Thou shalt be deed, by him that al hath wroght!
At shorte wordes, thou nescapest noght

Out of my paleys, or that thou be deed,

But thou consente and werke after my reed;

2645

Tak this to thee for ful conclusioun.'

This Ypermistra caste her eyen doun,
And quook as doth the leef of aspe grene;
Deed wex her hewe, and lyk as ash to sene,
And seyde, lord and fader, al your wille,
After my might, god wot, I shal fulfille,
So hit to me be no confusioun.'

'I nil,' quod he, 'have noon excepcioun';
And out he caughte a knyf, as rasour kene;
'Hyd this,' quod he, 'that hit be nat y-sene;
And, whan thyn husbond is to bedde y-go,
Whyl that he slepeth, cut his throte a-two.
For in my dremes hit is warned me
How that my nevew shal my bane be,
But whiche I noot, wherfor I wol be siker.
Yif thou sey nay, we two shul have a biker
As I have seyd, by him that I have sworn.'
This Ypermistra hath ny her wit forlorn;

And, for to passen harmles of that place,

2650 (90)

2655

2660

(100)

She graunted him; ther was noon other grace.
And therwith-al a costrel taketh he,

2665

And seyde, 'herof a draught, or two or three,

Yif him to drinke, whan he goth to reste,

And he shal slepe as longe as ever thee leste,

2643. C. nescapist; Tn. Th. B. ne scapest; B. ne schapest (!). 2652. F. Tn. Th. B. be to me.

2655. Tn. Th. y-sene; rest sene.

2656. Tn. y-goo; A. ygo; rest goo (go).

2661. F. make; rest haue.

2666. So C. T. A. (but with costret for costrel); rest And with-al a

costrel taketh he tho (badly).

(leaving the line too short).

2667. F. Tn. Th. B. om. or three 2668. A. to; rest om.

The narcotiks and opies been so stronge:
And go thy wey, lest that him thinke longe.'

Out comth the bryd, and with ful sober chere,

As is of maidens ofte the manere,

2670 (110)

To chambre is broght with revel and with songe,
And shortly, lest this tale be to longe,

This Lyno [comth, that noght of tresoun dredde],
And every wight out at the dore him spedde.

The night is wasted, and he fel a-slepe;

Ful tenderly beginneth she to wepe.
She rist her up, and dredfully she quaketh,
As doth the braunche that Zephirus shaketh,

And husht were alle in Argon that citee.
As cold as any frost now wexeth she;
For pite by the herte her streyneth so,

And dreed of deth doth her so moche wo,
That thryes doun she fil in swiche a were.
She rist her up, and stakereth heer and there,
And on her handes faste loketh she.
'Allas! and shul my handes blody be?
I am a maid, and, as by my nature,
And by my semblant and by my vesture,
Myn handes been nat shapen for a knyf,
As for to reve no man fro his lyf.
What devil have I with the knyf to do?
And shal I have my throte corve a-two?
Than shal I blede, allas! and me beshende;
And nedes cost this thing mot have an ende;

2675

2680

(120)

2685

2690

(130)

2695

2670. F. B. Martotikes (for narcotikes). T. A. opies; C. opijs; Th. apies; F. Tn. B. Epies (for opies). 2671. F. Tn. Th. B. ins. to before longe. 2674. F. Tn. Th. B. om. is. 2682. F. hushst (for husht); Th. hushte; C. A. hust; Tn. houste. 2684. F. Tn. B. streyneth hir; Th. strayned her; C. T. hire streynyth; A. hir stryngith. 2686. F. Th. B. swich (suche) a were; Tn. suche awere; C. this awer; A. this awere; T. that were. 2689. F. Tn. Th. B. om. and. 2696. F. Tn. Th. B. om. me. 2697. F. B. (only) Or for And.

way

Or he or I mot nedes lese our lyf.
Now certes,' quod she, 'sin I am his wyf,
And hath my feith, yit is hit bet for me
For to be deed in wyfly honestee
Than be a traitour living in my shame.
Be as be may, for ernest or for game,
He shal awake, and ryse and go his
Out at this goter, or that hit be day!'—
And weep ful tenderly upon his face,
And in her armes gan him to embrace,
And him she roggeth and awaketh softe;
And at the window leep he fro the lofte
Whan she hath warned him, and doon him bote.
This Lino swifte was, and light of fote,
And from his wyf he ran a ful good pas.
This sely woman is so wayk, allas!

2700

(140)

2705

2710

(150)

And helples so, that, or that she fer wente,
Her cruel fader dide her for to hente.

2715

Allas! Lino! why art thou so unkynde?

Why ne haddest thou remembred in thy mynde
To taken her, and lad her forth with thee?
For, whan she saw that goon awey was he,
And that she mighte nat so faste go,
Ne folwen him, she sette her doun right tho,
Til she was caught and fetered in prisoun.
This tale is seid for this conclusioun

[Unfinished.]

2720

(160)

ran; rest from her ran. 2714. C. A. or that; rest om. that. C. forth

2709. C. T. A. at a (for at the).

2712. So T. A.; C. from his wif

(for fer).

2717. C. T. haddist; rest hast.

2718. C. T. To;

rest And.

2722. F. Tn. Th. And til (for Til).

2721. C. set hire; T. A. sat hyr; rest sate (om. her).

THE LEGEND OF GOOD WOMEN.

NOTES TO THE PROLOGUE.

***N.B. The references are to the B-text, except where special mention of the A-text is made. The latter is denoted by the letter 'A,' preceded by a short line.

2. Compare Chaucer's Troilus, book ii. ll. 894–6.

5. Nis noon=ne is noon, is not none, i.e. is no one.

This use

of the double negative, as in modern provincial English, is extremely common, and need not be again remarked upon. Cf. 11. 7, 15, &c.

9. For there may no man prove it by actual trial.'

10. Leve, believe. Notice the numerous senses of leve, viz. (1) believe; (2) leave, v.; (3) grant; (4) dear; (5) leave, sb.; (6) leaf (dat. case).

II. Wel more thing, many more things. The word thing was originally neuter, and remained unchanged in the plural. In 1. 23, we have thinges. The M. E. more usually means 'greater'; it is seldom used (as here) in the modern sense.

12. Men shal nat, people ought not to. The use of men in the general sense of 'people,' is extremely common in Chaucer, and the student should notice that it usually takes a singular verb, when thus used. With ll. 12, 13 cf. Hamlet, i. 5. 166.

13. But-if, unless, except. Great attention should be paid to the exact sense of these apparently less important words. Frequently the whole sense of a sentence is missed, even by editors, owing to inattention to their use.

14. For, God knoweth, a thing is none the less true, although no one can see it.'

16. In the margins of MSS. C. and F. is written the Latin proverb here referred to, viz.—' Bernardus monachus non uidit omnia'; i.e. Bernard the monk (even) did not see everything. The reference is to the great learning and experience of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (born A.D. 1091, died Aug. 20, 1153). See