And whan these idel wordes weren sayde, The colde walle they wolden kyssen of stoon, And take hir leve, and foorth they wolden goon. Alle this was gladly in the evetyde,
Or wonder erly, lest men it espyede.
And longe tyme they wroght in this manere,
Til on a day, whan Phebus gan to clere,
Aurora with the stremes of hire hete
Had dried uppe the dewe of herbes wete,
Unto this clyfte, as it was wont to be,
Come Piramus, and after come Tesbe.
And plighten trouthe fully in here faye,1
That ilke same nyght to steele awaye,
And to begile hire wardeyns everychone, 780
And forth out of the citee for to gone.
And, for the feeldes ben so broode and wide,
For to meete in o place at o tyde,
They sette markes; hire metyng sholde bee
Ther kyng Nynus was graven,2 under a tree,
For olde payens, that ydoles heriede,*
Useden thoo in feeldes to ben beriede,
And faste by his grave was a welle.
And, shortly of this tale for to telle,
This covenaunt was affermed wonder faste, 790
And longe hem thoghte that the sonne laste,
That it nere 5 goon under the see adoune.
This Tesbe hath so greete affeccioun,
And so grete lykynge Piramus to see,
1 Faith. 2 Where Ninus (the founder of Babylon) was buried Pagans. Praised. 5 Were not.
THISBE IN THE CAVE.
That whan she seigh hire tyme myghte bee,
At nyght she stale awey ful prevely,
With hire face ywympled1 subtilly.
For al hire frendes, for to save hire trouthe,
She hath forsake; allas, and that is routhe,2
That ever woman wolde be so trewe
To trusten man, but she the bet hym knewe!
And to the tree she gooth a ful goode paas,
For love made hir so hardy in this caas;
And by the welle adoune she gan hir dresse.
Allas than comith a wilde leonesse
Out of the woode, withouten more arreste,
With blody mouth, of strangelynge of a beste,
To drynken of the welle ther as she sat.
And whan that Tesbe had espyed that,
She ryst hire up, with a ful drery herte,
And in a cave with dredful foot she sterte,
For by the moone she saugh yt wel withalle.
And as she ranne, hir wympel leet she falle,
And tooke noon hede, so soore she was
awhaped,3
And eke so glade that she was escaped;
And ther she sytte, and darketh wonder stille.
Whan that this lyonesse hath dronke hire fille.
Aboute the welle gan she for to wynde,5
And ryght anoon the wympil gan she fynde,
And with hir blody mouth it al to-rente.
Whan this was don, no lenger she ne stente,
But to the woode hir wey than hath she nome."
Veiled. ? Pity. Confounded. Hideth. 5 Turn. Taken
And at the laste this Piramus ys come, But al to longe, allas, at home was hee! The moone shoone, men myghte wel ysee, And in hys wey, as that he come ful faste, Hise eighen to the grounde adoune he caste; And in the sonde as he behelde adoune, He seigh the steppes broode of a lyoune; And in his herte he sodeynly agroos,2 And pale he wex, therwith his heer aroos, And nere he come, and founde the wimpel
"Allas," quod he, "the day that I was borne!
This oo nyght wol us lovers boothe slee!
How shulde I axen mercy of Tesbee,
Whan I am he that have yow slayne, allas?
My byddyng hath i-slayn yow in this caas!
Allas, to bidde a woman goon by nyghte
In place thereas a peril fallen myghte!
And I so slowe! allas, I ne hadde bee
Here in this place, a furlong wey or 3 yee!
Now what lyon that be in this foreste,
My body mote rente, or what beste
That wilde is, gnawen mote he now my herte!"
And with that worde he to the wympel sterte,
And kiste it ofte, and wepte on it ful sore;
And seyde, "Wympel, allas! ther nys no more,
But thou shalt feele as wel the blode of me,
As thou hast felt the bledynge of Tesbe." 849
And with that worde he smot hym to the herte
1 Saw. 2 Shuddered. A short time before.
The blood out of the wounde as brode sterte As water, whan the conduyte broken ys.1
Now Tesbe, which that wyste [nevere] this, But syttyng in hire drede, she thoghte thus: "Yf it so falle that my Piramus
Be comen hider, and may me nat fynde,
He may me holden fals, and ek unkynde.”
And oute she comith, and after hym gan espien
Booth with hire herte and with hire eighen;
And thoghte, "I wol him tellen of my drede,
Booth of the lyonesse and al my dede."
And at the laste hire love than hath she founde,
Betynge with his helis on the grounde,
Al blody; and therwithal abak she sterte,
And lyke the wawes quappe 2 gan hir herte,
And pale as boxe 3 she wax, and in a throwe
Avised hir, and gan him wel to knowe,
That it was Piramus, hire herte dere.
Who koude write which a dedely chere
Hath Tesbe now? and how hire heere she
And how she gan hir selve to turmente?
And how she lyth and swowneth on the
And how she wepe of teres ful his wounde? How medeleth 5 she his blood with hir com
low with his blood hir selven gan she peynte?
1 This is taken literally from Ovid. 2 Like the waves, palpitate. This is Ovid's expression. 4 Moment. 5 Mingleth.
How clippeth1 she the dede corps? allas!
How dooth this woful Tesbe in this cas?
How kysseth she his frosty mouthe so colde?
"Who hath doon this? and who hath ben so
To sleen my leefe ? O speke, Piramus!
I am thy Tesbe, that thee calleth thus!"
And therwithal she lyfteth up his heed.
This woful man, that was nat fully deed, Whan that he herde the name of Tesbe crien, On hire he caste his hevy dedely eyen, And doune agayn, and yeldeth up the gooste.
Tesbe rist uppe, withouten noyse or booste,2 And saugh hir wympel and his empty shethe, And eke his swerde, that him hath doon tc dethe.
Than spake she thus: "Thys woful hande,"
Ys strong ynogh in swiche a werke to me;
For love shal me give strengthe and hardy
To make my wounde large ynogh, I gesse.
I wole the folowen deede, and I wol be
Felawe and cause eke of thy deeth," quod she.
"And thogh that nothing save the deth oonly
Myghte the fro me departe trewely,
Thou shal noo more now departe fro me
Than fro the deth, for I wol goo with the.
1 Embraceth. 2 Sound. The word is found in Piers Plowman Separate.
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