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

[6-text p 334]

GROUP D. FRAGMENT V.

§ 1. WIFE OF BATH'S PREAMBLE.

HENGWRT MS.

¶ Here bigynneth the prologe of the tale of the Wyf of Bathe. [folio 58a]

Experience / thogh noon Auctoritee Were in this world / is right ynogh for me To speke of wo / that is in mariage ffor lordynges / sith þat I twelf yeer was of age Line 4 Thonked be god / that is eterne on lyue. Housbondes atte chirche dore / I haue had fyue If I so ofte / myghte han wedded be And alle were worthy men / in hir degree Line 8 But me was told certeyn / noght longe agon is That sith þat Crist ne wente neuere but onys To weddyng in the Cane of Galilee That by the same ensample / taughte he me Line 12 That I ne sholde / wedded be but ones ¶ Herke eek / lo / which a sharp word for the nones Bisyde a welle / Ihesus / god and man Spak/ in repreeue of the Samaritan Line 16 ¶ Thow hast yhad / fyue housbondes quod he And that ilke man / which that now hath thee Is nat thyn housbonde / thus he seyde certeyn. What that he mente ther-by / I kan nat seyn Line 20 But þat I axe / why þat the fifthe man Was noon housbonde / to the Samaritan How manye / myghte she han in mariage Yet herde I neuere / tellen in myn age Line 24

[6-text p 335] Line 24 Vp-on this nombre / diffynycioun Men may dyuyne / and glosen vp & doun But wel I woot expres / with-outen lye God bad vs / for to wexe and multiplye Line 28 That gentil text kan I wel vnderstonde ¶ Eek wel I woot he seyde þat myn housbonde Sholde lete / fader and moder/ and take to me But of no nombre / mencion made he Line 32 Of Bigamye / or of Octogamye Why sholde men thanne / speke of it vileynye ¶ Lo here / the wise kyng Dann Salomon I trowe / he hadde wyues many oon Line 36 As wolde god / it leueful were to me [folio 58b] To be refresshed / half so ofte as he Which yifte of god hadde he / for alle hise wyuys No man hath swich / that in this world alyue is Line 40 God woot this noble kyng as to my wit The firste nyght hadde many a murye fit With ech of hem / so wel was hym on lyue Blessed be god / that I haue wedded fyue Line 44 Wel come the sixte / whan þat euere he shal ffor sith I wol nat kepe me / chaast in al Whan myn housbonde / is fro the world agon Som cristen man / shal wedde me anon Line 48 ffor thanne thapostle seith / þat I am free To wedde a goddes half / where it liketh me He seith / that to be wedded is no synne Bet is to be wedded / than to brynne Line 52 What rekketh me / theigh folk / seye vileynye Of shrewed Lameth / and his bigamye I woot wel / Abraham was an holy man And Iacob eek as fer as euere I kan Line 56 And ech of hem / hadde wyues mo than two And many another / holy man also ¶ Where kan ye seye / in any maner age That heighe god / defended mariage Line 60

[6-text p 336] Line 60 By expres word / I pray yow telleth me Or where comanded he virgynytee I woot as wel as ye / it is no drede Thapostle / whan he speketh of maydenhede Line 64 He seyde / that precept ther-of / hadde he noon Men may conseille a womman / to be oon But conseillyng nys no comandement He put it in oure owene Iuggement Line 68 ffor hadde god / comanded maydenhede Thanne hadde he dampned weddyng with the dede And certes / if ther were no seed ysowe Virgynytee thanne / wher-of sholde it growe Line 72 Poul dorste nat comanden / at the leeste A thyng of which / his mayster yaf noon heeste The dart/ is set vp for virgynytee Cacche who so may / who renneth best lat se Line 76 But this word / is noght take of euery wight [folio 59a] But ther as god / list yeue it of his myght I woot wel / that thapostle was a mayde But nathelees / thogh þat he wroot or sayde Line 80 He wolde / that euery wight were swich as he Al nys but conseil / to virgynytee And for to been a wyf / he yaf me leue Of Indulgence / so nys it no repreue Line 84 To wedde me / if that my make dye With-outen excepcion of bigamye Al were it good / no womman for to touche He mente / as in his bed / or in his couche Line 88 ffor peril is / bothe fyr and tow tassemble Ye knowe / what this ensample may resemble This al and som / he heeld virgynytee Moore parfit than weddyng in freletee Line 92 ffreletee clepe I / but if þat he and she Wolde leden / al hir lyf in chastitee I graunte it wel / I haue noon enuye Thogh maydenhede / preferre bigamye Line 96

[6-text p 337] Line 96 It liketh hem to be clene / in body and goost Of myn estat ne wol I make no boost ffor wel ye knowe / a lord in his houshold Ne hath nat euery vessel / al of gold Line 100 Somme been of tree / and doon hir lord seruyse God clepeth folk to hym / in sondry wyse And euerich / hath of god a propre yifte Som this / som that as hym liketh shifte Line 104 Virgynytee / is greet perfeccion And continence eek with deuocion But Crist that of perfeccion / is welle Bad nat euery wight he sholde go selle Line 108 Al that he hadde / and yeue it to the poore And in swich wise / folwe hym and his foore He spak to hem / that wol lyue parfitly And lordynges / by youre leue / that am nat I Line 112 I wol bistowe / the flour of al myn age In thactes / and in fruyt of mariage ¶ Telle me also / to what conclusion [questio!] Were membres maad / of generacion Line 116 And of so parfit wys a wight ywroght / [folio 59b] Trusteth right wel / they were nat maad for noght Glose who so wole / and seye bothe vp and doun That they were maad / for purgacioun Line 120 Of Vryne / and oure bothe thynges smale Was eek to knowe / a femelle/ from a male And for noon oother cause / sey ye / no? Thexperience / woot wel it is noght so Line 124 So that the Clerkes / be nat with me wrothe I sey this / þat they maked been for bothe That is to seyn / for office and for ese Of engendrure / ther we nat god displese Line 128 Why sholde men ellis / in hir bokes sette That man shal yelde / to his wyf hir dette Now wherwith / sholde he make his paiement If he ne vsed / his sely Instrument Line 132

[6-text p 338] Line 132 Thanne were they maad / vp-on a creature To purge vryne / and eek for engendrure ¶ But I seye noght þat euery wight is holde That hath swich harneys / as I to yow tolde Line 136 To goon / and vsen hem in engendrure Thanne sholde men take / of Chastitee no cure Crist was a mayde / and shapen as a man And many a Seynt sith that the world bigan Line 140 yet lyued they euere / in parfit Chastitee I nyl envie / no virgynytee Lat hem be breed / of pured whete seed And lat us wyues / hote Barlybreed Line 144 And yet with Barlybreed / Mark telle kan Oure lord Ihesu / refresshed many a man In swich estat as god hath clepyd vs I wol perseuere / I nam nat precius Line 148 In wifhode / wol I vse myn Instrument As frely / as my makere hath it sent If I be daungerous / god yeue me sorwe Myn housbonde / shal it han / bothe eue and morwe Line 152 Whan that hym list com forth and paye his dette And housbonde / wol I haue / I wol nat lette Which shal be / bothe / my dettour and my thral And haue / his tribulacion / with-al Line 156 Vp-on his flessh / whil that I am his wyf [folio 60a] I haue the power / duryng al my lyf Vp-on his propre body / and nat he Right thus / thapostle / tolde it vn-to me Line 160 And bad oure housbondes / for to loue vs wel Al this sentence / me liketh euery del

Vp stirte the Pardoner / and that anon Now dame quod he / by god and by Seint Iohn Line 164 Ye been a noble Prechour / in this cas I was aboute / to wedde a wyf allas What sholde I bye it / on my flessh so deere Yet hadde I leuere / wedde no wyf to yeere Line 168

[6-text p 339] Line 168 ¶ Abyd quod she / my tale is nat bigonne Nay / thow shalt drynken / of another tonne Er þat I go / shal sauoure wors than Ale And whan that I / haue toold thee forth my tale Line 172 Of tribulacion / in maryage Of which I am expert in al myn age This is to seye / my self hath been the whippe Thanne maystow / chese / wheither þat thow wolt sippe Of thilke tonne / that I shal abroche Line 177 Be war of it / er thow to neigh approche ffor I shal telle ensamples / mo than ten Who so þat nyle / be war/ by othere men Line 180 By hym / shal othere men corrected be Thise same wordes / writeth Protholome Rede in his Almageste / and take it there ¶ Dame I wolde pray yow / if youre wyl it were Line 184 Seyde this Pardoner / as ye bigan Telle forth youre tale / spareth for no man And techeth vs yonge men / of youre praktyke ¶ Gladly quod she / syn it may yow lyke Line 188 But that I praye / to al this compaignye If that I speke / after my fantasye As taketh nat agrief / of that I seye ffor myn entente / nys but for to pleye Line 192

Now sire / thanne wol I telle yow forth my tale As euere / moot I drynke / wyn or Ale I shal seye sooth / tho housbondes þat I hadde As three of hem were goode / and two were badde Line 196 The thre men / were goode / and ryche / and olde [folio 60b] Vnnethe myghte they / the Statut holde In which / that they were bounden vn-to me Ye woot wel / what I mene of this pardee Line 200 As help me god / I laughe whan I thynke How pitously / a nyght I made hem swynke And by my fey / I tolde of it no stoor They hadde me yeuen / hir land and hir tresoor Line 204

[6-text p 340] Line 204 Me neded nat do lenger diligence To wynne hir loue / or doon hem reuerence They loued me so wel / by god aboue That I ne tolde / no deyntee of hir loue Line 208 A wys womman / wol bisye hire / euere in oon To gete hir loue / ye ther as she hath noon But sith I hadde hem / hoolly in myn hond And sith that they / hadde yeuen me al hir lond Line 212 What sholde I take kepe / hem for to plese But it were / for my profit and myn ese I sette hem awerk by my fey That many a nyght they songen weylawey Line 216 The bacon / was nat fet for hem I trowe That som men han / in Essexe at Donmowe I gouerned hem / so wel after my lawe That ech of hem / ful blisful was and fawe Line 220 To brynge me / gaye thynges fro the ffeyre They were ful glad / whan I spak to hem feyre ffor god it woot I chidde hem spitously ¶ Now herkneth / how I bar me proprely Line 224 ye wise wyues / that konne vnderstonde Thus sholde ye speke / and bere hem wrong on honde ffor half so boldely / kan ther no man Swere and lye / as a womman kan Line 228 I sey nat this / by wyues þat ben wyse But if it be / whan they hem mysauyse A wys wyf / if that she kan hir good Shal bere hym an hond / the Cow is wood Line 232 And take witnesse / of hir owene mayde Of hire assent but herkneth how I sayde ¶ Sire olde kaynard / is this thyn array Why is / my Neghebores wyf so gay Line 236 She is honoured / ouer al ther she goth [folio 61a] I sitte at hoom / I haue no thrifty cloth What dostow / at my neghebores hous Is she so fair / artow so amorous Line 240

[6-text p 341] Line 240 What rowne ye with oure mayde / benedicite Sire olde lechour / lat thy Iapes be And if I haue / a gossib / or A freend With-outen gilt ye chiden as a feend Line 244 If that I walke / or pleye vn-to his hous Thow comest hoom / as dronken as a mous And prechest on thy bench / with yuel preef Thow seyst to me / it is a greet mescheef Line 248 To wedde a poure womman / for costage And if that she be ryche / of heigh parage Thanne seistow / that it is a tormentrye To suffre / hir pryde / and hir malencolye Line 252 And if þat she be fair / thow verray knaue Thow seist that euery holour wol hire haue She may no while / in chastitee abyde That is assayled / vp-on ech a syde Line 256 ¶ Thow seyst som folk / desiren vs for richesse Somme for oure shape / and somme for oure fairnesse And somme / for she kan outher synge / or daunce And somme / for gentillesse / and dalyaunce Line 260 Somme for hir handes / and hir armes smale Thus goth al to the deuel / by thy tale Thow seyst/ men may nat kepe a Castel wal It may so longe / assaylled been ouer al Line 264 And if that she be foul / thow seyst þat she Coueiteth euery man / that she may se ffor as a Spaynel / she wol on hym lepe Til that she fynde / som man hir to chepe Line 268 Ne noon so grey goos / goth ther in the lake As seistow / wol be with-oute make And seyst it is an hard thyng/ for to wolde A thyng/ that no man wol his thankes holde Line 272 Thus seistow lorel / whan thow goost to bedde And that no wys man / nedeth for to wedde Ne no man / that entendeth vn-to heuene With wilde thonder dynt and firy leuene Line 276

[6-text p 342] Line 276 Moote thy welked nekke / be to-broke [folio 61b] Thow seyst that droppyng houses / and eek smoke And chidyng wyues / maken men to flee Out of hir owene houses / a benedicitee; Line 280 What eyleth / swich an old man for to chide Thow seyst we wyues / wil oure vices hyde Til we be fast/ and thanne we wol hem shewe Wel may that be / a prouerbe of a shrewe Line 284 Thow seist þat Oxen / Asses / hors / and houndes They been assayed / at dyuerse stoundes Bacynes / lauours / er that men hem bye Spoones / stooles / and al swich housbondrye Line 288 And so be pottes / clothes / and array But folk/ of wyues / maken noon assay Til they be wedded / olde dotard shrewe And thanne seistow / we wil oure vices shewe Line 292 Thow seist also / that it displeseth me But if that thow / wolt preise my beautee And but thow powre / alwey vp-on my face And clepe me faire dame / in euery place Line 296 And but thow make a feeste / on thilke day That I was born / and make me fressh and gay And but thow do / to my norice honour And to my chambrere /· with-Inne my bour Line 300 And to my fadres folk / and his allyes Thus seistow / olde barel ful of lyes And yet of oure Apprentice / Iankyn ffor his crispe heer / shynyng as gold so fyn Line 304 And for he squyereth me / bothe vp and doun Yet hastow caught fals suspecioun I wil hym nat thogh thow were deed to morwe ¶ But tel me this / why hidestow with sorwe Line 308 The keyes of thy Cheste / awey fro me It is my good / as wel as thyn pardee What wenestow / make an ydiote of oure dame Now by that lord / that called is Seint Iame Line 312

[6-text p 343] Line 312 Thow shalt noght bothe / thogh þat thow were wood Be maister / of my body / and my good That oon thow shalt forgo / maugree thyne eyen What helpeth it of me enquere and spyen Line 316 I trowe / thow woldest lok me in thy chiste [folio 62a] Thow sholdest seye / wyf/ go wher thee liste Taak youre disport I nyl leue no talis I knowe yow / for a trewe wyf/ Dame Alis Line 320 We loue no man / that taketh kepe / or charge Wher þat we goon / we wol been at oure large Of alle men / yblessed moote he be The wise Astrologen / Daun Protholome Line 324 That seith this prouerbe / in his Almageste Of alle men / his wisdom is hyeste That rekketh nat who hath the world in hond By this prouerbe / thow shalt vnderstonde Line 328 Haue thow ynogh / what thar thee rekke / or care How myrily / that othere folkes fare ffor certes / olde dotard / by youre leue Ye shal han queynte / right ynogh at eue Line 332 He is to greet a nygard / that wil werne A man to lighte a candle / at his lanterne He shal han / neuer the lasse light pardee Haue thow ynogh / thee thar nat pleyne thee Line 336 ¶ Thow seist also / that if we make vs gay With clothyng and with precious array That it is peril / of oure chastitee And yet with sorwe / thow most enforce thee Line 340 And seye thise wordes / in thapostles name In habit maad with chastitee and shame Ye wommen / shal apparaille yow quod he And nat in tressed heer / and gay perree Line 344 As perlys / ne with gold / ne clothes ryche After thy text ne after thy rubryche I wol nat werke / as muche / as is a gnat Thow seydest this / þat I was lyk a Cat Line 348

[6-text p 344] Line 348 ffor who so wolde senge / a Cattes skyn Thanne wolde the Cat wel dwellen in his In And if the Cattes skyn / be slyk and gay She wol nat dwelle in house / half a day Line 352 But forth she wole / er any day be dawed To shewe hir skyn / and goon a Caterwawed This is to seye / if I be gay sire shrewe I wol renne out my borel for to shewe Line 356 Sire olde fool / what helpeth thee tespyen [folio 62b] Thogh thow preye Argus / with his hundred eyen To be my wardecorps / as he kan best In feith / he shal nat kepe me / but me lest Line 360 Yet koude I make his berd / as mote I thee ¶ Thow seydest eek þat ther ben thynges three The whiche thynges / troublen al this erthe And that no wight may endure the ferthe Line 364 O leeue sire shrewe / Ihesu shorte thy lyf Yet prechestow / and seist an hateful wyf Yrekened is / for oon of thise myschaunces Been ther / noone othere resemblaunces Line 368 That ye may likne / youre parables to But if a sely wyf be oon of tho ¶ Thow liknest eek / wommanes loue to helle To bareyne lond / ther water may nat dwelle Line 372 Thow liknest it also / to wilde fyr The moore it brenneth / the moore it hath desyr To consumen euery thyng þat brent wol be Thow seist right as wormes shende a tree Line 376 Right so a wyf / destroyeth hir housbonde This knowen they / that been to wyues bonde ¶ Lordynges / right thus / as ye han vnderstonde Bar I stifly / myne olde housbondes on honde Line 380 That thus they seyden / in hir dronkenesse And al was fals / but that I took witnesse On Iankyn / and on my Nece also O lord / the pyne I dide hem / and the wo Line 384

[6-text p 345] Line 384 fful giltlees / by goddes swete pyne ffor as an hors / I koude byte and whyne I koude pleyne / and I was in the gilt Or ellis / often tyme / I hadde been spilt Line 388 Who so that first to Mille comth / first grynt I pleyned first so was oure werre stynt They were ful glad / to excusen hem ful blyue Of thyng of which they neuere agilte hir lyue Line 392 Of wenches / wolde I bern hem on honde Whan that for syk they myghte vnnethe stonde Yet tikled I his herte / for that he Wende that I hadde had of hym / so greet chiertee Line 396 I swoor / that my walkyng out by nyghte [folio 63a] Was for to espye / wenches that he dighte Vnder that colour / hadde I many a myrthe ffor al swich wit is yeuen vs in oure birthe Line 400 Deceite / wepyng spynnyng god hath yeue To wommen kyndely / whil they may lyue And thus / of o thyng I auante me At ende / I hadde the bet in ech degree Line 404 By sleighte / or force / or by som maner thyng As by continuel murmur / or grucchyng Namely abedde / hadden they meschaunce Ther wolde I chide / and do hem no plesaunce Line 408 I wolde no lenger / in the bed abyde If that I felte his arm / ouer my syde Til he hadde maad / his raunceon vn-to me Thanne wolde I suffre hym / do his nycetee Line 412 And ther-fore / euery man / this tale I telle Wynne who so may / for al is for to selle With empty hond / men may none haukes lure ffor wynnyng wolde I al his lust endure Line 416 And make me / a feyned appetit And yet in bacon / hadde I neuere delit That made me / that euere I wolde hem chyde For thogh the Pope / hadde seten hem bisyde Line 420

[6-text p 346] Line 420 I wolde noght spare hem / at hir owene bord ffor by my trouthe / I quytte hem / word for word As help me / verray god omnipotent Togh I right now / sholde make my testament Line 424 I ne owe hem nat a word / that it nys quyt I broghte it so aboute / by my wit That they moste yeue it vp / as for the beste Or ellis / hadde we neuere been in reste Line 428 ffor thogh he looked / as a wood leon yet sholde he faille / of his conclusion ¶ Thanne wolde I seye / good lief taak keepe How mekely / looketh Wilkyn oure scheepe Line 432 Com neer my spouse / lat me ba thy cheke Ye sholden be / al pacient / and meke And han / a swete spyced conscience Sith ye so preche / of Iobes pacience Line 436 Suffreth alwey / syn ye so wel kan preche [folio 63b] And but ye do / certeyn we shal yow teche That it is fair / to han a wyf in pees Oon of vs two / moste bowen doutelees Line 440 And sith a man / is moore resonable Than womman is / ye mosten been suffrable What eyleth yow / to grucche thus and grone Is it for ye wolde haue / my queynte allone Line 444 Wy taak it al / lo haue it euery del Peter I shrewe yow / but ye loue it wel ffor if I wolde selle / my bele chose I koude walke / as fressh as is a rose Line 448 But I wol kepe it for youre owene tooth Ye be to blame / by god I sey yow sooth Swiche manere wordes / hadde we on honde Now wol I speke / of my ferthe housbonde Line 452

My ferthe housbonde / was a reuelour This is to seyn he hadde a paramour And I was yong and ful of ragerye Stibourne and strong and ioly as a pye Line 456

[6-text p 347] Line 456 How koude I daunce / to an harpe smale And synge ywys / as any nyghtyngale Whan I hadde dronke / a draghte of swete wyn Metellyus / the foule cherl the swyn Line 460 That with a staf / birafte his wyf hir lyf ffor she drank wyn /. though I hadde been his wyf Ne sholde nat han daunted me fro drynke And after wyn / on Venus moste I thynke Line 464 ffor also siker / as coold engendreth hayl A likerous mouth / moste han a likerous tayl In womman vynolent / is no defence This knowen lechours / by experience Line 468 But lord crist whan þat it remembreth me Vp-on my youthe / and on my iolytee It tikeleth me / aboute myn herte roote Vn-to this day / it dooth myn herte boote Line 472 That I haue had my world / as in my tyme But age allas / that al wole enuenyme Hath me biraft my beautee / and my pith Lat go farwel / the deuel go ther-with Line 476 The flour is goon / ther is namoore to telle [folio 64a] The bren as I best kan / now moste I selle But yet to be right murye / wol I fonde Now wol I tellen / of my ferthe housbonde Line 480 ¶ I seye I hadde in herte gret despit That he / of any oother had delit But he was quyt by god and by Seint Ioce I made hym / of the same wode a troce Line 484 Nat of my body / in no foul manere But certeynly / I made folk swich chiere That in his owene grece / I made hym frye ffor angre / and for verray Ialousye Line 488 By god / in erthe / I was his purgatorie ffor which I hope / his soule be in glorie ffor god it woot he sat ful ofte and soong Whan þat his shoo / ful bitterly hym wroong Line 492

[6-text p 348] Line 492 Ther was no wight/ saue god and he / þat wiste In many wise / how soore I hym twiste He deyde / whan I cam fro Ierusalem And lyth ygraue / vnder the roode beem Line 496 Al is his toumbe / noght so curyus As was the sepulcre / of hym Daryus Which that Appellus / wroghte subtilly It nys but wast to burye hym preciously Line 500 Lat hym fare wel / god gyue his soule reste He is now / in his graue / and in his cheste

Now / of my fifthe housbonde / wol I telle God lat his soule / neuere come in helle Line 504 And yet was he to me / the mooste shrewe That feele I / on my rybbes al by rewe And euere shal / vn-to myn endyng day But in oure bed / he was so fressh and gay Line 508 And ther with al / so wel koude he me glose Whan that he wolde / han my bele chose That thogh he hadde me bet on euery bon He koude wynne agayn / my loue anon Line 512 I trowe I loued hym best for that he Was of his loue / daungerous to me We wommen han / if that I shal nat lye In this matere / a queynte fantasye Line 516 Wayte what thyng we may nat lightly haue [folio 64b] Ther after / wol we crye al day / and craue fforbede vs thyng and that desiren we Preesse on vs faste / and thanne wol we fle Line 520 With daunger / oute we / al oure chaffare Greet prees at Market / maketh deere ware And to greet cheepe / is holden at litel prys This knoweth euery womman / that is wys Line 524 ¶ My fifthe housbonde / god his soule blesse Which þat I took for loue / and no rychesse He som tyme / was a clerk of Oxenford And hadde laft scole / and wente at hom to bord Line 528

[6-text p 349] Line 528 With my gossyb / dwellyng in oure town God haue hir soule / hir name was Alisoun She knew myn herte / and eek my pryuetee Bet than oure parysshe preest as mote I thee Line 532 To hire biwreyed I / my conseil al ffor hadde myn housbonde / pissed on a wal Or doon a thyng / that sholde haue cost his lyf To hire / and to another worthy wyf Line 536 And to my Nece / which þat I loued wel I wolde han toold / his conseil euery del And so I dide / ful often / god it woot That made his face / often reed and hoot Line 540 ffor verray shame / and blamed hym self for he Hadde toold to me / so greet a pryuetee ¶ And so bifel / that ones in a lente So often tymes / I to my gossyb wente Line 544 ffor euere yet I louede to be gay And for to walke / in March / Auerylle / and May ffrom hous to hous / to here sondry tales That Iankyn Clerk/ and my gossyb dame Alys Line 548 And I my self / in to the feeldes wente Myn housbonde was at london / al that lente I hadde / the bettre leyser for to pleye And for to se / and eek for to be seye Line 552 Of lusty folk what wiste I wher my grace Was shapen for to be / or in what place Ther-fore / I made my visitacions To Vigilies / and to processions Line 556 To prechyng eek / and to thise pilgrymages [folio 65a] To pleyes of myracles / and to mariages And wered vp on / my gaye scarlet gytes Thise wormes / ne thise moththes / ne thise Mytes Line 560 Vp-on my peril / frete hem neuer a del And wostow / why / for they were vsed wel ¶ Now wol I tellen forth / what happed me I seye / that in the feeldes walked we Line 564

[6-text p 350] Line 564 Til trewely / we hadde swich daliaunce This clerk/ and I / that of my purueiaunce I spak to hym / and seyde hym / how that he If I were wydewe / sholde wedde me Line 568 ffor certeynly / I seye for no bobaunce Yet was I neuere / with-outen purueiaunce Of mariage / nof othere thynges eek / I holde a mouses herte / noght worth a leek Line 572 That hath but oon hole / for to sterte to And if that faille / thanne is al y-do [I bar him on honde / he had enchaunted me My Dame taught me / that sotilte And eke I seide / I mette of him al nyght He wold han slayn me / as I lay vp right And al my bed / was ful of verray blod But ȝet I hope / that ȝe shuln do me good ffor blod bytokeneth gold / as me was taught And al was fals / I dremed of it right nought But as I folwed ay / my dames loore As wel of that / as of othere thynges more. [[ [Camb. Univ. MS Dd. 4. 24 folio 73b] , line 21]] [[Not in B. M. Addit. 5140, lf 96, bk; or Harl. 7335, lf 68, bk; or Harl. 1758, lf 95; or Sloane 1685, lf 110, bk; MS Reg. 18 C ii, lf 112; Sloane 1686, lf 127, bk; (Preamble not in Harl. 1239; Pr. and Tale not in Shirley's Harl. 7333;) not in Camb. Univ. MS Mm 2. 5.]] [[Camb. Dd. 4. 24 extract stops]] ] But now sire / lat me se / what shal I seyn A .ha. by god / I haue my tale ageyn ¶ Whan that my fourthe housbonde / was a beere I weep algate / and made sory cheere Line 588 As wyues mooten / for it is vsage And with my couerchief / couered my visage But for that I was / purueyed of a make I wepte but smal / and that I vndertake Line 592 ¶ To chirche was myn housbonde / born a morwe With neghebores / that for hym maden sorwe And Iankyn oure clerk / was oon of tho As help me god / whan that I saw hym go Line 596 After the beere / me thoughte he hadde a payre Of legges and of feet so clene and fayre That al myn herte / I gaf vn-to his hoold He was I trowe / twenty wynter oold Line 600

[6-text p 351] Line 600 And I was fourty / if I shal seye sooth But yit I hadde alwey / a coltes tooth Gat tothed I was / & that bicam me weel I hadde the preente / of Seynt Venus seel Line 604 As help me god I was a lusty oon And fayr/ and ryche / and yong and wel bigoon And trewely / as myne housbondes tolde me [folio 65b] I hadde the beste quonyam / myghte be Line 608 [ffor certes I am / al Vencrien In feelyng / and myn hert is Marcien Venus me ȝaf my lust / my likerousnesse And Mars ȝaf me / my sturdy hardynesse [[ [Cambr. Univ. MS Dd, 4. 24 folio 74a] , line 9]] [[Not in Addit. 5140, lf 96, bk; or Harl. 7335, lf 69; or Sloane 1685, lf 111; MS Reg. 18 C ii, lf 112, bk; Sloane 1686, lf 128; or Cambr. Mm. 2. 5.]] ] Myn ascendent was Taur / and Mars ther-Inne Allas / allas / that euere loue was synne I folwed ay / myn Inclinacion By vertu / of my constellacion Line 616 That made me / I koude noght withdrawe My chambre of Venus / from a good felawe [Ȝet haue I Mars merk / vp-on my face And also / in a nother pryue place ffor god so wysely / be my sauacioun I louede neuere / by no discrecioun But euere folwed / myn appetit Al were he short / long blak or whiȝt Line 624 I toke no kepe / so that he liked me How poore he was / ne eke of what degree [ [Cambr. Univ. MS Dd. 4.24 folio 74a] , line 19]] [[Not in Addit. 5140, lf 96, bk; or Harl. 7335, lf 69; or Sloane 1685, lf 111; MS Reg. 18 C ii, lf 112, bk; Sloane 1686, lf 128; or Cambr. Mm. 2. 5.]] [[MS Dd. 4. 24 ex|tract stops]] ] ¶ What sholde I seye / but at the Monthes ende This ioly clerk / Iankyn þat was so hende Line 628 Hath wedded me / with greet solempnytee And to hym yaf I / al the lond and fee That euere was me yeuen / ther bifore But afterward / repented me ful sore Line 632 He nolde suffre / no thyng of my list By god / he smoot me ones / on the lyst ffor that I rente / out of his book a leef That of the strook/ myn ere weex al deef Line 636

[6-text p 352] Line 636 Stibourne I was / as is a leonesse And of my tonge / a verray Iangleresse And walke I wolde / as I hadde doon biforn ffrom hous to hous / al-thogh he hadde it sworn Line 640 ffor which / he often tymes / wolde preche And me / of olde Romayn gestes teche How he Symplicius Gallus / lafte his wif And hire forsook for terme of al his lif Line 644 Noght but for open heueded he hir say Lokynge out at his dore / vp-on a day ¶ Another Romayn / tolde he me by name That for his wyf / was at a Someres game Line 648 With-outen his wityng / he forsook hire eke And thanne wolde he / vp-on his Bible seke That ilke prouerbe / of Ecclesiaste Where he comandeth / and forbedeth faste Line 652 Man shal nat suffre his wyf / go roule aboute Thanne wold he seye right thus / with-outen doute Who so þat buyldeth his hous / al of salwes [nota] And priketh his blynde hors / ouer the falwes [nota] Line 656 And suffreth his wyf / to go seken halwes [nota] Is worthy / to ben hanged on the galwes [nota] But al for noght I sette noght an hawe [folio 66a] Of his prouerbe / nof his olde sawe Line 660 Ny wolde nat of hym corrected be I hate hym / þat my vices telleth me And so doon mo / god woot of vs than I This made hym / with me wood al outrely Line 664 I nolde noght forbere hym / in no cas ¶ Now wol I sey yow sooth / by Seint Thomas Why þat I rente / out of his book a leef ffor which / he smoot me so / þat I was deef Line 668 He hadde a book/ þat gladly nyght and day ffor his disport he wolde rede alway He clepyd it Valerie and Theofraste At which book/ he logh alwey ful faste Line 672

[6-text p 353] Line 672 And eek ther was / som tyme a clerk at Rome A Cardynal / that highte Seint Ierome That made a book agayn Iovinian In which book eek ther was Tertulan Line 676 Crisippus / Trotula / and Helowys That was Abbesse / nat fer fro Parys And eek the parables / of Salomon Ouydes art and bokes many on Line 680 And alle thise were bounden / in o volume And euery nyght and day / was his custume Whan he hadde leyser / and vacacion ffrom oother / worldly ocupacion Line 684 To reden in this book of wikked wyues He knew of hem / mo legendes and lyues Than been of goode wyues in the Bible ffor trusteth wel / it is an inpossible Line 688 That any clerk wol speke good of wyues But if it be / of holy seintes lyues Nof noon oother womman / neuer the mo Who peynted the leon / tel me who Line 692 By god / if wommen / hadden writen stories As clerkes han / with-Inne hir oratories They wolde han writen of men / moore wikkednesse Than al the mark of Adam may redresse Line 696 The children / of Mercurie and Venus Been in hir wirkyng/ ful contrarius Mercurie loueth / wysdam and science [folio 66b] And Venus loueth / Riot and dispence Line 700 And for hir diuerse / disposicion Ech faileth / in ootheres exaltacion And thus god woot Mercurie is desolat In pisces / wher venus is exaltat Line 704 And venus faileth / ther Mercurie is reysed Ther-fore no womman / of no clerk is preysed The clerk whan he is old / and may noght do Of venus werkes / worth his olde sho Line 708

[6-text p 354] Line 708 Thanne sit he doun / and writ in his dotage That wommen / kan nat kepe hir mariage ¶ But now to purpos / why I tolde thee That I was beten / for a book pardee Line 712 Vp-on a nyght Iankyn þat was oure sire Redde on his book/ as he sat by the fire Of Eua first/ þat for hir wikkednesse Was al mankynde / broght to wrecchednesse Line 716 [ffor which that ihesu crist/him self was slayn That bought vs / with his hert blod a-gayn [[Not in Mm. 2. 5; not in Harl. 7335, lf 70, bk; Harl. 1758, lf 96; Ad. 5140, lf 98; Sloane 1685, lf 112, bk; Sloane 1686, lf 129, bk.]] Loo heere expres of wommen / may ȝe fynde That womman was the losse/of al mankynde [ [Camb. Univ. MS Dd. 4. 24 folio 75a] , l. 26]] ] ¶ Tho redde he me / how Sampson loste his herys Slepynge / his lemman kitte it with hir sherys Thurgh which treson / loste he bothe hise eyen ¶ Tho redde he me / if that I shal nat lyen Line 724 Of hercules / and of his Dianyre That caused hym / to sette hym self a fyre ¶ No thyng forgat he / the sorwe and wo That Socrates / hadde with his wyues two Line 728 How Xantippa / caste pisse vp-on his heed This sely man sat stille / as he were deed He wipte his heed / namoore dorste he seyn But er that thonder stynte / comth a reyn Line 732 ¶ Of Phasifpha / that was the queene of Crete ffor shrewednesse / hym thoughte the tale swete ffy spek namoore / it is a grisly thyng Of hire horrible lust and hir likyng Line 736 ¶ Of Clitermystra / for hir lecherye That falsly / made hir housbonde for to dye He redde it with ful good deuocioun ¶ He tolde me eek for what occasioun Line 740 Amphiorax / at Thebes loste his lyf Myn housbonde / hadde a legende of his wyf ¶ Exiphilem / that for an Ouche of gold [folio 67a] Hath priuely / vn-to the grekys told Line 744

[6-text p 355] Line 744 Wher þat hir housbonde / hidde hym in a place ffor which / he hadde at Thebes sory grace ¶ Of lyma tolde he me / and of lucie They bothe / made hir housbondes for to dye Line 748 That oon for loue / that oother was for hate Lyma hir housbonde / on an euen late Empoysoned hath / for þat she was his fo Lucya likerous / loued hir housbonde so Line 752 That for he sholde alwey / vp-on hir thynke She yaf hym / swich a manere loue drynke That he was deed / er it were by the morwe And thus algates / housbondes han sorwe Line 756 ¶ Thanne tolde he me / how þat oon latumyus Compleygned / vn-to his felawe Arrius That in his gardyn / growed swich a tree On which he seyde / how þat hise wyues thre Line 760 Honged hem self / for hertes despitus ¶ O leeue brother / quod this Arrius yif me a plante / of thilke blessed tree And in my gardyn / planted shal it be Line 764 ¶ Of latter date of wyues / hath he red That somme han slayn / hir housbondes in hir bed And lete hir lechour / dighte hire al the nyght Whan þat the corps / lay in the floor vp ryght Line 768 ¶ And somme / han dryuen nayles in hir brayn Whil þat they sleepe / and thus they han hem slayn ¶ Somme han hem yeuen poysoun / in hir drynke He spak moore harm / than herte may bithynke Line 772 And ther with al / he knew of mo prouerbes Than in this world / ther growen gras or herbes Bet is quod he / thyn habitacioun Be with a leon / or a foul dragoun Line 776 Than with a womman / vsyng for to chide Bet is quod he / hye in the roof abyde Than with an angry wyf / down in the hous They been so wikked / and contrarious Line 780

[6-text p 356] Line 780 They haten / that hir housbondes loueth ay He seyde / a womman / cast hir shame away Whan she cast of hir smok and forther mo [folio 67b] A fair womman / but she be chaast also Line 784 Is lyk a gold ryng in a sowes nose Who wolde wene / or who wolde suppose The wo / that in myn herte was and pyne ¶ And whan I say / he wolde neuere fyne Line 788 To reden / on this cursed book al nyght Al sodeynly / thre leues / haue I plyght Out of his book right as he radde / and eke I with my fist so took [him] on the cheke Line 792 That in oure fyr/ he fil bakward adown And he vp stirte / as dooth a wood leoun And with his fest/ he smoot me on the heed That in the floor / I lay as I were deed Line 796 And whan he say / how stille þat I lay He was agast and wolde haue fled his way Til atte laste / out of my swowgh I brayde O hastow slayn me / false theef I sayde Line 800 And for my land / thus hastow mordred me Er I be deed / yet wol I kisse thee ¶ And neer he cam / and kneled faire adown And seyde / deere suster Alisoun Line 804 As help me god / I shal thee neuere smyte That I haue doon / it is thy self to wyte fforyeue it me / and that I thee biseke And yet eft soones / I hitte hym on the cheke Line 808 And seyde theef/ thus muchel am I wreke Now wol I dye / I may no lenger speke ¶ But at the laste / with muchel care and wo We fille acorded / by vs seluen two Line 812 He yaf me / al the brydel in myn hond To han the gouernance / of hous and lond And of his tonge / and his hond also And made hym brenne his book anon right tho Line 816

[6-text p 357] Line 816 And whan that I hadde / geten vn-to me By maistrye / al the soueraynetee And þat he seyde / myn owene trewe wyf Do as thee lust the terme of al thy lyf Line 820 Keepe thyn honour / and keepe eek myn estaat After that day / we hadde neuere debaat/ God help me so / I was to hym as kynde [folio 68a] As any wyf / from Denmark vn-to Inde Line 824 And also trewe / and so was he to me I pray to god / that sit in magestee So blesse his soule / for his mercy deere Now wol I seye my tale / if ye wol heere Line 828

[The Wrangle between the Summoner and Friar.]

The frere logh / whan he hadde herd al this Now dame quod he / so haue I ioye / or blys This is a long preamble / of a tale And whan the Somnour / herde the frere gale Line 832 ¶ Lo quod the Somnour / goddes armes two A frere / wol entremette hym euere mo Loo goode men / a flye / and eek a frere Wol falle in euery dyssh and matere Line 836 What spekestow / of preambulacioun What amble / or trotte / or pees / or go sit doun Thow lettest oure disport in this manere ¶ Ye woltow so / sir Somnour / quod the frere Line 840 Now by my feith / I shal er that I go Telle of a Somnour / swich a tale / or two That al the folk/ shal laughen in this place ¶ Now ellis frere / I wol bishrewe thy face Line 844 Quod this Somnour / and I bishrewe me But if I telle tales / two or thre Of freres / er I come to Sydyngborne That I shal make / thyn herte for to morne Line 848

[6-text p 358] Line 848 ffor wel I woot thy pacience is gon ¶ Oure hoost cryde pees / and that anon And seyde / lat the womman / telle hir tale Ye fare as folk/ that dronken ben of Ale Line 852 Do dame / tel forth youre tale / and that is best ¶ Al reddy sire quod she / right as yow lest If I haue licence / of this worthy frere ¶ Yis dame quod he / tel forth / and I wol heere [6-text p 359] Line 856

¶ Here endeth the prologe of the Wyf of Bathe.

¶ Here bigynneth the tale / of the Wyf of Bathe . [folio 68b]

IN tholde dayes / of the kyng Arthour Of which that Britons / speken greet honour Al was this land / fulfild of ffairye The Elf queene / with hir ioly compaignye Line 860 Daunced ful ofte / in many a grene mede This was / the olde opynyon / as I rede I speke / of many hundred yerys ago But now kan no man / se none Elues mo Line 864 ffor now the grete charitee / and prayeres Of lymytours / and othere holy freres That serchen / euery lond and euery streem As thikke / as motes in the sonne beem Line 868 Blessynge halles / chambres / kichenes boures Citees / Burghes / Castels / hye Toures Thropes / Bernes / Shipnes / dayeryes This maketh / þat ther been no fairyes Line 872 ffor ther as wont to walken was an Elf Ther walketh now / the lymytour hym self In vndermelys / and in morwenynges And seith his matyns / and his holy thynges Line 876 As he gooth / in his lymytacioun Wommen / may go saufly vp and down In euery bussh / or vnder euery tree Ther is noon oother Incubus / but he Line 880 And he ne wol doon hem / but dishonour ¶ And so bifel / that this kyng Arthour Hadde in his hous / a lusty Bachiler That on a day / cam ridyng fro Ryuer Line 884

[6-text p 360] Line 884 And happed that allone / as he was born He say a mayde / walkynge hym biforn Of which mayde / anoon maugree hir hed By verray force / he rafte hir maydenhed Line 888 ffor which oppressioun / was swich clamour And swich pursuyte / vn-to the kyng Arthour That dampned was this knyght/ for to be deed By cours of lawe / and sholde han lost his heed Line 892 Par auenture / swich was the statut tho [folio 69a] But that the queene / and othere ladyes mo So longe preyden / the kyng of grace Til he his lyf / hym graunted in the place Line 896 And yaf hym to the queene / al at hir wille To chese / wheither she wolde / hym saue or spille The queen thanked the kyng with al hir might And after this / thus spak she to the knyght Line 900 Whan that she saw / hir tyme vp-on a day Thow standest yet quod she / in swich array That of thy lyf / yet hastow no suretee I graunte thee lyf / if thow kanst tellen me Line 904 What thyng is it þat wommen moost desiren Be war / and keepe thy nekke boon from Iren And if thow kanst nat / tellen me anon Yet wol I yeue thee leue / for to gon Line 908 A twelf monthe and a day / to seche and lere An answere suffisant in this matere And seuretee wol I han / er that thow pace Thy body / for to yelden / in this place Line 912 ¶ Wo was this knyght/ and sorwefully he siketh But what he may nat doon / al as hym liketh And atte laste / he chees hym for to wende And come agayn / right at the yeres ende Line 916 With swich answere / as god wolde hym purueye And taketh his leue / and wendeth forth his weye He seketh euery hous / and euery place Where as he hopeth / for to fynde grace Line 920

[6-text p 361] Line 920 To lerne / what thyng wommen loue moost But he ne koude / arryuen in no coost Where as he myghte fynde / in this matere Two creatures / acordyng in feere Line 924 ¶ Somme seyden / wommen louen best richesse Somme seyde honour / somme seyde Iolifnesse Somme riche array / somme lust abeddo And ofte tyme / to be widwe and wedde Line 928 Somme seyde / that oure herte / is moost esed Whan that we been / yflatered and yplesed He gooth ful ny the sothe / I wol nat lye A man shal wynne vs best / with flaterye Line 932 And with attendaunce / and with bisynesse [folio 69b] Been we ylymed / bothe moore and lesse ¶ And somme seyn / þat we louen best ffor to be free / and do as vs lest Line 936 And that no man / repreue vs of oure vice But seye þat we be wise / and no thyng nyce ffor trewely / ther is noon of vs alle If any wight wolde clawe vs on the galle Line 940 That we nyl like / for he seith vs sooth Assay / and he shal fynde it that so dooth ffor be we / neuer so vicious / with-Inne We wol be holden wise / and clene of synne Line 944 ¶ And somme seyn / that greet delit han we ffor to be holden / stable and eek secree And in o purpos / stedefastly to dwelle And nat biwreye thyng that men vs telle Line 948 But that tale / is nat worth a Rake stele Pardee / we wommen / konne no thyng hele Witnesse on Mida / wol ye heere the tale ¶ Ouyde / amonges othere thynges smale Line 952 Seyde / Mida / hadde vnder his longe herys Growynge vp on his heed / two Asses erys The which vice he hidde / as he best myghte fful sotilly / from euery mannes sighte Line 956

[6-text p 362] Line 956 That saue his wyf / ther wiste of it na mo He loued hire moost and trusted hire also He preyed hire / that to no creature She sholde tellen / of his diffigure Line 960 ¶ She swoor hym nay / for al this world to wynne She nolde do / that vileynye / or syn To make hir housbonde / han so foul a name She nolde nat telle it for hir owene shame Line 964 But nathelees / hir thoughte þat she dyde That she so longe / sholde a conseil hyde Hir thoughte / it swal so soore aboute hir herte That nedely / som word / hir moste asterte Line 968 And sith / she dorste nat telle it to no man Doun to a Marys / faste by she ran Til she cam there / hir herte was a fyre And as a Bitore / bombleth in the Myre Line 972 She leyde hir mouth / vn-to the water down [folio 70a] Biwrey me nat thow water with thy sown Quod she / to thee I telle it and namo Myn housbonde / hath longe Asses erys two Line 976 Now is myn herte al hool / now it is oute I myghte no lenger / kepe it out of doute Heere may ye see / thogh we a tyme abyde Yet out it moot we kan no conseil hyde Line 980 The remenant of the tale / if ye wol heere Redeth Ouyde / and ther ye may it leere ¶ This knyght of which my tale is specially Whan that he say / he myghte nat come ther by Line 984 This is to seye / what wommen louen moost With-Inne his brest ful sorweful was the goost But hom he gooth / he myghte nat soiorne The day was come / that homward moste he torne Line 988 And in his wey / it happed hym to ryde In al this care / vnder a fforest syde Wher as he say / vp on a daunce go Of ladyes .xxiiij. and yet mo Line 992

[6-text p 363] Line 992 Toward the whiche daunce / he drow ful yerne In hope / that som wisdom sholde he lerne But certeynly / er he cam fully there · Vanysshed was this daunce / he nyste where Line 996 No creature say he / that bar lyf Saue on the grene / he say sittynge a wyf A fouler wight ther may no man deuyse Agayn the knyght this olde wyf gan ryse Line 1000 And seyde sire knyght heer forth ne lyth no wey Tel me / what þat ye seken by youre fey Par auenture / it may the bettre be This olde folk konne muchel thyng quod she Line 1004 ¶ My leeue moder / quod this knyght certeyn I nam but deed / but if that I kan seyn What thyng it is / that wommen moost desire Koude ye me wisse / I wolde wel quyte youre hyre Line 1008 ¶ Plight me thy trouthe / here in myn hand quod she The nexte thyng that I requere thee Thow shalt it do / if it lye in thy myght And I wol telle it yow / er it be nyght Line 1012 ¶ Haue here my trouthe / quod the knyght I graunte [folio 70b] ¶ Thanne quod she / I dar me wel auaunte Thy lyf is sauf/ for I wole stonde ther by Vp-on my lyf/ the queene wol seye as I Line 1016 Lat see / which is the prouddeste of hem alle That wereth on / a couerchief / or a calle That dar seye nay / of that I shal thee teche Lat vs go forth / with-outen lenger speche Line 1020 Tho rowned she / a pistel in his ere And bad hym to be glad / and haue no fere ¶ Whan they be comen to the Court this knyght Seyde / he hadde holde his day / as he had hight Line 1024 And redy was his answere / as he sayde fful many a noble wyf and many a mayde And many a widwe / for þat they ben wise The queene hir self / sittyng as Iustise Line 1028

[6-text p 364] Line 1028 Assembled been / this answere for to here And afterward / this knyght was bode appere To euery wight comanded was silence And that the knyght sholde telle in audience Line 1032 What thyng that worldly wommen louen best This knyght ne stood nat stille as dooth a best But to his question / anon answerde With manly voys / that al the court it herd Line 1036 ¶ My lige lady / generally quod he Wommen desire / to haue souereyntee As wel / ouer hir housbonde / as hir loue And for to been in maistrie / hym aboue Line 1040 This is youre mooste desir / thogh ye me kille Dooth as yow list I am here at youre wille ¶ In al the Court ne was ther wyf ne mayde Ne wydwe / that contraryed that he sayde Line 1044 But seyden / he was worthy han his lyf ¶ And with that word / vp stirte that olde wyf Which that the knyght say sittyng on the grene Mercy quod she / my souereyn lady queene Line 1048 Er that youre Court departe / do me right I taughte this answere / vn-to the knyght ffor which / he plighte me his trouthe there The firste thyng I wolde hym requere Line 1052 He wolde it do / if it laye in his myght [folio 71a] Bifore the court thanne preye I thee sire knyght Quod she / that thow me take vn-to thy wyf ffor wel thow woost that I haue kept thy lyf Line 1056 If I seye fals / sey nay vp-on thy fey ¶ This knyght answerde / allas and weilawey I woot right wel / that swich was my biheste ffor goddes loue / as chees a newe requeste Line 1060 Taak al my good / and lat my body go ¶ Nay thanne quod she / I shrewe vs bothe two ffor thogh þat I be foul / old / and poore I nolde for al the metal / ne for oore Line 1064

[6-text p 365] Line 1064 That vnder erthe is graue / or lith aboue But if thy wyf I were / and eek thy loue ¶ My loue quod he / nay my dampnacion Allas / that any of my nacion Line 1068 Sholde euere / so foule disparaged be But al for noght thende is this / that he Constreyned was / he nedes moste hir wedde And taketh his olde wyf / and goth to bedde Line 1072 ¶ Now wolden som men / seye par auenture That for my necligence / I do no cure To tellen yow / the ioye / and al tharray That at the feste / was that ilke day Line 1076 To which thyng shortly / answere I shal I seye / ther nas no ioye / ne feste at al Ther nas but heuynesse / and muche sorwe ffor priuely / he wedded hire on morwe Line 1080 And al day after / hidde hym as on Owle So wo was hym / his wyf looked so foule ¶ Greet was the wo / the knyght hadde in his thoght Whan he was with his wyf / a bedde ybroght Line 1084 He walweth / and he turneth to and fro His olde wyf/ lay smylyng euere mo And seyde / o deere housbonde benedicite ffareth euery knyght thus with his wyf/ as ye Line 1088 Is this the lawe / of kyng Arthures hous Is euery knyght of his / thus daungerous I am youre owene loue / and youre wyf I am she / which that saued hath youre lyf Line 1092 And certes / yet ne dide I yow neuere vnright [folio 71b] Why fare ye thus with me / this firste nyght Ye faren lyk a man / hadde lost his wit What is my gilt/ for goddes loue tel it Line 1096 And it shal ben amended / if I may ¶ Amended quod this knyght allas nay / nay It wol nat ben amended neuere mo Thow art so loothly / and so old also Line 1100

[6-text p 366] Line 1100 And ther-to comen / of so lowe a kynde That litel wonder is / thogh I walwe and wynde So wolde god / myn herte wolde breste ¶ Is this quod she / the cause of youre vnreste Line 1104 ¶ Ye certeynly quod he / no wonder is ¶ Now sire quod she / I koude amende al this If that me liste / er it were dayes thre So wel ye myghte / bere yow vn-to me Line 1108 ¶ But for ye speken of swich gentillesse [¶ Nota bene.] As is descended / out of old richesse That therfore / sholden ye be gentil men Swich errogance / is nat worth an hen Line 1112 Looke who þat is / moost vertuous alway Pryuee and apert and moost entendeth ay To do / the gentil dedes / þat he kan Taak hym / for the gentileste man Line 1116 Crist / wol we clayme of hym oure gentilesse Nat of oure eldres / for hir old richesse ffor thogh they yeue vs / al hir heritage ffor which we clame / to been of hir parage Line 1120 Yet may they nat biquethe / for no thyng To noon of vs / hir vertuous lyuyng That made hem / gentil men ycalled be And bad vs / folwen hem in swich degree Line 1124 ¶ Wel kan / the wise poete of fflorence That highte Dant speken in this sentence Lo / in swich manere rym / is Dantes tale fful selde vp riseth / by his branches smale Line 1128 Prowesse of man / for god of his prowesse Wole /. that of hym / we clayme oure gentilesse ffor of oure eldres / may we no thyng clayme But temporel thyng that man may hurte and mayme Line 1132 Eek euery wight woot this as wel I [folio 72a] If gentilesse / were planted naturelly Vn-to a certeyn lynage / doun the lyne Pryuee and apert thanne wolde they neuere fyne Line 1136

[6-text p 367] Line 1136 To doon / of gentilesse / the faire office They myghte do / no vileynye or vice ¶ Taak fyr / and bere it in the derkeste hous Bitwix this / and the mount of kaukasous Line 1140 And lat men shette the dores / and go thenne Yet wol the fyr / as faire lye and brenne As twenty thousand men / myghte it biholde His office naturel / ay wol it holde Line 1144 Vp peril of my lyf til that it dye Here may ye se wel / how þat genterye Is nat annexed / to possession Sith folk ne doon hir operacion Line 1148 Alwey / as dooth the fyr lo in his kynde ffor god it woot men may wel often fynde A lordes sone / do shame and vileynye And he þat wol han prys / of his gentrye Line 1152 ffor he was born / of a gentil hous And hadde hise eldres / noble and vertuous And nyl hym seluen / do no gentil dedis Ne folwen his gentil Auncestre / that deed is Line 1156 He nys nat gentil / be he duc or Erl ffor vileynes synful dedes / maken a cherl ffor gentilesse / nys but renomee Of thyne Auncestres / for hir hye bountee Line 1160 Which is straunge thyng for thy persone Thy gentilesse / cometh fro god allone Thanne comth / oure verray gentilesse of grace It was no thyng biquethe vs / with oure place Line 1164 Thenketh how noble / as seith Valerius Was thilke / Tullius hostillius That out of pouerte / roos to heigh noblesse Redeth Senek and redeth eek Boece Line 1168 Ther shul ye seen expres / þat no drede is That he is gentil / that dooth gentil dedis And ther-fore / leue housbonde / I thus conclude Al were it that myne Auncestres weren rude Line 1172

[6-text p 368] Line 1172 Yet may the hye god / and so hope I / [folio 72b] Graunte me grace / to lyuen vertuously Thanne am I gentil / whan þat I bigynne To lyuen vertuously / and weyue synne Line 1176 ¶ And ther as ye / of pouerte me repreue The hye god / on whom þat we bileue In wilful pouerte / chees to lyue his lyf And certes euery man / mayden / or wyf Line 1180 May vnderstonde / þat Ihesus heuene kyng Ne wolde nat chese / a vicious lyuyng Glad pouerte / is an honeste thyng certeyn This wol Senek and othere clerkes seyn Line 1184 Who so þat halt hym payd / of his pouerte I holde hym riche / al hadde he nat a sherte He that coueiteth / is a poure wight ffor he wolde han / that is nat in his myght Line 1188 But he þat noght hath / ne coueiteth haue Is riche / al thogh we holde hym but a knaue Verray pouerte / is synne proprely Iuuenal seith / of pouerte myrily Line 1192 ¶ The poure man / whan he gooth by the weye Biforn the theues / he may synge and pleye Pouerte is hateful good / and as I gesse A ful greet bryngere / out of bisynesse Line 1196 A greet amendere eek of Sapience To hym / that taketh it in pacience Pouerte is thyng al thogh it seme elenge Possession / that no wight wol chalenge Line 1200 Pouerte ful often / whan a man is lowe Maketh hym self / and eek his god to knowe Pouerte / a spectacle is / as thynketh me Thurgh which he may / his verray freendes se Line 1204 And ther-fore sire / syn þat I noght yow greue Of my pouerte / namoore ye me repreue ¶ Now sire / of elde ye repreue me And certes sire / thogh noon auctoritee Line 1208

[6-text p 369] Line 1208 Were in no book/ ye gentils of honour Seyn / þat men an old wight sholde doon fauour And clepe hym fader / for youre gentilesse And Auctours / shal I fynden / as I gesse Line 1212 ¶ Now ther ye seye / that I am foul and old [folio 73a] Thanne drede yow noght to been a Cokewold ffor filthe and elde / al-so mote I thee Been grete wardeyns / vp-on chastitee Line 1216 But nathelees / syn I knowe youre delit/ I shal fulfille / youre worldly appetit ¶ Chees now quod she / oon of thise thinges tweye To han me foul and old / til that I deye Line 1220 And be to yow / a trewe humble wyf And neuere yow displese / in al my lyf Or ellis / ye wol han me / yong and fair And take youre auenture / of the repair Line 1224 That shal be to youre hous / by cause of me Or in som oother place / may wel be Now chees your seluen / wheither þat yow liketh ¶ This knyght auyseth hym / and soore siketh Line 1228 But atte laste / he seyde in this manere My lady and my loue / and wyf so deere I putte me / in youre wise gouernance Cheseth youre self which þat may be moost plesance Line 1232 And moost honour to yow / and me also I do no fors / the wheither of the two ffor as yow liketh / it suffiseth me ¶ Than haue I gete / of yow maistrye / quod she Line 1236 Syn I may chese / and gouerne as me lest ¶ Ye certes wyf quod he / I holde it best ¶ Kys me quod she / we be no lenger wrothe ffor by my trouthe / I wol be to yow bothe Line 1240 This is to seyn / ye bothe fair and good I pray to god / that I mote steruen wood But I to yow / be al so good and trewe As euere was wyf/ syn þat the world was newe Line 1244

[6-text p 370] Line 1244 And but I be to morn / as fair to sene Ay any lady / Emperice / or Queene That is bitwix the Est and eek the West Do with my lyf/ and deth / right as yow lest Line 1248 Cast vp the Curtyn / looke how þat it is And whan the knyght say verraily al this That she so fair was / and so yong ther-to ffor ioye he hente hire / in his armes two Line 1252 His herte bathed / in a bath of blisse [folio 73b] A thousand tyme a rewe / he gan hir kisse And she obeyed hym / in euery thyng That myghte do hym plesance / or likyng Line 1256 And thus they lyue / vn-to hir lyues ende In parfit ioye / and Ihesu crist vs sende Housbondes meke / yonge / and fressh a bedde And grace / touerbyde hem that we wedde Line 1260 And eek/ I praye Ihesu shorte hir lyues That noght wol be gouerned / by hir wyues And olde / and angry nygardes of dispence God sende hem soone / verray pestilence [6-text p 371] Line 1264

¶ Here endeth the Wyues tale of Bathe

¶ The prologe of the ffreres tale [[on leaf73, back]]

This worthy lymytour / this noble frere He made al wey / a manere louryng cheere Vp on the Somnour / but for honestee No vileyns word / as yet to hym spak he Line 1268 But atte laste / he seyde vn-to the wyf Dame quod he / god yeue yow right good lyf Ye han heer touched / al so mote I thee In scole matere / greet difficultee Line 1272 Ye han seyd muche thyng right wel I seye But dame / here as we ryden by the weye Vs nedeth nat to speken / but of game And lete Auctoritees / on goddes name Line 1276 To prechyng and to scole of clergye But if it like / to this compaignye I wol yow / of a Somnour telle a game Pardee / ye may wel knowe by the name Line 1280 That of a Somnour / may no good be sayd I praye / that noon of yow / be ypayd A somnour / is a rennere vp and doun With mandementz / for fornicacioun Line 1284 And is ybet at euery townes ende ¶ Oure hoost tho spak / a sire / ye sholde be hende And curteys / as a man of youre estaat [folio 74a] In compaignye / we wol no debaat Line 1288 Telleth youre tale / and lat the Somnour be ¶ Nay quod the Somnour / lat hym seye to me What so hym list whan it comth to my lot By god / I shal hym quyten euery grot Line 1292 I shal hym telle / which a gret honour It is / to be a flaterynge lymytour And of/ many another manere cryme Which nedeth nat rehercen / for this tyme Line 1296 And his office / I schal hym telle ywys ¶ Oure hoost answerde / pees namoore of this And after this / he seyde vn-to the frere Tel forth youre tale / leeue maister deere Line 1300

Here endeth the prologe of the ffrere [6-text p 372]

and bigynneth his tale

WHilom / ther was dwellynge in my contree An Erchedekne / a man of hy degree That boldely / dide execucion In punysshynge of ffornicacion Line 1304 Of wicchecraft and eek of Bawderye Of diffamacion / and auoutrye Of chirche Reues / and of testamentz Of contractes / and eek of lakke of sacramentz Line 1308 Of vsure / and of Symonye also But certes / lecchours / dide he grettest wo They sholde synge [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] n if that they were hent And smale tyth [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] eres were foule yschent If any person / [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] wold vp-on hem pleyne Ther myghte [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] asterte hym no pecunial peyne ffor smale [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] tithes & for smal offryng He made the [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] peple ful pitusly to syng Line 1316 ffor er the [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] bysschop caght hem with hys hooc They were [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] in the erchdeknys book/ And thanne [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] had he thurgh hys Iurisdiccion Power / to [[From here to the end of this line is in a later 15th-century hand in the MS.]] do on hem correccion Line 1320 He hadde a Somnour / redy to his hond [folio 74b] A slyer boy / nas noon in Engelond ffor subtilly / he hadde his espiaille That taughte hym / wher hym myghte auaille Line 1324 He koude spare / of lecchours / oon or two To techen hym / to foure and twenty mo ffor theigh this Somnour / wood were as an hare To telle his harlotrye / I wol nat spare Line 1328

[6-text p 373] Line 1328 ffor we been / out of his correccion They han of vs / no Iurisdiccion Ne neuere shullen / terme of hir lyues ¶ Peter / so been the wommen of the styves Line 1332 Quod this Somnour / yput out of my cure ¶ Pees with myschaunce / and with mysauenture Thus seyde oure hoost / and lat hym telle his tale Now telleth forth / thogh þat the Somnour gale Line 1336 Ne spareth nat myn owene mayster deere ¶ This false theef this Somnour / quod the frere Hadde alwey / baudes redy to his hond As any hauk to lure in Engelond Line 1340 That tolde hym / al the secree þat they knewe ffor hire aqueyntance / was nat come of newe They weren / hise Approwours pryuely He took hym self / a greet profit ther by Line 1344 His maister knew nat alwey / what he wan With-outen mandement a lewed man He koude somne / on peyne of cristes curs And they were glade / for to fille his purs Line 1348 And make hym / grete festes atte nale And right as Iudas / hadde purses smale And was a theef/ right swich a theef was he His maister / hadde but half his duetee Line 1352 He was / if I shal yeuen hym his laude A theef / and eek a somnour / and a baude He hadde eek wenches / at his retenue That wheither þat sir Robert / or sire hewe Line 1356 Or Iakke / or Rauf or who so that it were That lay by hem / they tolde it in his ere Thus was the wenche and he / of oon assent And he wolde fecche / a feyned mandement Line 1360 And somne hem to Chapitre / bothe two [folio 75a] And pile the man / and lete the wenche go ¶ Thanne wolde he seye / freend I shal for thy sake Do stryke hire / out of oure lettres blake Line 1364

[6-text p 374] Line 1364 Thee thar namore / as in this cas trauaille I am thy freend / ther I thee may auaille Certeyn / he knew of bryberyes mo Than possible is / to telle in yeres two Line 1368 ffor in this world / nys dogge for the bowe That kan an hurt deer / from an hool knowe Bet than this Somnour / knewe a sly lecchour Or an Auouter / or a paramour Line 1372 And for that was / the fruyt of al his rente Ther-fore on it he sette al his entente ¶ And so bifel / that ones on a day This Somnour / euere waityng on his pray Line 1376 ffor to somne an old wydewe / a Ribibe ffeynynge a cause / for he wolde brybe Happed / that he say / bifore hym ryde A gay yeman / vnder a fforest syde Line 1380 A bowe he bar / and arwes brighte & kene He hadde vp-on / a courtepy of grene An hat vp-on his heed / with frenges blake ¶ Sire quod this Somnour / hayl / and wel atake Line 1384 ¶ Wel come quod he / and euery good felawe Where ridestow / vnder this grene shawe Seyde this yeman / wiltow fer to day ¶ This Somnour hym answerde / and seyde nay Line 1388 Here faste by quod he / is myn entente To ryden / for to reysen vp a rente That longeth / to my lordes duetee ¶ Artow thanne a Bailly? / ye quod he Line 1392 He dorste nat for verray filthe and shame Seye þat he was a Somnour / for the name ¶ Depardieux quod this yeman / deere brother Thow art a bailly / and I am another Line 1396 I am vnknowen / as in this contree Of thyn aqueyntance / I wolde praye thee And eek of bretherhede / if þat yow leste I haue gold / and siluer / in my cheste Line 1400

[6-text p 375] Line 1400 If that thee happed to come in oure shire [folio 75b] Al shal be thyn / right as thow wolt desire ¶ Graunt mercy quod this Somnour / by my feith Euerich in ootheres hond / his trouthe leyth Line 1404 ffor to be sworn bretheren / til they deye In daliaunce / they ryden forth and pleye ¶ This Somnour / which þat was / as ful of Iangles As ful of venym / been thise waryangles Line 1408 And euere enqueryng vp-on euery thyng Brother quod he / where is now youre dwellyng Another day / if þat I sholde yow seche This yeman hym answerde / in softe speche Line 1412 ¶ Brother quod he / fer in the North contree Where as I hope / som tyme I shal thee see Er we departe / I shal thee so wel wisse That of myn hous / ne shaltow neuere mysse Line 1416 ¶ Now brother quod this Somnour I yow preye Teche me / whil þat we ryden by the weye Syn þat ye been a Baillyf / as am I Som subtiltee / and tel me feithfully Line 1420 In myn office / how I may moost wynne And spareth nat for conscience ne synne But as my brother / tel me how do ye ¶ Now by my trouthe / brother deere / seyde he Line 1424 As I shal tellen thee / a feithful tale My wages been / ful streyte / and ful smale My lord is hard to me / and daungerous And myn office / is ful laborous Line 1428 And therfore / by extorcions I lyue ffor sothe I take / al that men wol me yeue Algate / by sleighte / or by violence ffro yeer to yeer / I wynne al my dispence Line 1432 I kan no bettre tellen / feithfully ¶ Now certes quod this Somnour / so fare I I spare nat to taken / god it woot But it be to heuy / or to hoot Line 1436

[6-text p 376] Line 1436 What I may gete / in conseil priuely No manere conscience / of that haue I Nere myn extorcion / I myghte nat lyuen Ne of swiche Iapes / wol I nat be shryuen Line 1440 Stomak ne Conscience / ne knowe I noon [folio 76a] I sherewe / thise Shryftes-fadres euerychon Wel be we met by god / and by Seint Iame But leeue brother / tel me thanne thy name Line 1444 Quod this Somnour / in this mene whyle This yeman / gan a litel for to smyle ¶ Brother quod he / woltow þat I thee telle I am a feend / my dwellyng is in helle Line 1448 And here I ryde / aboute my purchasyng To wite / wher men wol yeue me any thyng My purchas / is theffect of al my rente Looke how thow rydest for the same entente Line 1452 To wynne good / thow rekkest neuere how Right so fare I / for ryde wold I now Vn-to the worldes ende / for a preye ¶ A quod this Somnour / benedicite what sey ye Line 1456 I wende / ye were a yeman trewely Ye han a mannes shape / as wel as I Han ye a figure thanne / determynat In helle ther ye been / in youre estat Line 1460 ¶ Nay certeynly quod he / ther haue we noon But whan vs liketh / we kan take vs oon Or ellis make yow seme / we ben shape Som tyme / lyk a man / or lyk an Ape Line 1464 Or lyk an Aungel / kan I ryde or go It is no wonder thyng theigh it be so A lousy Iogelour / kan deceyue thee And pardee yet kan I / moore craft than he Line 1468 ¶ Whi quod this Somnour / ryde ye thanne or goon In sondry shape / and nat alwey in oon ¶ ffor we quod he / wol vs swiche formes make As moost able is / oure preyes for to take Line 1472

[6-text p 377] Line 1472 ¶ What maketh yow / to han al this labour ¶ fful many a cause / leue sire Somnour Seyde this feend / but alle thyng hath tyme The day is short/ and it is passed pryme Line 1476 And yet ne wan I no thyng in this day I wol entende / to wynnyng/ if I may And nat entende / oure wittes to declare ffor brother myn / thy wit is al to bare Line 1480 To vnderstonde / al-thogh I tolde hem thee [folio 76b] But for thow axest why labouren we ffor som tyme / we been goddes Instrumentz And meenes / to doon his comandementz Line 1484 Whan that hym list/ vp on his creatures In diuers art and in diuerse figures With-outen hym / we han no myght certayn If that hym lyst to stonde ther agayn Line 1488 And som tyme / at oure preyere / han we leue Oonly the body / and nat the soule greue Witnesse on Iob / whom þat we diden wo And som tyme / han we myght of bothe two Line 1492 This is to seyn / of soule and body eke And som tyme / be we suffred for to seke Vp-on a man / and do his soule vnreste And nat his body / and al is for the beste Line 1496 Whan he with-standeth / oure temptacion It is / a cause / of his sauacion Al be it that it was / nat oure entente He sholde be sauf but þat we wolde hym hente Line 1500 And som tyme / be we seruant vn-to man As to the Erchebisshope / Seint Dunstan And to the Apostles / seruant eek was I ¶ Yet tel me / quod the Somnour feithfully Line 1504 Make ye yow newe bodyes / thus alway Of Elementz? / the feend answerde nay Som tyme we feyne / and som tyme we aryse With dede bodyes / in ful sondry wyse Line 1508

[6-text p 378] Line 1508 And speke as renably / and faire and wel As to the Phitonissa / dide Samuel And yet wol som men seye / it was nat he I do no fors / of youre dyuynytee Line 1512 But o thyng warne I thee / I wol nat Iape Thow wolt algates wite / how we be shape Thow shalt her afterwardes / my brother deere Come there / thee nedeth nat of me to lere Line 1516 ffor thow shalt by thyn owene experience Konne in a chayer / rede of this sentence Bet than Virgile / whil he was on lyue Or Dant also / now lat vs ryde blyue Line 1520 ffor I wol holde / compaignye with thee [folio 77a] Til it be so / that thow forsake me ¶ Nay quod this Somnour / that shal nat bityde I am a yeman / knowen is ful wyde Line 1524 My trouthe wol I holde / as in this cas ffor theigh thow were / the deuel Sathanas My trouthe wol I holde / to thee my brother As I am sworn / and ech of vs til oother Line 1528 ffor to be trewe brother / in this cas And bothe we goon / abouten oure purchas Taak thow thy part what þat men wol thee yeue And I shal myn / thus may we bothe lyue Line 1532 And if that any of vs / haue moore than oother Lat hym be trewe / and parte it with his brother ¶ I graunte quod the deuel / by my fey And with that word / they ryden forth hir wey Line 1536 And right at the entryng of the townes ende To which this Somnour / shoop hym for to wende They saye a Cart that charged was with hey Which that a Cartere / droof forth in his wey Line 1540 Deep was the wey / for which the Carte stood This Cartere smoot and cryde as he were wood Hayt Brok hayt Scot what spare ye for the stones The feend quod he / yow fecche body and bones Line 1544

[6-text p 379] Line 1544 As ferforthly / as euere were ye foled So muchel wo / as I haue with yow tholed The deuel haue al / bothe hors / and Cart and hey ¶ This Somnour seyde / heer shul we han a pley Line 1548 And neer the feend he drogh / as noght we were fful pryuely / and rowned in his ere Herkne my brother / herkne by thy feith Herestow nat how þat the Cartere seith Line 1552 Hent it anon / for he hath yeue it thee Bothe hey / and Cart and eek his caples thre ¶ Nay quod the deuel / god woot neuer a del It is nat his entente / trust thow me wel Line 1556 Axe hym thy self / if thow nat trowest me Or ellys stynt a while / and thow shalt se ¶ This Cartere / taketh his hors vp-on the croupe And they bigonne / drawen and to stoupe Line 1560 Heyt now quod he / ther Ihesu crist yow blesse [folio 77b] And al his handes werk bothe moore and lesse That was wel twight myn owene lyard boy I pray god saue thee / and Seint loy Line 1564 Now is my Cart out of the slow pardee ¶ Lo brother quod the feend / what tolde I thee Heere may ye se / myn owene deere brother The Carl spak o thyng but he thoghte another Line 1568 Lat vs go forth / abouten oure viage Heere wynne I no thyng vp-on cariage ¶ Whan that they comen / som what out of towne This Somnour / to his brother gan to rowne Line 1572 Brother quod he / here woneth an old rebekke That hadde al-moost as leef to lese hir nekke As for to yeue a peny / of hir good I wol han .xij. pens / thogh that she be wood Line 1576 Or I wol somne hire / vn-to oure office And yet god woot of hire knowe I no vice But for thow canst nat as in this contree Wynne thy cost taak heer ensample of me Line 1580

[6-text p 380] Line 1580 This Somnour / clappeth at the wydwes gate Com out quod he / thow olde viritrate I trowe thow hast som frere / or preest with theė ¶ Who clappeth seyde this wyf / benedicitee Line 1584 God saue yow sire / what is youre swete wille ¶ I haue quod he / of somonce a bille Vp peyne of cursyng looke that thow be To morn / bifore the Erchedeknes knee Line 1588 Tanswere to the court of certeyn thynges ¶ Now lord quod she / crist Ihesu kyng of kynges So wisly helpe me / as I ne may I haue been syk and that ful many a day Line 1592 I may nat go so fer quod she / ne ryde But I be deed / so priketh it in my syde May I nat axe a libel / sire Somnour And answere there / by my procutour Line 1596 To swiche thyng as men wole opposen me ¶ Yis quod this Somnour / pay anon lat see Twelf pens to me / and I wol thee acquyte I shal no profyt han ther by / but lyte Line 1600 My Maister hath the profit / and nat I [folio 78a] Com of / and lat me ryden hastily Yif me .xij. pens / I may no lenger tarye ¶ Twelf pens quod she / now lady Seinte Marie Line 1604 So wisly help me god / out of care and synne This wyde world / thogh that I sholde wynne Ne haue I nat .xij. pens / with-Inne myn hoold Ye knowen wel / that I am poure and oold Line 1608 Kythe youre almesse / on me poure wrecche ¶ Nay thanne quod he / the foule feend me fecche If I thexcuse / theigh thow shul be spilt ¶ Allas quod she / god woot I haue no gilt Line 1612 ¶ Pay me quod he / or by the swete Seinte Anne As I wol bere awey / thy newe panne ffor dette / which thow owest me of oold Whan þat thow madest / thyn housbonde cokewold Line 1616

[6-text p 381] Line 1616 I payde at hom / for thy correccion ¶ Thow lyxt quod she / by my sauacion Ne was I · neuere er now / wydwe ne wyf Somoned vn-to youre court in al my lyf / Line 1620 Ne neuere I nas / but of my body trewe Vn-to the deuel / blak and row of hewe Yeue I thy body / and my panne also ¶ And whan the deuel / herde hire cursen so Line 1624 Vp-on hir knees / he seyde in this manere Now Mabely / myn owene moder deere Is this youre wyl in ernest / þat ye seye ¶ The deuel quod she / so fecche hym er he deye Line 1628 And panne and al / but he wol hym repente ¶ Nay olde stot that is nat myn entente Quod this Somnour / for to repente me ffor any thyng that I haue had of thee Line 1632 I wolde I hadde thy smok / and euery clooth ¶ Now brother quod the deuel / be noght wrooth Thy body and this panne / been myne by right Thow shalt with me to helle / yet to nyght Line 1636 Wher thow shalt knowen / of oure pryuetee Moore / than a maister of dyuynytee And with that word / this foule feend hym hente Body and soule / he with the deuel wente Line 1640 Wher as that Somnours / han hir heritage [folio 78b] And god / that made after his ymage Mankynde / saue / and gyde vs alle and some And leue thise Somnours / goode men to bicome Line 1644 ¶ Lordynges I koude han told yow / quod the frere Hadde I had leyser / for this Somnour heere After the text / of crist Poul and Iohn And of oure othere doctours / many oon Line 1648 Swich peynes / that youre hertes myghte agryse Al be it so / no tonge may it deuyse Thogh that I myghte / a thousand wynter telle The peynes / of thilke cursed hous of helle Line 1652

[6-text p 382] Line 1652 But for to kepe vs / fro that cursed place Waketh / and preyeth Ihesu for his grace So kepe vs / fro the temptour Sathanas Herketh this word / beth war as in this cas Line 1656 The leon sit in his awayt alway To sle the Innocent if that he may Disposeth ay youre hertes / to withstonde The feend / that yow wolde maken thral and bonde Line 1660 He may nat tempte yow / ouer youre myght ffor crist wol be youre champion and knyght And prayeth / that this Somnours hem repente Of hir mysdedes / er that the feend hem hente [6-text p 383] Line 1664

¶ Here endeth / the freres tale

¶ The Prologe / of the Somnours tale. [[on lf78, bk]]

This Somnour in his Stiropes / hye he stood Vp-on this frere / his herte was so wood That lyk an Aspen lief / he quook for Ire ¶ Lordynges quod he / but o thyng I desire Line 1668 I yow biseke / that of youre curteisye Syn ye han herd / this false frere lye As suffreth me / I may my tale telle This frere bosteth / that he knoweth helle Line 1672 And god it woot that it is litel wonder ffreres and feendes / been but lyte a sonder ffor pardee / ye han ofte tyme herd telle [folio 79a] How that a frere / rauysshed was to helle Line 1676 In Spirit ones / by avisioun And as an Aungel / ladde hym vp and down To shewen hym / the peynes þat ther were In al the place / say he nat a frere Line 1680 Of oother folk / he say ynowe in wo Vn-to this Angel / spak the frere tho ¶ Now Sire quod he / han freres swich a grace That noon of hem / shal come to this place Line 1684 ¶ Yis quod this Aungel / many a Milioun And vn-to Sathanas / he ladde hym doun And now hath Sathanas / seith he a tayl Brodder / than of a Carryk is the sayl Line 1688 Hold vp thy tayl / thow Sathanas quod he Shewe forth thyn ers / and lat the frere se Where is thee nest of freres / in this place And er þat / half a furlong wey of space Line 1692

[6-text p 384] Line 1692 Right so as bees / out swarmen from an hyue Out of the deueles ers / ther gonne dryue Twenty thousand freres / on a route And thurgh-out helle / swarmeden aboute Line 1696 And comen again / as faste as they may gon And in his ers / they crepten euerychon He clapte his tayl agayn / and lay ful stille This frere / whan he looked hadde his fille Line 1700 Vp-on the tormentz / of this sory place His spirit god restored of his grace Vn-to his body agayn / and he awook But nathelees / for fere yet he quook Line 1704 So was the deueles ers / ay in his mynde That is his heritage / of verray kynde God saue yow alle / saue this cursed frere My prologe / wol I ende / in this manere [6-text p 385] Line 1708

¶ Here endeth the prologe of the Somnours tale.

¶ Here bygynneth the Somnours tale. [folio 79b]

LOrdynges / ther is in Yorkshire / as I gesse A Merssh contree / called Holdernesse In which / ther wente a lymytour aboute To preche / and eek to begge / it is no doubte Line 1712 And so bifel / that on a day this frere Hadde preched at a chirche / in his manere And specially / abouen euery thyng Excyted he the peple / in his prechyng Line 1716 To trentals / and to yeue for goddes sake Wher-with men myghte / holy houses make Ther as dyuyne seruice / is honoured Nat ther / as it is wasted and deuoured Line 1720 Ne ther / it nedeth nat to be yeue As to possessioners / that mowen lyue Thanked be god / in wele and habundance Trentals seyde he / deliuereth from penaunce Line 1724 Hir freendes soules / as wel olde as yonge Ye / whan that they / been hastily ysonge Nat for to holde a preest Ioly and gay He syngeth nat but o masse in a day Line 1728 Deliuereth out quod he / anon the soules fful hard it is / with flessh-hook/ or with oules To been y-clawed / or to brenne / or bake Now spede yow hastily / for cristes sake Line 1732 And whan this frere / hadde seyd al his entente With qui cum patre / forth his wey he wente Whan folk in chirche / hadde yeue hym / what hem leste He wente his wey / no lenger wolde he reste Line 1736

[6-text p 386] Line 1736 With scryppe and typped staf / y-tukked hye In euery hous / he gan to poure and prye And beggeth Mele / and chese / or ellis corn His felawe hadde a staf / typped with horn Line 1740 A peyre of tables / al of yuory And a poyntel / polysshed fetisly And wroot the names / alwey as he stood Of alle folk / that yaf hem any good Line 1744 Ascaunces / that he wolde for hem preye [folio 80a] Yif vs a busshel whete / Malt or Reye A goddes kechyl / or a trype of cheese Or ellis what yow lyst we may nat chese Line 1748 A goddes half peny / or a masse peny Or yif vs of youre brawn / if ye haue eny A dagon of youre Blanket leeue dame Oure suster deere / lo heere I write youre name Line 1752 Bacon / or boef / or swich thyng as ye fynde A sturdy harlot wente ay hem bihynde That was hir hostes man / and baar a sak And what men yaf hem / leyde it on his bak Line 1756 And whan that he was out at dore anon He planed awey / the names euerichon That he biforn / hadde writen in his tables He serued hem / with nyfles and with fables Line 1760 ¶ Nay ther thow lixt thow Somnour quod the frere ¶ Pees quod oure hoost for cristes moder deere Tel forth thy tale / and spare it nat at al ¶ So thryue I quod this Somnour / so I shal Line 1764 So longe he wente / hous by hous / til he Cam til an hous / ther he was wont to be Refresshed moore / than in an hundred placis Syk lay the goode man / whos the place is Line 1768 Bedrede vp-on a couche / lowe he lay Deus hic quod he / O Thomas freend good day Seyde this frere / curteisly and softe Thomas quod he / god yelde yow ful ofte Line 1772

[6-text p 387] Line 1772 Haue I vp-on this bench / faren ful wel Heere haue I eten / many a murye mel And fro the bench / he droof awey the cat And leyde adoun / his potente and his hat Line 1776 And eek his scrippe / and sette hym softe adown His felawe / was go walked in to town fforth with his knaue / in-to that hostelrye Wher as he shoope hym / thilke nyght to lye Line 1780 ¶ O deere maister / quod this syke man How han ye fare / sith that March bigan I say yow noght this fourtnyght or moore ¶ God woot quod he / laboured I haue ful soore Line 1784 And specially / for thy sauacion [folio 80b] Haue I seyd / many a precious orison And for oure othere freendes / god hem blesse I haue to day / been at youre chirche at messe [[at messe is in a later hand]] And seyd a sermon / after my symple wit Nat al / after the text of holy writ ffor it is hard to yow / as I suppose And ther-fore / wol I teche yow al the glose Line 1792 Glosyng is a glorious thyng certeyn ffor lettre sleeth / so as we clerkes seyn Ther haue I taught hem / to be charitable And spende hir good / ther it is resonable Line 1796 And ther I say oure dame / a where is she ¶ Yond in the yerd / I trowe þat she be Seyde this man / and she wol come anon ¶ Ey maister / wel come be ye / by Seint Iohn Line 1800 Seyde this wyf / how fare ye hertely ¶ The frere ariseth vp / ful curteisly And hire embraceth / in hise armes narwe And kiste hir swete / and chirteth as a Sparwe Line 1804 With his lippes / Dame quod he / right wel As he / that is youre seruant euery del Thanked be god / that yow yaf soule and lyf Yet say I nat this day / so fair a wyf Line 1808

[6-text p 388] Line 1808 In al the chirche / god so saue me ¶ Ye god amende defautes / sire quod she Algates / wel come be ye / by my fey ¶ Graunt mercy dame / this haue I founde alwey Line 1812 But of youre grete goodnesse / by youre leue I wolde pray yow / that ye nat yow greue I wol with Thomas / speke a litel throwe Thise Curatz / been ful necligent and slowe Line 1816 To grope tendrely / a conscience In shrift in prechyng is my diligence And studie / in Petres wordes / and in Poules I walke / and fisshe / cristen mennes soules Line 1820 To yelden Ihesu crist . his propre rente To sprede his word / is set al myn entente ¶ Now by youre leeue / o deere sire quod she Chideth hym wel / for Seinte Trinitee Line 1824 He is as angry / as a Pissemyre [folio 81a] Thogh that he haue / al that he kan desire Thogh I hym wrye a nyght and make hym warm And on hym leye / my leg outher myn arm Line 1828 He groneth lyk oure boor / lyth in oure Sty Oother disport right noon of hym haue I I may nat please hym / in no maner cas ¶ O Thomas Ie vous dy / Thomas / Thomas Line 1832 This maketh the feend / this moste been amended Ire is a thyng that hye god defended And ther-of / wol I speke / a word / or two ¶ Now maister quod the wyf / er þat I go Line 1836 What wol ye dyne / I wol go ther aboute ¶ Now dame quod he / now Ie vous dy sanz doute Haue I nat of a Capon / but the lyuere And of youre softe breed / nat but a shyuere Line 1840 And after that a rosted pigges heed But þat I nolde / no beest for me were deed Thanne hadde I with yow / homly suffisaunce I am a man / of litel sustenaunce Line 1844

[6-text p 389] Line 1844 My Spirit hath his fostryng in the bible The body is ay / so redy and penyble To wake / that my stomak is destroyed I pray yow dame / ye be nat anoyed Line 1848 Thogh I so freendly / yow my conseil shewe By god / I wolde nat telle it but a fewe ¶ Now sire quod she / but o word / er I go My child is deed / with-Inne thise wykes two Line 1852 Soone after that ye wente / out of this town ¶ His deeth say I / by reuelacioun Seith this frere / at hom in oure dortour I dar wel seyn / that er þat half an hour Line 1856 After his deeth / I say hym born to blisse In myn avision / so god me wisse So dide oure Sexteyn / and oure ffermerer That han been trewe freres fifty yeer Line 1860 They may now / god be thanked / of his lone Maken hir Iubilee / and walke allone And vp I roos / and al oure Couent eke With many a teere / triklyng on my cheke Line 1864 With-outen noyse / or clateryng of belles [folio 81b] Te Deum was oure song and no thyng elles Saue that to crist / I seyde an orison Thankynge hym / of his reuelacion Line 1868 ffor sire and dame / trusteth me right wel Oure orisons / been wel moore effectuel And moore we seen / of cristes secree thynges Than burell folk al thogh þat they were kynges Line 1872 We lyue in pouerte / and in abstinence And burell folk in richesse and dispence Of mete and drynke / and in hir foul delit We han this worldes lust al in despit Line 1876 Lazar and Diues / lyueden diuersly And diuerse gerdon / hadde they ther-by Who so wol praye / he moot faste and be clene And fatte his soule / and make his body lene Line 1880

[6-text p 390] Line 1880 We fare as seith thapostle / clooth and foode Suffiseth vs / thogh they be nat ful goode The clennesse / and the fastyng of vs freres Maketh / that crist accepteth oure prayeres Line 1884 ¶ Lo Moyses / fourty dayes / and fourty nyght ffasted / er that the heighe god of myght Spak with hym / in the mountayne of Synay With empty wombe / fastynge many a day Line 1888 Receyued he the lawe / that was writen With goddes fynger / and Elye wel ye witen In Mount Oreb / er he hadde any speche With hye god / that is oure lyues leche Line 1892 He fasted longe / and was in contemplaunce Aaron / that hadde the temple in gouernaunce And eek / that othere preestes euerichon In-to the temple / whan they sholde gon Line 1896 To preye for the peple / and do seruyse They nolden drynken / in no maner wyse No drynke / which that myghte hem dronke make But there in abstinence / preye and wake Line 1900 Lest that they deyden / tak hede what I seye But they be sobre / that for the peple preye War that I seye namoore / for it suffiseth Oure lord Ihesu / as holy writ deuyseth Line 1904 Yaf vs ensample / of fastyng/ and prayeres [folio 82a] Ther fore / we mendynantz / we sely freres Been wedded / to pouerte and continence To charitee / humblesse and abstinence Line 1908 To persecucion / for rightwisnesse To wepyng misericorde and clennesse And ther-fore may ye se / that oure prayeres I speke of vs / we mendinantz / we freres Line 1912 Be to the hye god / moore acceptable Than youres / with youre festes at the table ffro Paradys first if I shal nat lye Was man out chaced / for his glotonye Line 1916

[6-text p 391] Line 1916 And chaast was man / in Paradys certeyn ¶ But herkne Thomas / what I shal seyn I ne haue no text of it as I suppose But I shal fynde it in a maner glose Line 1920 That specially / oure swete lord Ihesus Spak this by freres / whan he seyde thus Blessed be they / that poure in Spirit been And so forth / in the gospel / may ye seen Line 1924 Wher it be likker / oure profession Or hire / that swymmen in possession ffy on hir pompe / and hir glotonye And for hir lewednesse / I hem diffye Line 1928 Me thynketh / they been lyk Iouynyan ffat as a whale / and walkyng as a swan Al vynolent as Botel in the Spence Hir preyere is / of ful greet reuerence Line 1932 Whan they for soules / seye the psalm of Dauit Lo buf they seye / cor meum eructauit Who folweth cristes gospel / and his foore But we that humble been / and chaast/ and poore Line 1936 Werkers of goddes word / nat Auditours Ther fore / right as an hauk / vp at a sours Vp spryngeth in-to theyr / right so prayeres Of charitable / and chaste bisy freres Line 1940 Maken hir sours / to goddes erys two Thomas / Thomas / so mote I ryde or go And by that lord / that clepid is Seint yue Nere thow oure brother / sholdestow nat thryue Line 1944 [In [[Rats]] [folio 82b] ] oure chapitre / praye we day and nyght To crist that he thee sende / heele and myght Thy body / for to welden hastily ¶ God woot quod he / no thyng ther-of feele I Line 1948 As help me crist as I in fewe yeres Haue spended / vp-on diuerse manere freres fful many a pound / yet fare I neuere the bet Certeyn / my good haue I almoost biset Line 1952

[6-text p 392] Line 1952 ffarwel my gold / for it is al ago ¶ The frere answerde / o Thomas doostow so What nedeth yow / diuerse freres seche What nedeth hym / that hath a parfit leche Line 1956 To sechen / othere leches in the town Youre inconstance / is youre confusioun Holde ye thanne me / or ellis oure Couent To preye for yow / been insufficient Line 1960 Thomas / that Iape / nys nat worth a myte Youre maladye / is for we han to lyte A yif that Couent/ half a quarter otes A yif that Couent .xxiiij. grotes Line 1964 A yif that frere a peny / and lat hym go Nay nay Thomas / it may no thyng be so What is a ferthyng worth / parted in twelue Lo / ech thyng/ that is oned in hym selue Line 1968 Is moore strong than whan it is to-scatered Thomas / of me / thow shalt nat been yflatered Thow woldest han oure labour / al for noght The hye god / that al this world hath wroght Line 1972 Seith / that the werkman / worthy is his hire Thomas / noght of youre tresor I desire As for my self / but that al oure Couent To praye for yow / is ay so diligent Line 1976 And for to buylden / cristes owene chirche Thomas / if ye wol lernen for to wirche Of buyldyng vp of chirches / may ye fynde If it be good / in Thomas lyf of Inde Line 1980 Ye lye heere ful of Anger and of Ire With which / the deuel set youre herte afire And chiden heere / the sely Innocent/ Youre wyf/ that is so meke and pacient Line 1984 And ther-fore Thomas / trowe me if thee leste [folio 83a] Ne stryue nat with thy wyf/ as for thy beste And bere this word awey / now by thy feith Touchynge swich thyng lo what the wise man seith Line 1988

[6-text p 393] Line 1988 ¶ With-Inne thyn hous / ne be thow no leon To thy subgitz / do noon oppression Ne make thyne aqueyntances / nat for to flee And Thomas / yet eft soones I charge thee Line 1992 Be war from hire / that in thy bosom slepeth War fro the serpent that so sleighly crepeth Vnder the gras / and styngeth subtilly Be war my sone / and herkne paciently Line 1996 That twenty thousand men / han lost hir lyues ffor stryuyng with hir lemmans and hir wyues Now sith ye han / so holy meke a wyf What nedeth yow Thomas / to maken stryf/ Line 2000 Their nys ywis / no serpent so cruel Whan man tret on his tayl / ne half so fel As womman is / whan she hath caught an Ire Vengeance is thanne / al that they desire Line 2004 Ire is a synne / oon of the grete of seuene Abhomynable / vn-to the god of heuene And to hym self / it is destruccion This euery lewed viker / or parson Line 2008 Kan seye / how Ire engendreth homicide Ire is in sooth / executour of pryde I koude of Ire / seye so muche sorwe My tale / sholde laste til to morwe Line 2012 And ther-fore praye I god / bothe day and nyght An Irous man / god sende hym litel myght It is greet harm / and certes greet pitee To sette an Irous man in heigh degree Line 2016

WHilom / ther was an Irous potestat As seith Senek that durynge his estat Vp-on a day / out ryden knyghtes two And as ffortune wolde / that it were so Line 2020 That oon of hem cam hom / that oother noght Anon the knyght bifore the Iuge is broght That seyde thus / thow hast thy felawe slayn ffor which / I deme thee to the deeth certayn Line 2024

[6-text p 394] Line 2024 [ [Rats] [folio 83b] An]d to another knyght comanded he Go leed hym to the deeth / I charge thee And happed / as they wente by the weye Toward the place / ther he sholde deye Line 2028 The knyght cam / which men wenden had be deed Thanne thoghten they / it were the beste reed To lede hem bothe / to the Iuge agayn They seyden / lord / the knyght ne hath nat slayn Line 2032 His felawe / heere he stant hool alyue ¶ Ye shul be deed quod he / so moot I thryue This is to seyn / bothe oon and two and thre And to the firste knyght right thus spak/ he Line 2036 ¶ I dampned thee / thou most algate be deed And thow also / most nedes lese thyn heed ffor thow art cause / why thy felawe deyth And to the thridde knyght right thus he seith Line 2040 Thow hast nat doon / that I comanded thee And thus he dide / do sleen hem alle thre ¶ Irous Cambyses / was eek dronkelewe And ay delited hym / to been a shrewe Line 2044 And so bifel / a lord of his meynee That louede / vertuous moralitee Seyde on a day / bitwix hem two right thus Line 2047 ¶ A lord is ²lost if he be vicius² [[^2_2 in a later hand]] And dronkenesse / is eek a foul record Of any man / and namely in a lord Ther is ful many an eighe / and many an ere Awaityng on a lord / he noot nat where Line 2052 ffor goddes loue / drynk moore attemprely Wyn maketh man / to lesen wrecchedly His mynde / and eek his lymes euerychon ¶ The reuers shaltow se / quod he anon Line 2056 And preue it by thyn owene experience That wyn ne dooth to folk no swich offence Ther is no wyn / bireueth me my myght Of hond ne foot ne of myne eyen sight Line 2060

[6-text p 395] Line 2060 And for despit he drank ful muchel moore An hundred part than he hadde doon bifore And right anon / this Irous cursed wrecche bifore hym Leet this knyghtes sone / fecche Line 2064 Comandynge hym / he sholde bifore hym stonde [folio 84a] And sodeynly / he took his bowe in honde And vp the streng he pulled to his ere And with an arwe / he slow the child right there Line 2068 Now / wheither haue I / a siker hand or noon Quod he / is al my myght and mynde agoon Hath wyn byreued me / myn eye sight ¶ What sholde I telle / thanswere of the knyght Line 2072 His sone was slayn / ther is namoore to seye Beth war ther fore / with lordes how ye pleye Syngeth Placebo / and I shal if I kan But if it be / vn-to a poure man Line 2076 To a poure man / men sholde his vices telle But nat to a lord / thogh he sholde go to helle ¶ Lo Irous Syrus / thilke Percien How he destroyed / the ryuer of Gysen Line 2080 ffor that an hors of his / was dreynt ther-Inne Whan that he wente / Babiloyne to wynne He made / that the Ryuer was so smal That wommen / myghte wade it ouer al Line 2084 Lo what seyde he / that so wel teche kan Ne be no felawe / to an Irous man Ne with no wood man / walke by the weye Lest thee repente / I wol no ferther seye Line 2088 ¶ Now Thomas leeue brother / lef thyn Ire Thow shalt me fynde / as Iust as is a Squyre Hoold nat the deueles knyf / ay at thyn herte Thyn angre dooth thee / al to soore smerte Line 2092 But shewe to me / al thy confession ¶ Nay quod the sike man / by Seint Symon I haue be shryuen this day / at my Curat I haue hym toold / hoolly al myn estat Line 2096

[6-text p 396] Line 2096 Nedeth namoore to speke of it seith he But if me list of myn humylitee ¶ Yif me thanne of thy gold / to make oure cloystre Quod he / for many a Muscle / and many an Oystre Line 2100 Whan othere men / han been ful wel at eyse Hath been oure foode / oure Cloystre for to reyse And yet god woot vnnethe the fundement/ Parfourned is / ne of oure pauement Line 2104 [ [Rats.] [folio 84b] N]ys nat a tyle / yet with-Inne oure wones By god / we owen fourty pound for stones Now help Thomas / for hym þat harwed helle Or ellis mote we / oure bookes selle Line 2108 And if yow lakke / oure predicacion Thanne gooth the world / al to destruccion ffor who so / fro this world / wolde vs bireue So god me saue / Thomas by youre leue Line 2112 He wolde bireue / out of the world the sonne ffor who kan teche / and werchen as we konne And that is nat of litel tyme quod he But sith Elie was / or Elize Line 2116 Han freres been / that fynde I of record In charitee / thonked be oure lord Now Thomas / help for Seinte charitee And down anon / he set hym on his knee Line 2120 ¶ This sike man / weex wel neigh wood for Ire He wolde / that the frere / hadde been afire With his false dissimulacion Swich thyng/ as is in my possession Line 2124 Quod he / that may I yeue and noon oother Ye sey me thus / how that I am youre brother ¶ Ye certes quod the frere / trusteth wel I took oure dame / oure lettre with oure sel Line 2128 ¶ Now wel quod he / and som what shal I yeue Vn-to youre holy Couent whil I lyue And in thyn hand / thow shalt it han anon On this condicion / and oother noon Line 2132

[6-text p 397] Line 2132 That thow departe it so / my deere brother That euery frere / haue as muche as oother This shaltow swere / on thy profession With-outen fraude / or cauelacion Line 2136 ¶ I swere it quod this frere / vp-on my feith And ther with al / his hand in his he leith Lo here my feith / in me / shal be no lak ¶ Now thanne put thyn hand / down by my bak Line 2140 Seyde this man / and grope wel bihynde Bynethe my buttok there shaltow fynde A thyng that I haue hyd in pryuetee ¶ A thoghte this frere / that shal go with me Line 2144 And down his hand / he launcheth to the clifte [folio 85a] In hope / for to fynde there a yifte And whan this sike man / felte this frere Aboute his tuwel / grope there and heere Line 2148 Amydde his hand / he leet the frere a fart Ther is no capul / drawyng in a Cart That myghte han late a fart of swich a sown ¶ The frere vp stirte / as dooth a wood leoun Line 2152 A false cherl quod he / for goddes bones This hastow for despit doon for the nones Thow shalt abye this fart if þat I may His meynee / which that herden this affray Line 2156 Cam lepyng In / and chaced out the frere And forth he gooth / with a ful angry cheere And fette his felawe / ther as lay his stoor He looked / as he were a wilde boor Line 2160 He grynt with his teeth / so was he wrooth A sturdy paas / doun to the court he gooth Wher as ther woned / a man of greet honour To whom / that he was alwey confessour Line 2164 This worthy man / was lord of that village This frere cam / as he were in a rage Where as this lord / sat etyng at his boord Vnnethe / myghte the frere speke a woord Line 2168

[6-text p 398] Line 2168 Til atte laste / he seyde / god yow see ¶ This lord gan looke / and seyde benedicitee What frere Iohn / what manere world is this I se wel / that som thyng ther is amys Line 2172 Ye looken / as the wode were ful of theuys Sit doun anon / and tel me what youre grief is And it shal been amended / if I may ¶ I haue quod he / had a despit to day Line 2176 God yelde yow / adown in youre village That in this world / ther nys so poure a page That he nolde haue / abhomynacioun Of that I haue receyued in youre toun Line 2180 And yet/ ne greueth me / no thyng so soore As that this olde cherl / with lokkes hoore Blasphemed hath / oure hooly Couent eke ¶ Now maister quod this lord / I yow biseke Line 2184 No maister sire quod he / but seruytour [folio 85b] Thogh I haue had in scole / that honour God liketh nat that Raby men vs calle Neither in Market nyn youre large halle Line 2188 ¶ No force quod he / but tel me al youre grief ¶ Sire quod this frere / an odious meschief This day bityd is / to myn ordre and me And so par consequens / to ech degree Line 2192 Of holy chirche / god amende it soone ¶ Sire quod the lord / ye woot what is to doone Distempre yow noght ye be my confessour Ye been the salt of therthe / and the sauour Line 2196 ffor goddes loue / youre pacience ye holde Tel me youre grief/ and he anon hym tolde As ye han herd biforn / ye woot wel what The lady of the hous / ay stille sat Line 2200 Til she hadde herd / what the frere sayde ¶ Ey goddes moder quod she / blisful mayde Is ther aught ellis / tel me feithfully ¶ Ma dame quod he / how thynketh yow ther by Line 2204

[6-text p 399] Line 2204 ¶ How þat me thynketh quod she / so god me spede I seye / a cherl / hath doon a cherles dede What sholde I seye / god lat hym neuere thee His sike heed / is ful of vanytee Line 2208 I holde hym / in a manere frenesye ¶ Madame quod he / by god I shal nat lye But I / on oother wise / may be wreke I shal diffame hym / ouer al wher I speke Line 2212 The false blasphemour / that charged me To parte / that wol nat departed be To euery man yliche / with meschaunce ¶ The lord sat stille / as he were in a traunce Line 2216 And in his herte / he rolled vp and down How hadde this cherl / ymaginacioun To shewe swich a probleme / to the frere Neuere erst er now / herde I swich matere Line 2220 I trowe the deuel / putte it in his mynde In Arsmetrik shal ther no man fynde Bifore this day / of swich a question Who sholde / make a demonstracion Line 2224 That euery man sholde han / ylike his part/ [folio 86a] As of a soun / or sauour / of a fart O nyce prowde cherl / I shrewe his face ¶ Lo sires quod the lord / with harde grace Line 2228 Who euere herde / of swich a thyng er now To euery man ylike / tel me how It is an inpossible / it may nat be Ey nyce cherl / god lat hym neuere thee Line 2232 The rumblyng of a fart and euery soun Nys but of Eyr / reuerberacioun And there it wasteth / lite and lite awey Ther nys no man / kan deme by my fey Line 2236 If that it were / departed equally What lo my cherl / lo yet how shrewedly Vn-to my confessour / to day he spak/ I holde hym certeynly / demonyak Line 2240

[6-text p 400] Line 2240 Now ete youre mete / and lat the cherl go pleye Lat hym go hange hym self/ a deuel weye [[The Solution of the "Probleme" by the Lord's Squire|and-Carver. No break in the MS.]] ¶ Now stood / the lordes Squyer at the boord That carf his mete / and herde word by woord Line 2244 Of alle thyng of which I haue yow sayd ¶ My lord quod he / be ye nat yuele apayd I koude telle / for a gowne clooth To yow sire frere / so ye be nat wrooth Line 2248 How that this fart sholde euene ydeled be Among youre Couent if it liked me ¶ Tel quod the lord / and thow shalt haue anon A gowne clooth / by god and by Seint Iohn Line 2252 ¶ My lord quod he / whan that the weder is fair With-outen wynd / or perturbynge of Air Lat brynge a Cartwheel / heere in-to this halle But looke that it haue / his spokes alle Line 2256 Twelf spokes / hath a Cartwheel comunly And brynge me thanne twelf freres / woot ye why For thrittene / is a Couent / as I gesse Youre confessour heere / for his worthynesse Line 2260 Shal parfourne vp / the nombre of this Couent Thanne shal they knele adown / by oon assent And to euery spokes ende / in this manere fful sadly / leye his nose / shal a frere Line 2264 Youre noble Confessour / ther god hym saue [folio 86b] Shal holde his nose / vp right vnder the Naue Thanne shal this cherl / with baly / stif and toght As any tabour / hider been ybroght Line 2268 And sette hym on the wheel / right of this Cart Vp on the Naue / and make hym lete a fart And ye shal seen / on peril of my lyf By proue / which that is demonstratyf Line 2272

[6-text p 401] Line 2272 That equally / the soun of it wol wende And eek the stynk/ vn-to the spokes ende Saue / that this worthy man / youre Confessour By cause / he is a man of greet honour Line 2276 Shal han the firste fruyt as reson is The noble vsage of freres / yet is this The worthy men of hem / shul first be serued And certeynly / he hath it wel disserued Line 2280 He hath to day / taught vs so muchel good With prechyng in the pulput ther he stood That I may vouche sauf / I seye for me He hadde the firste smel / of fartes thre Line 2284 And so wolde / al his Couent hardily He bereth hym / so faire and holily ¶ The lord / the lady / ech man / saue the frere Seyden / that Iankyn spak in this matere Line 2288 As wel / as Euclyde / or Protholomee Touchynge the cherl / they seyde subtiltee And hy wit made hym speke / as he spak He nys no fool / ne no demonyak Line 2292 And Iankyn hath y-wonne / a newe gowne My tale is doon / we been almoost at towne [6-text p 253]

¶ Here endeth the Somnours tale. [[A blank leaf follows in the MS.]]

¶ Here bigynneth The Prologe of the Monkes ta[le [[Bitten off by rats.]] ].

WHan ended was my tale / of Melibee [folio 88a] And of Prudence / and hire benygnitee Line 3080 Oure hoost seyde / as I am feithful man And by / that precious corpus Madrian I hadde leuere / than a barel Ale That goode lief my wyf / hadde herd this tale Line 3084 She nys no thyng of swich pacience As was / this Melibeus wyf Prudence By goddes bones / whan I bete my knaues She bryngeth me / the grete clobbed staues Line 3088 And crieth / slee the dogges euerichon And breke hem / bothe bak and euery bon And if þat / any neighebore / of myne Wol nat in chirche / to my wyf enclyne Line 3092 Or be so hardy / to hire to trespace Whan she cometh / she raumpeth in my face And crieth / false coward wrek thy wyf By corpus bones / I wol haue thy knyf Line 3096 And thow shalt haue my distaf/ and go spynne ffro day to nyght right thus she wol bigynne Allas she seith / þat euere þat I was shape To wedden a Milksope / or a coward Ape Line 3100 That wol been ouer-lad / of euery wight Thow darst nat stonden / by thy wyues right This is my lif but if þat I wol fighte And out at dore / anoon I moot me dighte Line 3104 Or ellis I am but lost but if þat I Be lyk a wilde leon / fool hardy I woot wel / she wol do me sle som day Som neighebore / and thanne go my way Line 3108 ffor I am perilous / with knyf in honde Al be it that I dar nat hire withstonde

[6-text p 254] ffor she is big in armes / by my feith That shal he fynde / þat hire mysdooth / or seith Line 3112 But lat vs passe awey / fro this matere ¶ My lord the Monk quod he / be myrie of cheere ffor / ye shul telle a tale trewely [folio 88b] Lo / Rouchestre / stant heer fasteby Line 3116 Ride forth myn owene lord / brek nat oure game But by my trouthe / I knowe nat youre name Wher shal I calle yow / my lord Dann Iohn Or dann Thomas / or ellis Dann Albon Line 3120 Of what hous be ye / by youre fader kyn I vow to god / thow hast a ful fair skyn It is a gentil pasture / ther thow goost Thow art nat lyk a penannt or a goost Line 3124 Vp-on my feith / thow art som Officer Som worthy Sexteyn / or som Celerer ffor by my fader soule / as to my doom Thow art a maister / whan thou art at hom Line 3128 No poure Cloistrer / ne no novys But a gouernour / wily and wys And ther with al / of brawnes & of bones A wel farynge persone / for the nones Line 3132 I prey god / yeue hym confusion That first thee broghte / vn-to Religion Thow woldest han been a tredefoul aright Haddestow / as greet a leue as thow hast myght Line 3136 To perfourne / al thy lust in engendrure Thow haddest bigeten / ful many a creature Allas / why werestow so wyd a cope God yeue me sorwe / but and I were a Pope Line 3140 Nat oonly thow / but euery myghty man Thogh he were shore / ful hye vp on his pan Sholde haue a wyf for al the world is lorn Religion / hath take vp al the corn Line 3144 Of tredyng and we borel men been shrympes Of feble trees / ther comen wrecched ympes

[6-text p 255] This maketh / þat oure heires beth so sklendre And feble / þat they may nat wel engendre Line 3148 This maketh / þat oure wyues wole assaye Religious folk / for ye mowe bettre paye Of Venus paiementz / than may we God woot no lussheburgh payen ye Line 3152 But be nat wrooth my Lord / thogh þat I pleye fful ofte in game / a sooth I haue herd seye ¶ This worthy Monk / took al in pacience [folio 89a] And seyde / I wol doon al my diligence Line 3156 As fer / as sowneth in to honestee To telle yow a tale / or two / or three And if yow list to herkne hiderward I wol yow seyn / the lyf of Seint Edward Line 3160 Or ellis first tragedies wol I telle Of whiche / I haue an hundred in my Celle Tragedie is to seyn / a certeyn storie As olde bokes / maken vs memorie Line 3164 Of hym / þat stood in greet prosperitee And is yfallen / out of heigh degree In to myserie / and endeth wrecchedly And they been / versified comunly Line 3168 Of .vj. feet whiche men clepyn Exametron In prose eek been endited many oon And eek in metre / in many a sondry wise Lo this declaryng oghte ynogh suffise Line 3172 ¶ Now herkneth / if yow liketh for to heere But first I yow biseke / in this matere Though I by ordre / telle nat thise thynges Be it of Popes / Emperours / or Kynges Line 3176 After hir ages / as men writen fynde But telle hem / som bifore / and som bihynde As it now cometh / vn-to my remembrance Haueth me excused / of myn ignorance Line 3180

[6-text p 256]

¶ Here bigynneth the Monkes tale.

I Wol biwaille / in manere of Tragedie The harm of hem / that stoode in heigh degree And fillen so / that ther nas no remedie To brynge hem / out of hire Aduersitee Line 3184 ffor certeyn / whan þat ffortune list to flee Ther may no man / the cours of hire withholde Lat no man triste / on blynd prosperitee Beth war / by thise ensamples trewe and olde Line 3188

[Lucifer.]

AT lucifer / thogh he an Aungel were [folio 89b] And nat a man / at hym I wol bigynne ffor thogh ffortune / may noon Aungel dere ffrom heigh degree / yet fil he for his synne Line 3192 Doun in to Helle / where as he yet is Inne O Lucifer / brightest of Aungels alle Now artow Sathanas / that mayst nat twynne Out of Miserie / in which þat thou art falle Line 3196

[Adam.]

Lo Adam in the feld of Damyssene [[this stanza is in the margin in a later 15th-century hand]] With godes owne fynger wrowt was he .. And nat bygeten of mannes sperme vnclene .. And welte al paradiis sauyng o tree .. Line 3200 Had neuer wordly man so hey degre .. As Adam til he for mysgouernance .. Was dryue owt of his hey prosperitee .. To labour and to helle and to meschance Line 3204

[6-text p 257]

[Sampson.]

LO Sampson / which that was anunciat [Sampson.] By the Aungel / longe er his natiuitee And was / to god almyghty consecrat And stood in noblesse / whil that he myghte see Line 3208 Was neuere swich another / as was he To speke of strengthe / and ther-with hardynesse But to hise wyues / tolde he his secree Thurgh which / he slow hym self for wrecchednesse Line 3212

¶ Sampson / this noble almyghty champion With-outen wepne / saue hise hondes tweye He slow / and al to-rente the leon Toward his weddyng walkynge by the weye Line 3216 His false wyf / koude hym so plese and preye Til she his conseil knew / and she vntrewe Vn-to his foos / his conseil gan biwreye And hym forsook/ and took another newe Line 3220

¶ Thre hundred foxes / took Sampson for Ire And alle hir tayles / he togydre bond And sette the foxes tayles / alle on fire ffor he on euery tayl / hadde knyt a brond Line 3224 And they brende / alle the cornes in that Lond And alle hire Olyueris / and Vynes eke A thousand men / he slow with his hond And hadde no wepne / but an Asses cheke Line 3228

¶ Whan they were slayn / so thursted hym / þat he Was wel ny lorn / for which he gan to preye That god / wolde on his peyne / haue som pitee And sende hym drynke / or ellis moste he deye Line 3232 And of this Asses cheke / that was dreye Out of a wang tooth / sprang anon a welle Of which he drank ynogh / shortly to seye Thus heelp hym god / as Iudicum kan telle Line 3236

[6-text p 258] Line 3236

¶ By verray force / at Gazan / on a nyght [folio 90a] Maugree Philistiens / of that Citee The gates of the toun / he hath vp plight And on his bak ycaried hem hath he Line 3240 Hye on an hill / where as men myght hem se O noble almyghty Sampson / leef and deere Had thow nat toold / to wommen thy secree In al this world / ne hadde been thy peere Line 3244

¶ This Sampson / neuere Ciser drank ne wyn Ne on his heed / cam Rasour noon ne shere By precept of the Messager deuyn ffor alle his strengthes / in his herys were Line 3248 And fully .xx. wynter / yeer by yere He hadde of Israel / the gouernance But soone / shal he wepe many a teere ffor wommen / shul hym bryngen to meschaunce Line 3252

¶ Vn-to his lemman Dalida / he tolde That in his herys / al his strengthe lay And falsly / to his fomen she hym solde And slepynge in hir barm / vp on a day Line 3256 She made to clippe / or shere his heer away And made his fomen / al this craft espien And whan þat they / hym fond in this array They bounde hym faste / and putten out his eyen Line 3260

¶ But/ er his heer / was clipped or yshaue Ther was no bond / with which / men myghte hym bynde But now is he / in prisone in a Caue Where as they made hym / at the querne grynde Line 3264 O noble Sampson / strengest of mankynde O whilom / Iuge in glorie / and in richesse Now / maystow wepen / with thyne eyen blynde Sith thow fro wele / art falle in wrecchednesse Line 3268

[6-text p 259] Line 3268

¶ The ende of this caytif was as I shal seye His fomen / made a feste vp-on a day And made hym as hire fool / bifore hem pleye And this was / in a temple of greet array Line 3272 But atte laste / he made a foul affray ffor he two pilers shook / and made hem falle And doun fil temple and al / and there it lay And slow hym self / and eek his fomen alle Line 3276

¶ This is to seyn / the Prynces euerychon [folio 90b] And eek thre thousand bodies / were ther slayn With fallyng of the grete temple of stoon Of Sampson / now wol I namoore sayn Line 3280 Beth war by this ensample / old and playn That no men / telle hir conseil / til hir wyues Of swich thyng as they wolde han secree fayn If þat it touche / hir lymes / or hir lyues Line 3284

[Hercules.]

Of hercules / the souereyn conquerour [¶ Hercules.] Syngen hise werkes / laude and heigh renoun ffor in his tyme / of strengthe he was the flour He slow / and rafte the skyn fro the leoun Line 3288 He of Centauros / leyde the boost adown He Arpies slow / the cruel briddes felle The golden Apples / rafte of the dragoun He drow out Cerberus / the hound of helle Line 3292

¶ He slow the cruel tyrant Busirus And made his hors / to frete hym flessh and bon He slow the firy serpent venymus Of Achilois two hornes / he brak oon Line 3296 And he slow Cakus / in a Caue of stoon He slow the geant. Antheus the stronge He slow the grisly boor / and that anon And bar the heuene / on his nekke longe Line 3300

[6-text p 260] Line 3300

¶ Was neuere wight sith þat this world bigan That slew so manye monstres / as dide he Thurgh-out this wide world / his name ran What for his strengthe / and for his heigh bountee Line 3304 And euery Reawme / wente he for to se He was so strong þat no man myghte hym lette At bothe the worldes endes / seith Trophee / [¶ Ille vates Calde|orum Tropheus.] In stede of boundes / he a piler sette Line 3308

¶ A lemman / hadde this noble champion That highte Dian[i]ra / fressh as May And as thise clerkes / maken mencion She hath hym sent a sherte / fressh and gay Line 3312 Allas this sherte / allas and weylaway Enuenymed was / so subtilly with alle That er þat he / hadde wered it half a day It made his flessh / al from hise bones falle Line 3316

¶ But natheles / somme clerkes hire excusen [folio 91a] By oon þat highte Nessus / þat it maked Be as be may / I wol hire noght accusen But on his bak the sherte he wered al naked Line 3320 Til þat his flessh / was for the venym blaked And whan he say / noon oother remedie In hote coles / he hath hym seluen raked ffor with no venym / deigned hym to dye Line 3324

¶ Thus starf / this worthy myghty Hercules Lo who may truste on ffortune / any throwe ffor hym þat folweth / al this world of prees Er he be war / is ofte yleyd ful lowe Line 3328 fful wys is he / þat kan hym seluen knowe Beth war / for whan þat ffortune list to glose Thanne waiteth she / hir man to ouerthrowe By swich a wey / as he wolde leest suppose Line 3332

[6-text p 261]

[Nebuchadnezzar.]

The myghty trone / the precious tresor / [Nabugodonosor] The glorious ceptre / and roial maiestee That hadde / the kyng Nabugodonosor With tonge / vnnethe / may discryued be Line 3336 He twies / wan Ierusalem the Citee The vessel of the temple / he with hym ladde At Babiloigne / was his souereyn see In which / his glorie / and his delit he hadde Line 3340

¶ The faireste children / of the blood roial Of Israel / he leet do gelde anon And maked ech of hem / to been his thral Amonges othere / Danyel was oon Line 3344 That was / the wiseste child of euerychoon ffor he the dremes / of the kyng expowned Ther as in Chaldeye / clerk/ ne was ther noon That wiste / to what fyn his dremes sowned Line 3348

¶ This proude kyng leet make a Statue of gold Sixty cubites long and Seuene in brede To which ymage / he bothe yong and old Comanded to loute / and haue in drede Line 3352 Or in a fourneys / ful of flambes rede He shal be brend / that wolde noght obeye But neuere / wolde assente to that dede Danyel / ne hise yonge felawes tweye Line 3356

¶ This kyng of kynges / proud was and elat [folio 91b] He wende / that god / þat sit in magestee Ne myghte hym nat bireue / of his estat But sodeynly / he loste his dignytee Line 3360 And lyk a beest hym semed for to be And eet hey as an Oxe / and lay ther oute In reyn / with wilde beestes walked he Til certeyn tyme / was ycome aboute Line 3364

[6-text p 262] Line 3364 ¶ And lyk an Egles fetheres / wax hise herys Hise nayles / lyk a briddes clawes weere Til god relessed hym / a certeyn yerys And yaf hym wit and thanne with many a teere Line 3368 He thanked god / and euere his lyf in feere Was he to doon amys / or moore trespace And til that tyme / he leyd was on his beere He knew / that god / was ful of myght & grace Line 3372

[Belshazzar.]

¶ His sone / which that highte Balthasar [/ Balthasar /] That heeld the regne / after his fader day He by his fader / koude noght be war ffor proud he was / of herte and of array Line 3376 And eek an ydolastre / was he ay His hye estat / assured hym in pryde But ffortune caste hym down / and ther he lay And sodeynly / his regne gan dyuyde Line 3380

¶ A feste he made / vn-to hise lordes alle Vp-on a tyme / and made hem blithe be And thanne hise Officers / gan he calle Gooth bryngeth forth / the vessels quod he Line 3384 Whiche that my fader / in his prosperitee Out of the temple of Ierusalem / birafte And to oure hye goddes / thanke we Of honour / that oure eldres / with vs lafte Line 3388

¶ His wyf / hise lordes / and hise concubynes Ay dronken / whil hire appetites laste Out of thise noble vessels / sondry wynes And on a wal / this kyng hise eyen caste Line 3392 And say an hand armlees / that wroot ful faste ffor feere of which / he quook / and siked soore This hand / þat Balthasar so soore agaste Wroot Mane techel phares / and namoore Line 3396

[6-text p 263] Line 3396

¶ In al that land / Magicien was noon [folio 92a] That koude expounde / what that lettre mente But Danyel / expowned it anoon And seyde / Kyng god to thy fader lente Line 3400 Glorie / and honour / regne / tresor / rente And he was proud / and no thyng god ne dradde And ther-fore / god greet wreche vp-on hym sente And hym birefte / the regne þat he hadde Line 3404

¶ He was out cast of mannes compaignye With Asses / was his habitacion And eet hey as a beest in weet and drye Til þat he knew / by grace / and by reson Line 3408 That god of heuene / han domynacion Ouer euery regne / and euery creature And thanne / hadde god of hym compassion And hym restored / his regne and his figure Line 3412

¶ Eke / thow that art his sone / art proud also And knowest Alle thise thynges verraily And art rebel to god / and art his fo Thow drank eek / of his vessel boldely Line 3416 Thy wyf eke / and thy wenches synfully Dronke of the same vessels / sondry wynys And heriest false goddes cursedly Therfore to thee / yshapen ful greet pyne is Line 3420

¶ This hand was sent fro god / that on the wal Wroot Mane techel phares / truste me Thy regne is doon / thow weyest noght at al Dyuyded is thy regne / and it shal be Line 3424 To Medes and to Perses / yeuen quod he And thilke same nyght this kyng was slawe And Darius / occupieth his degree Though he ther to / hadde neither right ne lawe Line 3428

[6-text p 264] Line 3428

¶ Lordynges / ensample heer-by may ye take How that in lordshipe / is no sikernesse ffor whan ffortune / wol a man forsake She bereth awey / his regne and his richesse Line 3432 And eke hise freendes / bothe moore and lesse ffor what man / þat hath freendes thurgh ffortune Mishape / wol make hem enemys I gesse This prouerbe / is ful sooth / and ful commune Line 3436

[Zenobia.]

CEnobia / of Palymerie queene [folio 92b] As writen Perciens / of hir noblesse So worthy was in Armes / and so keene That no wight passed hire in hardynesse Line 3440 Ne in lynage / ne oother gentilesse Of kynges blood of Perce / is she descended I sey nat þat she hadde moost fairnesse But of hir shape / she myghte nat been amended Line 3444

¶ ffrom hire childhede / I fynde þat she fledde Office of wommen / and to wode she wente And many / a wilde hertes blood she shedde With Arwes brode / that she to hem sente Line 3448 She was so swift þat she anoon hem hente And whan þat she was elder / she wolde kille Leons / Leopardes / and Beres al torente And in hir Armes / welde hem at hir wille Line 3452

¶ Sche dorste / wilde beestes dennes seke And rennen in the montaynes / al the nyght And slepen vnder the bussh / and she koude eke Wrastlen / by verray force / and verray myght Line 3456 With any yong man / were he neuer so wight Ther myghte no thyng in hir armes stonde She kepte hir maydenhede / from euery wight. To no man / deigned hire to be bonde Line 3460

[6-text p 265] Line 3460

¶ But atte laste / hir freendes han hire maryed To Onedake / a prynce of that contree Al were it so / that she hem longe taryed And ye shal vnderstande / how þat he Line 3464 Hadde swiche fantasies / as hadde she But nathelees / whan they weere knyt in feere [simul] They lyued / in ioye / and in felicitee ffor ech of hem / hadde oother lief and deere Line 3468

¶ Saue o thyng that she wolde neuere assente By no wey / that he sholde by hire lye But ones / for it was hir pleyn entente To haue a child / the world to multiplye Line 3472 And also soone / as that she myghte espye That she was nat with childe / with that dede Thanne wolde she suffren hym doon his fantasye Eft soone / and noght but ones / out of drede Line 3476

¶ And if she were with childe / at thilke cast [folio 93a] Namoore / sholde he pleyen thilke game Til fully / .xl. dayes weren past Thanne wolde she ones / suffre hym do the same Line 3480 Al were this Onedake / wilde / or tame He gat namoore of hire / for thus she seyde It was to wyues / lecherie and shame In oother cas / if þat men with hem pleyde Line 3484

¶ Two sones / by this Onedake hadde she The whiche she kepte / in vertu and lettrure But now / vn-to oure tale turne we I seye / so worshipful a creature Line 3488 And wys ther-with / and large with mesure So penyble in the werre / and curteis eke Ne moore labour / myghte in werre endure Was noon / thogh al this world men sholde seke Line 3492

[6-text p 266] Line 3492

¶ Hir riche array / ne myghte nat be toold As wel in vessel / as in hire clothyng She was al clad / in perree and in gold And eek she lafte noght for noon huntyng Line 3496 To haue / of sondry tonges ful knowyng Whan þat she leyser hadde / and for to entende To lerne bookes / was al hir likyng How she in vertu / myghte hir lyf despende Line 3500

¶ And shortly / of this storie for to trete So doughty was hire housbonde / and eek she That they conquered / manye regnes grete In thorient with many a fair Citee Line 3504 Appertenant vn-to the magestee Of Rome / and with strong hond / heeld hem ful faste Ne neuere myghte / hir fomen / doon hem flee Ay / whil that Onedakes dayes laste Line 3508

¶ Hir batailles / who so list hem for to rede Agayn Sapor the kyng/ and othere mo And how / þat al this proces / fil in dede Why she conquered / and what title ther to Line 3512 And after / of hire meschief and hire wo How that she was / biseged and ytake Lat hym / vn-to my maister Petrak go That writ ynow of this / I vndertake Line 3516

¶ Whan Onedake was deed / she myghtily [folio 93b] The regnes heeld / and with hire propre hond Agayns hir foos / she faught so cruelly That ther nas kyng ne Prince in al that lond Line 3520 That he nas glad / if he þat grace fond That she ne wolde / vp-on his land werreye With hire / they made alliance by bond To been in pees / and lete hire ryde and pleye Line 3524

[6-text p 267] Line 3524

¶ The Emperour of Rome / Claudius Ne hym biforn / the Romayn Galien Ne dorsten neuere / been so corageus Ne noon Ermyn / ne noon Egipcien Line 3528 No Surryen / ne noon Arabien With-Inne the feeldes / þat dorste with hire fighte Lest þat she wolde / hem with hir handes slen Or with hire meynee / putten hem to flighte Line 3532

¶ In kynges habit wenten hire sones two As heires / of hir fadres regnes alle And Hermanno / and Thymalao Hir names weere / as Persiens hem calle Line 3536 But ay ffortune / hath in hire hony galle This myghty queene / may no while endure ffortune / out of hir regne made hire falle To wrecchednesse / and to mysauenture Line 3540

¶ Aurelian / whan þat the gouernance Of Rome / cam in-to hise handes tweye He shoope / vp-on this queene / to doon vengeance And with his legions / he took his weye Line 3544 Toward Cenobie / and shortly for to seye He made hire flee / and atte laste hire hente And fettred hire / and eek hire children tweye And wan the land / and hoom to Rome he wente Line 3548

¶ Amonges othere thynges / that he wan His Chaar / þat was with gold wroght & perree This grete Romayn / this Aurelian Hath with hym lad / for þat men sholde it see Line 3552 Biforn his triumphe / walketh she With gilte cheynes / on hire nekke hangynge Corowned was she / as after hire degree And ful of perree / charged hir clothynge Line 3556

[6-text p 268] [6-text p 271] Line 3556

¶ Allas ffortune / she that whilom was [folio 94a] Dredeful / to kynges / and to Emperoures Now gawreth al the peple / on hire allas And she that helmed was / in starke stoures Line 3560 And wan by force / townes stronge and toures Shal on hire heed / now were a vitremyte And she þat bar / the Ceptre ful of floures Shal bere a distaf hire cost for to quyte [[The modern instances which should come here, are at the end of the Tale in this MS.]] Line 3564

[Nero.]

Al though / that Nero were vicius [/ De Nerone] As any feend / that lyth ful lowe adown Line 3654 Yet he / as telleth vs Swetonius This wide world / hadde in subieccioun Line 3656 Bothe Est and West North / and Septemtrioun Of Rubies / Saphires / and of perles white Were alle hise clothes / browded vp and doun ffor he in gemmes / greetly gan delite Line 3660

¶ Moore delicat moore pompous of array Moore proud / was neuere Emperour than he That ilke clooth / that he hadde weryd o day After that tyme / he nolde it neuere see Line 3664 Nettes of gold threed / hadde he greet plentee To fisshen in Tybre / whan hym liste pleye Hise lustes were al lawe / in his decree ffor ffortune / as his freend / hym wolde obeye Line 3668

¶ He Rome brende / for his delicacie The Senatours / he slow vp-on a day To heere / how þat men wolde wepe & crye And slow his brother / and by his suster lay Line 3672 His moder he made / in pitous array ffor he hire wombe slytte / to biholde Where he conceyued was / so weilaway That he so litel / of his moder tolde Line 3676

[6-text p 271] [6-text p 272] Line 3676

¶ No teere out of hise eyen / for that sighte Ne cam / but seyde / a fair womman was she Greet wonder is / how þat he koude / or myghte Be domesman / of hire dede beautee Line 3680 The wyn to bryngen hym / comanded he And drank anoon / noon oother wo he made Whan myght is ioyned / vn-to crueltee Allas to depe / wol the venym wade Line 3684

[¶] In youthe / a maister hadde this Emperour [folio 94b] To teche hym lettrure / and curteisye ffor of moralitee / he was the flour As in his tyme / but if bookes lye Line 3688 And whil this maister / hadde of hym maistrye He maked hym / so louyng and so souple That longe tyme it was / er tirannye Or any vice / dorste in hym vncouple Line 3692

¶ This Seneca / of which þat I deuyse By cause Nero / hadde of hym swich drede ffor he fro vices / wolde hym ay chastise Discretly / as by word / and nat by dede Line 3696 Sire wolde he seyn / an Emperour moot nede Be vertuous / and hate tirannye ffor which he in a bath / made hym to blede On bothe hise armes / til he moste dye Line 3700

¶ This Nero / hadde eek / of acustumance In youthe / agayns his maister for to rise Which afterward / hym thoughte a greet greuance Ther-fore / he made hym dyen in this wise Line 3704 But nathelees / this Seneca the wise Chees / in a bath / to dye in this manere Rather than han / another tormentrise And thus hath Nero / slayn his maister deere Line 3708

[6-text p 272] [6-text p 273] Line 3708

¶ Now fil it so / that ffortune liste no lenger The hye pride of Nero / to cherice ffor thogh þat he was strong/ yet was she strenger She thoghte thus / by god I am to nyce Line 3712 To sette a man / that is fulfild of vice In heigh degree / and Emperour hym calle By god / out of his sete I wol hym trice Whan he leest weneth / sonnest shal he falle Line 3716

¶ The peple roos / vp on hym / on a nyght ffor his defaute / and whan he it espied Out of his dores / anon he hath hym dight Allone / and there he wende han been allyed Line 3720 He knokked faste / and ay the moore he cryed The faster shette they / the dores alle ffor drede of this / hym thoughte þat he dyed And wente his wey / no lenger dorste he calle Line 3724

¶ The peple cryde / and rombled vp and doun [folio 95a] That with hise erys / herde he / how they seyde Where is this false tirant this Neroun ffor fere almoost out of his wit he breyde Line 3728 And to hise goddes / pitously he preyde ffor socour / but it myghte noght bityde ffor drede of this / hym thoughte þat he deyde And ran in to a gardyn / hym to hyde Line 3732

¶ And in this gardyn / foond he cherles tweye That seten by a fyr / greet and reed And to thise cherlis two / he gan to preye To sleen hym / and to girden of his heed Line 3736 That to his body / whan þat he were deed Were no despit ydoon / for his defame Hym self he slow / he koude no bettre reed Of which / ffortune / lough and hadde a game Line 3740

[6-text p 273] [6-text p 274]

[Holofernes.]

¶ Was neuere Capitayn / vnder a kyng [/ De Oloferno] That regnes mo / putte in subieccioun Ne strenger was in feeld / of alle thyng As in his tyme / ne gretter of renoun Line 3744 Ne moore pompous / in heigh presumpcioun Than Oloferne / which ffortune ay kiste So likerously / and ladde hym vp and doun Til þat his heed was of / er that he wiste Line 3748

¶ Nat oonly / that this world hadde hym in awe ffor lesynge / of richesse / or libertee But made euery man / reneyen his lawe Nabugodonosor / was god seyde he Line 3752 Noon oother god / sholde adoured be Agayns this heste / no wight dorste trespace Saue in Bethulia / a strong Citee [// Et fecerunt filij Israel / secundum quod constituerat eis sacerdos dom|ini Eliachym] Where Eliachym / a preest was of that place

¶ But tak kepe / of the deeth of Oloferne Amydde his oost he dronke lay a nyght With-Inne his tente / large as is a berne And yet for al his pompe / and al his myght Line 3760 Iudith a womman / as he lay vpright Slepynge / his heed of smoot and from his tente fful pryuely she stal / from euery wight And with his heed / vn-to hir toun she wente Line 3764

[Antiochus.]

What nedeth it of kyng Anthiochus [folio 95b] To telle / his hye Roial magestee His hye pryde / hise werkes venymus ffor swich another / was ther noon as he Line 3768 Reed which that he was / in Machabee And reed / the proude wordes / þat he seyde And why he fil / fro heigh prosperitee And in an Hille / how wrecchedly he deyde Line 3772

[6-text p 274] [6-text p 275] Line 3772

¶ ffortune / hym hadde enchaunted so in pride That verraily / he wende he myghte attayne Vn-to the sterres / vp on euery syde And in balance / weyen ech montayne Line 3776 And alle the floodes / of the see restrayne And goddes peple / hadde he moost in hate Hem wolde he sleen / in torment and in payne Wenynge / that god ne myghte / his pryde abate Line 3780

¶ And for that Nichanore / and Thymothe Of Iewes / weren venquysshed myghtily Vn-to the Iewes / swich an hate hadde he That he bad greithe his Chaar ful hastily Line 3784 And swoor / and seyde ful despitously Vn-to Ierusalem / he wolde eft soone To wreken his Ire / on it ful cruelly But of his purpos / he was let ful soone Line 3788

¶ God for his manace / hym so soore smoot With invisible wounde / ay incurable That in hise guttes / carf it so and boot That hise peynes / weren inportable Line 3792 And certeinly / the wreche was resonable ffor many a mannes guttes / dide he peyne But from his purpos / cursed and dampnable ffor al his smert he wolde hym nat restreyne Line 3796

¶ But bad anon / apparaillen his hoost And sodeynly / er he was of it war God daunted / al his pride / and al his boost ffor he / so soore fil / out of his char Line 3800 That it hise lymes / and his skyn totar [lacerauit] So þat / he neither myghte go ne ryde But in a chayer / men aboute hym bar Al forbrused / bothe bak and syde Line 3804

[6-text p 275] [6-text p 276] Line 3804

¶ The wreche of god / hym smoot so cruelly [folio 96a] That thurgh his body / wikked wormes crepte And ther with al / he stank so horribly That noon / of al his meynee þat hym kepte Line 3808 Wheither so he wook/ or ellis slepte Ne myghte noght for stynk of hym endure Is this meschief / he wayled and eek wepte And knew god / lord of euery creature Line 3812

¶ To al his hoost and to hym self also fful wlatsom / was the stynk of his careyne No man / ne myght hym bere to ne fro And in this stynk and this horrible peyne Line 3816 He starf ful wrecchedly / in a monteyne Thus hath this Robbour / and this homycide That many a man / made to wepe and pleyne Swich gerdon / as bilongeth vn-to pryde Line 3820

[Alexander the Great.]

The Storie of Alisandre / is so commune [/ De Alexandro] That euery wight þat hath discrecion Hath herd som-what or al / of his fortune This wide world / as in conclusion Line 3824 He wan by strengthe / or for hys hye renon They were glad / for pees vn-to hym sende The pryde / of man and beest / he leyde adoun Where so he cam / vn-to the worldes ende Line 3828

¶ Comparison / myghte neuere yet ben maked Bitwixe hym / and another Conquerour ffor al this world / for drede of hym hath quaked He of knyghthod / and of fredom flour Line 3832 ffortune hym made / the heir of hire honour Saue wyn and wommen / no thyng myghte aswage His hye entente / in armes and labour So was he ful / of leonyn corage Line 3836

[6-text p 276] [6-text p 277] Line 3836

¶ What prys were it to hym / thogh I yow tolde Of Darius / and an hundred thousand mo Of kynges / Prynces / Dukes / Erles bolde Whiche he conquered / and broghte hem in-to wo Line 3840 I seye / as fer / as man may ride or go The world was his / what sholde I moore deuyse ffor thogh I write / or tolde yow euere mo Of his knyghthode / it myghte nat suffise Line 3844

[T]welf yeer he regned / as seith Machabee [folio 96b] Philippes sone of Macidoyne / he was That first was kyng in Grece the contree O worthy / gentil Alisandre allas Line 3848 That euere / sholde fallen swich a cas Empoysoned / of thyn owene folk thow weere Thyn sys / ffortune hath turned in-to Aas And for thee / ne weep she neuer a teere Line 3852

¶ Who shal me yeue teeris / to compleyne The deeth / of gentilesse / and of franchise That al this world / weldid in his demeyne And yet hym thoughte / it myghte nat suffise Line 3856 So ful was his corage / of heigh emprise Allas / who shal me helpe to endite ffalse ffortune / and poyson to despise The whiche two / of al this wo I wyte Line 3860

[Julius Cœsar.]

By wisdom / manhede / and by greet labour [/ De Iulio Cesare] ffrom humble bed / to Roial magestee Vp roos / he Iulius the Conquerour That wan al the Occident by land and see Line 3864 By strengthe of hond / or ellis by tretee And vn-to Rome / made hem tributarie And sith of Rome / the Emperour was he Til that ffortune / weex his Aduersarie Line 3868

[6-text p 277] [6-text p 278] Line 3868

¶ O myghty Cesar / that in Thessalie Agayn Pompeus / fader thyn in lawe That of thorient hadde al the chiualrie As fer / as þat the day bigynneth dawe Line 3872 Thow / thurgh thy knyghthod / hast hem take & slawe Saue fewe folk þat with Pompeus fledde Thurgh which / thow puttest al Thorient in Awe Thanke ffortune / that so wel thee spedde Line 3876

¶ But now a litel while / I wol biwaille This Pompeus / this noble gouernour Of Rome / which þat fleigh at this bataille I seye / oon of hise men / a fals traitour Line 3880 His heed of smoot/ to wynnen hym fauour Of Iulius / and hym the heed he broghte Allas Pompeie / of Thorient conquerour That ffortune / vn-to swich a fyn thee broghte Line 3884

¶ To Rome agayn / repaireth Iulius [folio 97a] With his triumphe / lauriat ful hye But on a tyme / Brutus Cassius That euere hadde / of his heighe estat enuye Line 3888 fful pryuely / hath maad conspiracie Agayns this Iulius / in subtil wise And caste the place / in which he sholde dye With Boydekyns / as I shal yow deuyse Line 3892

¶ This Iulius / to the Capitolie wente Vp-on a day / as he was wont to goon And in the Capitolie / anon hym hente This false Brutus / and hise othere foon Line 3896 And stiked hym / with Boydekyns anon With many a wounde / and thus they lete hym lye But neuere gronte he / at no strook but oon Or ellis at two / but if his storie lye Line 3900

[6-text p 278] [6-text p 279] Line 3900

¶ So manly / was this Iulius of herte And so wel / louede estatly honestee And thogh hise deedly woundes / so sore smerte His mantel ouer his hipes / caste he Line 3904 ffor no man / sholde seen his pryuetee And as he lay / of dyyng in a traunce And wiste verraily that deed was he Of honestee / yet hadde he remembraunce Line 3908

¶ Lucan. / to thee this storie I recomende And to Sweton / and to Valerius also That of this storie / writen word & ende How that to thise grete Conquerours two Line 3912 ffortune / was first freend / and siththe a foo No man ne triste / vp-on hire fauour longe But haue hire / in awayt for euere mo Witnesse / on alle thise Conquerours stronge Line 3916

[Cresus.]

This riche Cresus / whilom kyng of Lyde [[Cresus]] Of which Cresus / Cirus soore hym dradde Yet was he caught amyddes al his pryde And to be brent/ men to the fyr hym ladde Line 3920 But swich a reyn / doun fro the welkne shadde That slow the fyr / and made hym to escape But to be war / no grace yet he hadde Til ffortune / on the galwes made hym gape Line 3924

[ [Rats.] Wh]anne he escaped was / he kan nat stente [folio 97b] ffor to bigynne / a newe werre agayn He wende wel / for þat ffortune hym sente Swich hape / that he escaped thurgh the rayn Line 3928 That of his foos / he myghte nat be slayn And eek a sweuene / vp-on a nyght he mette Of which / he was so proud / and eek so fayn That in vengeance / he al his herte sette Line 3932

[6-text p 279] [6-text p 280] [6-text p 268] Line 3932

¶ Vp on a tree he was / as þat hym thoughte Ther Iuppiter hym wessh / bothe bak and syde And Phebus eek / a fair towaille hym broughte To drye hym with / and ther-fore wax his pryde Line 3936 And to his doghter / that stood hym bisyde Which that he knew / in heigh sentence habounde And bad hire telle hym / what it signyfide And she his dreem / bigan right thus expounde Line 3940

¶ The tree quod she / the galwes is to mene And Iuppiter / bitokneth snow and reyn And Phebus / with his towaille so clene Tho been / the sonnes stremes for to seyn Line 3944 Thow shalt an hanged be / fader certeyn Reyn shal thee wasshe / and sonne shal thee drye Thus warned hym / ful plat and ful pleyn His doghter / which þat called was Phanye Line 3948

¶ An hanged was Cresus / the proude kyng His Roial trone / myghte hym nat auaille Tragedies noon oother manere thyng Ne kan in syngyng/ crye ne biwaille Line 3952 But þat ffortune / alwey wole assaille With vnwar strook/ the regnes þat been proude ffor whan men trusteth hire / thanne wol she faille And couere hire brighte face / with a clowde [[These 4 modern instances ought to follow 'Zenobia,' p. 268.]] Line 3956

[Peter the Cruel, of Spain.]

O noble / o worthy Petro / glorie of Spayne [De Petro Ispannie] Whom ffortune heeld / so heighe in magestee Wel oghten men / thy pitous deeth complayne Out of thy land / thy brother made thee flee Line 3568 And after at a sege / by subtiltee Thow were bitraysed / and lad vn-to his tente Where as he / with his owene hand slow thee Succedynge / in thy regne and in thy rente Line 3572

[6-text p 268] [6-text p 269] Line 3572

¶ The feeld of snow / with thegle of blak ther-Inne [folio 98a] Caught with the lymrod / coloured as the glede [[Bertrand du Guesclin.]] He brew this cursednesse / and al this synne The wikked nest was werkere of this nede Line 3576 Noght Charles Olyuer / þat took ay hede of trouthe and honour / but of Armorike [[Oliver de Mauny of Britanny.]] Genylon Olyuer / corrupt for mede Broghte this worthy kyng in swich a brike Line 3580

[Peter of Cyprus.]

O worthy Petro / kyng of Cipre also [De Petro de Cipro] That Alisaundre wan / by heigh maistrie fful many an hethen / wroghtestow ful wo Of which / thyne owene liges hadde envie Line 3584 And for no thyng but for thy chiualrie They in thy bed / han slayn thee by the morwe Thus kan ffortune / hire wheel gouerne and gye And out of ioye / brynge men to sorwe Line 3588

[Bernabo Visconti, of Milan.]

Of Melan / grete Barnabo Viscounte [/ De Barnabo /] God of delit and scourge of Lumbardye Why sholde I noght thyn Infortune acounte Sith in estat/ thow clombe were so hye Line 3592 Thy brother sone / that was thy double allye ffor he thy Nevew was / and sone in lawe With-Inne his prison / made thee to dye But why ne how / noot .I. that thow were slawe Line 3596

[Ugolino, Count of Pisa.]

Of the Erl Hugelyn of Pize / the langour [/ De hugelyn Comite de Pize] Ther may no tonge / tellen for pitee But litel out of Pize / stant a tour In which[e] tour / in prison put was he Line 3600 And with hym been / hise litel children thre The eldeste scarsly / fyue yeer was of age Allas ffortune / it was greet crueltee Swiche briddes / for to putte in swich a cage Line 3604

[6-text p 269] [6-text p 270] Line 3604

¶ Dampned was he / to dyen in that prison ffor Roger / which þat bisshope was of Pize Hadde on hym maad / a fals suggestion Thurgh which the peple / gan vp on hym rise Line 3608 And putten hym to prison / in swich wise As ye han herd / and mete and drynke he hadde So smal / that wel vnnethe it may suffise And ther with al / it was ful poure and badde Line 3612

[ [Rats.] [folio 98b] A]nd on a day bifel / þat in that hour Whan þat his mete / wont was to be broght The Gayler / shette the dores of the tour He herde it wel / but he spak / right noght Line 3616 And in his herte / anon ther fil a thoght That they for hunger / wolde doon hym dyen Allas quod he / allas þat I was wroght Ther with / the teeris fillen from hise eyen Line 3620

¶ His yonge sone / þat thre yeer was of age Vn-to hym seyde / fader / fader / why do ye wepe Whanne wol the Gayler / bryngen oure potage Is ther no morsel breed / þat ye do kepe Line 3624 I am so hungry / that I may nat slepe Now wolde god / þat I myghte slepen euere Thanne sholde noght hunger / in my wombe crepe Ther is no thyng but breed / þat me were leuere Line 3628

¶ Thus day by day / this child bigan to crye Til in his fadres barm / adoun it lay And seyde / farewel fader / I moot dye And kiste his fader / and deyde the same day Line 3632 And whan the woful fader / deed it say ffor wo / hise armes two / he gan to byte And seyde / allas ffortune and weylaway Thy false wheele / my wo al may I wyte Line 3636

[6-text p 270] Line 3636

¶ Hise children wende / that it for hunger was That he hise armes gnow / and nat for wo And seyden fader / do nat so allas But rather / ete the flessh vp-on vs two Line 3640 Oure flessh thow yaf taak oure flessh vs fro And ete ynow / right thus they to hym seyde And after that with-Inne a day / or two They leyde hem / in his lappe adoun / and deyde Line 3644

¶ Hym self despeired / eek / for hunger starf Thus ended is / this myghty Erl of Pize ffrom heigh estat. ffortune awey hym carf Of this tragedie / it oghte ynogh suffise Line 3648 Who so wole it heere it in a lenger wise Redeth / the grete Poete of Ytaille That highte Dant. for he kan al deuyse ffro point to point nat o word wol he faille [6-text p 281] Line 3652

Here is ended the Monkes tale

¶ This is the Prologe / of the Nonne Prees [tes [Rats.] ] tale. [folio 99a]

HO quod the knyght good sire namoore of this That ye han seyd / is right ynow ywis And muchel moore / for litel heuynesse Is right ynow / to muche folk I gesse [[no gap in Hengwrt]] Line 3960 [ [MS Reg. 18 C ii folio 226a] I seye for me hit is a grete disese where as men han ben in grete welþe & ese To heren of her sodeyn fal allas And þe contrarie is ioye and grete solace Line 3964 As whan a man haþ be in pore estate And clymbeth vp and wexeth fortunate [And ther/ a-bideth in prosperite. [Harl. 1758 folio 192b] ] Suche þing is gladsom as hit þinketh me Line 3968 And þough suche þing were goodly forto telle Ȝe quod oure Oste by seynt poules belle Ȝe seie right soth þis monk he clappeth loude He spak how fortune couered in a cloude Line 3972 I not neuere what & also of a treiadie Right now ȝe herde and parde no remedie It is for to be-wayle ne complayne That that is doon and also hit is a payne Line 3976 As ȝe han saide to here of heuynesse Sire monk nomore of þis so god ȝou blesse Ȝoure tale annoyeth all þis companye Suche talkyng nys not worth a butterflye [[MS Reg. ex|tract ends]] ] Youre tales / doon vs no desport ne game Wher-fore sire Monk/ o. daun Piers by youre name I prey yow hertely / telle vs som what ellis ffor sikerly / nere clynkyng of youre bellis Line 3984

[6-text p 282] Line 3984 That on youre bridel hange / on euery syde By heuene kyng þat for vs alle dyde I sholde er this / haue fallen doun for sleepe Al thogh the slow / hadde neuere ben so deepe Line 3988 Thanne hadde youre tale / al be toold in veyn ffor certeynly / as þat thise clerkes seyn Where as a man / may haue noon audience Naught helpeth it to tellen his sentence Line 3992 And wel I woot the substance is in me If any thyng shal wel reported be Sire / sey som what of huntyng I yow preye ¶ Nay quod this Monk I haue no lust to pleye Line 3996 Now lat another telle / as I haue toold ¶ Thanne spak oure hoost with rude speche & boold And seyde / vn-to the Nonnes preest anon Com neer thow preest com hider thow sir Iohn Line 4000 Telle vs swich thyng as may oure hertes glade Be blythe / though thow ryde vp-on a Iade What though thyn hors / be bothe foul and lene If he wol serue thee / rekke nat a bene Line 4004 Looke / that thyn herte / be murye euere mo ¶ Yis sire quod he / yis hoost so mote I go But I be murye / ywis I wol be blamed And right anon / his tale he hath attamed Line 4008 And thus he seyde / vn-to vs euerichon This sweete preest this goodly man sir Iohn

Explicit.

[6-text p 283]

¶ Here bigynneth the Nonnes preestes tale of the Cok/ and Hen / Chauntecler & Pertelote / [folio 99b]

A poore widwe / som del stape in age was whilom dwellynge / in a narwe cotage Line 4012 Biside a groue / stondyng in a dale This widwe / of which I telle yow my tale Syn thilke day / þat she was last a wyf In pacience / ladde a ful symple lyf Line 4016 ffor / litel was hire catel and hire rente By housbondrye / of swich as god hire sente She foond hire self / and eek hire doghtren two Thre large sowes / hadde she and namo Line 4020 Thre kyn / and eek a sheepe / þat highte Malle fful sooty was hire bour / and eek hire halle In which she eet ful many a sklendre meel Of poynant sawce / hir neded neuer a deel Line 4024 No deyntee morsel / passed thurgh hir throte Hir diete / was acordant to hir cote Repleccion / ne made hire neuere syk Attempree diete / was al hire phisyk Line 4028 And excercise / and hertes suffisaunce The gowte / lette hire no thyng for to daunce Napoplexie / shente nat hire heed No wyn ne drank she / neither whit ne reed Line 4032 Hire bord was serued / moost with whit and blak Milk and broun breed / in which she foond no lak Seynd bacon / and som tyme 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 Chantecler In al the land / of crowyng nas his peer Line 4040

[6-text p 284] Line 4040 His voys was murier / than the myrie Orgon On massedayes / þat in the chirche gon Wel sikerer / was his crowyng in his logge Than is a Clokke / or any Abbey Orlogge Line 4044 By nature / he knew ech ascencion Of equinoxial / in thilke town ffor whan degrees .xv. / were ascended [folio 100a] Thanne krew he / þat it myghte nat ben amended Line 4048 His komb / was redder / than the fyn coral And batayled / 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 whitter / than the lylye flour And lyk the burned gold / was his colour This gentil cok/ hadde in his gouernaunce Seuene hennes / for to doon al his plesaunce Line 4056 Whiche were hise sustres / and his paramours And wonder lyke to hym / as of colours Of whiche / the faireste hewed on hire throte Was clepid / faire damoysele Pertelote Line 4060 Curteys she was / discret/ and debonaire And compaignable / and bar hir self so faire Syn thilke day / þat she was seuen nyght oold That trewely / she hath the herte in hoold Line 4064 Of Chantecler / loken in euery lyth He loued hire so / þat wel was hym ther with But swich a ioye was it to here hem synge Whan þat / the brighte sonne gan to sprynge Line 4068 In swete acord / my leef/ is faren in londe ffor thilke tyme / as I haue vnderstonde Beestes / and briddes / kouden speke and synge And so bifel / þat in a dawenynge Line 4072 As Chantecler / among hise wyues alle Sat on his perche / that was in the halle And next hym sat this faire Pertelote This Chantecler / gan gronen in his throte Line 4076

[6-text p 285] Line 4076 As man / þat in his dreem / is drecched soore ¶ And whan þat Pertelote / thus herde hym rore She was agast/ and seyde herte deere What eyleth yow · to grone in this manere Line 4080 Ye ben a verray slepere / fy for shame ¶ And he answerde / and seyde thus / madame I prey yow / þat ye take it nat agrief By god me mette / I was in swich meschief Line 4084 Right now / þat yet myn herte is soore afright Now god quod he / my sweuene recche aright [Rats.] [folio 100b] [A]nd kepe my body / out of foul prisoun Me mette / how that I romed vp and doun Line 4088 With-Inne oure yeerd / where as I say a beest Was lyk an hound / and wolde han maad arest Vp-on my body / and han had me ded His colour / was bitwixe yelow and red Line 4092 And tipped was his tayl / and bothe hise erys With blak vnlik the remenant of hise herys His snowte smal / with glowyng eyen tweye Yet of his look for fere 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 be To han housbondes / hardy / wise and fre 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 ben agast of sweuenys No thyng god woot but vanytee in sweuene is Line 4112

[6-text p 286] Line 4112 Sweuenes / engendren of replexions And ofte / of fume / and of complexions Whan humours / ben to habundant in a wight Certes this dreem / which ye han met to nyght Line 4116 Comth / of the grete superfluitee Of youre rede Colera pardee Which causeth folk / to dreden in hir dremes Of Arwes / and of fyr with rede lemes Line 4120 Of rede bestes / that they wol hem byte Of contek and of whelpes grete and lyte Right as the humour / of Malencolie Causeth ful many a man / in sleepe to crie Line 4124 ffor fere of blake beres / or boles blake Or ellis / blake deueles wol hem take Of othere humours / koude I telle also [folio 101a] That werken many a man / in sleep 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 we fle fro thise bemes Line 4132 ffor goddes loue / as taak som laxatif Vp peril of my soule / and of my lif I conseile yow the beste / I wol nat lye That bothe of Colere / and of Malencolye Line 4136 Ye purge yow / and for ye shal nat tarye Thogh/ in this town / is noon Apothecarye I shal my self / to herbes techen yow That shul ben / for youre heele and for youre prow Line 4140 And in oure yerd / 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 ben ful colerik of complexion Ware the sonne / in his Ascencion Ne fynde yow nat replet of humours hote And if it do / I dar wel leye a grote Line 4148

[6-text p 287] Line 4148 That ye shul haue / a feuere terciane Or an Agew / þat may be youre bane A day / or two / ye shul han degestyues Of wormes / er ye take youre laxatyues Line 4152 Of Lauriol / Centaure and ffumetere Or ellis of Ellebor / that groweth there Of Katapuce / or of Gaytrys beryis Of herbe yue growyng in oure yerd / they merye is Line 4156 Pekke hem vp right as ther growe / and ete hem In Be myrie housbonde / for youre fader kyn Dredeth no dreem / I kan sey yow namoore ¶ Madame quod he / grant mercy of youre loore Line 4160 But nathelees / as touchyng dann Catoun That hath of wisdom / swich a gret renoun Thogh þat he bad / no dremes for to drede By god men may / in olde bokes rede Line 4164 Of many a man / moore of auctoritee Than euere Caton was / so mote I thee [Rats.] [folio 101b] [T]hat al the reuers seyn / of his sentence And han wel founden / by experience Line 4168 That dremes / ben signyficacions As wel / of ioye / as tribulacions That folk enduren / in this lyf present Ther nedeth / make of this noon argument Line 4172 The verray preue / sheweth it in dede ¶ Oon of the gretteste Auctour / þat men rede Seith thus / þat whilom two felawes wente On pilgrymage / in a ful good entente Line 4176 And happed so / they coomen in a town Where 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 ylogged be Wherfore / they mosten of necessitee As for that nyght departe 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 plow That oother man / was logged wel ynow Line 4188 As was his auenture / or his fortune That vs gouerneth alle / as in commune And so bifel / þat longe / er it were day 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 help 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 þat he was wakned / of his sleep He turned hym / and took of this no keepe Line 4200 Hym thoughte / his dreem nas but a vanytee Thus twies / in his slepyng dremed he And atte thridde tyme / yet his felawe Cam as hym thoughte / and seyde I am now slawe Line 4204 Bihoold my blody woundes / depe and wyde Arys vp erly / in the morwe tyde And atte Westgate of the town quod he [folio 102a] A Carte ful of donge / ther shaltow se Line 4208 In which / my body is hyd ful priuely Do thilke Cart aresten boldely My gold caused my mordre / sooth to seyn And tolde hym euery poynt how he was sleyn Line 4212 With a ful pitous face / pale of hewe And truste wel / his dreem he fond 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 / youre felawe is agon Line 4220

[6-text p 289] Line 4220 As soone as day / he wente out of the town ¶ This man / gan fallen in suspecioun Remembrynge / on hise dremes þat he mette And forth he goth / no lenger wolde he lette Line 4224 Vn-to the westgate of the town / and fond A dong Carte / went 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 Vengeaunce / and Iustice / of this felonye My felawe / mordred is / this same nyght And in this Cart heere / he lyth gapyng vp-right Line 4232 I crye / on the Mynystres / quod he That sholde kepe / and rulen this Citee Harrow / allas / heere lyth my felawe slayn What sholde I moore / vn-to this tale sayn Line 4236 The peple vp sterte / and caste the Cart to grounde And in the myddel of the dong they founde The dede man / þat mordred was al newe ¶ O blisful god / þat art so Iust and trewe Line 4240 Lo / how þat thow biwreyest mordre alway 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 wod nat suffre it helyd be Though it abyde / a yeer / or two / or thre [Rats.] [folio 102b] [M]ordre wol out this my conclusioun And right anon / Ministres of that town Line 4248 Han hent the Cartere / and so soore hym pyned And eek the hostiler / so sore engyned That they biknewe / hire wikkednesse anon And were anhanged / by the nekke bon Line 4252 Heere may men sen / þat dremes ben 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 blys Line 4256

[6-text p 290] Line 4256 Two men / þat wolde han passed ouer see ffor certeyn cause / in-to a fer contree If þat the wynd / ne hadde ben contrarie That made hem / in a Citee for to tarie Line 4260 That stood ful myrie / vp on 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 wenten vn-to reste Line 4264 And casten hem / ful erly for to sayle But herkneth / to that o man / fil a gret meruaille ¶ That oon of hem / in slepyng as he lay Hym mette a wonder dreem / agayn the day Line 4268 Hym thoughte / a man stood / by his beddes syde And hym comanded / þat he sholde abyde And seyde hym thus / if thow 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 / þat lay / by his beddes syde Line 4276 Gan for to laughe / and scorned hym 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 ben / 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 / þat thow wolt here abyde And thus forslewthen / wilfully thy tyde God woot it reweth me / and haue good day [folio 103a] 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 meschaunce 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 By swiche ensamples olde / maystow leere Line 4296 That no man / sholde ben to recchelees Of dremes / for I sey thee doutelees That many a dreem / ful soore is for to drede ¶ Lo / in the lyf of Seint Kenelm I rede Line 4300 That was Kenulphus sone / the noble Kyng Of Mertenrike / how Kenelm mette a thyng Alite / er he was mordred / on a day His mordre / in his auysion he say Line 4304 His norice / hym expowned euery del His sweuene / and bad hym for to kepe hym wel ffor trayson / but he nas but .vij. yeer old And therfore / litel tale hath he told Line 4308 Of any dreem / so holy was 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 Auysion In Affrike / of the worthy Cipion Affermeth dremes / and seith þat they ben Warnynge of thynges / þat men after sen Line 4316 ¶ And forther moore / I pray yow looketh wel In the olde testament of Danyel If he heeld dremes / any vanytee ¶ Rede eek of Ioseph / and there shul ye see Line 4320 Wher dremes be som tyme / I sey nat alle Warnynge of thynges / þat shul after falle ¶ Looke of Egipte / the Kyng Daun Pharao His bakere / and his butiller also Line 4324 Wher they ne felte / noon effect in dremes Who so wol seke / Actes of sondry Remes [Rats.] [folio 103b] [M]ay 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 þat he sat vp-on a tree Which signyfide / he sholde an hanged be ¶ Lo here Andromacha / 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 lorn If thilke day / he wente in-to bataille She warned hym / but it myghte nat auaille Line 4336 He wente for to fighte / nathelees And he was slayn anon / of Achilles But thilke tale / is al to long to telle And eek / it is ney day / I may nat dwelle Line 4340 Shortly I seye / as for conclusion That I shal han / of this auysion Aduersitee / and I seye forther moor That I ne telle / of laxat·yues no stoor Line 4344 ffor they ben venymes / I woot it wel I hem deffie / I loue hem neuer a del ¶ Now lat vs speke of myrthe and stynte al this Madame Pertelote / so haue I blys Line 4348 Of o thyng god hath sent me large grace ffor whan I se / the beautee / of youre face Ye ben so scarlet reed / aboute youre eyen It maketh / al my drede for to deyen Line 4352 ffor also siker / as In principio Mulier / est hominis confusio Madame / the sentence / of this latyn is Womman / is mannes ioye and al his blys Line 4356 ffor whan I feele a nyght youre softe syde Al be it þat 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 deffie / bothe sweuene and dreem And with that word / he fley 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 He fethered Pertelote / twenty tyme [folio 104a] 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 deyned nat/ to sette his foot to grounde And chukketh / whan he hath a corn yfounde Line 4372 And to hym rennen thanne / hise wyues alle Thus real / as a Prince is in his halle Leue I this Chauntecler / in his pasture And after / wol I telle his auenture Line 4376 ¶ Whan that the Monthe / in which the world bigan That highte March / whan god first maked man Was complet and passed were also Syn March bigan / 30. dayes and two Line 4380 Bifel / þat Chauntecler / in al his pryde Hise seuene wyues / walkyng him bisyde Caste vp hise eyen / to the brighte sonne That in the signe of Taurus / hadde yronne Line 4384 xx. degrees and oon /· and som what moore And knew by kynde / and by noon oother loore That it was pryme / and krew with blisful steuene The sonne he seyde / is clomben vp on heuene Line 4388 40. degrees and oon / and moore ywis Madame Pertelote / my worldes blys Herkneth thyse blisful bryddes / how they synge 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 hym herkne me Line 4400

[6-text p 294] Line 4400 This storie / is also trewe I vndertake As is the book/ of Launcelot de Lake That wommen holde / in ful gret reuerence Now wol I / torne agayn to my sentence Line 4404 ¶ A Colfox / ful of sley Iniquitee That in the groue / hadde woned yeres thre [Rats.] [folio 104b] [By] heigh ymaginacion / forncast The same nyght thurgh-out the hegges brast Line 4408 In-to the yerd / ther Chauntecler 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 Chauntecler to falle As gladly doon / thise homycides alle That in awayt liggen / to mordre men O false mordrour / lurkynge in thy den Line 4416 O newe Scariot newe Genylon ffalse dissimilour / o greek Synon That broghtest Troye / al outrely to sorwe O Chauntecler / acursed be that morwe Line 4420 That thow in-to the yerd / flaugh fro the bemys Thow were / ful wel y-warned by thy dremys That thilke day / was perilous to thee But what þat god forwoot moot nedes be Line 4424 After the opynyon of certeyn clerkis Witnesse on hym / þat any parfit clerk is That in scole / is gret altercacion In this matere / and gret disputison Line 4428 And hath ben / of an hundred thousand men But I ne kan / nat bulte it to the bren As kan / the holy doctour Augustyn Or Boece / or the Bisshope Bradwardyn Line 4432 Wheither / þat goddes worthy forewityng Streyneth me nedely / for to doon a thyng/ Nedely clepe I / symple necessitee Or ellis / if fre 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 I was wroght Or if his wityng streyneth neuer a del But by necessitee / condicionel Line 4440 I wol nat han to do / of swich matere My tale is of a Cok as ye may heere That took his conseil / of his wyf/ with sorwe To walken in the yerd / vp-on that morwe Line 4444 That he hadde met the dreem / þat I yow tolde Wommens conseils / be ful ofte colde Wommannes conseil / broghte vs first to wo [folio 105a] And made Adam / fro Paradys to go Line 4448 Ther as he was / ful myrie and wel at ese But for I noot to whom it myghte displese If I conseil of wommen / wolde blame Passe ouer / for I seyde it in my game Line 4452 Rede Auctours / where they trete of swich matere And what they seyn of wommen heere Thise ben the Cokkes wordes and nat myne I kan noon harm / on no womman deuyne Line 4456 ¶ ffaire in the Sond / to bathe hire myrily Lyth Pertelote / and alle hire sustres by Agayn the sonne / and Chauntecler so free Song myrier / 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 caste 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 cryde anon / cok cok and vp he sterte As man / þat was affrayd in his herte Line 4468 ffor naturelly / a beest desireth flee ffro his contrarie / if he may it see Though he neuere erst hadde seye it with his eye This Chauntecler / whan he gan hym espye Line 4472

[6-text p 296] Line 4472 He wolde han fled / but þat the fox anon Seyde gentil sire / allas wher wol ye gon Be ye affrayd / of me þat 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 / youre conseil for tespye But trewely / the cause of my comynge Was oonly / for to herkne how þat ye synge Line 4480 ffor trewely / ye han as myrie a steuene As any Angel hath / þat 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 moder / of hire gentillesse [Rats.]] [folio 105b] [Ha]n in myn hous yben / to my gret ese And certes sire / ful fayn wolde I yow plese Line 4488 ¶ But for men speke of syngynge / I wol seye So mote I browke wel / myne eyen tweye Saue ye / I herde neuere man so 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 / þat with bothe hise eyen He moste wynke / so loude he wolde cryen Line 4496 And stonden on his typton / 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 wisdom myghte passe I haue wel rad / in daun Burnelle the Asse Among hise vers / how þat ther was a cok ffor 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 Bitwix the wisdom / and discrecion Line 4508

[6-text p 297] Line 4508 Of youre fader / and of his subtiltee Now syngeth sire / for seynte charitee Lat se / konne ye youre fader countrefete ¶ This Chauntecler / 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 court and many a losengeour Line 4516 That plesen yow wel moore / by my feyth Than he / þat soothfastnesse vn-to yow seith Redeth Ecclesiaste / of flaterye Beth war ye lordes / of hir trecherye Line 4520 ¶ This Chauntecler / stood hye vp on his toos Strecchynge his nekke / and heeld hise eyen cloos And gan to crowe / lowde for the nones And daun Russelle the fox / stirte vp atones Line 4524 And by the gargat hente Chauntecler And on his bak / toward the wode hym beer ffor yet ne was ther no man / þat hym sewed [folio 106a] ¶ O destynee / þat mayst nat ben eschewed Line 4528 Allas þat Chauntecler / fly fro the bemes Allas / his wif/ ne roghte nat of dremes And on a friday / fil al this meschance ¶ O Venus / þat art goddesse of plesance Line 4532 Syn þat thy seruant was this Chauntecler And in thy seruyce / dide al his power Moore for delit than world to multiplie Why woldestow 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 deth so soore Why ne hadde I now / thy sentence and thy loore Line 4540 The friday for to chide / as diden ye ffor on a ffriday / soothly slayn was he Thanne wolde I shewe yow / how þat I kowde pleyne ffor Chaunteclerys 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 Whanne he hadde hent kyng Priam by the berd Line 4548 And slayn hym / as seith vs Eneydos As maden / alle the hennes in the cloos Whan they hadde seyn / of Chauntecler the sighte But souereynly / dame Pertelote shrighte Line 4552 fful louder / than dide Hasdrubales wyf Whan þat hire housbonde / hadde ylost his lyf And þat the Romayns / hadden brend Cartage She was / so ful of torment and of rage Line 4556 That wilfully / vn-to the fyr she sterte And brende hir seluen / with a stedefast herte ¶ O woful hennes / right so cryden ye As / whan þat Nero / brende the Citee Line 4560 Of Rome / cryden the senatours wyues ffor þat hir housbondes / losten alle hire lyues With-outen gilt this Nero hath hem slayn Now wol I turne / to my tale agayn Line 4564 ¶ The sely widwe / and eek hire doghtres two Herden thise hennes crye / and maken wo [Rats.] [folio 106b] [And] out at dores / stirten they anon [Rats.] [A]nd seyen the fox / toward the groue gon Line 4568 And bar vp-on his bak/ the cok/ away And criden / out harrow and weilaway 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 Gerlande And Malkyn / with a distaf in hire hande Ran Cow and calf / and eek the verray hogges So fered / for berkynge of the dogges Line 4576 And showtynge of the men / and wommen eek They ronne so / hem thoughte hire herte breek They yelleden / as fendes 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 Out of the hyue / cam the swarm of bees So hydous was the noyse / a benedicite Certes / he Iakke Straw / and his meynee Line 4584 Ne made neuere showtes / half so shrille Whan þat they wolden / any flemyng kille As thilke day / was maad vp-on the fox Of bras / they broghten bemys / and of box Line 4588 Of horn / of boon / in whiche they blewe and powped And ther with al / they skryked and they howped It semed / as þat heuene sholde falle Now goode men / I prey yow herkneth alle Line 4592 Lo / how ffortune / turneth sodeynly The hope / and pryde eek of hire enemy This cok þat lay vp-on the foxes bak In al his drede / vn-to the fox he spak Line 4596 And seyde sire / if þat I were as ye Yit sholde I seyn / as wys god helpe me Turneth ayein ye proude cherles alle A verray pestilence / vp-on yow falle Line 4600 Now I am come / vn-to this wodes syde Maugree youre heed / the cok shal here 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 hye vp on a tree / he fley anon [folio 107a] ¶ And whan the fox say / þat he was gon Line 4608 Allas quod he / o Chauntecler Allas I haue to yow quod he / ydon trespas In as muche / as I maked yow aferd Whan I yow hente / and broghte in-to this yerd Line 4612 But sire / I dide it in 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 thow bigile me / any ofter than ones Thow shalt namoore / thurgh thy flaterye Do me to synge / and wynken with myn eye Line 4620 ffor he þat wynketh / whan he sholde see Al wilfully / god lat hym neuere thee ¶ Nay quod the fox / but god yeue hym meschance That is / so vndiscret/ of gouernance 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 / þat holden this tale a folye Line 4628 As of a fox / or of a cok and hen Taketh the moralitee / goode men ffor Seint Poul seith / þat al that writen is To oure doctryne / it is ywrite ywis Line 4632 Taketh the fruyt and lat the chaf be stille Now goode god / if þat it be thy wille As seith my lord / so make vs alle goode men [Dominus Archie|piscopus Cantu|ariensis] And brynge vs / to his heye blisse Amen [6-text p 576]

¶ Here is ended / the Nonnes Preestes tale. [[The Manciple's Prologue follows in the MS.]]