þat dremes been to drede And certes / in the same book / I rede Right in the nexte Chapitre after this I gabbe nat. so haue I ioye or blis Line 4256

[6-text p 290] Line 4256

Two men / that wolde han passed ouer see [¶ Adhuc de sompnio] ffor certeyn cause / in to a fer contree If that the wynd / ne hadde been contrarie That made hem / in a Citee for to tarie Line 4260 That stood ful myrie / vpon an hauen syde But on a day / agayn the euen tyde The wynd gan chaunge / and blew right as hem leste Iolif and glad / they wente vn-to hir reste Line 4264 And casten hem / ful erly for to saille ¶ But herkneth / to that o man / fil a greet meruaille That oon of hem / in slepyng as he lay Hym mette a wonder dreem / agayn the day Line 4268 Him thoughte / a man stood by his beddes syde And hym comanded / þat he sholde abyde And seyde hym thus / if thou tomorwe wende Thow shalt be dreynt my tale is at an ende Line 4272 ¶ He wook / and tolde his felawe what he mette And preyde hym / his viage to lette As for that day / he preyde hym to byde ¶ His felawe / that lay / by his beddes syde Line 4276 Gan for to laughe / and scorned him ful faste No dreem quod he / may so myn herte agaste That I wol lette / for to do my thynges I sette nat a straw / by thy dremynges Line 4280 ffor sweuenes / been but vanytees and Iapes Men dreme al day / of Owles / or of Apes And of many a maze / ther-with-al Men dreme of thyng þat neuere was ne shal Line 4284 But sith I see / that thou wolt heere abyde And thus forslewthen / wilfully thy tyde God woot it reweth me / and haue good day And thus / he took his leue / and wente his way Line 4288 But er þat he hadde / half his cours yseyled Noot I nat why / ne what myschaunce it eyled But casuelly / the shippes botme rente And shipe and man / vnder the water wente Line 4292

[6-text p 291] Line 4292 In sighte of othere shippes / it bisyde That with hem seyled / at the same tyde And therfore / faire Pertelote so deere [folio 186a] By swiche ensamples olde / yet maistow leere Line 4296 That no man / sholde been to recchelees Of dremes / for I seye thee doutelees That many a dreem / ful soore is for to drede

LO / in the lyf of seint kenelm / I rede [¶ De sompnio sanc|ti kenelmi] That was kenulphus sone / the noble kyng Of Mertenrike / how kenelm mette a thyng A lite er he was mordred / on a day His mordre / in his Auysion he say Line 4304 His Norice / hym expowned euery deel His sweuene / and bad hym for to kepe hym weel ffor traison / but he nas but .vij. yeer oold And therfore / litel tale hath he toold Line 4308 Of any dreem / so hooly is his herte By god / I hadde leuere than my sherte That ye hadde rad his legende / as haue I. Dame Pertelote / I sey yow trewely Line 4312 Macrobeus / that writ the Avision In Affrike / of the worthy Cipion Affermeth dremes / and seith þat they been Warnynge of thynges / þat men after seen Line 4316 ¶ And forther-moore I pray yow looketh wel [¶ Adhuc de sompnijs] In the olde testament of Daniel If he / heeld dremes any vanitee ¶ Reed eek of Ioseph / and ther shul ye see Line 4320 Wher dremes be somtyme / I sey nat alle Warnynge / of thynges / þat shul after falle ¶ Looke of Egipte / the kyng daun Pharao His Baker / and his Butiller also Line 4324 Wher they ne felte noon effect in dremes Who so wol seken actes / of sondry Remes May rede of dremes / many a wonder thyng ¶ Lo Cresus / which þat was of Lyde kyng Line 4328

[6-text p 292] Line 4328 Mette he nat that he sat vp-on a tree Which signified / he sholde anhanged bee ¶ Lo heere Adromacha / Ectores wyf That day / that Ector / sholde lese his lyf Line 4332 She dremed / on the same nyght biforn How þat the lyf of Ector / sholde be lorne If thilke day / he wente in-to bataille She warned hym / but it myghte nat auaille Line 4336 He wente / for to fighte natheles But he was slayn anon of Achilles But thilke tale is al to longe for to telle And eek it is ny day / I may nat dwelle Line 4340 Shortly I seye / as for conclusion That I shal han / of this Avision Aduersitee /. and I seye forthermoor [folio 186b] That I ne telle / of laxatyues no stoor Line 4344 ffor they been venymes / I woot it weel I hem diffye / I loue hem neuer a deel ¶ Now let vs speke of myrthe / and stynte al this Madame Pertelote / so haue I blis Line 4348 Of o thyng god hath sent me large grace ffor whan I se / the beautee of youre face Ye been so scarlet reed / aboute youre eyen It maketh / al my drede for to dyen Line 4352 ffor al so siker / as In principio Mulier est hominis confusio ¶ Madame / the sentence / of this latyn is Womman is mannes Ioye / and al his blis Line 4356 ffor whan I feele a nyght your softe syde Al be it that I may nat on yow ryde ffor þat oure perche / is maad so narwe allas I am so ful of ioye / and of solas Line 4360 That I diffye / bothe sweuene and dreem And with that word / he fly doun fro the beem ffor it was day / and eke hise hennes alle And with a chuk / he gan hem for to calle Line 4364

[6-text p 293] Line 4364 ffor he hadde founde a corn / lay in the yerd Real he was / he was namoore aferd And fethered Pertelote / twenty tyme And trad as ofte / er it was pryme Line 4368 He looketh / as it were / a grym leoun And on hise toos / he rometh vp and doun Hym deigned nat to sette his foot to grounde He chukketh / whan he hath a corn yfounde Line 4372 And to hym rennen thanne / hise wyues alle Thus roial / as a prince is in an halle Leue I this Chauntecleer / in his pasture And after / wol I telle / his auenture Line 4376

Whan þat the Monthe / in which the world bigan That highte March / whan god first maked man Was compleet and passed were also Syn March bigan / thritty dayes and two Line 4380 Bifel / that Chauntecleer / in al his pryde Hise seuene wyues / walkynge by his syde Caste vp hise eyen / to the brighte sonne That in the signe of Taurus / hadde yronne Line 4384 Twenty degrees and oon / and som-what moore And knew by kynde / and by noon oother loore That it was Pryme / and crew with blisful steuene The sonne he seyde / is clomben vp on heuene Line 4388 ffourty degrees and oon / and moore ywis Madame Pertelote / my worldes blis Herkneth thise blisful briddes / how they synge [folio 187a] And se / the fresshe floures / how they sprynge Line 4392 fful is myn herte / of reuel and solas But sodeynly / hym fil a sorweful cas ffor euere / the latter ende of ioye is wo God woot þat worldly ioye / is soone ago Line 4396 And if a Rethor / koude faire endite He in a Cronycle saufly myghte it write As for a souereyn notabilitee [¶ Petrus Comestor] Now euery wys man / lat him herkne me Line 4400

[6-text p 294] Line 4400 This storie / is al so trewe I vndertake As is the book / of launcelot de lake That wommen holde / in ful greet reuerence Now wol I / come / agayn to my sentence Line 4404

A Colfox / ful of sly Iniquitee That in the groue / hadde wonned yeres three By heigh ymaginacion / forn-cast The same nyght / thurgh-out the hegges brast Line 4408 In-to the yerd / ther Chauntecleer the faire Was wont and eek hise wyues to repaire And in a bed of wortes / stille he lay Til it was passed / vndren of the day Line 4412 Waitynge his tyme / on Chauntecleer to falle As gladly / doon thise homycides alle That in await liggen / to mordre men O false mordrour / lurkynge in thy den Line 4416 O newe Scariot newe Genylon ffalse dissynulour / o greek synon That broghtest Troye / al outrely to sorwe O Chauntecleer / acursed be that morwe Line 4420 That thou in-to that yerd / flaugh fro the bemes Thou were / ful wel ywarned by thy dremes That thilke day / was perilous to thee But what þat god forwoot moot nedes bee Line 4424 After the opinion / of certein clerkis Witnesse on hym / that any parfit clerk is That in scole / is greet altercacion In this mateere / and greet disputison Line 4428 And hath been / of an hundred thousand men But I ne kan nat bulte it to the bren As kan the hooly doctour Augustyn Or Boece / or the Bisshope Bradwardyn Line 4432 Wheither / that goddes / worthy forwityng Streyneth me / nedefully to doon a thyng Nedely / clepe I / symple necessitee Or elles / if free choys be graunted me Line 4436

[6-text p 295] Line 4436 To do that same thyng. or do it noght Though god forwoot it er þat it was wroght Or if his wityng. streyneth neuer a deel [folio 187b] But by necessitee condicioneel Line 4440 I wil nat han to do / of swich mateere My tale is of a Cok. as ye may heere That took his conseil / of his wyf with sorwe To walken in the yerd / vpon that morwe Line 4444 That he hadde met that dreem / þat I of tolde Wommennes conseils / been ful ofte colde Wommannes conseil / broghte vs first to wo And made Adam / out of Paradys to go Line 4448 Ther as he was ful myrie / and wel at ese But for I noot to whom it myght displese If I / conseil of wommen wolde blame Passe ouer / for I seye it in my game Line 4452 Rede Auctours / where they trete / of swich mateere And what they seyn of wommen / ye may heere Thise been the Cokkes wordes / and nat myne I kan noon harm / of no womman diuyne Line 4456

Faire in the soond / to bathe hire myrily Lith Pertelote / and alle hire sustres by Agayn the sonne / and Chauntecleer so free Soong murier / than the Mermayde in the see Line 4460 ffor Phisiologus / seith sikerly How þat they syngen / wel and myrily ¶ And so bifel / that as he cast his eye Among the wortes / on a Boterflye Line 4464 He was war of this fox / þat lay ful lowe No-thyng ne liste hym thanne for to crowe But cride anon cok / cok / and vp he sterte As man / that was affrayed in his herte Line 4468 ffor natureelly / a beest desireth flee ffro his contrarie /. if he may it see Though he neuer erst. hadde seyn it with his eye ¶ This Chauntecleer / whan he gan hym espye Line 4472

[6-text p 296] Line 4472 He wolde han fled / but that the fox anon Seyde gentil sire / allas wher wol ye gon Be ye affrayed of me / that am youre freend Now certes / I were worse than a feend Line 4476 If I to yow / wolde harm / or vileynye I am nat come / your conseil for tespye But trewely / the cause of my comynge Was oonly / for to herkne how that ye synge Line 4480 ffor trewely / ye haue as myrie a steuene As any Aungel / that is in heuene Ther-with ye han in Musyk moore feelynge Than hadde Boece / or any þat kan synge Line 4484 My lord youre fader / god his soule blesse And eek youre mooder/ of hire gentillesse Han in myn hous ybeen / to my greet ese [folio 188a] And certes sire / ful fayn wolde I yow plese Line 4488 ¶ But for men speke of syngyng I wol yow seye So moote I brouke wel / myne eyen tweye Saue yow / herde I neuere man yet synge As dide youre fader / in the morwenynge Line 4492 Certes / it was of herte / al that he song And for to make / his voys / the moore strong He wolde so peyne hym / that with bothe hise eyen He moste wynke / so loude he wolde cryen Line 4496 And stonden on his tiptoon / ther-with-al And strecche forth his nekke / long and smal And eek he was / of swich discrecion That ther nas / no man in no Region Line 4500 That hym / in song or wisedom myghte passe I haue wel rad / in daun Burnel the Asse Among hise vers / how that ther was a Cok ffor that a preestes sone / yaf hym a knok Line 4504 Vp-on his leg whil he was yong and nyce He made hym / for to lese his benefice But certeyn / ther nys no comparison Bitwixe / the wisedom / and discrecion Line 4508

[6-text p 297] Line 4508 Of youre fader / and of his subtiltee Now syngeth sire / for seinte charitee Lat se / konne ye youre fader countrefete ¶ This Chauntecleer / hise wynges gan to bete Line 4512 As man / þat koude his trayson nat espie So was he rauysshed with his flaterie

Allas ye lordes / many a fals flatour Is in youre Courtes / and many a losengeour Line 4516 That plesen yow / wel moore by my feith Than he / that soothfastnesse / vn-to yow seith Redeth Ecclesiaste / of fflaterye Beth war ye lordes / of hir trecherye Line 4520 ¶ This Chauntecleer / stood hye vp on his toos Strecchynge his nekke / and heeld hise eyen cloos And gan to crowe / loude for the nones And daun Russell the fox / stirte vp atones Line 4524 And by the gargat hente Chauntecleer And on his bak / toward the wode hym beer ffor yet ne was ther no man / þat hym sewed ¶ O destinee / that mayst nat been eschewed Line 4528 Allas / þat Chauntecleer / fleigh fro the bemes Allas / his wyf / ne roghte nat of dremes And on a friday / fil al this meschaunce ¶ O Venus / that art goddesse of plesaunce Line 4532 Syn that thy seruant. was this Chauntecleer [folio 188b] And in thy seruyce / dide al his poweer Moore for delit than world to multiplye Why woltestow suffre hym / on thy day to dye Line 4536 ¶ O Gaufred deere Maister souerayn That whan thy worthy kyng Richard was slayn With shot. compleynedest his deeth so soere Why ne hadde I now / thy sentence / and thy loore Line 4540 The friday for to chide / as diden ye ffor on a friday / soothly slayn was he Thanne wolde I shewe yow / how þat I koude pleyne ffor Chauntecleres drede / and for his peyne Line 4544

[6-text p 298] Line 4544 ¶ Certes / swich cry / ne lamentacion Was neuere / of ladyes maad / whan Ylion Was wonne / and Pirrus with his streite swerd Whan he hadde hent kyng Priam / by the berd Line 4548 And slayn hym / as seith vs Eneydos As maden / alle the hennes in the clos Whan they had seyn / of Chauntecleer the sighte But sodeynly / dame Pertelote shrighte Line 4552 fful louder/ than dide Hasdrubales wyf Whan þat hir housbonde / hadde lost his lyf And þat the Romayns / hadde brend Cartage She was / so ful of torment and of rage Line 4556 That wilfully / in-to the fyr she sterte And brende hir seluen / with a stedefast herte ¶ O woful hennes / right so criden ye As whan that Nero / brende the Citee Line 4560 Of Rome / cryden senatours wyues ffor þat hir husbondes losten alle hir lyues With-outen gilt this Nero hath hem slayn Now turne I wole /. to my tale agayn Line 4564

This sely wydwe / and eek hir doghtres two Herden thise hennes crie / and maken wo And out at dores / stirten they anon And syen the fox / toward the groue gon Line 4568 And bar vp-on his bak / the Cok away And cryden out harrow / and weylaway Ha. ha / the fox / and after hym they ran And eek with staues / many another man Line 4572 Ran Colle oure dogge / and Talbot and Gerland And Malkyn / with a dystaf / in hir hand Ran Cow and Calf and the verray hogges So fered / for berkyng of the dogges Line 4576 And shoutyng of the men and wommen eek · They ronne so / hem thoughte hir herte breek They yolleden / as feendes doon in helle The dokes cryden / as men wolde hem quelle Line 4580

[6-text p 299] Line 4580 The gees for feere / flowen ouer the trees [folio 189a] Out of the hyve / cam the swarm of bees So hydous was the noyse / a benedicitee Certes / he Iakke Straw / and his meynee Line 4584 Ne made neuere / shoutes / half so shille Whan þat they wolden / any flemyng kille As thilke day / was maad vp-on the fox Of bras / they broghten bemes and of box Line 4588 Of horn / of boon / in whiche they blewe and powped And ther-with-al / they skriked / and they howped It semed / as that heuene sholde falle Now goode men / I pray yow herkneth alle Line 4592

Lo / how ffortune / turneth sodeynly The hope / and pryde / of hir enemy This Cok / that lay vpon the foxes bak In al his drede / vn-to the fox he spak Line 4596 And seyde sire / if that I were as ye Yet wolde I seyn / as wys god helpe me Turneth agayn / ye proude cherles alle A verray pestilence / vp-on yow falle Line 4600 Now am I come / vn-to the wodes syde Maugree youre heed / the Cox shal heere abyde I wol hym ete in feith / and that anon ¶ The fox answerde / in feith it shal be don Line 4604 And as he spak that word / al sodeynly This Cok / brak from his mouth delyuerly And heighe vp-on a tree / he fleigh anon And whan the fox saugh / þat he was gon Line 4608 ¶ Allas quod he / o Chauntecleer / allas I haue to yow quod he ydoon trespas In as muche / as I maked yow aferd Whan I yow hente / and broght in to this yerd Line 4612 But sire I dide it. of no wikke entente Com doun / and I shal telle yow what I mente I shal seye sooth to yow / god help me so ¶ Nay thanne quod he / I shrewe vs bothe two Line 4616

[6-text p 300] Line 4616 And first I shrewe my self / bothe blood and bones If thou bigyle me / any ofter than ones Thou shalt na moore / thurgh thy flaterye Do me to synge / and wynke with myn eye Line 4620 ffor he that wynketh / whan he sholde see Al wilfully / god lat him neuere thee ¶ Nay quod the fox / but god yeue hym meschaunce That is so / vndiscreet of gouernaunce Line 4624 That Iangleth / whan he sholde holde his pees ¶ Lo swich it is / for to be recchelees And necligent and truste on flaterye ¶ But ye / that holden / this tale a folye Line 4628 As of a fox / or of a Cok and Hen [folio 189b] Taketh the moralite / goode men ffor seint Paul seith / þat al that writen is To oure doctrine / it is ywrite ywis Line 4632 Taketh the fruyt and lat the chaf be stille Now goode god / if that it be thy wille As seith my lord / so make vs alle goode men [¶ scilicet domi|nus Archiepis|copus Cantuari|ensis] And brynge vs / to his heighe blisse Amen

¶ Heere is ended / the Nonnes preestes tale .