Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

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

[6-text p 239] that spendeth ouer largely ‖. [2792] And therfore seith Caton ¶ Vse he seith / thy richesses that thou hast geten [¶ Cato] [2793] in swich a manere / that men haue / no matiere ne cause / to calle thee / neiþer wrecche ne chynche / [2794] for it is a greet shame to a man / to haue a pouere herte and a riche purs [2795] ¶ He seith also / the goodes that thou hast ygeten / vse hem by mesure / that is to seyn / spende hem mesurably / [2796] for they that folily / wasten and despenden / the goodes that they han? [2797] whan they han namoore propre of hir owene / they shapen hem to take the goodes of another man [2798] ¶ I seye thanne / that ye shul fleen Auarice / [2799] vsynge youre richesses / in swich manere / that men seye nat þat youre richesses been yburyed / [2800] but þat ye haue hem in youre myght and in youre weeldynge [2801] ¶ ffor a wys man / repreueth the Auaricious man / and seith thus / in two vers [2802] ¶ Wherto and why / burieth a man hise [¶ Vnde versifi|cator] goodes by his grete Auarice / and knoweth wel that nedes moste he dye / [2803] for deeth is the ende of euery man / as in this present lyf [2804] ¶ And for what cause / or encheson ioyneth he hym / or knytteth he hym / so faste vn-to hise goodes / [2805] that alle hise wittes mowen nat disseueren hym / or departen hym from hise goodes / [2806] and knoweth wel / or oghte knowe / that whan he is deed / he shal no thyng bere with hym / out of this world [2807] ¶ And ther-fore seith seint Augustyn ‖ That [¶ Augustinus] the Auaricious man is likned vn-to helle / [2808] that the moore it swelweth / the moore desir it hath to swelwe and deuoure / [2809] And as wel / as ye wolde eschewe / to be called an Auaricious man / or chynche / [2810] as wel sholde ye kepe yow and gouerne yow / in swich a wise / that men calle yow nat fool large [2811] ¶ Therfore seith Tullius ‖. The goodes he seith of thyn hous / ne sholde [¶ Tullius] nat been hyd / ne kept so cloos [folio 168b] but that they myghte been opened by pitee and debonairetee [2812] ¶ that is to seyn / to yeuen part to hem that han greet nede /. [2813]
/ 846
Pages Index

Actions

file_download Download Options Download this page PDF - Page 462 Image - Page 462 Plain Text - Page 462

About this Item

Title
The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author
Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas
Page 462
Publication
London :: Published for the Chaucer Society by N. Trübner,
1868-1879.

Technical Details

Link to this Item
https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8232.0001.001
Link to this scan
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/agz8232.0001.001/492:9.6.1

Rights and Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials are in the public domain. If you have questions about the collection, please contact [email protected]. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact [email protected].

DPLA Rights Statement: No Copyright - United States

Related Links

Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/api/manifest/cme:agz8232.0001.001

Cite this Item

Full citation
"The Ellesmere ms of Chaucer's Canterbury tales / edited by Frederick J. Furnivall." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8232.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 21, 2025.
Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.