But atte laste of Tarquyny she hem tolde This rewful case, and al thys thing horryble.
The woo to telle hyt were impossible
That she and al hir frendes made attones.
Al hadde folkes hertys ben of stones,
Hyt myght have maked hem upon hir rewe,
Hire herte was so wyfely and so trewe.
She sayde that for hir gylt ne for hir blame
Hir housbonde shulde nat have the foule name
That nolde she nat suffren by no wey.
And they answerde alle unto hir fey,1
That they forgaf hyt hyr, for hyt was ryght;
Hyt was no gilt; hit lay not in hir myght,
And seyden hire ensamples many oon.
But al for noght, for thus she seyde anoon:
"Be as be may," quod she, "of forgyfynge;
I wol not have noo forgyft for nothinge." 1851
But pryvely she kaughte forth a knyfe,
And therwithalle she rafte2 hir-selfe hir lyfe ;
And as she felle adoun she kaste hire loke,
And of hir clothes yet hede she toke;
For in hir fallynge yet she hadde care,
Lest that hir fete or suche thynge lay bare,
So wel she lovede clennesse, and eke trouthe!
Of hir had al the toune of Rome routhe,
And Brutus hath by hir chaste bloode swore,
That Tarquyny shulde ybanysshed be therfore,
And al hys kynne; and let the peple calle,5
1 Faith. 2 Bereft. 3 Purity, decency. Lucius Junius Brutus the founder of the great house. Caused the people to be called.
And openly the tale he tolde hem alle ;
And openly let cary her on a bere
Thurgh al the toune, that men may see and here
The horryble dede of hir oppressyoun.
Ne never was ther kynge in Rome toun
Syn thilke day; and she was holden there
A seynt, and ever hir day yhalwed dere,
As in hire lawe. And thus endeth Lucresse
The noble wyfe, Titus beryth wittnesse. 1871
I telle hyt, for she was of love so trewe,
Ne in hir wille she chaungede for no newe,
And in hir stable herte, sadde 2 and kynde,
That in these wymmen men may al day fynde.
Ther as they kaste hire herte, there it dwelleth.
For wel I wot that Criste himself telleth,
That in Israel, as wyde as is the londe,
That so grete feythe in al the londe he ne
As in a woman; and this is no lye.
And as for men, loketh which tirannye
They doon al day, - assay hem who-so lyste,
The trewest ys ful brotil for to triste.
Explicit Legenda Lucrecie, Rome, Martiris.
1 Titus Livius. Firm. Brittle.
Incipit Legenda Adriane de Athenes.
Juge infernal Mynos,1 of Crete king, Now cometh thy lotte, now commestow on the rynge!
Nat oonly for thy sake writen ys this story,
But for to clepe ageyn unto memory
Of Theseus, the grete untrewe of love,
For which the goddis of heven above
Ben wrothe, and wreche han take for thy synne.
Be rede for shame! now I thy lyfe begynne.
Mynos, that was the myghty kynge of Crete,
That wan an hundred citees stronge and grete,
To scole hath sent hys sone Androgeus
To Athenes, of the which hyt happeth thus,
That he was slayne, lernynge philosophie,
Ryght in that citee, nat but for envye.
The grete Mynos, of the whiche I speke,
His sones dethe ys come for to wreke,
Alcathoë besegeth harde and longe ;
But natheles, the walles be so stronge,
And Nysus, that was kynge of that citee,
So chevalrouse, that lytel dredeth he;
Of Mynos or hys oste toke he no cure.
Til, on a day, befel an aventure,
That Nisus doghtre3 stode upon the walle,
1 Minos, king of Crete, is called "infernal" because he became one of the judges in Hades. The story of Ariadne is outlined in Ovid, Metamorphoses, viii. 152, and related at length by Plutarch; and her letter to Theseus is in the Heroides, x. 2 Megara, of which Nisus was king. 3 Scylla.
And of the sege sawe the maner alle.
So hyt happede, that at a skarmysshynge,
She caste hir hert upon Mynos the kynge,
For hys beaute, and hys chevalerye,
So sore, that she wende for to dye.
And, shortly of this processe for to pace,
She made Mynos wynnen thilke place,
So that the citee was al at his wille,
To saven whom hym lyst, or elles spille.1
But wikkidly he quytte her kyndenesse,
And let hir drenche in sorowe and distresse,
Ner that the goddys had of hir pite;
But that tale were to longe as now for me.
Athenes wanne this kynge Mynos also, 1920 As Alcathoe and other tounes mo;
And this theffect, that Mynos hath so dryven
Hem of Athenes, that they mote hym given
Fro yere to yere hir owene children dere
For to be slayne, as ye shal after here.
Thys Mynos hath a monstre,2 a wikked beste,
That was so cruelle that withouten areste,
Whan that a man was broght into hys presence,
He wolde hym ete; ther helpeth no defence.
And every thridde yere, withouten doute, 1936
They casten lotte, as hyt came aboute,
On ryche, on pore, he most hys sone take,
And of hys childe he moste present make
To Mynos, to save him or to spille,
Or lat his best devoure him at his wille.
Destroy. The Minotaur, confined in the Cnossian labyrinth.
And this hath Mynos doon right in dyspite;
To wreke hys sone was sette all his delyte,
And maken hem of Athenes hys thralle
Fro yere to yere, while he lyven shalle;
And home he saileth whan this toune ys wonne
This wikked custome is so longe yronne, 1941
Til of Athenes kynge Egeus
Moste senden his oune sone Theseus,
Sith that the lotte is fallen hym upon,
To be devoured, for grace is ther non.
And forth is lad thys woful yonge knyght
Unto the countree of kynge Mynos full of myght,
And in a prison fetred faste ys he,
Til the tyme he shulde yfreten 1 be.
Wel maystow wepe, O woful Theseus, 1950 That art a kynges sone, and dampned thus! Me thynketh this, that thow depe were yholde ' To whom that savede the fro cares colde.
And now yf any woman helpe the,
Wel oughtestow hir servant for to be,
And ben hir trewe lover yere by yere !
But now to come agayn to my matere.
The tour, ther this Theseus ys ythrowe, Doune in the bothome derke, and wonder lowe, Was joynynge to the walle of a foreyne,3 1960 And hyt was longynge to the doghtren tweyne Of Mynos, that in hire chambres grete Dweltene above the maystre 1 strete
1 Eaten. Would be much beholden. 8 Jakes. Chief.
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