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

[PART III.]

¶ Alla the kyng comth hom soone after this Vn to his Castel / of the which I tolde And axeth / where his wyf / and his child is The Constable / gan aboute his herte colde Line 879

[6-text p 158] Line 879 And pleynly / al the manere he hym tolde As ye han herd / I kan telle it no bettre And sheweth the kyng his seel and his lettre Line 882

[A]nd seyde lord / as ye comaunded me [folio 124b] Vp peyne of deeth / so haue I do certein This Messager / tormented was / til he Moste biknowe / and tellen plat and pleyn Line 886 ffro nyght to nyght in what place he had leyn And thus by wit and subtil enquerynge Ymagined was / by whom this harm gan sprynge Line 889

¶ The hond was knowe / þat the lettre wroot And al the venym / of this cursed dede But in what wise / certeynly I noot Theffect is this / þat Alla out of drede Line 893 His moder slow / that may men pleynly rede ffor that she traytour was / to hir ligeaunce Thus endeth olde Donegild with meschaunce Line 896

¶ The sorwe þat this Alla / nyght and day Maketh for his wyf / and for his child also Ther is no tonge / that it telle may But now wol I / vn to Custaunce go Line 900 That fleteth in the See / in peyne and wo ffyue yeer and moore / as liked Cristes sonde Er þat hir shipe / approched vn to londe Line 903

¶ Vnder an hethen Castel / atte laste Of which the name / in my text noght I fynde Custaunce and eek hir child / the see vp caste Almyghty god / that saueth al mankynde Line 907 Haue on Custaunce / and on hir child som mynde That fallen is / in hethen hand eft soone In point to spille / as I shal telle yow soone Line 910

[6-text p 159] Line 910

¶ Down fro the Castel / comth ther many a wight To gauren on this Shipe / and on Custaunce But shortly from the Castel / on a nyght The lordes Styward / god yeue hym meschaunce Line 914 A theef / that hadde reneyed oure creaunce Cam in to shipe allone / and seyde he sholde Hir lemman be / wher so she wolde or nolde Line 917

¶ Wo was this wrecched womman tho bigon [folio 125a] Hir child cryde / and she cryde pitously But blisful Marie / heelp hire right anon ffor with hir strogelyng wel and myghtily Line 921 The theef / fil ouer bord / al sodeynly And in the see / he dreynte for vengeaunce And thus hath Crist vnwemmed kept Custaunce Line 924

¶ O foule lust of luxurie / lo thyn ende [¶ O. extrema libidinis turp[itudo] que non solum men|tem effemi[nat] set eciam corpus eneruat/ se[mper] sequntur dolor & penitencia post &[c].] Nat oonly / þat thou fayntest mannes mynde But verraily / thow wolt his body shende Thende of thy werk/ or of thy lustes blynde Line 928 Is compleynyng how many oon may men fynde That noght for werk som tyme / but for thentente To doon this synne / been outher slayn or shente Line 931

¶ How may this wayke womman / han this strengthe Hir to defende / agayn this renegat O. Golias / vnmesurable of lengthe How myghte dauid / make thee so maat Line 935 So yong and of armure so desolat How dorste he looke / vp on thy dredful face Wel may men seen / it was but goddes grace Line 938

¶ Who yaf Iudith / corage / or hardynesse To sleen hym Olofernus / in his tente And to deliueren / out of wrecchednesse The peple of god / I sey for this entente Line 942

[6-text p 160] Line 942 That right as god / spirit of vigour sente To hem / and saued hem / out of meschaunce So sente he myght and vigour to Custaunce Line 945

¶ fforth gooth hir shipe / thurgh out the narwe mouth Of Iubaltare / and Septe / dryuyng ay Som tyme West and som tyme North and South And som tyme Est ful many a wery day Line 949 Til Cristes moder / blissed be she ay Hath shapen / thurgh hir endelees goodnesse To make an ende / of al hir heuynesse Line 952

[N]ow lat vs stynte of Custaunce / but a throwe [folio 125b] And speke we / of the Romayn Emperour That out of Surrye / hath by lettres knowe The slaughtre of cristen folk / and dishonour Line 956 Doon to his doghter / by a fals traytour I mene / the cursed wikked Sowdanesse That at the feeste / leet sleen bothe moore and lesse Line 959

¶ ffor which this Emperour / hath sent anon His Senatour / with Roial ordinaunce And othere lordes / god woot many oon On Surryens / to taken heigh vengeaunce Line 963 They brennen / sleen / and brynge hem to meschaunce fful many a day / but shortly this is thende Homward to Rome / they shapen hem to wende Line 966

¶ This senatour / repaireth with Victorie To Romeward / saylynge ful Roially And mette the ship dryuynge / as seith the stori In which Custaunce / sit ful pitously Line 970 No thyng ne knew he / what she was / ne why She was in swich array / ne she nyl seye Of hir estaat thogh she sholde deye Line 973

[6-text p 161] Line 973

¶ He bryngeth hire to Rome / and to his wyf He yaf hire / and hir yonge sone also And with the Senatour / she ladde hir lyf Thus kan oure lady / bryngen out of wo [Maria mater omnium virtu|tum. [in a late hand]] Woful Custaunce / and many another mo And longe tyme / dwelled she in that place In holy werkes euere / as was hir grace [R Wryne] [[in the same late hand]] Line 980

¶ The senatours wyf / hir Aunte was But for al that she knew hir neuer the moore I wol no lenger / taryen in this cas But to kyng Alla / which I spak of yoore Line 984 That for his wyf / wepeth and siketh soore I wol retourne / and lete I wole Custaunce Vnder the Senatours gouernaunce Line 987

¶ Kyng Alla / which þat hadde his moder slayn [folio 126a] Vp on a day / fil in swich repentaunce That if I shortly / tellen shal and playn To Rome he cometh / to receyuen his penaunce Line 991 And putte hym / in the Popes ordinaunce In heigh and logh / and Ihesu Crist bisoghte fforyeue / his wikked werkes þat he wroghte Line 994

¶ The fame anon / thurgh Rome town is born How Alla kyng shal comen in pilgrymage By herbergeours / that wenten hym biforn ffor which the Senatour / as was vsage Line 998 Rood hym agayns / and many of his lynage As wel to shewen / his heighe magnyficence As to doon / any kyng a reuerence Line 1001

¶ Greet cheere / doth this noble Senatour To kyng Alla / and he to hym also Euerich of hem / dooth oother greet honour And so bifel / þat in a day / or two Line 1005

[6-text p 162] Line 1005 This Senatour / is to kyng Alla go To feste / and shortly / if I shal nat lye Custaunces sone / wente in his compaignye Line 1008

¶ Som men wolde seyn / at requeste of Custaunce This Senatour / hath lad this child to feste I may nat tellen / euerich circumstaunce Be as be may / ther was he atte leste Line 1012 But sooth is this / þat at his modres heste Biforn Alla / duryng the metes space The child stood / lookynge in the kynges face Line 1015

¶ This Alla kyng hath of this child greet wonder And to the Senatour / he seyde anon Whos is that faire child / that stondeth yonder I noot quod he / by god and by Seint Iohn Line 1019 A moder he hath / but fader hath he non That I of woot/ and shortly in a stounde He tolde Alla / how þat this child was founde Line 1022

[Bu]t god woot quod this Senatour also [folio 126b] So vertuous a lyuere / in my lyf Ne saw I neuere as she / ne herde of mo Of worldly wommen / mayde ne of wyf Line 1026 I dar wel seyn / hir hadde leuere a knyf Thurgh out hir brest/ than been a womman wikke Ther is no man / koude brynge hire to that prikke Line 1029

¶ Now was this child / as lyk vn to Custaunce As possible is / a creature to be This Alla / hath the face in remembraunce Of dame Custaunce / and ther on mused he Line 1033 If þat the childes moder / were aught she That is his wyf / and pryuely he sighte And spedde hym fro the table that he myghte Line 1036

[6-text p 163] Line 1036

¶ Parfay thoughte he / fantome is in myn heed I oghte deme / of skilful Iugement That in the salte see / my wif is deed And afterward / he made his argument Line 1040 What woot I / if þat Crist hath hider sent My wif by see / as wel as he hir sente To my contree / from thennes þat she wente Line 1043

¶ And after noon / hom with the Senatour Goth Alla / for to seen this wonder chaunce This Senatour / dooth Alla greet honour And hastily / he sente after Custaunce Line 1047 But tristeth wel / hir liste noght to daunce Whan that she wiste / wher fore was that sonde Vnnethe / vp on hir feet she myghte stonde Line 1050

¶ Whan Alla saugh his wyf / faire he hir grette And weepe / that it was routhe for to se ffor at the firste look / he on hir sette He knew wel verraily / þat it was she Line 1054 And she for sorwe / as domb stant as a tree So was hir herte shet in hir distresse Whan she remembred / his vnkyndenesse Line 1057

¶ Twies she swowneth / in his owene sighte [folio 127a] He weepe / and hym excuseth pitously Now god quod he / and his halwes brighte So wisly on my soule / as haue mercy Line 1061 That of youre harm / as giltlees am I. As is Maurice my sone / so lyk youre face Ellis the feend / me fecche out of this place Line 1064

¶ Long was the sobbyng and the bitter peyne Er þat / hir woful hertes myghte cesse Greet was the pitee / for to heere hem pleyne Thurgh whiche pleintes / gan hir wo encresse Line 1068

[6-text p 164] Line 1068 I pray yow / al my labour to relesse I may nat telle hir wo / vn til to morwe I am so wery / for to speke of sorwe Line 1071

¶ But finally / whan þat the sooth is wist/ That Alla / giltlees was of hir wo I trowe / an hundred tymes been they kist And swich a blisse / is ther bitwix hem two Line 1075 That saue the ioye / þat lasteth eueremo Ther is noon lyk / þat any creature Hath seyn / or shal / whil þat the world may dure Line 1078

¶ Tho preyde she / hir housbond mekely In relief / of hir longe pitous pyne That he wolde praye / hir fader specially That of his magestee / he wolde enclyne Line 1082 To vouche sauf / som day with hym to dyne She preyde hym eek he sholde by no weye Vn to hir fader / no word of hir seye Line 1085

¶ Som men wolde seyn / how þat the child Mauryce Dooth this message / vn to this Emperour But as I gesse / Alla was noght so nyce To hym þat was / of so souereyn honour Line 1089 As he þat is / of cristen folk the flour Sente any child / but it is bet to deme He wente hym self and so it may wel seme Line 1092

[Thi]s Emperour / hath graunted gentilly [folio 127b] To come to dyner / as he hym bisoghte And wel rede I / he looked bisily Vp on this child / and on his doghter thoghte Line 1096 Alla gooth to his In / and as hym oghte Arrayed for this feste in euery wise As ferforth / as his konnyng may suffise Line 1099

[6-text p 165] Line 1099

¶ The morwe cam / and Alla gan hym dresse And eek his wyf / this Emperour to meete And forth they ryde / in Ioye and in gladnesse And whan she say / hir fader in the Streete Line 1103 She lighte doun / and falleth hym to feete ffader quod she / youre yonge child Custaunce Is now ful clene / out of youre remembraunce Line 1106

¶ I am youre doghter Custance / quod she That whilom ye han sent / vn to Surrye It am I fader / that in the salte See Was put allone / and dampned for to dye Line 1110 Now goode fader / mercy I yow crye Seend me namoore / vn to noon hethenesse But thonke my lord heere / of his kyndenesse Line 1113

¶ Who kan the pitous Ioye / tellen al Bitwix hem thre / syn they be thus ymette But of my tale / make an ende I shal The day goth faste / I wol no lenger lette Line 1117 This glade folk to dyner they hem sette In ioye and blisse / at mete I lete hem dwelle A thousand fold / wel moore than I kan telle Line 1120

¶ This child Maurice / was sithen Emperour Maad by the Pope / and lyued cristenly To cristes chirche / he dide greet honour But I lete / al this storie passen by Line 1124 Of Custaunce / is my tale specially In the olde Romayn gestes / may men fynde Maurices lyf / I bere it noght in mynde Line 1127

¶ This kyng Alla / whan he his tyme say [folio 128a] With his Custaunce / his holy wif so swete To Engelond / been they com the righte way Wher as they lyue / in ioye and in quiete Line 1131

[6-text p 166] Line 1131 But litel while it lasteth I yow heete [¶ A mane vsque [ad vesperam mu]tabitur tempus / t[enent tympa]num & gaudent ad s[onum organi]. [MS is gnawn away by rats.]] Ioye of this world / for tyme wol nat abyde ffro day to nyght it chaungeth as the tyde Line 1134

¶ Who lyued euere / in swich delit / a day That hym ne moeued / outher Conscience [¶ Quis vnquam vnicam diem totam [duxit] in sua dileccione iocundam / quem [in ali]qua parte diei reatus con|sciencie / v[el] impetus ire / vel motus concupiscen[tie] non tur|bauerit/ quem liuor Inuidie vel ardor auaricie / vel tumor superbie non vexauerit / quem aliqua iactura vel offensa / vel passio non commouerit &c. [The MS is partly gnawn away.]] Or Ire / or talent or som kyn affray Enuye / or pryde / or passion / or offence Line 1138 I ne seye / but for this ende this sentence That litel while / in ioye / or in plesaunce Lasteth the blisse of Alla with Custaunce Line 1141

¶ ffor deeth that taketh / of heigh and logh his rente Whan passed was a yeer / euene as I gesse Out of this world / this kyng Alla he hente ffor whom Custaunce / hath ful greet heuynesse Line 1145 Now lat vs prayen god / his soule blesse And dame Custance / fynally to seye Toward the town of Rome / gooth hir weye Line 1148

¶ To Rome is come / this holy creature And fyndeth hir freendss / hoole and sownde Now is she scaped / al hir auenture And whan that she / hir fader hath yfownde Line 1152 Doun on hir knees / falleth she to grownd Wepynge for tendrenesse / in herte blythe She herieth god / an hondred thousand sythe Line 1155

¶ In vertue / and holy almes-dede They lyuen alle / and neuere asonder wende Til deeth departeth hem / this lyf they lede And fareth now wel / my tale is at an ende Line 1159 Now Ihesu crist that of his myght may sende Ioye after wo / gouerne vs in his grace And kepe vs alle / that been in this place Amen. [6-text p 479] Line 1162