And to begyle hir wardeins everichoon,
And forth out of the citee for to goon;

780

And, for the feldes been so brode and wyde,
For to mete in o place at o tyde,
They sette mark hir meting sholde be
Ther king Ninus was graven, under a tree;

For olde payens that ydoles heried
Useden tho in feldes to ben beried;

785 (81)

This Tisbe hath so greet affeccioun

And so greet lyking Piramus to see,

That, whan she seigh her tyme mighte be,
At night she stal awey ful prively
With her face y-wimpled subtilly;

For alle her frendes-for to save her trouthe-
She hath for-sake; allas! and that is routhe
That ever woman wolde be so trewe
To trusten man, but she the bet him knewe!
And to the tree she goth a ful good pas,
For love made her so hardy in this cas;
And by the welle adoun she gan her dresse.
Allas than comth a wilde leonesse
Out of the wode, withouten more areste,
With blody mouthe, of strangling of a beste,
To drinken of the welle, ther as she sat;
And, whan that Tisbe had espyed that,
She rist her up, with a ful drery herte,
And in a cave with dredful foot she sterte,

795

(91)

800

805

(101)

810

780. euerychone.

781. gone. 782. feeldes; broode.
F. heriode (!).
790. couenaunt. 792. F. (only) om. goon.
794. F. Had (!); rest And. grete lykynge.
796. stale. A. priuely; F. prevely.

783. meete. 787. thoo; feeldes; beriede.

786. C. Idolys; F. ydoyles.
788. C. Tn. faste; F. fast.
793. F. Tn. B. om. hath; greete.
795. C. myghte; F. myght.
gooth; goode paas. 803.
806. woode.

F. comith.

***

804. a-downe.

caas.

807. strangelynge.

I

802.

805. Tn. comth;

For by the mone she seigh hit wel with-alle.
And, as she ran, her wimpel leet she falle,
And took noon heed, so sore she was a-whaped.
And eek so glad of that she was escaped;
And thus she sit, and darketh wonder stille.
Whan that this leonesse hath dronke her fille,
Aboute the welle gan she for to winde,
And right anoon the wimpel gan she finde,
And with her blody mouth hit al to-rente.
Whan this was doon, no lenger she ne stente,
But to the wode her wey than hath she nome.
And, at the laste, this Piramus is come,
But al to longe, allas! at hoom was he.
The mone shoon, men mighte wel y-see,
And in his weye, as that he com ful faste,
His eyen to the grounde adoun he caste,
And in the sonde, as he beheld adoun,
He seigh the steppes brode of a leoun,
And in his herte he sodeinly agroos,
And pale he wex, therwith his heer aroos,
And neer he com, and fond the wimpel torn.
'Allas!' quod he, 'the day that I was born!
This o night wol us lovers bothe slee!
How sholde I axen mercy of Tisbe
Whan I am he that have yow slain, allas!
My bidding hath yow slain, as in this cas.
Allas! to bidde a woman goon by nighte
In place ther as peril fallen mighte,
And I so slow! allas, I ne hadde be
Here in this place a furlong-wey or ye!
Now what leoun that be in this foreste,
My body mote he renden, or what beste

812. moone; saugh. eke. T. of; rest om.

821. don.

815

(111)

820

825 (121)

830

835

(131)

840

813. ranne. 814. tooke; hede; soore. 816. C. sit; F. sytte. 817. T. leones; F. lyonesse. 825. moone shoone; well.

815.

829. broode. T. leoun; F. lyoune.

827. Hise eighen; adovne. 832.

826. C. weye; F. wey. C. com; F. come.

828. behelde a-dovne.

Tn. neer; C. ner; F. nere. C. torn; F. torne. 833. C. born; F. borne. 834. 00; wole; boothe. 836. slayne. 837. C. as; rest om. 839. F. a; rest as. 840. slowe. 843. F. T. B. om. he. All renten (rente, rent) wrongly ; read renden.

C. Tn. com; F. come. C. fond; F. founde.

841. yee.

That wilde is, gnawen mote he now myn herte !'
And with that worde he to the wimpel sterte,
And kiste hit ofte, and weep on hit ful sore,
And seide, 'wimpel, allas! ther nis no more
But thou shalt fele as wel the blood of me
As thou hast felt the bleding of Tisbe!'
And with that worde he smoot him to the herte.
The blood out of the wounde as brode sterte
As water, whan the conduit broken is.

845

(141)

850

Now Tisbe, which that wiste nat of this,
But sitting in her drede, she thoghte thus,
'If hit so falle that my Piramus
Be comen hider, and may me nat y-finde,
He may me holden fals and eek unkinde.'
And out she comth, and after him gan espyen
Bothe with her herte and with her yën,
And thoghte, 'I wol him tellen of my drede
Bothe of the leonesse and al my dede.'

And at the laste her love than hath she founde
Beting with his heles on the grounde,
Al blody, and therwith-al a-bak she sterte,
And lyke the wawes quappe gan her herte,
And pale as box she wex, and in a throwe
Avysed her, and gan him wel to knowe,
That hit was Piramus, her herte dere.
Who coude wryte whiche a deedly chere
Hath Tisbe now,
and how her heer she rente,
And how she gan her-selve to turmente,

And how she lyth and swowneth on the grounde,
And how she weep of teres ful his wounde,

855

(151)

860

865 (161)

870

846. From C. (which has wep for weep); F. om. this line. 848. feele; blode. 849. bledynge; Tesbe. 852. Tn. Th. conduyt; F. conduyte; C. A. condit. 853. C. wiste nat of this; F. wyst nat this. 854. C. thoughte; F. thought. 857. ek.

855. F. B. om. hit.

858. comith.

leonesse; F. lyonesse.

856. C. I-fynde; F. fynde.

861. Booth. Tn.

859. hert; eighen.
863. Tn. Betyng; F. Betynge. helis.

866.

F. Th. boxe; rest box. T. wexed (for wex); A. wox; Th. B. woxe; C. F.

Tn. P. was (error for wax). F. B. om. and.

868. C. herte; F. hert. 873. Tn. weep; C. wep; F.

wepe.

How medeleth she his blood with her compleynte,
And with his blood her-selven gan she peynte;

875

How clippeth she the dede cors, allas?

(171)

How doth this woful Tisbe in this cas!

How kisseth she his frosty mouth so cold!

'Who hath doon this, and who hath been so bold

To sleen my leef? O spek, my Piramus !

880

I am thy Tisbe, that thee calleth thus !'
And therwith-al she lifteth up his heed.

This woful man, that was nat fully deed,
Whan that he herde the name of Tisbe cryen,
On her he caste his hevy deedly yën
And doun again, and yeldeth up the gost.

Tisbe rist up, withouten noise or bost,

And seigh her wimpel and his empty shethe,

And eek his swerd, that him hath doon to dethe;

885

(181)

Than spak she thus: My woful hand,' quod she, 890

'Is strong y-nogh in swiche a werk to me;

For love shal yive me strengthe and hardinesse
To make my wounde large y-nogh, I gesse.
I wol thee folwen deed, and I wol be
Felawe and cause eek of thy deeth,' quod she.
'And thogh that nothing save the deeth only
Mighte thee fro me departe trewely,

895

(191)

Thou shalt no more departe now fro me

Than fro the deeth, for I wol go with thee!
'And now, ye wrecched Ielous fadres oure,
We, that weren whylom children youre,
We prayen yow, withouten more envye,

That in o grave y-fere we moten lye,

876. C. Tn. cors; F. corps. colde. 879. ben; bolde.

877. dooth; Tesbe.

9c0

878. mouthe;

880. leefe. C. Tn. spek; rest speke (wrongly). 881. Tesbe. 884. C. Th. herde; rest herd.

F. Tn. Th. B. om. my. Tesbe. 885. dedely. Tn. B. P. yen; F. eyn; rest eyen. 886. dovne; 887. vpp; booste. 888. saugh. 889. eke; swerde. 890.

gooste. C. spak; F. spake. C. myn (for my); rest thy (1). hande. 891. werke. 892. F. (only) puts me before give. 894. wole; folowen deede. 895. eke. 897. the; trewly. 898. F. shal; C. schat (!); rest shalt. C. A. Th. departe now; Tn. departe trewlie; F. T. B. now departe. 899. deth; goo. 900.

F. Ielouse; C. gelos.

901. whilome.

903. 00.

T. I-fere; which

the rest omit (!).

Sin love hath brought us to this pitous ende!
And rightwis god to every lover sende,
That loveth trewely, more prosperitee

905

(201)

Than ever hadde Piramus and Tisbe!
And lat no gentil woman her assure
To putten her in swiche an aventure.
But god forbede but a woman can
Been as trewe and loving as a man!

And, for my part, I shal anoon it kythe!'

910

And, with that worde, his swerd she took as swythe,

That warm was of her loves blood and hoot,

And to the herte she her-selven smoot.

And thus ar Tisbe and Piramus ago.

Of trewe men I finde but fewe mo
In alle my bokes, save this Piramus,
And therfor have I spoken of him thus.
For hit is deyntee to us men to finde

A man that can in love be trewe and kinde.
Heer may ye seen, what lover so he be,
A woman dar and can as wel as he.

Explicit legenda Tesbe.

915

(211)

920

III. THE LEGEND OF DIDO, QUEEN OF
CARTHAGE.

Incipit Legenda Didonis martiris, Cartaginis regine.

GLORY and honour, Virgil Mantuan,
Be to thy name! and I shal, as I can,
Folow thy lantern, as thou gost biforn,
How Eneas to Dido was forsworn.

904. C. T. A. brought vs to; F. vs broght (!). pitouse.

925

906. moore.

907. C. euere zit hade; T. euer had yet; rest omit zit (yet). 908. noo gentile. 909. puten. 911. Ben.

915. smoote (!).

(a-go).

917. moo.

912. parte. 913. swerde. 914. warme; hoote. 916. Tn. T. ar; F. are; C. A. is. C. I-go; rest a-goo

918. bookes.

919. therfore.

N.B. From this point onward obvious corrections in the spelling of MS. F. are unnoticed.