To heeren of hire sodeyn fal, allas!
And the contrarie is joye and greet solas,
As whan a man hath ben in poure estaat,
And clymbeth up, and wexeth fortunat,
And there abideth in prosperitee;
Swich thyng is gladsom, as it thynketh me,
And of swich thyng were goodly for to telle." 3969
"Ye," quod oure Hoost, "by Seïnt Poulės belle !
Ye seye right sooth; this Monk he clappeth lowde;
He spak how 'Fortune covered with a clowde,’—
I noot nevere what,—and als of a 'tragédie'
Right now ye herde, and, pardee, 'no remédie'
It is for to 'biwaille,' ne compleyne
That that is doon; and als, it is a peyne,
As ye han seyd, to heere of hevynesse.
Sire Monk, namoore of this, so God yow blesse ! Youre tale anoyeth all this compaignye;
Swich talkyng is nat worth a boterflye,
For therinne is ther no desport ne game.
Wherfore, sire Monk, daun Piers by yourẻ name,
I pray yow hertely, telle us somwhat elles,
For sikerly nere clynkyng of youre belles,
That on youre bridel hange on every syde,
By hevené kyng, that for us allé dyde!
I sholde er this han fallen doun for sleepe,
Althogh the slough had never been so deepe;
3982. daun, sir.
Piers, H2 Pieres.
3984. clynkyng, H gingling.
Thanne hadde youre tale al be toold in veyn,
For certeinly, as that thise clerkés seyn,
Where as a man may have noon audience,
Noght helpeth it to tellen his sentence;
And wel I woot the substance is in me,
If any thyng shal wel reported be.
Sir, sey somwhat of huntyng, I yow preye."
"Nay!" quod this Monk, "I have no lust to
Now lat another telle, as I have toold.”
Thanne spak oure Hoost with rude speche and boold,
And seyde unto the Nonnės Preest anon,
"Com neer, thou preest, com hyder, thou sir John.
Telle us swich thyng as may oure hertės glade;
Be blithe, though thou ryde upon a jade.
What thogh thyn hors be bothe foule and lene?
If he wol serve thee, rekke nat a bene;
Looke that thyn herte be murie everemo.”
"Yis, sir," quod he, "yis, Hoost, so moot I go,
But I be myrie, y-wis I wol be blamed."
And right anon his tale he hath attamed,
And thus he seyde unto us everichon,
This sweetė preest, this goodly man, sir John. 4010
Heere bigynneth The Nonnes Preestes Tale of the Cok and Hen,-Chauntecleer and Pertelote
A poure wydwė, somdel stape in age,
Was whilom dwellyng in a narwe cotage
Beside a grevė, stondynge in a dale.
This wydwe, of which I telle yow my tale,
Syn thilké day that she was last a wyf,
In pacïence ladde a ful symple lyf,
For litel was hir catel and hir rente.
By housbondrie of swich as God hire sente
She foond hirself, and eek hire doghtren two.
Thre large sowės hadde she, and namo;
Three keen and eek a sheep that hightė Malle.
Ful sooty was hir bour, and eek hire halle,
In which she eet ful many a sklendre meel;
Of poynaunt sauce hir neded never a deel.
No deyntee morsel passed thurgh hir throte,
Hir diete was accordant to hir cote;
Repleccioun ne made hire nevere sik,
Attempree diete was al hir phisik,
And exercise, and hertės suffisaunce.
The goutė lette hire no-thyng for to daunce,
The Nonnes Preestes Tale:
probably derived from
an earlier form of the
Roman de Renard. A
fable of Marie de France,
Dou Coc et dou Werpil,
contains in 38 lines the
gist of the tale.
4011. stape, advanced.
4012. narwe, H pore.
4013. greve, grove.
4017. rente, income.
Napoplexie shentė nat hir heed;
No wyn ne drank she, neither whit ne reed;
Hir bord was served moost with whit and blak,-
Milk and broun breed,-in which she foond no lak;
Seynd bacoun and somtyme an ey or tweye,
For she was, as it were, a maner deye.
A yeerd she hadde, enclosed al aboute
With stikkes, and a dryè dych withoute,
In which she hadde a cok, heet Chauntécleer.
In al the land of crowyng nas
his peer.
His voys was murier than the murie orgon
On messe dayes that in the chirché gon;
Wel sikerer was his crowyng in his logge
Than is a clokke, or an abbey orlogge.
By nature knew he eche ascencioun
Of the equynoxial in thilkė toun;
For whan degrees fiftene weren ascended,
Thanne crew he that it myghte nat been amended. His coomb was redder than the fyn coral,
And batailled as it were a castel wal;
His byle was blak, and as the jeet it shoon;
Lyk asure were hise legges and his toon;
Hise nayles whiter than the lylye flour,
And lyk the burned gold was his colour.
This gentil cok hadde in his governaunce
4031. Napoplexie, etc., nor did apoplexy hurt her head.
4035. Seynd, singed.
Sevene hennes for to doon al his plesaunce,
Whiche were hise sustrės and his paramours,
And wonder lyk to hym, as of colours ;
Of whiche the faireste hewed on hir throte
Was cleped faire damoysėlė Pertėlote.
Curteys she was, discreet and debonaire,
And compaignable, and bar hyrself so faire
Syn thilkė day that she was seven nyght oold,
That trewėly she hath the herte in hoold
Of Chauntecleer, loken in every lith;
He loved hire so that wel was hym therwith;
But swiche a joye was it to here hem synge,—
Whan that the brightė sonne bigan to sprynge,—
In sweete accord, "My lief is faren in londe;"
For thilkė tyme, as I have understonde,
Beestes and briddės koudė speke and synge.
And so bifel, that in the dawenynge, As Chauntécleer among hise wyvės alle Sat on his perche, that was in the halle, And next hym sat this fairė Pertelote, This Chauntėcleer gan gronen in his throte, As man that in his dreem is drecched soore. And whan that Pertelote thus herde hym roore, She was agast, and seyde, "O hertė deere! What eyleth yow, to grone in this manére? Ye been a verray sleper; fy, for shame!" And he answerde and seyde thus: I pray yow that ye take it nat agrief;
4065. lith, limb.
4077. drecched, frightened.
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