Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

Thy neighebor thou wytest sinfully,
And seist thou hast to lite1, and he hath al.
'Parfay,' seistow, somtyme he rekne shal,
Whan that his [cors] shal brennen in the glede,
For he noght helpeth needfulle in hir nede.'

Herkne what is the sentence of the wyse :-
Bet is to dyen than haue indigence;'
Thy selue neighebor wol thee despyse;
If thou be poure, farwel thy reuerence!
Yet of the wyse man tak this sentence:—
'Alle the dayes of poure men ben wikke;'
Be war therfor, er thou come in3 that prikke!

If thou be poure, thy brother hateth thee,
And alle thy frendes fleen fro thee, alas!
O riche marchauntz, ful of wele ben ye,
O noble, o prudent folk, as in this cas!
Your bagges ben nat filled with ambes as,

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

But with sis cink, that renneth for your chaunce;
At Cristemasse merie may ye daunce!

125

Ye seken lond and see for your winninges,

As wyse folk ye knowen al thestaat

Of regnes; ye ben fadres of tydinges

And tales, both of pees and of debat.

I were ryght now of tales desolat,

Nere that a marchaunt, goon is many a yere,
Me taughte a tale, which that ye shal here.

1 E. Hn. lite; the rest litel. 2 E. Cm. omit the; the rest have it.

3 E. Hn. Hl. to; Cm. Cp. Pt. Ln. in.

130

[Here follows the Man of Lawes Tale, ll. 134-1162. See a long extract from it in Specimens of Early English, 1298-1393, ed. Morris and Skeat (Clarendon Press Series); p. 249.]

Here endith the man of lawe his tale. And next folwith the Shipman his prolog1.

Our hoste vpon his stiropes stood anon,

1163

And seyde, 'good men, herkeneth euerich on;

This was a thrifty tale for the nones!

1165

Sir parish prest,' quod he, 'for goddes bones,

Tel vs a tale, as was thy forward yore.

I se wel that ye lerned men in lore
Can moche good, by goddes dignitee!'
The persone him answerde, benedicite!

[ocr errors]

What eyleth the man so sinfully to swere?'

1170

Our hoste answerde, 'O Iankyn, be ye there?

I smelle a loller in the wynd,' quod he.

'Hoo! good men,' quod our hoste, 'herkneth me, Abydeth, for goddes digne passioun,

1175

For we shal han a predicacioun ;

This loller heer wil prechen vs som-what.'

'Nay, by my fader soule! that shal he nat,'

Seyde the Shipman', 'heer shal he nat preche,

1180

He shal no gospel glosen heer ne teche. We leue alle in the grete god,' quod' he, 'He wolde sowen som difficultee,

1 This rubric is from MS. Arch. Seld. B. 14. In some MSS. it is called The prolog of the squyers tale. The text of the prologue itself is founded on the Corpus MS. E. Hn. Cm. omit this Prologue; see note.

2 MS. Arch. Seld. has Shipman; Cp. Pt. Ln. þe squier.

3 MS. Arch. Seld. We leuen; Cp. Pt. Ln. He leueb.
MS. Arch. Seld. inserts quod, which Cp. Pt. Ln. omit.

Or springen cokkel in our clene corn,
And therfor, hoste, I warne thee biforn,
My Ioly body shal a tale telle,

1185

And I shal clinken yow so mery a belle,

That I shal waken al this companye;

But it shal not ben of philosophye,

Ne of phisyk1, ne termes queinte of lawe;
Ther is but litel latin in my mawe.

1190

Here endeth the Shipman his prolog. And next folwyng he bigynneth his tale, &c.2

[Here follows The Shipman's Tale, ll. 1191-1624. After which-]

Bihoold the murie wordes of the Hoost to the
Shipman and to the lady Prioresse3.

'Wel seyd, by corpus dominus,' quod our hoste,

1625

'Now longe mot thou sayle by the coste,

Sir gentil maister, gentil marineer,

God yeue this monk a thousand last quad yeer!

A ha! felawes! beth war of swich a Iape,

The monk putte in the mannes hode an ape,

1630

And in his wyues eek, by seint Austin;

Draweth no monkes more in-to your in.

But now passe ouer, and lat vs seke aboute,

Who shal now telle first of al this route

Another tale?' and with that word he sayde,

1635

As curteisly as it had been a mayde,

1 Tyrwhitt reads of phisike; the MSS. have the unmeaning word phislyas ;

Sloane MS. phillyas.

2 Rubric from MS. Arch. Seld.

3 From E.; here again made the basis of the text.

[ocr errors]

My lady Prioresse, by your leue,

So that I wiste I shulde you nat greue,

I wolde demen that ye tellen sholde

A tale next, if so were that ye wolde.

Now wol ye vouche sauf, my lady dere?'

6

'Gladly,' quod she, and seyde as ye shal here.

Explicit.

1640

GROUP B. THE PRIORESSES TALE.

The prologe of the Prioresses tale.

Domine, dominus noster.

O lord our lord, thy name how merueillous

Is in this large worlde ysprad-quod she :-
For noght oonly thy laude precious
Parfourned is by men of dignitee,

1645

But by the mouth of children thy bountee
Parfourned is, for on the brest souking
Som tyme shewen they thyn herying.

Wherfor in laude, as I best can or may,

1650

Of thee, and of the whyte1 lily flour

Which that thee bar, and is a mayde alway,

To telle a storie I wol doon my labour;

Not that I may encresen hir honour;

For she hir-self is honour, and the rote

1655

Of bountee, next hir sone, and soules bote.

O mooder mayde! o mayde mooder free!

O bush vnbrent, brenning in Moyses syghte,
That rauysedest doun fro the deitee,

Thurgh thyn humblesse, the goost that in thalyghte, 1660
Of whos vertu, whan he thyn herte lyghte,

Conceyued was the fadres sapience,

Help me to telle it in thy reuerence!

1 E. omits whyte, found in the rest.

« AnteriorContinua »