Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.

[6-text p 663] were his suster / [862] The .v. fynger of the deuels honde is the stingkyng dede of lecherie / [863] Certes the .v. fyngers of glotenye the fende putteth in the wombe of a man / And with the .v. fyngers of lecherie he gripeth him bi the reynes for to throwe him in to the furneys of helle / [864] there as thei shul haue the fire & the wormes that euere shal laste / & wepinge / & wailynge / sharpe hunger / & thruste / griselynesse of deuels / that shullen al to treden hem withouten respite / & with|outen ende / [865] Off lecherie as I seide sourden diuerse spices / as fornicacion that is bitwix man & woman / that ben nat maried / & this is dedly sinne & ayeines nature / [866] Al that is enemy & distruccion to nature / is ayeines nature / [867] Perfay the reson of a man tellith him wel that it is dedly synne / for-asmeche as god forbade lecherie / And seynt Paule seith / yeueth him the regne that is due to no wight [¶ Paule.] but to hem that don dedly synne / [868] Another synne of lecherie is / to bireven a maiden of hir maidenhede / ffor certis he that so dothe / he taketh a maiden out of the highest degre that is in this present liff / [869] & birevith hir thilke precious fruyte / that the booke clepeth the hundrede fruyte / I can nat seie it / in noon other wise in englissh / but in latyn hit hight / Centes[i]mus fructus / [¶ Centes[i]mus fructus.] [870] Certes he that so dothe / is cause of many damages & vilonyes mo than any man can reken / Right as he somtyme is cause of al the damages that bestes don in the felde / that breken the hegges or the clausure / thorugh whiche he distroyeth that may nat be restorede / [871] ffor certis no more may maidenhede be re|stored / than an arme that is smeten from the body / may retorne ayeine to wexe / [872] she may haue mercy this woote I wel / if she do penaunce / but neuere shal hit be / that she nas corrupte / [873] And al be it so that I haue spoken somwhat of advoutrie / [MS Arch. Seld. B. 14 folio 300a] it is goode to shewen mo perilles that longen to aduoutrie / ffor to eschewe the foule
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Title
The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall.
Author
Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400.
Canvas
Page 675
Publication
London,: Pub. for the Chaucer society by N. Trübner & co.,
1868-[1869]

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8235.0001.001
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"The Corpus ms (Corpus Christi coll., Oxford) of Chaucer's Canterbury tales. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/agz8235.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 20, 2025.
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