The Canterbury tales and Faerie queene &c., &c., &c., ed. for popular perusal with current illustrations and explanatory notes, by D. Laing Purves.

THE SOMPNOUR'S TALE. 89
" His death saw I by revelatioin," Therefore we mendicants, we selyl5 freres,
Said this friar, "at home in our dortour.1 Be wedded to povert' and continence,
I dare well say, that less than half an hour To charity, humbless, and abstinence,
After his death, I saw him borne to bliss To persecuti6n for righteousness,
In mine vision, so God me wiss.2 To weeping, misericorde,6 and to cleanness.
So did our sexton, and our fermerere,3 And therefore may ye see that our prayeres
That have been true friars fifty year,- (I speak of us, we mendicants, we freres),
They may now, God be thanked of his love, Be to the highe God more acceptable
Make their jubilee, and walk above.4 Than youres, with your feastes at your table.
And up I rose, and all our convent eke, From Paradise first, if I shall not lie,
With many a teare trilling on my cheek, Was man out chased for his gluttony,
Withoute noise or clattering of bells, And chaste was man in Paradise certain.
Te Deum was our song, and nothing else, But hark now, Thomas, what I shall thee sayn;
Save that to Christ I bade an orison, I have no text of it, as I suppose,
Thanking him of my revelati6n. But I shall find it in a manner glose;17
For, Sir and Dami, truste me right well, That specially our sweet Lord Jesus
Our orisons be more effectuel, Spake this of friars, when he saidd thus,
And more we see of Christi's secret things,'Blessed be they that poor in spirit be.'
Than borel folk,5 although that they be kings. And so forth all the gospel may ye see,
We live in povert', and in abstinence, Whether it be liker our professi6n,
And borel folk in riches and dispence Or theirs that swimmen in possessi6n;
Of meat and drink, and in their foul delight. Fy on their pomp, and on their gluttony,
We have this worlde's lust 6 all in despight.7 And on their lewedness! I them defy.
Lazar and Dives lived diversely, Me thinketh they be like Jovinian,18
And diverse guerdon hadde they thereby. Fat as a whale, and walking as a swan;
Whoso will pray, he must fast and be clean, All vinolent as bottle in the spence; 19
And fat his soul, and keep his body lean. Their prayer is of full great reverence;
We fare as saith th' apostle; cloth 8 and food When they for soules say the Psalm of David,
Suffice us, although they be not full good. Lo,' Buf' they say, Cor meum eructavit.20
The cleanness and the fasting of us freres Who follow Christe's gospel and his lore 21
Maketh that Christ accepteth our pray6res. But we, that humble be, and chaste, and pore,22
Lo, Moses forty days and forty night Workers of Godde's word, not auditofirs?23
Fasted, ere that the high God full of might Therefore right as a hawk upon a sours 24
Spake with him in the mountain of Sinai: Up springs into the air, right so prayeres
With empty womb of fasting many a day Of charitable and chaste busy freres
Received he the lawS, that was writ Make their sours to Godde's earis two.
With Godde's finger; and Eli,9 well ye wit,l0 Thomas, Thomas, so may I ride or go,
In Mount Horeb, ere he had any speech And by that lord that called is Saint Ive,
With highl God, that is our lives' leech,1 N'ere thou our brother, shouldest thou not
He fasted long, and was in contemplfnce. thrive;25
Aaron, that had the temple in governance, In our chapiter pray we day and night
And eke the other priestes every one, To Christ, that he thee sende health and might,
Into the temple when they shoulde gon Thy body for to wielde hastily." 26
To praye for the people, and do service, "God wot," quoth he, " nothing thereof feel
They woulde drinken in no manner wise I;
No drinkS, which that might them drunken So help me Christ, as I in fewe years
make, Have spended upon divers manner freres 7
But there in abstinence pray and wake,2 Full many a pound, yet fare I ne'er the bet; o
Lest that they died: take heed what I say- Certain my good have I almost beset:29
But 13 they be sober that for the people pray- Farewell my gold, for it is all ago."30
Ware that, I say-no more: for it sufficeth. The friar answer'd, " OThomas, dost thou so?
Our Lord Jesus, as Holy Writ deviseth,l4 What needest thou diverse friars to seech?31
Gave us example of fasting and pray6res: What needeth him that hath a perfect leech,
1 Dormitory; French, "dortoir." 16 Compassion.' 17 A kind of comment.
2 Direct. 3 Infirmary-keeper. 18 An emperor Jovinian was famous in the mediaeval
4 The rules of St Benedict granted peculiar honours legends for his pride and luxury. 19 Store-room.
and immunities to monks who had lived fifty years- 20 Literally, "My heart has -belched forth;" in our
the jubilee period-in the order. The usual reading of translation, "My heart is inditing a goodly matter."
the words ending the two lines is "loan" or "lone," (Ps. xlv. 1.) "Buf" is meant to represent the sound
and "alone;" but to walk alone does not seem to have of an eructation, and to show the "great reverence"
been any peculiar privilege of a friar, while the idea of with which "those in possession," the monks of the
precedence, or higher place at table and inprocesslons, rich monasteries, performed divine service.
is suggested by the reading in the text. 21 Doctrine. 22 Poor. 23 Hearers.
5 Laymen, people who are not learned; "borel" 24 Upon the "soar," or rise.
was a kind of coarse cloth. 25 If thou wert not of our brotherhood, thou shouldst
6 Pleasure. 7 Contempt. 8 Clothing. have no hope of recovery.
9 Elijah (1 Kings, xix.) 10 Know. 26 Soon to be able to move thy body freely.
11 Physician, healer. 12 Watch. 13 Unless. 27 Friars of various sorts. 28 Better.
14 Narrates. 15 Simple, lowly. 29 Spent. o0 Zone. 31 Seek, beseech.