Mg · New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS 249
Canterbury Tales Project.
talesofcanterbury.org/GP/xml/transcripts/Mg/
[1r]
Whan that Aprill with
The droughte of Marche hath ꝑperced to
And bathed euery veyne / in such licour
Of which vertue / engendred is þᵉ flour
And zephirus eke / with his swete brethe
Enspired hath in euery holt and hethe
The tendre croppes / and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram / his half cours yronne
And smale fowles maken melodie
That slepen al the nyght with open eye
So priketh hem nature / in here corages
Than longen folk / to gon in pilgrimages
And palmer forto seke / straunge strondes
To ferne halwes / cowthe in sondry londes
And specialy / from euery shires ende
Of Englond to Cauntirbury they wende
The holy blisful martir / forto seke
That hem hath holpen / whan that they were seke
Byfell that / in that sesoıı̄un on a day
In Suthwerk at the Tabard as I lay
Redy to wenden / on my pilgrimage
To Cauntirbury with ful devoute corage
At nyght was come / into that hostelrie
Wel nyne and twenty in a companie
Of sondry folk / by auenture yfalle
In felshuppe / and pilgrimes were they alle
That towarde Cauntirbiry wolde ryde
The chambres and the stables weren wyde
And wel were esed at the beste
And shortly whan the sonne was to reste
So hadde I spoken with hem euerychon
That I was of her felashuppe anon
And made forward erly forto rise
To take oure way there as I you deuise
But nathalees / whil I have tyme and space
Er that I ferther in this tale pace
Me thinkith it accordaunt to resoıı̄un
To telle you al the condicio
Of eche of hem / so as it semed me
And whiche they were / and of what degre
And eke in what aray / that they were Inne
And at a knyght / than wol I first bygynne
A knyght ther was / and that a worthy man
That fro the tyme / that he first bigan
To riden out / he loued chiualrie
Trouthe and honoᵘur / fredam ⁊and curtesie
Ful worthi was he / in his lordes werre
And therto hadde he ryden / no man ferre
As wel in cristendome / as in hethenesse
And ever honoured / for his worthinesse
At Alisaundre he was / whan it was wonne
Ful often tyme / he hadde the bord bygonne
Above all nacions / in Pruce
In lettow had he reised and in Ruce
No cristen man / so ofte of his degree
In Genade at the seege / eek had he bee
Of Algezir / and riden in Belmarie
At leyes was he / and at Satalie
Whan they were wonne / and in the grete see
At many a noble arme / had he be
At mortall batailes / hadde he be fiftene
And foughten for oure faith at Tramissene
In lystes thries / and ay slayn his fo
This ilk worthy knyght / hadde ben also
Sumtyme with the lorde of Palatye
Ageyn another hethen / in turkye
And evermore / he had a souerayn pris
And though that he was worthy / he was wys
And of his port / as meke as is a mayde
He never ȝit / no vilenie ne seide
In al his lyf / vnto no manere wight
He was a verray ꝑparfit gentil knyght
¶ But forto telle you / of his aray
His hors were goode / but he was not gay
Of fustian / he wered a Gipou
Al bysmotered / with his habirgeou
For he was late ycome / from his viage
And went forto done / his pilgrimage
With hym ther was / his sone / a yonge squyer
A louier a lusty bacheler
With lokkes crulle / as they were leide in presse
Of xxᵗⁱ yere of age / was he as I gesse
Of his stature / he was of euene lengthe
And wonderly deliuer / and grete of strengthe
And he hadde ben somtyme / in chiuachie
In Flaundres in Artoys / and in picardie
And born hym self / as of so litel space
In hope to stonden / in his lady grace /
Enbrawded was he / as it were a mede
All ful of fressh floures / white and rede /
Syngynge he was / or flowtynge al the day
He was as fressh as is the monthe of May
Short was his gowne / with sleves longe and wyde
Wel couthe he sitte on hors / and fayre ryde /
He couthe songes make / and wel endite
Iust and eke daunce and wel portroye and write
So hote he loued that by nyghter tale
He slepe no more / than doth a nyghtyngale
Curteys he was / lowely and seruisable
And carf bifore his Fader atte table
A yeman hadde he / and ʆseruᵃntes no mo
At that tyme / for hym lust to ride so
And he was clad in coote and hood of grene
A sheef of pecok arwes / brighte and kene
Vndir his belte / he bar ful thriftily
Wel couthe he dresse / his takel yomanly
His arwes drouped nought / with fethers lowe
And in his hande / he bar a myghty bowe
A not heed hadde he with a brou visage
Of wodecraft / wel couthe he al the vsage
Vpon his arme / he bar a gay bracer
And by his syde / a swerd and a bokeler
And on that other syde / agay daggere
Harneised wel / and sharpe as poynt of spere
A xpofre on his brest / of syluer shene
An horne he bar / the bawdrik was of grene
A Forster was he / sothely as I gesse
Ther was also / a Nonne a prioresse
That of hir smylynge was ful symple and coy
Her grettest othe / was but by seynt Loy
And she was cleped / ma dame Englentyne
Ful wel she songe / the seruice deuyne
Entuned in hir nose / ful semely
And frenssh she spak / ful faire and fetisly
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe
For frenssh of Paris / was to hir vn knowe /
At mete wel y taught was she with alle
She lett no morsell / fro hir lippes falle
She wette hir fyngers in hir sauce depe
Wel couthe she carie a morsel / and wel kepe
That no drope / ne fille vpon hir breste
In curteisie was sette / ful moche hir leste
Hir ouerlippe / wyped she so clene
That in hir cuppe / ther was no ferthing sene /
Of grece whan she dronken hadde hir draught
Ful semely / after hir mete she raught
And sikerly she was of grete disport
And ful plesant / and amyable of port
And peyned hir / to counterfete chere
Of court / and to ben estately of manere
And to ben holden / digne of reuerence
But forto speken of hir conscience
She was so charitable / and so pitous
She wolde wepe / if she sawe a mous
Kaught in a trappe / if it were ded or bledde
Of smale houndes / hadde she / that she fedde
With rosted flessh / or mylk or wastel brede
But sore wepte she / if eny of hem were dede
Or if men smote it with a yerde smerte
And al was conscience / and tendernesse of herte
Ful semely hir wympel / pinched was
Hir nose was streight / hir eyen grey as glas
Hir mouthe ful smale / and therto softe and rede
But sikerly she hadde a faire forhede
It was almost a spanne brode I trowe
For hardely / she was not vndergrowe /
Ful fetys was hir cloke / as I was war
Of smale coral / a boute hir arme she bar
A peire of bedys / gauded al with grene /
And theron henge / a broche of gold ful shene
On which ther was first wreten a crowned A
And after / amor vincit omia .
Another nonne with her hadd she
That was hir Chapeleyn and prestes thre /
A Monk ther was / a fair for the maistrie
An out Rider / that loued venerie
A manly man / to ben an Abbot able
Ful many a deynte hors / hadde he in stable
And whan he rode / men myghte his bridell here
Chinkynge in a whistelynge wynde / as clere
And eke as lowde / as doth the chapel belle
Ther as this lorde / was keper of the celle
The rewle of seynt Maure or of seynt beneit
By cause / that it was old / and somdel streit
This ilke monke / leet olde thynges pace
And heeld after the newe world the space
He ȝaf nought of the text / a pulled hen /
That seith / that hunters / be nought holy men
Ne that a monk / whan he is recheles
Is likned til a fissh / that is waterles
This is to say / a monk out of his cloystre
But thilk text / heeld he nought worth an oystre
And I seide / his opiniou / was right good
What shulde he studie / or make hym self wood
Vpon a book / in cloystre / alwey to poure
Or swynke with handes / or laboure
As Austeyn bid / how shal the world be ʆserued
Lat Austeyn have / his swynk to hym reʆserued
Therfore he was a prikasour aright
Grehoundes he hadde / as swifte as foul in flight
Of prikyng / and of huntyng for the hare
Was al his lust / for no coste wolde he spare
I sigh his sleves ypurfiled at the honde
With grys / and that the fynest of a londe
And forto festene his hood / vnder his chynne
He hadd of gold ywrought / a ful curious pynne
A loue knotte / in the gretter ende ther was
His heued was balled / that shon as eny glas
And eke his face / as he hadd ben anoynt
He was a lord ful fat / and in good poynt
His eyen stepe / and rolled in his hede
That stremed / as a furneys of lede
His botes souple / his hors in grete astate
Now certeynly / he was a faire prelate
He nas not pale / as a forpyned gost
A fat swan loued he / best of eny rost
His palfrey was as broıı̄un / as aberie
A Frere ther was a wantou and a merye /
A lymytour a ful solempne man
In alle the ordris foure / is ther noght oon that can
So moche of daliance / and faire langage
He had made ful many a mariage
Of yong women / at his owne cost
Vnto his ordre / he was a noble post
Ful wel biloued / and famuler was he
With Frankeleyns / ouer al in his countre
And with worthy women of the tou
For he had power of confessiou
As seide hym self / more than a curat
For of his ordre / he was licenciat
Ful swetely / herde he confessiou
And plesant / was his absoluciou
He was an esy man / to yeve penance
¶ There as he wiste to have a good pitance
For vnto a pouere ordre forto yeve
Is signe that a man is wel yshryve
For yif he ȝaf he dorste make auaıı̄unt
He wiste that a man was repentant
For many a man so hard is of his herte
He may not wepe / al though hym sore smerte
Therfore in stede of wepynge / and praiers
Men moste yeve syluer / to the pore freres
His typet was ay farsed ful of knyves
And pynnes / forto yeve faire wyues /
And certeynly he hadde a mery note
Wel couthe he syngen / and pleyn on a rote /
Of ȝeddynges / he bar vtterly the pris
His nekke whyt / as is the flour delys
Therto he was stronge / as is a Champioıı̄un
He knewe the tauerners / wel in euery toıı̄un
And euery hostiler / and Tapster
Bet than a lazar / or a begger
For vnto suche / a worthy man as he
Accorded nought / as by his faculte /
To have with suche sike lazares acquyntaıı̄unce
It is noght honest it may noght avaıı̄unce
For to dele with such porayle
But al with riche / and sellers of vitayle
And over al there / as ꝓprofite shulde arise
Curteis he was / and lowely of ʆseruise
Ther nas no man / nowher so vertuous
He was the best begger / in his hous
For though a widewe / hadde noght a sho
So plesant was his In principio
Ȝit wolde he have / a ferthyng or he wente
His purchas was wel better / than his rente
And rage he couthe / as it were a whelpe
In louedaies / there cowde he moche helpe
For there was he noght lyk a cloystrer
In a thredbare cope / lyk is a poủere scoler
But he was lyk / a Maister or a pope
Of double worstede / was his semycote
That rounded was as a belle / out of the presse
Sumwhat he lipsed / for his wantownesse
To make his englissh / swete vpon his tonge
And in harpyng / whan he hadde ysonge
His eyen twynkled in his hede a right
As don the sterres / in the frosty nyght
This worthy lymytoᵘur / was cleped huberd
A Marchaunt with a forked berd
In motle / and high on hors he sat
Vpon his heued a flaundrissh beuere hat
His botys clasped faire and fetisly
His resons he spak / ful solempnely
Shewyng alway / the encres of his wynnynge
He wolde the see / were kept / for eny thynge
Bitwixt Middelburgh and Orwelle
Wel couthe he in eschaunge sheeldes selle
This worthy man / ful wel his witte bisette
Ther wiste no wight / that he was in dette
So estately was he / of his gouernaıı̄unce
What with his bargeynes / and his cheuissaıı̄unce
For sothe / he was a worthy man with alle
But sothely to seien / I not how men hym calle
A Clerk ther was of Oxenforde also
That vnto logyke / longe tyme hadde ygo
As lene was his hors / as is arake
And he nas not right fat I vndertake
But loked holwe / and therto soberly
Ful thredbare was his oủerest courtepy
For he hadde geten hym no benefice
Ne was so worldly / forto have office
For hym was leuere / have at his beddeshede
Twenty bokes clad in blak and rede
Of Aristotil and his philosophie
Than robes riche / fithel or gay sawtrie
But al be that / he was a phylosophre
Yit hadde he but litel golde in his cofre
But al that he myght / of his frendes hente
On bokes / and on lernynge / he it spente
And besely gan / for the soules preye
Of hem / that hym yave werwith to scoleye
Of studie toke he most cure and hede
Nought oo word spak he / more than was nede
And that was saide in forme and reuerence
And short and quyk and ful of high sentence
Sownyng in moral vertue / was his speche
And gladly wolde he lerne / and gladly teche
A Sergeant of the lawe war and wys
That ofte hadde ben at Parvys
That was also ful riche of excellence
Discrete he was / and of grete reuerence
He semed such / his wordes were so wise
Iustice he was / ful ofte in assise /
By patent / and pleyn cōmmyssiou
For his science / and for his high renou
Of fees and robes / hadde he manyon
So grete a purchasour was nowher non
Al was fe symple / to hym in effecte
His purchasynge / myght not ben infecte
Nower so besy a man / as he / ther nas
And yet he semed besier than he was
In termes hadde he caas / and domes alle
That fro the tyme / of kyng William were falle
Therto he couthe endite / and make a thing
Ther cowde no wight pynche at his writynge
And euery statute / cowde he pleyn by rote
He rode / but homely / in a medly cote
Girt with a seint of silk / with barres smale
Of his aray / telle I no lenger tale /
A Frankeleyn was in his companie
White was his berde / as is the dayes eye
Of his complexiou / he was sangwyne
Wel loued he by the morowe a sop in wyne
To leuen in delite / euere was he wone
For he was epitures owne sone
That heelde opiniou / that pleyn delite
Was verray felicite ꝑparfite
An housholder / and that a grete was he
Seynt Iulian / he was in his Cuntre
His breed his ale / was alwey after oon
A better envyned man / whas nowher noon
Withoute bake mete / was neuer his hous
Of fissh and flessh / and that so plenteuous
It snewed in his hous / of mete and drynke
Of alle deyntes / that men cowde thenke
After the sondry sesons of the yere
So chaunged he his mete / and his sopere
Ful many a fat partrich / hadde he in mewe
And many a breme / and many a pike in stewe
Wo was his cook / but his sauce were
Poynant and sharp / and redy all his gere
His table dormant / in his halle alway
Stode redy coủered / al the longe day
At sessions / ther was he lorde and sire
Ful ofte tyme / he was knyght of the shire
An anlas / and a gipser all of silk
Heeng at his girdell / white as morne mylk
A shereue hadde he ben / and accomptoᵘur
Was nowher such a worthy vauasoᵘur
An haberdassher / and a Carpenter
A Webbe a dyer and a Tapicer
And they were cloded alle in o lyuere
Of a solempne and a grete fraternyte
Ful fressh and newe her gere ypiked was
Hir knyves were nought chaped with bras
But al with siluer wrought ful clene and wel
Her gurthels and her powches eủerydel
Wel semed eche of hem / a faire burgeys
To sitten in a yildehalle on a deys
Euerich for the wisdam that he can
Was shaply forto ben an alderman
For catel they hadde ynowe and rente
And eke her wyves wolde it wel assente
And ellis receyue they were to blame
It is ful fair to be cleped ma Dame
And gon to vigilies al bifore
And have a mantel rialliche ybore
A Cook they hadde with hem for the nones
To boyle chekenes with the maribones /
And pouder marchant / tart and galingale
Wel knewe he a draught of londou ale
He cowde roste / boyle and frie
Maken mortreux and wel bake a pie
But grete harme was it / as it thought me
That on his shyne / a mormal hadde he /
For blank manger / that made he with the beste
A Shipman was there / wonynge fer by weste
For ought I wote / he was of Dertemouthe
He rood vpon a Rouncy / as he couthe /
In a gowne of faldyng / to the kne
A dagger hangynge in a lace hadde he
Abovte his nekke / vnder his arme a dou
The hote sonne / hadde made his hewe albrou
And certeynly / he was a goode Felawe
Ful many a draught of wyn hadde he drawe
Fro Burdeuxward / while the Chapmen slepe
Of nyce conscience / toke he noo kepe
Ȝif that he faught / and hadde the higher hande
By water he sente hem home to euery lande
But of his craft / to rekne wel his tydes
His stremes / and his daungers hym bysides
His herberwe his mone / and his lodemenage
Ther nas no suche / fro hull vnto Cartage
Hardy he was / and wys to vndertake
With many a tempest / hadde his berd ben shake
He knewe all the havenes / as they were
Fro Guthlond to the cape of fynystere
And euery cryke in Brytayne and in Spayne
His barge ycleped was the Mawdelayne
With hym ther was a Doctour of phisik
In alle the worlde / ne was ther non hym lyk
To speke of phisik and of surgerie
For he was grounded in astronomie
He kepte his pacient / a ful gret dele
In houres / by his magik naturelle
Wel cowde he fortune the ascendent
Of his ymages / for his pacient
He knewe the cause of euery maladye
Where it of hoot or cold / or moyst or drye
And where engendred / and of what humoᵘur
He was a verray ꝑparfit practisour
¶ The cause yknowe / and of his harme the roote
Anon he yaf the seke man his boote
Ful redy hadde he his apothecaries
To sende hym his drugges and his letuaries
For eche of hem / made other forto wynne
Her frenshipe nas nought newe to bygynne
Wel knewe he the olde Esculapius
And diascorides / and eke Rufus
Olde ypocras / haly and Galien
Serapiou Razie / and auicen
Auerois Damascien and constantyn
Bernard and Gatesden / and Gilbertyn
Of his diete / mesurable was he
For it was / of noo suꝑparfluite
But of grete norisshinge and digestible
His studie / nat but litel in the bible
In sangwyn / and in perse / he clad was all
Lyned with taffata / and with sendall
And yet he was / but esy of dispense
He kepte / that he wan in pestilence
For gold in phisik is a cordial
Therfore he loued gold in special
A goode wyf ther was of biside bathe
But she was somdel deef and that was scathe
Of cloth makyng / she hadde suche an haunt
She passed hem of Ipris / and of Gaunt
In al the parissh /wyf wyf ne was ther noon
That to offring / bifore here shulde goon
And ȝif ther dide certeyn / so wroght was she
That she was out / of alle charite /
Hir couerchiefs ful fyne were of grounde
I dorste swere they weyed ten pounde
That vpon a sonday were vpon here hede
Hir hosyn were of fyne scarlet rede
Ful streit ytied / and shoos ful moiste and newe
Bolde was hir face / and faire / and reed of hewe
She was a worthy woman al hir lyve
Husbondes atte chirche dore / hadde she had fyve
Withoute other company in yowthe
But herof nedeth nought forto speke as nowthe /
And thries hadde she ben at Ierusalem
She hadde passed many a strange streem
At Rome hadde she ben / and at Boloyne
In Galice at seynt Iame and at Coloyne
She couthe moche of wrandryng by the weye
Greed tothed was she / sothely forto seye
Vpon an ambler al esely she sat
Ywympled wel and on her heed an hat
As brood as is a bokeler or a targe
A foot mantel abovte hir hipes large
And on hir feet / a paire of spores sharpe
In felawshipe wel cowthe lawghe and carpe
Of remedies of lowe / she knewe ꝑperchaunce
For she cowthe of that art the olde daunce
A goode man was there of Religioıı̄un
And was a poor ꝑpersou of a toıı̄un
But riche he was of holy thought and werk
He was also a lerned man / and a Clerk
And cristes gospell trewely wolde preche
His parisshens deuoutely wolde he teche
Benigne he was / and wonder diligent
And in aduersite ful pacient
And suche he was preved ofte sithes
Ful looth were hym to curse for his tithes
But rather wolde he yeven out of doute
Vnto his poor parisshens aboute
Of his offryng / and of his substance
He cowthe in lytel thing / have suffisance
Wyde was his parissh / and houses fer assonder
But he ne lefte nought / for reyn ne thonder
In sekenes nor in meschief to visite
The ferthest in his parissh / moche and lite
Vpon his /feet and in his hande a staf
This noble ensample / vnto his sheep he yaf
That first he wroughte / and after ward he taughte
Out of the gospel / he thoo wordes kaughte
And this figure he added therto
That yef gold ruste / what shal Iren do /
For yef a preest be foul in whom we truste
No wonder is a lewed man to ruste
And shame it is ȝif a preest take kepe /
A shite sheꝑparde and a clene shepe
Wel oughte a preest ensample forto ȝiue
By his clennes / howe his sheep shulde liue
He set noght his benefice to hire
Ne lett his sheep acombred in the myre
And ren to londou vnto seynt paules
To seke hym a chauntry for soules
Or with a bretherhede to ben witholde
But dwelled at home / and kepte wel his folde /
So that the wolf / ne made it not miscarie
He was a Shepperde / and not a mcernarie /
And though he holy were / and vertuous
He was not to synful men dispitous
Ne of his speche / daungerous ne digne
But in his speche / discreet and benigne
To drawen folke to heuene by fayrnesse
By good ensample / this was his besynesse
But it were ony ꝑpersone obstinate
What so he were of lowe or high estate
Hym wolde he snybbe / sharpely for the nones
A better preest I trowe / that nowher non ys
He wayted after / no pompe ne reuerence
Ne maked hym a spiced conscience
But cristes lore / and his appostels twelue
He taught but first he vsed it hym selue
With hym ther was a ploughman was his brother
That hadde ylad of dong ful many a fother
And a trewe swynker / and a good was he
Lyvynge in pees / and ꝑparfite charitee /
God loued he best / with al his herte
At all tymes / though hym gamed or smerte
And than his neghbour / right as hym selue
He wolde dresshe / and therto dyke and delue
For cristes sake / for euery pore wight
Withoute hire / ȝif it lay in his myght
His tithes paied he / ful faire and wel
Bothe of his propre swynke / and his catel
In a tabbard he rode vpon a mere
Ther was also a Reve and a Millere
A sompnoᵘur and a pardoner also
A maunciple / and my self / ther were no moo /
The Millere was a stout carle for the nones
Ful big he was of brawn and eke of bones
That preved wel / for ouer al ther he cam
At wrastlyng / he wolde have a wey the ram
He was short shuldred a thikke knarre
Ther ne was no dore / that he ne wolde heue of harre
Or breke it at a rennynge with his heed
His berd as any sowe or fox was reed
And therto brood as though it were a spade
Vpon the cop right of his nose he hade
A werte and ther on stode / a tuft of heres
Rede as the bristelles of a sowes eres
His nose thrilles / blake were and wide
A swerde and a bokeler / bar he by his syde
His mouthe was asgret as a gret furneys
He was a iangeler and a golyardeys
And that was most of synne / and of harlotries
Wel couthe he stele corn / and tollen thries
And yet he hadde a thombe of golde parde
A whyte cote and a blewe hood wered he
A bagge pipe wel couthe he blowe and sowne
And ther with al he broughte vs oute of towne
A gentil maunciple was there of a temple
Of which achatoᵘurs myghte take exemple
For to ben wise in beynge of vitayle
For wheither that he paied / or toke by tayle
Algate he wayted so in his achat
That he was ay biforn in good astat
Now is not that of god a ful faire gᵃce
That suche a lewde mannes wit shal pace
The wisdam of an heep of lerned men
Of maistres hadde he / mo than thries ten
That were of lawe / expert and curious
Of whiche ther were a doseyn in that hous
Worthy to ben stywardes / of rent and lond
Of eny lorde / that is in Englond
To make hym leve / by his ꝓpropre good
In honoᵘur dettelees / but ȝif that he were wood
Or leve as scarcely as hym list desire
And able for to helpen al a shire
In eny caas that myght falle or happe
And ȝit this Maunciple sette he alther cappe
The Reue was a slender colrik man
His berd was shave / as nygh as ever he can
His her was by his eres ful rounde yshorne
His top was dokked / lyke a preest biforn
Ful longe were his legges and ful lene
Y lyke a staf / ther was noo calf ysene
Wel couthe he kepe / a gerner / or a bynne
Ther was noon auditoᵘur / couthe on hym wynne
Wel wiste he / by the draughte / and by the reyne
The yeldenge of his seed and of his greyne
His lordes sheep / his neet / his dayerie /
His swyn / his hors / his store and his pulletrie
Was holy in this Reves gouernynge
And by his couenᵃnt ȝaf he his rekenynge
Syn that his lorde was twenty yere of age
Ther couthe no man / brynge hym in arrerage
Ther nas bayly / heerde ne other hyne
That he ne knewe his sleighte and his covyne
They were a drad of hym / as of the deth
His wonynge was ful faire vpon an heth
With grene trees shadwed was his place
He couthe better than his lorde purchace
Ful riche he was / astored pryvely
His lorde he cowthe plesen wel subtily
To yeve and lene / hym his owne good
And have a thanke / and yet a coote and a hood /
In youthe he hadd lerned a good mystere
He was a wel goode wrighte a Carpyntere
This Reve sat vpon a ful good stoot
That was al pomely grey / and highte scoot
A longe surcote of peers bliwe he hadde
And by his side / he bar a rusty bladde
Of Norfolk was this Reve / of whiche I telle
Biside a toūn / men clepe Baldeswelle
Tukked he was / as is a frere aboute
And ever he rode / the hynderest of oure route
A Sompnoᵘur was there wᵗith vs in that place
That hadde a firy cherubynnes face /
For sawceflem he was / with eyen narwe
And as hoot he was / and lecherous as a sparowe
With scalled browes / blaak and peled berd
Of his visage childern weren afferd
Ther nas quik syluer / litarge nor brimston
Borace ceruse ne oyle of trarter non
Ne oynement that wolde clense and byte
That hym myght helpe / of his whilkes whyte
Nor of the knobbes syttynge in his chekes
Wel loued he garlyk oynons and leekes
And forto drynke strong wyn red as blood
Than wolde he speke / and crie / as he were wood
For whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn
Than wolde he speke no word but latyn
A fewe t̉ermes hadde he / twoo or thre
That he hadde lerned out of som decre
No wonder is / he herde it al the day
And eek ye knowen wel / how that a Iay
Can clepe watte / as wel / as can the pope
But who so couthe / in other thinges hym grope
Than hadde he spende / al his philosophie
Ay questio / quid iuris wolde he crye /
He was a gentil harlot / and a kynde
A better felawe shulde men not fynde
He wolde suffre / for a quart of wyn
A good felawe to have his concubyn
A twelf monthe / and excuse hym atte fulle
Ful priuely eke / a fynche couthe he pulle
And if he fonde owher a good felawe
He wolde techen hym to have non awe
In suche caas / of the Erchedekens curs
But if a manes soule were in his purs
For in his purs he shulde punysshed be
Purs is the Erchedekens helle seide he
But wel I wote / he lyed right in dede
Of cursyng oughte ech gilty man to drede
For curs wol sleen / right as assoilyng saueth
And also war hym of a signyficauit
In daunger hadde he / at his owne gyse
The yonge gerles / of the diocise
And knewe her counsaill / and what was al her rede
A garland hadde he / sette vpon his hede
As grete as it were / for an ale stake
A bokeler hadde he / made hym of a cake
With hym ther rode / a gentil ꝑpardoner
Of Rouncyvall / his frende and his comper
That streght was come / fro the court of Rome
Ful lowe he song / come hider loue to me
This sompnoᵘur bar to hym / a stif burdoıı̄un
Was never trompe / of half so grete a soıı̄un
This ꝑpardoner hadde heer / as yelwe as wax
But smothe it henge / as doth a strike of flax
By ounces henge his lokkes / that he hadde
And ther with he / his shulders ouerspradde
But thynne it lay / bi culpus oon and oon
But hood for iolyte / wered he non
For it was trussed vp in his walet
Hym thought he rode / al on the newe Iet
Discheuele saaf his cappe / he rode al bare
Suche glaringe eyen / hadde he as an hare
A vernicle hadde he / sewed vppon his cappe
His walet lay bifore hym / in his lappe
Bretful of pardou / comen fro Rome al hoot
A voys he hadde / as smale as a goot
No berde ne hadde he / ne never shulde have
As smothe it was / as it were late shave
I trowe he were / a geldyng or a mare
But of his craft / fro Berwik into ware
Ne was ther such / another ꝑpardoner
For in his male / he hadde a peliwber
Which that he seide / was oure lady veyl
He seide he hadde / a gobet of the seyl
That seynt petir hadde / whan that he wente
Vpon the see / til Ihu Crist hym hente
He hadde a croos of latou / ful of stones
And in a glas / he hadde pigges bones
But with thise relikes / whan that he fond
A poủere ꝑpersone / dwellynge vpon lond
Vpon a day / he gat hym more moneye
Than the ꝑpersou gat / in monthes tweye
And thus with fayned flateringe and iapes
He made the ꝑpersou / and the peple his apes
But trewly to tellen / at the laste
He was in churche / a noble ecclesiaste
Wel couthe he rede / a lessou or a storie
But altherbest / he song an offretorie
For wel he wiste / whan that songe was songe
He muste preche / and wel affile his tonge
To wynne syluer / as he wel couthe
Therfore he song / so merily and lowde /
Now have I tolde you / sothely in a clause
The estate the array / the nombre and eke the cause
Why that assembled was / this companye
In southwerk / at this gentil hostelrie
That highte the tabbard / fast by the belle
But now is tyme / to you forto telle
How that we baren vs / that ilke nyght
Whan we weren / in that hostelrie a lyght
And after wol I tellen / of oure viage
And al the remenant of oure pilgrimage
But first I pray you / of youre curtesie
That ye ne rette it / noght my vilenie
Though that I pleynly speke in this matere
To tellen you her wordes / and here chere
Ne though I speke / her wordes proꝑperly
For this ye knowen / as wel as I .
Who so shal telle / a tale after a man
He moot reherse / as neght as eủere he can
Euery word / yf it be in his charge
Al speke he neuere / so rudely or large
Or elles he moot telle / his tale vntrewe
Or feyne thinges / or fynde wordes newe
He may not spare / al though he were his brother
He moot as wel say / oo worde as another
Crist spak hym self / ful brode in holy writte
And wel ye wote / no vilenie is it
Eke plato seith / who so can hym rede
The wordes / mote be cosyn to the dede
Also I pray yow / foryeve it me
Al have I nought sett folk in her degre /
Here in this tale / as they shulde stonde
My wit is short / ye may wel vnderstonde
Gret chere made oure host vs euerichon
And to the souper / set he vs anon
He ʆserued vs / with vitaylls / at the best
Stronge was the wyn / and wel to drinke vs leste
A semely man / oure host was with alle
For to ben a marchal / in a lordes halle
A large man he was / with eyen stepe
A fairer burgeys / ys ther non in chepe
Bolde of his speche / and wys / and wel ytaught
And of manhode / hym lakked right nought
¶ Eke therto he was / right a mery man
And after soper / to pleien he bigan
And spak of merthe / amonge other thinges
Whan that we hadde made oure rekenynges /
And seide thus / now lordinges trewely
Ye ben to me / welcome right hertely
For by my troughe / yf that I shal not lye
I sawgh nought this yere / so mery a companye
At ones in this herberwe / as is nowe
Fayne wolde I done you / merthe wiste I howe
And of merthe / I am right now bithought
To don you ese / and it shal coste nought
¶ Ye gon to Cauntirbury / god you spede
The blisful martir / quyte yow / youre mede
And wel I wote / as ye gon by the weye
Ye shapen you / to talken / and to pleye
For trewely confort / ne myrthe is non
To ryde by the weye / dombe as eny ston
And therfore wole I maken you disport
As I seide arst / and don you som confort
And if yow liketh alle / by oon assent
Forto stonden / at my Iugement
And forto wirken / as I shal you seye
¶ To morowe / whan we ryden by the weye
Now by my Faders soule / that is ded
But ye be merye / I wol yeve you myn hed
Holdeth vp youre handes / withoute more speche
Oure counseill / was nought longe forto seche
Vs thoughte it was not worth / to make it wys
And graunted hym / withoute more avys
And bad hym say / his verdite as hym lyste
Lordinges qd he / now herkeneth for the beste
But take it nought I pray you in disdeyn
This is the poynt to speke short and pleyn
That eche of you / to short with oure weye
In this viage / shal telle tales tweye
To Cauntirbury ward I mene it so
And homward / he shal tellen other two
Of auentures / that whilom have bifalle
And whiche of you / that bereth hym best of alle
That is to seyn / that telleth in this caas
Tales of best sentence / and of moost solas /
Shal have a soper / at oure alther cost
Here in this place / sittyng by this post
Whan that we comen ageyn fro Cauntirbury
And for to make you / the more mery
I wol my self / goodely with you ryde
Right at myn owne cost / and be youre gyde
And who so wole / my iugement withseye
Shal paie for al / we spende by the weye
And if ye vouchesauf / that it be soo
Tel me a non / withoute wordes moo
And I wol erly / shape me therfore
This thyng was graunted / and oure othes swore
With ful glad herte / and prayen hym also
That he wolde vouchesauf / forto done so /
And he wolde ben oure gouernour
And of our tales / Iuge and reportour
And sette a soper / at a certeyn pris
And we wol rewled ben / at his devys /
In hight and lowe / and thus by oon assent
We ben accordet / to the iugement
And ther vpon / the wyn was fet a non
We dronke / and to reste wente echon
Withoute eny / lenger tariynge
A morowe / whan the day bygan to sprynge
Vp roos oure host and was oure alther cok
And gedered vs / to geder in a flok
And forth we reden / a lytel more than a pas
Vnto the waterynge of seynt Thomas
And than oure host / gan his hors a reste
And seide lordinges / herkenith if you leste
Ye wote youre forward and I it recorde
Ȝif euensong / and morow song accorde
Lat se now / who shal telle the firste tale
As euere mote I drynke wyn or ale
Who so be rebel / to my iugement
Shal paie for al / that by the way is spent
Now draweth cut / or that we ferther twynne
Which that hath the shortest / shal first bygynne /
¶ Sire knyght qduod he / my maist̉er and my lord
Now draweth cut / for that is myn acord
Cometh ner qduod he / my lady prioresse
And sire Clerk / lat be youre shamefastnesse
Ne studieth nought / ley hand to eủery man̄
Anon̄ to drawe / euery wight bigan̄
And shortly forto tellen / as it was
Were it by auenture / or sort or cas
The sothe is this / the cut fel to the knyght
Of whiche ful blithe / and glad was euery wight
And tellen he muste his tale / as was resoıı̄un
¶ By forward and by composiciıı̄un
As ye han̄ herd / what nedeth wordes mo /
And whan this good man / saugh that it was so
As he / that wys was / and obedient
To kepen̄ his forward / by his fre assent
He seide sithen / I shal begynne the game
What welcome / be the cut / in godes name
Now lat vs ride / and herkeneth what I seye
And with that word / we riden̄ forth oure weye
And he began̄ / right with a mery chere
His tale anon̄ / and seide as ye may here /
¶ Iamqȝue domos patrias Scithice post asꝑpera gentis
¶ prelia laurigero ¶ In Stacio thebaⁱdes
¶ prelia laurigero ¶ In Stacio thebaⁱdes
Whilom as olde stories / tellen vs
Ther was a duk / that highte Theseus
O Athenes / he was lord and gouernour
And in his tyme / such a conquerour
That gretter was non / vnder the sonne
Ful many a riche countre / hadde he wonne
What with his wysdam / and his chiualrie
He conquered / al the Regne of Femynie
That whilom was called Scithia
And wedded / the queen ypolita
And brought hir home / with hym in his cuntre
With moche glorie / and grete solempnite
And eke hir yonge suster Emelye
And thus with victorie / and with melodye