For if thou do, thou schalt it deere abye:
Thow sclaundrest me here in this companye,
And eek discoverest that thou schuldest hide.'
'Ye,' quod oure Ost, 'tel on, what so bytyde;
Of alle this thretyng recche the nought a myte.'
'In faith,' quod he, 'no more do I but lite.'
And whan this Chanoun seih it wold not be,
But his Yeman wold telle his privete,
He fledde away for verray sorwe and schame.
'A' quod the Yeman, 'her schal arise game;
Al that I can anoon now wol I telle,
Sin he is goon; the foule feend him quelle!
For never herafter wol I with him meete
For peny ne for pound, I wol by heete.
He that me broughte first unto that game,
Er that he deye, sorwe have he and schame!
For it is ernest1 to me, by my faith;
That fele I wel, what so eny man saith;
And yet for al my smert, and al my greef,
For al my sorwe, and labour, and mescheef,
I couthe never leve it in no wise.
Now wolde God my wyt mighte suffise
To tellen al that longeth to that art;
But natheles, yet wil I telle yow part;
Sin that my lord is goon, I wol nought spare,
Such thing as that I knowe, I wol declare."
"With this Chanoun I duelled have seven yer, And of his science am I never the ner;
Al that I hadde, I have lost therby,
And God wot, so hath many mo than I.
Ther I was wont to be right freisch and gay
Of clothing, and of other good array,
1 The Yeman first calls the endeavour to transmute metals a game, and then adds, it is ernest, that is, it has been a serious thing, to me. 2 In Tyrwhitt's edition the prologue ends here, and the tale is made to begin with the words, With this chanoun I duelled have seven yer.'
Now may I were an hose1 upon myn heed;
And where my colour was bothe freissch and reed,
Now it is wan, and of a leden hewe,
(Who so it useth, sore schal he rewe);
And of my swynk yet blended is myn ye;
Lo! such avauntage it is to multiplie !"
That slydynge science had me made so bare,
That I have no good, wher that ever I fare;
And yit I am endetted so therby
Of gold, that I have borwed trewely,
That whil I lyve schal I quite never;
Let every man be war by me for ever.
What maner man that casteth him therto,
If he continue, I holde his thrift i-do;
So help me God, therby schal he not wynne,
But empte his purs, and make his wittes thynne.
And whan he, thurgh his madnes and folye,
Hath lost his owne good in jeupardie,
Than he exciteth other men therto,
To lesse her good, as he himself hath do.
For unto schrewes joy it is and ese
To have here felawes in peyne and desese.
Thus was I oones lerned of a clerk;
Of that no charge; I wol speke of oure werk.
Whan we ben ther as we schul exercise
Oure elvyssh craft, we seme wonder wyse,
1 He was obliged to wear a stocking on his head, because he could not afford a hood.
2 This line consists of eleven syllables, and may be scanned:Lo sūchăvăuntage | it is | to multipliē.'
Avauntage being pronounced as French. [But the best MSS. omit it. -W.W.S.]
3 A jeu parti is properly a game in which the chances are exactly even. See Froissart, vol. i. c. 234. Ils n'estoient pas à jeu parti contre les François.' From hence it signifies anything uncertain or hazardous. In the old French poetry the discussion of a problem, where much might be said on both sides was called a jeu parti. Poesies du Roy de Nauarre, Chanson xlviii., and Glossary, in v. also Du Cange, in v. jocus partitus.-T. For some particulars concerning the Jeux-partis, the reader may be also referred to the Introduction to The court of Love, vol. iv. p. 262.
Oure termes ben so clergeal and queynte.1
I blowe the fuyr til that myn herte feynte.
What schulde I telle ech proporcioun
Of thinges which that we werke up and doun,
As on fyve or six ounces, may wel be,
Of silver, or som other quantite?
And besy me to telle yow the names,
As orpiment, brent bones, yren squames,
That into poudre grounden ben ful smal?
And in an erthen pot how put is al,
And salt y-put in, and also paupere,
Biforn these poudres that I speke of heere,
And wel i-covered with a lamp of glas?
And of moche other thing what that ther was?
And of the pot and glas enlutyng,'
That of the aier mighte passe no thing?
And of the esy fuyr, and smert also,
Which that was maad? and of the care and wo,
That we hadde in oure matiers sublymynge,
And in amalgamynge, and calcenynge
Of quyksilver, y-clept mercury crude?
For alle oure sleightes we can nought conclude.
Oure orpiment, and sublyment mercurie,
Oure grounde litarge eek in the porfurye,
Of ech of these of ounces a certayn
Nat helpeth us, oure labour is in vayn.
Ne eek oure spirites ascencioun,
Ne eek oure matiers that lyn al fix adoun,
Mowe in oure werkyng us no thing avayle;
For lost is al oure labour and travayle,
And al the cost on twenty devel way
Is lost also, which we upon it lay.
1 Our technical words have so great a show of clerkship or learning.
2 Enlutyng means covering the joining of the pot and glass lamp with clay (lutum), so as to exclude the air. This being a process much used in the pretended philosophy of Hermes Trismegistus, is still called sealing hermetically.
That is to oure craft appertenyng,
Though I by ordre hem here reherse ne can,
Bycause that I am a lewed man,
Yet wil I telle hem, as they come to mynde,
Though I ne conne nought sette hem in her kynde;
As bol armoniak, verdegres, boras;
And sondry vessels maad of erthe and glas,
Oure urinals and oure descensories,
Viols, croslets, and sublimatories,
Concurbites, and alembikes eeke,
And othere suche, deere y-nough a leeke,'
Nat needith it to rehersen hem alle;
Watres rubifying," and boles galle,
Arsnek, sal armoniak, and brimstoon.
And herbes couthe I telle eek many oon,
As egrimoigne, valirian, and lunarie,
And other suche, if that me list to tarie;
Oure lampes brennyng bothe night and day,
To bringe aboute oure craft if that we may;
Oure fourneys3 eek of calcinacioun,
And of watres albificacioun,
Unslekked lym, salt, and glayre of an ey,
Poudres dyvers, aissches, dong, pisse, and cley,
Cered poketts, sal petre, vitriole;
And dyvers fuyres maad of woode and cole;
Salt tartre, alcaly, and salt preparat,
And combust matieres, and coagulat;
Cley maad with hors or mannes her, and oyle
Of tartre, alym, glas, berm, wort, and argoyle,
Resalgar, and oure matiers enbibing;
And eek of oure matiers encorporing,
Dear enough if purchased for a leek.
See vol. i. p. 416, note 2.
2 Rubifying. Harl. MS. reads rubisyng.-W.
3 Fourneys. The Harl. MS. appears to read fourmes; but Lansd. MS. reads forneys, which is adopted by Tyrwhitt, and seems to be correct.-W.
And of oure silver citrinacioun,
Oure cementynge and fermentacioun,
Oure yngottes, testes, and many thinges mo.
I wol you telle as was me taught also
The foure spiritz, and the bodies seven
By ordre, as ofte herd I my lord neven.
The firste spirit quyksilver called is;
The secound orpiment; the thridde I wis
Sal armoniac, and the ferthe bremstoon.
The bodies seven, eek, lo hem heer anoon.
Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe;
Mars yren, Mercurie quyksilver we clepe;
Saturnus leed, and Jubitur is tyn,
And Venus coper, by my fader kyn.
"This cursed craft who so wol exercise,
He schal no good han that may him suffise;
For al the good he spendeth theraboute
He lese schal, therof have I no doute.
Who so that list outen his folye,
Let him come forth and lerne multiplie;'
And every man that hath ought in his cofre,
Let him appiere, and wexe a philosofre,
Ascauns that craft is so light to lere.
Nay, nay, God wot, al be he monk or frere,
Prest or chanoun, or eny other wight
Though he sit at his book bothe day and night
In lernyng of this elvysch nice lore,
Al is in vayn, and parde moche more
Is to lerne a lewed man this subtilte;
Fy, spek not therof, for it wil not be.
Al couthe he letterure, or couthe he noon,
As in effect, he schal fynd it al oon;
For bothe tuo by my salvacioun
Concluden in multiplicacioun
2 Whosoever wants an opportunity of exposing his folly, let him come and learn the science of the transmutation of metals.
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