Lo, how fortune torneth sodeinly
The hope and pride eek of her enemy !1
This cok that lay upon this foxes bak,
In al his drede, unto the fox he spak,
And saide, 'Sire, if that I were as ye,
Yet schuld I sayn (as wis God helpe me),
Turneth agein, ye proude cherles alle!
A verray pestilens upon yow falle!
Now am I come unto this woodes syde,
Maugre youre hede, the cok schal heer abyde;
I wol him ete in faith, and that anoon.'
The fox answerd, 'In faith, it schal be doon.'
And whil he spak that word, al sodeinly
This cok brak from his mouth delyverly,
And heigh upon a tree he fleigh anoon.
And whan the fox seigh that he was i-goon,
'Allas!' quod he, 'O Chaunteclere, allas ?
I have to yow,' quod he, 'y-don trespas,
Inasmoche as I makid yow aferd,

Whan I yow hent, and brought out of the yerd;
But, sire, I dede it in no wickid entent;
Com doun, and I schal telle yow what I ment.
I schal say soth to yow, God help me so.'
'Nay than,' quod he, 'I schrew us bothe tuo.
And first I schrew myself, bothe blood and boones,
If thou bigile me any ofter than oones.
Thou schalt no more, thurgh thy flaterye,
Do me to synge and wynke with myn ye.
For he that wynkith, whan he scholde see,
Al wilfully, God let him never the!'

Nay,' quod the fox,' but God give him meschaunce, That is so undiscret of governaunce,

That jangleth, whan he scholde holde his pees.'

Lo, such it is for to be recheles,

And necgligent, and trust on flaterie.
But ye that holde this tale a folye,

Tyrwhitt's reading has been substituted for envy, that of the Harl. MS.

1

As of a fox, or of a cok or hen,

Takith the moralite therof, goode men.

For seint Poul saith,' that all that writen is,
To oure doctrine it is i-write I wis.

Takith the fruyt, and let the chaf be stille.

Now, goode God, if that it be thy wille,
As saith my lord, so make us alle good men;
And bring us alle to his blisse.

Amen."

2 Tim. ii. 16. Chaucer appears to have thought that by scripture St. Paul meant any writing, and not the Scriptures par excellence.

2 Tyrwhitt says that opposite to this verse in the Cott. MS. I, is written 'Kantuar.' The Archbishop of Canterbury intended is probably Bradwardyn, who has been already quoted.

3 In Speght, and in the MSS. in which the tale is followed by that of the Nonne, the following lines are inserted :

'Sire nonnes preest, our hoste sayde anon,
Yblessed be thy breche and every ston,
This was a mery tale of Chaunteclere.
But by my trouthe, if thou were seculere,
Thou woldest ben a tredefoule aright:
For if thou had corage as thou hast might,
Thee were nede of hennes, as I wene,
Ye, mo than seven times seventene.
Se, whiche braunes hath this gentil preest,
So gret a necke, and swiche a large breest!
He loketh as a sparhauk with his eyen;
Him nedeth not his colour for to dien
With Brasil, ne with grain of Portingal.

But, sire, faire falle you for your tale.
And after that, he with ful mery chere
Sayd to another, as ye shulen here.'

Two MSS. consulted by Tyrwhitt give the last line thus:-
'Seide unto the nunne as ye shul heere,'

and then proceed as follows:

'Madame, and I dorste, I wolde you pray
To telle a tale in fortheringe of our way.
Than mighte ye do unto us grete ese.
Gladly, sire, quoth she, so that I might plese
You and this worthy company,

And began hire tale riht thus ful sobrely.'

THE PROLOGE OF THE MAUNCIPLES TALE.

WOT ye not wher ther stont a litel toun,

Which that cleped is Bob-up-and-doun,'

Under the Ble, in Caunterbury way?
Ther gan our Hoste for to jape and play,
And sayde, 'Sires, what? Dun is in the myre!2
Is ther no man for prayer ne for hyre,
That wol awake our felawe al byhynde?
A theef mighte ful lightly robbe and bynde.
Se how he nappith, se, for Goddes boones!
That he wol falle fro his hors at ones.

Is that a cook of Londoune, with meschaunce?
Do him come forth,3 he knoweth his penaunce;
For he schal telle a tale, by my fay,

Although it be nought worth a botel hay.
Awake, thou cook, sit up, God gif the sorwe!
What eyleth the, to slepe by the morwe?
Hast thou had fleen al night, or artow dronke?
Or hastow with som quen al night i-swonke,
So that thou maist not holden up thyn heed?'
This Cook, that was ful pale and nothing reed,
Sayd to our Host, 'So God my soule blesse,
As ther is falle on me such hevynesse,

1 Mr. Wright supposes that the village of Harbledown is the place intended by Bob-up-and-down; and that it received this popular appellation because the traveller in approaching it was obliged to ascend and descend a number of low but steep hills. It stands on the borders of Blee, or Blean Forest. 2 [See below, p. 246, note 1.]

The editions previous to Tyrwhitt read, Do him comfort, which is not very intelligible. The meaning of Do him come forth is obvious. 'Make him come out from among the crowd of pilgrims, and ride near me, that I, as the judge, and the rest, may hear his tale the better.' Tyrwhitt remarks that it would have required the lungs of a Stentor to speak audibly to a company of thirty people trotting on together in a road of the fourteenth century.' But it should be remembered that it was then the custom to recite poetry to a sort of monotonous chant, which enabled the speaker to make himself heard with comparative ease at a great distance.

4 [So early in the day.' It was now the morning of the last day's journey. See Scheme, vol. ii. pp. 351–354.]

Not I nought why, that me were lever slepe,
Than the beste galoun wyn that is in Chepe.'

'Well,' quod the Maunciple, if that I may doon
To the, sir cook, and to no wight displease, [ease
Which that her rydeth in this compaignye,
And our host wolde of his curteisie,
I wol as now excuse the of thy tale;
For in good faith thi visage is ful pale.
Thyn eyen daswen eek, al so me thinkith,
And wel I woot, thy breth ful foule stynkith,
That scheweth eek thou art nought wel disposid;
Of me certeyn thou schalt nought ben i-glosed.
Se how he ganith, lo! this dronken wight!
As though he wolde swolwe us anoon right.
Hold clos thy mouth, man, by thy fader kynne!
The devel of helle sette his foot therinne!
Thy cursed breth enfecten' wil us alle.
Fy, stynkyng swyne! foule mot the falle!
A takith heed, sires, of this lusty man.
Now, swete sir, wol ye joust atte fan?2
Therto, me thinkith, ye beth right wel i-schape,
I trowe that ye dronken han wyn of ape,3

1 Enfecten is Tyrwhitt's reading, and seems plainer than effecte, which is that of the Harl. MS. Both, however, have the same meaning. 2 The Maunciple asks him ironically whether he will joust at the fan, vane, or quintaine, a ring turning on a pivot on the top of a pole, like a weathercock or vane. To drive the lance through this ring while at full gallop, and draw it out again as it turned, required great accuracy of eye and dexterity of hand.

3 This expression is well illustrated by Tyrwhitt and Warton from a curious rabbinical tradition, quoted by Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepigr. Vet. Test., vol. i. p. 275, which forms the substance of the 159th chapter of the Gesta Romanorum. When Noah planted the vine, Satan attended, and sacrificed a sheep, a lion, an ape, and a sow. These animals were intended to symbolize the gradations of ebriety; and the passage cannot be better illustrated than by an excellent Bacchanalian song in the play of Mother Bombie, by John Lily (1598), published in the Songs from the Dramatists. This song rather improves upon the original by substituting the goat for the sheep:

'O the dear blood of grapes

Turns us to antic shapes,
Now to show tricks like apes,

And that is whan men playen with a straw.'

And with his speche the Cook wax angry and And on the Maunciple bygan he nodde fast [wraw, For lak of speche; and doun the hors him cast, Wher as he lay, til that men him up took. This was a fair chivache' of a cook! Allas! that he nad hold him by his ladil! And er that he agayn were in his sadil, Ther was gret schowvyng bothe to and fro To lift him up, and moche care and wo, So unwelde was this sory pallid gost. And to the Maunciple thanne spak oure Host: 'Bycause drink hath dominacioun Upon this man, by my salvacioun I trow he lewedly tel wol his tale. For were it wyn, or old moysty ale, That he hath dronk, he spekith in his nose, And snesith fast, and eek he hath the pose. He also hath to do more than y-nough To kepe him and his capil out of the slough; And if he falle fro his capil eftsone, Than schal we alle have y-nough to doone In liftyng up his hevy dronken cors. Tel on thy tale, of him make I no fors. But yit, Maunciple, in faith thou art to nyce, Thus openly reproeve him of his vice; Another day he wil, par adventure, Reclayme the, and bringe the to lure;*

Now lion like to roar,
Now goatishly to whore,
Now hoggishly in the mire.'

The Calendrier des Bergers, quoted by Tyrwhitt, describes the effect of wine on persons of different temperaments by the same tradition. It says the choleric a vin de lion; c'est a dire, quant a bien beu, veult tanser, noyer, et battre; the sanguine a vin de singe, quant a plus beu, tant est plus joyeux. The phlegmatic is said to have vin de mouton, and the melancholic, vin de porceau.

1 Meaning, 'feat of horsemanship.'

2 That is, As men reclaim and bring a hawk to the fist, he will tame and make you submissive by threatening to disclose your malpractices