552 Ther nas no dore that he nolde heve of harre,1 560 A werte, and thereon stood a toft of herys, 555 4 564 569 A gentil MAUNCIPLE was ther of a temple, Of which achatours" myghte take exemple For to be wise in byynge of vitaille; For, wheither that he payde or took by taille,7 Algates he wayted" so in his achaat 10 That he was ay biforn11 and in good staat. Now is nat that of God a ful fair grace That swich a lewed 12 mannės wit shal pace The wisdom of an heepe of lerned men? Of maistres hadde he mo than thries ten, That weren of lawe expert and curious, Of wiche ther weren a duszeyne in that hous Worthy to been stywardes of rente and lond Of any lord that is in Engelond, To maken hym lyve by his proprẻ good13 575 580 585 In any caas that myghtė falle or happe; 590 The REVE was a sclendré colerik man His berd was shave as ny as ever he kan; His heer was by his erys round y-shorn, His top was doked lyk a preest biforn, Ful longe were his legges and ful lene, Y-lyk a staf, ther was no calf y-sene. Wel koude he kepe a gerner and a bynne, Ther was noon auditour koude on him wynne. Wel wiste he, by the droghte and by the reyn, The yeldynge of his seed and of his greyn. His lordės sheepe, his neet," his dayėrye, His swyn, his hors, his stoor, 18 and his pultrye, Was hoolly in this reves governyng, And by his covenant yaf the rekenyng 1 Heave off its hinges. Loud and ribald jester. 596 600 2 Tip. Millers were allowed as toll a certain proportion of the grain in payment for the grinding. This miller tolled thrice, i. e. took three times the legal quantity of grain. An allusion to the proverb "An honest miller has a thumb of gold." The line may be ironical, he stole corn, he tolled thrice, and yet was honest enough for a miller. The proverb itself is ambiguous, and the passage obscure. Tally, i. e. charged the goods. • Watched. 10 Buying. • Buyers. 8 Always. 11 Before. 13 On his own means. 15 Mad. 1 Cattle. Than wolde he speke no word but Latyn. 675 Ful loude he soong Com hider, love to me! 680 A vernycle hadde he sowed upon his cappe; 685 692 695 A voys he hadde as smal as hath a goot; He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste; But alderbest he song an Offertorie; 700 710 For wel he wistė whan that song was songe, Now have I toold you shortly, in a clause, 715 The staat, tharray, the nombre, and eek the Whan we were in that hostelrie alyght; 730 But first, I pray yow of youre curteisye, 725 That ye narette it nat my vileynye,17 Thogh that I pleynly speke in this mateere To telle yow hir wordes and hir cheere, 18 Ne thogh I speke hir wordės proprely; 19 For this ye knowen al-so wel as I, Whoso shal telle a tale after a man, He moote reherce, as ny as ever he kan, Everich a word, if it be in his charge, Al speke he never so rudéliche20 or large; Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe, Or feynė thyng, or fynde wordės newe. He may nat spare, althogh he were his brother; He moot as wel seye o word as another. Crist spak hymself ful brode in hooly writ, And wel ye woot no vileynye is it. 735 740 Eek Plato seith, whoso that kan hym rede, "The wordes moote be cosyn to the dede.' Also I prey yow to foryeve it me 744 Al have I nat set folk in hir degree Greet chiere made oure hoost us everichon, And to the soper sette he us anon, And served us with vitaille at the beste: leste. 21 750 Boold of his speche, and wys and well y-taught, And spak of myrthe amonges othere thynges, 765 775 "Ye goon to Canterbury-God yow speede, The blisful martir quite yow youre meede!24 770 And, wel I woot, as ye goon by the weye, Ye shapen yow to talen25 and to pleye; For trewely confort ne myrthe is noon To ride by the weye doumb as a stoon; And therfore wol I maken yow disport, As I seyde erste, and doon yow som confort. And if you liketh alle, by oon assent, Now for to stonden at my juggement, And for to werken as I shal yow seye, To-morwė, whan ye riden by the weye, Now, by my fader soule, that is deed, But ye be myrie, smyteth of myn heed! 17 Impute it not to my coarseness. 19 Literally, exactly. 8 Brimful. 11 Shred. 14 Tricks. 15 The more merrily. 16 Presumably the name of an Inn. 21 Pleased. 20 Freely. 780 18 Behavior. 22 Cheapside in London. 25 Prepare to tell stories. Sire Knyght," quod he, "my mayster and my lord, Now draweth cut, for that is myn accord. 845 11 To kepe his foreward by his free assent, and seyde in this manere. THE PARDONER'S TALE 665 Thise riotourės thre, of whiche I telle, Longe erst er prime13 rong of any belle, Were set hem in a taverne for to drynke; And as they sat they herde a belle clynke Biforn a cors, was carried to his grave. That oon of hem gan callen to his knave:14 "Go bet," quod he, " and axé redily 15 What cors is this that passeth heer forby, And looke that thou reporte his name weel." "Sire," quod this boy, "it nedeth never a deel, It was me toold er ye cam heere two houres; 671 He was, pardee, an old felawe of youres, And sodeynly he was y-slayn to-nyght, For-dronke, as he sat on his bench upright; Ther cam a privee theef, men clepeth Deeth,675 That in this contree al the peple sleeth, And with his spere he smoot his herte atwo, And wente his wey withouten wordės mo. He hath a thousand slayn this pestilence, 16 And maister, er ye come in his presence, Me thynketh that it were necessarie For to be war of swich an adversarie; Beth redy for to meete hym evermoore; Thus taughtė me my dame; I sey na-moore." By Seinte Marie!" seyde this taverner, 685 "The child seith sooth, for he hath slayn this yeer, 680 Henne" over a mile, withinne a greet village, Bothe man and womman, child, and hyne, is and page; I trowe his habitacioun be there; 19 To been avysed1o greet wysdom it were, 10 Chance, destiny or luck. 12 Agreement. 690 11 Right. 13 In general the interval between 6 and 9 A. M. More specifically, one of the seven stated times or hours of devotion. From the ringing of the bell, it refers here to the canonical hour for service. 15 Quickly. 14 Boy. 16 Probably the plague of 1348-9, the earliest of the four great plagues in the 14th century. 17 Hence. 18 Hind. 19 Forewarned. Whan they han goon nat fully half a mile, Right as they wolde han troden over a stile, An oold man and a poure with hem mette; This oldė man ful mekély hem grette And seyed thus: "Now, lordės, God yow see!"6 The proudeste of thise riotoures three Answerde agayn, "What, carl with sory grace, Why artow al for-wrapped, save thy face? Why lyvestow so longe in so greet age?" This oldė man gan looke in his visage, And seyde thus: "For I ne kan nat fynde A man, though that I walked into Ynde, Neither in citee, ne in no village, 716 720 725 That wolde chaunge his youthẻ for myn age; Ne Deeth, allas! ne wol nat han my lyf; Thus walke I, lyk a restėless kaityf, And on the ground which is my moodrės3 gate, I knokke with my staf, erly and late, 730 735 Lo, how I vanysshe, flessh and blood and skyn; 740 To speken to an old man vileynye, And God be with yow, where ye go or ryde; "Nay, oldė cherl, by God, thou shalt nat so!" Seyde this oother hasardour13 anon; 751 "Thou partest nat so lightly, by Seint John! 759 Se ye that ook? Right there ye shal hym fynde. 765 God save yow that boghte agayn mankynde, And yow amende!" thus seyde this oldė man; And everich of thise riotourės ran 770 Til he cam to that tree, and ther they founde, 776 My wit is greet, though that I bourde1 and pleye. 780 785 790 This tresor hath Fortúne unto us yeven And it fil on the yongeste of hem alle, 795 800 805 That oon of hem spak thus unto that oother: 13 Gambler. Dear Mother. 12 Advice. 14 Pay for. 16 Weemed, know. 19 Fist. "Shal it be conseil?" seyde the firtse shrewe,1 "And I shal tellen thee in wordes fewe What we shal doon, and bryngen it wel aboute." "I graunte," quod that oother, "out of doute, That by my trouthe I shal thee nat biwreye.' "Now," quod the firste, "thou woost wel we be tweye, 825 831 And two of us shul strenger be than oon. Ful oft in herte he rolleth up and doun The beautee of thise floryns newe and brighte; "O Lord,"quod he, "if so were that I myghte 840 Have al this tresor to myself allone, Ther is no man that lyveth under the trone3 Putte in his thought that he sholde poyson beye, 4 845 865 Ye, sterve he shal, and that in lasse while 870 This cursed man hath in his hond y-hent This poysoun in a box, and sith he ran Into the nextė strete unto a man, And borwed hym large botéllės thre, And in the two his poyson poured he; The thridde he kepte clene for his owene drynke; For al the nyght he shoopell hym for to swynke 875 In cariynge of the gold out of that place. What nedeth it to sermone of it moore? For right as they hadde cast his deeth bifoore, Right so they han hym slayn, and that anon,881 And whan that this was doon thus spak that That to thy Creatour which that thee wroghte, And with his precious hertė-blood thee boghte, Thou art so fals and so unkynde, allas! Now, goode men, God foryeve yow youre trespas, And ware yow fro the synne of avarice. 905 THE COMPLEYNT OF CHAUCER TO HIS To you, my purse, and to noon other wyght I am so sory now that ye been light; 11 Planned. 5 12 i. e., Avicenna (980-1037), a celebrated Arabian physician. iз A section in The Canon, Avicenna's work on medicine, is called (from an Arabic word) a fen. No more wonderful signs of poisoning are described in the Canon of Medicine, or in any fen, or part of that book;-not even the fen which specifically treats of poisons. 15 Heal. 14 Gambling. |