Tales of best sentence and of solas,

Schal han a soper at your alther cost
Here in this place sittynge by this post,
Whan that we comen ageyn from Canturbery. 795
And for to make you the more mery,

I wol myselven gladly with you ryde,

Right at myn owen cost, and be youre gyde.
And whoso wole my juggement withseie
Schal paye for al we spenden by the weye.
And if ye vouche sauf that it be so,
Telle me anoon, withouten wordes moo,
And I wole erely schappe me therfore.'

800

This thing was graunted, and oure othus swore

With ful glad herte, and prayden him also

805

That he wolde vouche sauf for to doon so,
And that he wolde ben oure governour,
And of our tales jugge and reportour,

And sette a souper at a certeyn prys ;

And we wolde rewled be at his devys,

810

In heygh and lowe; and thus by oon assent

792. of solas; the six MSS. have moost solas.

795. ageyn; contrast ageyn in line 66.

797. I myselven; myselven here is nom. ; in line 184 it is acc. 798. owen; Cf. owne in line 213, and see note.

799. wole, 3rd sing. Cf. wol 797, wole 803.

juggëment; note that the final e of jugge is pronounced.
with-seie; here with has the force of against as in the modern
with-say.

803. therfore

for that purpose, accordingly.

804. oure othus swore; othus is the object, and we understood the subject of swore. Cf. prayden in line 805.

810. at his devys; at his direction, by his decision.

811. in heygh and lowe; Cf. the low Latin phrase de alto et basso, and the French phrase de haut en bas; which, according

We been accorded to his juggement.
And therupon the wyn was fet anoon;
We dronken, and to reste wente echoon.
Withouten eny lengere taryinge.

A morwe whan that the day bigan to sprynge,
Up roos oure ost, and was oure althur cok,
And gaderud us togidur alle in a flok,

And forth we riden a litel more than paas,
Unto the waterynge of seint Thomas.

815

820

And there oure ost bigan his hors areste,

And seyde: Lordus, herkeneth if yow leste.

Ye woot youre forward, and I it you recorde.

825

If eve-song and morwe-song accorde,
Let se now who schal telle ferst a tale.
As evere I moote drynke wyn or ale,

to Tyrwhitt denoted complete sovereignty on the one side, and entire submission on the other. Perhaps a more natural explanation is to take it as equivalent to the French phrase par haut et par bas, in the saddle and out of it, in all circumstances.

815. lengere; see note on fairere in line 748.

LINES 816-852.

816. A-morwe, on the morrow, a being a prep. = on or in. 817. althur, gen. plu. of all. Cf. aller 586, alther 793.

818. gaderud togidur; both from the same root. A.S. gaderian to gather. Note that in Chaucer as in Gower the A.S. d is retained, where we now write th.

819. a litel more than paas; at, the absence of which is often conspicuous, may be understood at the beginning of the phrase.

822. herkeneth if you leste = hearken, if it please you.

825. Let se Consider. This expression is still common in Scotland and in Norway.

826. As evere I moote, an adjuration = so may I ever! Cf. the oft-recurring phrase, So mote I the, so may I thrive.'

Who so be rebel to my juggement
Schal paye for al that by the weye is spent.
Now draweth cut, er that we forther twynne;
Which that hath the schortest schal bygynne.'

830

'Sire knight,' quoth he, my maister and my lord. Now draweth cut, for that is myn acord.

6

Cometh ner,' quoth he, my lady prioresse;
And ye, sir clerk, lat be your schamfastnesse,
Ne studieth nat; ley hand to, every man.'

Anon to drawen every wight bigan,
And schortly for to tellen as it was,
Were it by aventure, or sort, or cas,

The soth is this, the cut fil to the knight,

835

Of which ful glad and blithe was every wight; 840
And telle he moste his tale as was resoun,

By forward and by composicioun,

As

ye han herd; what needeth wordes moo?

And whan this goode man seigh that it was so,

As he that wys was and obedient

To kepe his forward by his fre assent,

845

827. who so be = if any one be. Note the omission of he before

schal paye.

829. draweth cut. Collect all the verbs in the imperative mood;

and note that cut is singular.

830. which that, common in Chaucer (see lines 689 and 790), but rarely used together after the beginning of the sixteenth

century.

834. Ye is here the vocative sing.

837. as it was = how it was. 838. were it whether it were. 843. What needeth wordes moo?

Why need more words? Cf.

-Shakespere.

'What need the bridge much broader than the flood?'

He seyde: Syn I schal bygynne the game,
What, welcome be thou cut, a Goddus name!
Now lat us ryde, and herkneth what I seye.'

And with that word we ridden forth oure weye;
And he bigan with right a merie chere

His tale, and seide right in this manere.

851

847. Syn I schal; see note on line 601. The Lansd. MS. reads seththe that I, giving the older form of the word.

848. What! an expletive

why!

thou cut; the six MSS. read have the cut.

a goddus name in God's name.

See note on a in line 816.