A fewe termes hadde he, tuo or thre,
That he hadde lerned out of som decree;
No wondur is, he herde it al the day;
And eek ye knowe wel, how that a jay
Can clepe Watte, as wel as can the pope.
But who-so wolde in othur thing him grope,
Thanne hadde he spent al his philosophie,
Ay, Questio: quid juris? wolde he crye.
He was a gentil harlot and a kynde;
A bettre felaw schulde men nowher fynde.

And if he fond owher a good felawe,
He wolde teche him to have non awe
In such a caas of the archedeknes curs,
But-if a mannes soule were in his purs;
For in his purs he scholde punyssched be.
'Purs is the ercedeknes helle,' quod he.

But wel I woot he lyeth right in dede;

638. a few, A.S. feawe, feawa = tuo or thre.

641. no wondur is; in modern English it is no wonder.' 643. who-so wolde him grope = whoever would test him. 646. harlot, masc. gender; kynde, A.S. cynde.

647. bettre. See note on line 524, and Cf. 608, &c.

648. owher

=

640

645

650

any-where, any being formed from the numeral an one, and by Chaucer written on or o.

650. archedeknes. Note the different spelling of the word in line

653.

653. quod; the six MSS. have seyd. Cf. quoth in lines 831, 833. 654. wel I woot; woot is 1st sing. pres. ind. of witen, A.S. witan to know. Weel I wot' is a phrase still common in Scotland. See lines 734, 765.

6

It

right in dede; here we see the origin of our word indeed.
is a compound of the preposition in and the substantive
deed, meaning fact or reality. How far its origin was lost
sight of by Shakespere, may be seen from the most

Of cursyng oweth ech gulty man to drede ;
For curs wol slee right as assoillyng saveth;
And also ware of him a significavit.

In daunger hadde he at his own assise

The yonge gurles of the diocise,

655

And knew here counseil, and was here aller red. 660

A garland had he set up on his heed,
As gret as it were for an ale-stake;
A bokeler had he maad him of a cake.

30. THE PARDONER.

With him ther rood a gentil PARDONER
Of Rouncival, his frend and his comper,
That streyt was comen from the court of Rome.
Ful lowde he sang, Com hider, love, to me.
This sompnour bar to him a stif burdoun,
Was nevere trompe of half so gret a soun.
This pardoner hadde heer as yelwe as wex,

665

670

But smothe it heng, as doth a strike of flex;

expressive use of the word in the whole range of our literature.

655. oweth

Iago, Indeed!

Othello, Indeed? ay, indeed.-Act iii. sc. 3. q.v.

=

debet, ought, 3rd sing. pres. In Chaucer, the past sing. is oughte, and the plur. oughten, oughte.

657. ware of him let him beware of. Cf. the phrase 'War heads!'

659. gurles, common gender.

660. here aller red; see note on line 586: red is from A.S. reed,

advice or adviser.

662. as gret; here as is an intensive

=

LINES 664-708.

Latin quam.

666. streyt was comen had come straight.

669. was nevere trompe; in modern English, there was, &c. Cf. 'Smack went the whip, round went the wheels, Were never folk so glad.'-Cowper.

By unces hynge his lokkes that he hadde,
And therwith he his schuldres overspradde.
Ful thinne it lay, by culpons on and oon,
But hood, for jolitee, ne wered he noon,
For it was trussud up in his walet.
Him thought he rood al of the newe get,
Dischevele, sauf his cappe, he rood al bare.
Suche glaryng eyghen hadde he as an hare.
A vernicle hadde he sowed on his cappe.
His walet lay byforn him in his lappe,
Bret-ful of pardoun come from Rome al hoot.

A

voys he hadde as smale as eny goot.

No berd ne hadde he, ne never scholde have,
As smothe it was as it were late i-schave;

But of his craft, fro Berwyk unto Ware,
Ne was ther such another pardoner.
For in his male he hadde a pilwebeer,

675

680

685

672. unces.

The six MSS. have ounces, a different spelling of the same word.

his lokkes that he hadde, a pleonasm.

674. on and oon; two Old English forms of the A.S. numeral an one. For the various meanings of one in olden times, see Morris' English Accidence, pp. 143-5.

675. but; some MSS. read and.

677. him thought it seemed to him. See note on line 37. al, as also in 678 and 682 = quite.

678. sauf his cap, originally an absolute phrase; sauf being the French sauf from the Latin salvo.

685. late i-schave. Cf. late comen in line 77.

688. pilwe-beer, compounded of pilwe, A.S. pyle and beer, Dan. vaar, a case or cover.

C. And many a pilowe, and every bere
Of cloth of Raines to slepe on softe.'

-Dreme of Chaucer, 254-5.

Which, that he saide, was oure lady veyl:
He seide, he hadde a gobet of the seyl

That seynt Petur hadde, whan that he wente
Uppon the see, til Jhesu Crist him hente.

690

He hadde a cros of latoun ful of stones,

He made the persoun and the people his apes.

700

But trewely to tellen atte laste,

He was in churche a noble ecclesiaste.

Wel cowde he rede a lessoun or a storye,

But altherbest he sang an offertorie;

For wel he wyste whan that song was songe,
He moste preche, and wel affyle his tunge,
To wynne silver, as he right wel cowde;
Therfore he sang ful meriely and lowde.

705

Now have I told you schortly in a clause

689. which that: Cf. Hem whiche that wepith' and 'His love the which that he oweth'; also, see note on line 1.

our lady veyl. See note on line 88.

692. hente, pret. of hente, A.S. hentan to seize, or lay hold of. 695. fand, 3rd sing. past of fynden, fynde, 647. Cf. fond, 648. 698. tweye occurs again in 786. Cf. tuo in line 638. In AngloSaxon there were two forms of the word-twa and twegen. 704. altherbest best of all. See note on line 586. Shakespere uses alder as in

'Mine alder-liefest Sovereign,' 2 Henry VI., 1. 1.

705. he wyste, 3rd sing. past ind. of witen. For the pres. see

lines 391, 654, &c.

706. moste, 3rd sing. past of mote = must.

Thestat, tharray, the nombre, and eek the cause 710
Why that assembled was this companye

In Southwerk at this gentil ostelrie,

That highte the Tabbard, faste by the Belle.

But now is tyme to yow for to telle

How that we bare us in that ilke night,
Whan we were in that ostelrie alight;

And aftur wol I telle of oure viage,
And al the remenaunt of oure pilgrimage.
But ferst I pray you of your curtesie,

715

That ye ne rette it nat my vilanye,

720

Though that I speke al pleyn in this matere,
To telle you here wordes and here cheere;
Ne though I speke here wordes propurly.
For this ye knowen also wel as I, ·

LINES 709-740.

710. thestat, tharray; In Chaucer, the e of the is very frequently elided, and the th united to the word following.

Cf. theffect, thoffice, thymage, thonour, &c.

713. highte as in 616- = was called; the past indefinite of hote, A.S. hatan to call.

Cf. Johan hight that oon, and Alayn that other.'
-The Reve's Tale.
'The Duke of Gloucester, that Richard hight.'

faste by, an adj. prep., A.S. on fæst = near.

-Sackville.

713. now is tyme; in modern English 'It is now time' or 'Now

is the time.'

6

715. we bare us: Cf. We sat us down.'

ilke same; see note on line 64.

716. alight; past part. of A.S. alihtan.

Cf.

was alight.'-Robert of Gloucester,-and the modern phrase 'lighted upon.'

717. after thereafter, afterwards.

720. rette impute; another form of the word is arette.

=

721. though that I speke al plain = although I speke plain. The six MSS. have 'Though that I plainly speke.'

724. also wel as; see note on line 289, and cf. Îine 732.