And with twoo booles maked al of bras,
That spitten fire; and muche thinge ther was.
But this was eke the tale nathelees,
That who-so wolde wynne thilke flees,
He moste booth or he hyt wynne myghte –
With the booles and the dragoun fyghte;
And kyng Aetes lorde was of that ile.
This Pelleus bethoughte upon this wile,
That he his nevywe Jason wolde enhorte
To saylen to that londe, him to disporte,
And seyde, "Neviwe, yf hyt myghte be,
That suche worshippe1 myghte falle the,
That thou this famouse tresor myghte wynne,
And brynge hit my regyoun wythinne,
It were to me grette plesaunce and honoure;
Thanne were I holde to quyte 2 thy laboure,
And al the costes I wol my-selfe make;
And chese what folke thou wilte wyth the take
Let see nowe, darstow taken this viage?”
Jason was yonge, and lustie of corage,
And undertooke to doon this ilke emprise. 1450
Anoon Argus his shippes gan devyse.
With Jason wente the stronge Hercules, And many another that he with him ches.* But who-so axeth who is with him goon, Let him rede "Argonauticon," 5
For he wol telle a tale longe ynoughe.
Philoctetesanoon the sayle up droughe,
Honor. Requite. The builder of the Argo. nfinished heroic poem by Valerius Flaccus. 6 A skillful pilot men ioned by Guido.
Whan the wynde was good, and gan him hye
Out of his contree called Tessalye.
So longe he sayled in the salte see,
Til in the ile of Lemnos arryved he.
Al be this not rehersed of Guydo,1
Yet seyth Ovyde in hys Epistoles so ;
And of this ile lady was, and queene,
The faire yonge Ypsiphile the shene,
That whilom Thoas doughter was, the kynge.
Ypsiphyle was goon in hire pleynge,
And romynge on the clyves 2 by the see.
Under a brake anoon espiede shee
Where lay the shippe that Jason gan arryve.
Of hire goodnesse adoun she sendeth blyve,
To weten, yf that any straunge wyghte
With tempest thider were yblow a-nyghte,
To doon hem socour, as was hir usaunce
To forthren every wyghte, and don plesaunce
Of very bountee,* and of curteysie.
This messagere adoun him gan to hye,
And founde Jason and Ercules also,
That in a cogge to londe were ygo,
Hem to refresshen, and to take the eyre. 1480
The morwenyng atempree was and faire,
And in hys wey this messager hem mette;
Ful kunnyngely these lordes twoo he grette,
And did his message, askynge hem anoon
If they were broken, or aught woo begoon,
1 Guido de Colonna, author of Historia Trojana, a work which Chaucer evilently collated with those of Ovid. 2 Cliffs. 8 Know Goodness. 5 Cockboat.
Or hadde nede of lodesmen1 or vitayle;
For socoure they shulde nothinge fayle,
For it was outerly the quenes wille.
Jason ansuerde mekely and stille;
"My lady," quod he, "thanke I hertely 1490
Of hire goodnesse; us nedeth trewely
Nothing as now, but that we wery bee,
And come for to pley out of the see,
Til that the wynde be better in oure weye."
This lady rometh by the clyffe to pleye
With hire meynee, endelonge the stronde,
And fyndeth this Jason and thyse other stonde
In spekynge of this thinge, as I yow tolde.
This Ercules and Jason gan beholde
How that the queene it was, and faire hir grette, Anoon ryght as they with this lady mette. 1501 And she tooke hede, and knywe by hire man
By hire array, by wordes, and by chere,
That hit were gentil men of grete degree.
And to the castel with hir ledeth shee
These straunge folke, and dooth hem grete honour;
And axeth hem of travaylle and labour
That they han suffred in the salte see;
So that withynne a day or two or three
She knywe by the folke that in his shippes
That hyt was Jason, full of renomee,2
1 Pilots. Cf. Canterbury Tale 1 403. • Renown.
And Ercules, that hadde the grete los,1
That soughten the aventures of Colcos.
And did hem honour more than before,
And with hem deled ever the lenger the more
For they ben worthy folke withouten les.2
And, namely, she spake most with Ercules,
To him hir herte bare, he shulde bee
Sad, wise, and trewe, of wordes avysee,
Withouten any other affeccioun
Of love, or any other ymaginacioun.
This Ercules hathe this Jason y-preysed, That to the sonne he hath hyt up reysed, That halfe so trewe a man ther nas of love Under the cope of hevene, that is above; And he was wyse, hardy, secre, and ryche ; Of these thre poyntes there nas noon hym liche. Of fredome passed he, and lustihede,
Alle thoo that lyven [now], or [that] ben dede.
Therto so grete a gentil man was he,
And of Tessalye likly kynge to be.
Ther nas no lakke, but that he was agaste
To love, and for to speke shamefaste ;
Him lever had himselfe to mordre and dye.
'Than that men shulde a lover him espye.
As wolde God that I hadde igive
My bloode and flessh, so that I myghte lyve
With the bones, that he hadde oughe-where'
For his estaat! for suche a lusty lyfe
1 Laud. Lying. Sober. Surpassed. • Anywhere.
She sholde lede with this lusty knyghte! 1540 And all this was compassed1 on the nyghte Betwix him Jason, and this Ercules.
Of these twoo here was a shrewede les,"
To come to house upon an innocent,
For, to bedote this queene was her entent.
This Jason is as coy as ys a mayde;
He loketh pitousely, but noght he sayde,
But freely gafe he to hir counselleres
Giftes grete, and to hire officeres,
As God wolde that I leyser had and tyme,
By processe al his wowyng for to ryme! 155.
But in this house yf any fals lover be,
Ryght as himselfe now dothe, ryght so did he,
With feynynge, and with every sotil dede.
Ye gete no more of me, but ye wol rede
The original that telleth al the cas.
The sothe is this, that Jason weddid was
Unto this queene, and toke of hire substaunce
What-so him lyste unto hys purveyaunce;
And upon hir begate he children twoo, 1561
And drough his saylle, and saugh hir never
A letter sente she to hym certeyn,
Which were to longe to written and to seyn;
And him repreveth of his grete untrouthe,
And prayeth him on hir to have some routhe.
And of his children two, she sayede him this:
That they be lyke of alle thinge, ywis,
1 Courived. 2 Wicked lie. Deceive. Heroides, epistle vi
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