But of his craft, fro Berwyk in to Ware
Ne was ther swich another pardoner,
For in his male1 he hadde a pilwe-beer,
Which that he seyde was oure lady veyl;
He seyde he hadde a gobet of the seyl
That Seint Peter hadde whan that he wente
Up-on the see til Jhesu Crist hym hente.* (700 T.)
He hadde a croys of latoun 5 ful of stones,
And in a glas he hadde pigges bones;
But with thise relikes, whan that he fond
A povre person dwellynge up-on lond,
Up-on a day he gat hym moore moneye
Than that the person gat in monthes tweye.
And thus with feyned flaterye and japes'
He made the person and the peple his apes.
But, trewely to tellen atte laste,
He was in chirche a noble ecclesiaste;
Wel koude he rede a lessoun or a storie,
But alderbest he song an Offertorie,
For wel he wiste whan that song was songe,
He moste preche and wel affile 10 his tonge
To wynne silver, as he ful wel koude,
Therefore he song the murierly 11 and loude.
Now have I toold you shortly in a clause The staat, tharray, the nombre, and eek the
Why that assembled was this compaignye
In Southwerk at this gentil hostelrye,
2 Pillow-case. Cf. Duchess Blanche, 1. 254.
5 Brass. 6 Parson. 7 Tricks. 8 Best of all.
10 Polish. 11 More pleasantly.
CHAUCER'S WAY OF TELLING HIS STORY. 29.
That highte the Tabard, faste by the Belle.
But now is tyme to yow for to telle
How that we baren us that ilke nyght,
Whan we were in that hostelrie alyght,
And after wol I telle of our viage1
And al the remenaunt of oure pilgrimage.
But first, I pray yow of youre curteisye,
That ye narette it nat my vileynye,
Thogh that I pleynly speke in this mateere
To telle yow hir wordes and hir cheere,*
Ne thogh I speke hir wordes proprely,
For this ye knowen al so wel as I,
Who so shal telle a tale after a man,
He moote reherce as ny as evere he kan
Everich a word, if it be in his charge,
Al speke he never so rudeliche or large,
Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe,
Or feyne thyng, or fynde wordes newe.
He may nat spare al thogh he were his brother,
He moot as wel seye o word as another.
Crist spak hym self ful brode in hooly writ
And wel ye woot no vileynye is it.
Eek Plato seith, who so kan hym rede,
"The wordes moote be cosyn to the dede."
Also I prey yow to forgeve it me
Al have I nat set folk in hir degree
Heere in this tale, as that they sholde stonde; My wit is short, ye may wel understonde.
1 Tourney. 2 Ascribe it not to. 8 Rusticity, coarseness. pearance. 5 Freely. Germane. Cf. 1. 18,089. The sentiment is ound in Chaucer's Boethius, book iii., prose 12, being there quoted from Plato.
Greet chiere made oure hoost us everichon, And to the soper sette he us anon (750 T.) And served us with vitaille at the beste.
Strong was the wyn and wel to drynke us
A semely man OURE HOOSTE was with alle For to han1 been a marchal in an halle. A large man he was with eyen stepe,2
A fairer burgeys was ther noon in Chepe;'
Boold of his speche, and wys and well ytaught,
And of manhod hym lakkede right naught.
Eek therto he was right a myrie man,
And after soper pleyen he bigan,
And spak of myrthe amonges othere thynges,
Whan that we hadde maad our rekenynges; 760
And seyde thus: "Now, lordynges, trewely,
Ye been to me right welcome hertely;
For by my trouthe, if that I shal nat lye,
I saugh nat this yeer so myrie a compaignye
Atones in this herberwe 5 as is now;
Fayn wolde I doon yow myrthe, wiste I how.
And of a myrthe I am right now bythoght,
To doon yow ese, and it shal coste noght.
"Ye goon to Canterbury, God yow speede, The blisful martir quite yow youre meede! 770 And wel I woot as ye goon by the weye
Ye shapen yow to talen and to pleye;
For trewely confort ne myrthe is noon
1 Not in Ellesmere MS. 2 Bright. 8 The Market, now called
THE HOST'S PLAN FOR STORIES. 31
To ride by the weye doumb as the stoon;
And therfore wol I maken yow disport,
As I seyde erst, and doon yow som confort.
And if you liketh alle by oon assent
For to stonden at my juggement,
And for to werken as I shal yow seye,
To morwe, whan ye riden by the weye,
Now by my fader soule that is deed,
But if ye be myrie, I wol geve yow myn
heed!
Hoold up youre hond withouten moore speche."
Oure conseil was nat longe for to seche;
Us thought it was noght worth to make it
And graunted hym withouten moore avys,
And bad him seye his voirdit2 as hym leste.
"Lordynges," quod he, "now herkneth for
the beste,
But taak it nought, I prey yow, in desdeyn;
This is the poynt, to speken short and pleyn, 790
That ech of yow to shorte with oure weye,
In this viage shal telle tales tweye,
To Caunterburyward I mean it so,
And homward he shal tellen othere two,
Of aventures that whilom han bifalle.
And which of yow that bereth hym best of alle,
That is to seyn, that telleth in this caas
Tales of best sentence and moost solaas,
Shal have a soper at oure aller cost,* (801 T.)
1 To deliberate. 2 Verdict. 3 Sense. 4 At the cost of all of us.
Heere in this place, sittynge by this post, 800 Whan that we come agayn fro Caunterbury. And, for to make yow the moore mury,
I wol my selfe goodly with yow ryde
Right at myn owene cost, and be youre gyde,
And who so wole my juggement withseye
Shal paye al that we spenden by the weye.
And if ye vouche-sauf that it be so
Tel me anon, with-outen wordes mo,
And I wol erly shape1 me therfore.”
This thyng was graunted, and oure othes
With ful glad herte, and preyden hym also
That he would vouche-sauf for to do so,
And that he wolde been oure governour,
And of our tales juge and reportour,
And sette a soper at a certeyn pris
And we wol reuled been at his devys
In heigh and lough ; and thus by oon assent
We been acorded to his juggement.
And ther-up-on the wyn was fet2 anon;
We dronken and to reste wente echon
With-outen any lenger taryynge.
Amorwe, whan that day gan for to sprynge, Up roos oure Hoost and was oure aller cok,* And gadrede us togidre alle in a flok, And forth we riden, a litel moore than paas,5 Un-to the wateryng of Seint Thomas ;*
1 Prepare. 2 Fetched. 3 Each one. 4 Cock, or alarm, for us all. At a slow trot. The second milestone on the old road to Canterbury.
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