Sonte time with the Lord of Palatie* Agen another Hethen in Turkie,

And evermore he hadde a fovereine pris,
And though that he was worthy, he was wife,
And of his port as meke as is a mayde.
He never yet no vilanie ne fayde
In alle his lif unto no manere wight:
He was a veray parfit gentil Knight.

But for to tellen you of his araie,

His hors was good, but he ne was not gaie.
of fuftian he wered a gipon

Alle befmotred with his habergeon,
For he was late ycome fro his viage,
And wente for to don his pilgrimage.

With him ther was his fone, a yonge Squier,
A lover and a fufty bacheler,
With lockes crull as they were laide in preffe ;
Of twenty yere age he was, I geffe.
Of his ftature he was of even lengthe,
And wonderly deliver, and grete of strengthe;
And he hadde be fometime in chevachie
In Flaunders, in Artois, and in Picardie,
And borne him wel, as of fo litel space,
In hope to ftonden in his ladies grace.

Embrouded was Ke, as it were a mede
Alle full of fresfhe floures white and rede:
Singing he was or floyting alle the day:
He was as fresfhe as is the moneth of May :
Short was his goune, with fleves long and wide;
Wel coude he fitte on hors, and fayre ride:
He coude fonges make, and wel endite.
Jufte and eke dance, and wel pourtraie and write:
So hote he loved, that by nightertale
He flep no more than doth the nightingale :
Curteis he was, lowly and fervifable,
And carf before his fader at the table.

A Teman hadde he, and fervantes no mo
At that time, for him lufte to ride fo,
And he was cladde in cote and hode of grene;
A fhefe of peacock arwes bright and kene
Under his belt he bare full thriftily:
Wel coude he dreffe his takel yemanly:
His arwes drouped not with fetheres lowe,
And in his hond he bare a mighty bowe.

A not-hed hadde he, with a broune vifage :
Of wood-craft coude he wel alle the ufage:
Upon his arme he bare a gaie bracer,
And by his fide a fwerd and a bokeler,
And on that other fide a gaie daggere,
Harneifed wel, and sharp as point of fpere:
A Criftofre on his breft of filver fhene.
An horne he bare, the baudrik was of grene:
A forfter was he fothely, as I geffe.

Ther was alfo a Nonne, a Prioresse,
That of hire fmiling was ful fimple and coy,
Hire greteft othe n'as but by Seint Eloy,
And the was cleped Madam Eglentine;
Ful wel the fange the fervice devine,
Entuned in hire nofe ful fwetely;
And Frenche fhe fpake ful fayre and fetifly,
After the fcole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frenche of Paris was to hire unknowe:
At mete was the wel ytaughte withalle,
She lette no morfel from hire lippes falle,

Palatha in Anatolia.

Ne wette hire fingres in hire fauce depe;
Wel coude the carie a morfel, and wel kepe,
Thatte no drope ne fell upon hire brest:
In curtefie was fette ful moche hire left:
Hire over lippe wiped fhe fo clene,
That in hire cuppe was no ferthing fene
Of grefe when the dronken hadde hire draught;
Full femely after hire mete fhe raught:
And fikerly fhe was of grete difport,
And ful pleasant and amiable of port,
And peined hire to contrefetan chere
Of court and ben eftatelich of manere,
And to ben holden digne of reverence.

But for to fpeken of hire confcience,
She was fo charitable and fo pitous
She wolde wepe if that she saw a mous
Caughte in a trappe if it were ded or bledde.
Of fmale houndes hadde fhe, that the fedde
With rofted flesh, and milk, and wastel brede,
But fore wept fhe if on of hem were dede,
Or if men fmote it with a yerde smert;
And all was confcience and tendre herte.

Ful femely hire wimple ypinched was,
Hire nofe tretis, hire eyen grey as glas;
Hire mouth full fmale, and therto foft and red;
But fikerly fhe hadde a fayre forehed :
It was almoft a fpanne brode I trowe,
For hardily fhe was not undergrowe.

Ful fetife was rire cloke, as I was ware.
Of fmale corall aboute hire arm fhe bare
A pair of bedes gauded all with grene,
And thereon heng a broche of gold ful fhene
On whiche was firft ywritten a crouned A,
And after Amor vincit omnia.

Another Nonne alfo with hire hadde fhe
That was hire chapelleine, and Preeftes thre.
A Monk ther was, a fayre for the maistrie,
An out-rider that loved venerie;

A manly man to ben an abbot able;

Ful many a deinte hors hadde he in ftable,

And whan he rode, men mighte his bridel here
Gingeling in a whistling wind, as clere
And eke as loude as doth the chapell belle
Ther as this lord was keper of the celle.

The reule of Seint Maure and of Seint Beneit,
Because that it was olde and fomdele ftreit,
This ilke monk lette olde thinges pace,
And helde after the newe world the trace.
He yave not of the text a pulled hen
That faith that hunters ben not holy men,
Ne that a monk whan he is rekkeles
Is like to a fish that is waterles;
This is to fay, a monk out of his cloiftre;
This ilke text held he not worth an oiftre;
And I fay his opinion was good.

What! fhulde he ftudie and make himfelven wood,
Upon a book in cloiftre alway to pore,

Or fwinken with his hondes, and laboure,
As Auftin bit? how fhal the world be ferved?
Let Austin have his fwink to him reserved:
Therfore he was a prickafoure a right.
Greihoundes he hadde as fwift as foul of flight.
Of pricking and of hunting for the hare
Was all his luft; for no coft wolde he fpare.
I faw his fleves purfiled at the hond
With gris, and that the fincit of the lond;

And for to faften his hood under his chinne
He hadde of gold ywrought a curious pinne;
A love-knotte in the greter ende ther was:
His hed was balled, and fhone as any glas;
And eke his face, as it hadde ben anoint;
He was a lord ful fat, and in good point:
His eyen ftepe, and rolling in his hed,
That femed as a forneis of a led;
His bootes fouple, his hors in gret eftat;
Now certainly he was a fayre prelat:
He was not pale as a forpined goft;
A fat fwan loved he beft of any roft:
His palfrey was as broune as is a bery.
A Free ther was, a wanton and a mery,
A limitour, a ful folempne man :
In all the ordres foure is non that can
So moche of daliance and fayre langage.
He hadde ymade ful many a mariage
Of yonge wimmen at his owen coft;
Until his ordre he was a noble post.
Ful wel beloved and familier was he
With frankeleins over all in his contree,

And eke with worthy wimmen of the Toun,
For he had power of confeffion,

As faide himselfe, more than a curat,
For of his ordre he was a licenciat.
Ful fwetely herde he confeffion,
And plefant was his abfolution.
He was an efy man to give penance
Ther as he wiste to han a good pitance,
For unto a poure ordre for to give
Is figne that a man is wel yfhrive;
For if he gave he dorste make avant
He wifte that a man was repentant;
For many a man fo hard is of his herte,
He may not wepe although him fore smerte;
Therfore in ftede of weping and praieres
Men mote give filver to the poure freres.
His tippet was ay farfed ful of knives
And pinnes for to given fayre wives:
And certainly he hadde a mery note;
Wel coude he finge and plaien on a rote.
Of yeddinges he bare utterly the pris;
His nekke was white as the flour de lis;
Therto he strong was as a champioun,
And knew wel the tavernes in every toun,
And every hofteler and gay tapftere,
Better than a lazar or a beggere;
! For unto fwiche a worthy man as he
Accordeth nought, as by his faculte
To haven with fike lazars acquaintance:
It is not honeft, it may not avance,
As for to delen with no fwiche pouraille,
But all with riche and fellers of vitaille.

And over all, ther as profit fhuld arise
Curteis he was, and lowly of fervise :
Ther n'as no man no wher so vertuous;
He was the befte begger in all his hous,
And gave a certaine ferme for the grant
Non of his bretheren came in his haunt:
For though a widewe hadde but a fhoo,
[So plefant was his In principio)

This word, being not underflood, has been changed Infome copies into tidinges and weddinges. It probably means a kind of long, from the Saxon geddian or giddian,

Yet wold he have a ferthing or he went;
His pourchas was wel better than his rent:
And rage he coude as it hadde ben a whelp;
In lovedayes ther coude be mochel help;
For ther was he nat like a cloisterere,
With thredbare cope, as is a poure fcolere,
But he was like a maifter or a pope :
Of double worsted was his femicope,
That round was as a belle out of the presse.
Somwhat he lifped for his wantonneffe
To make his English fwete upon his tonge;
And in his harping, whan that he hadde fonge,
His eyen twinkeled in his hed aright
As don the fterres in a frofty night.
This worthy limitour was cleped Huberd,

A Merchant was ther with a forked berd;
In mottelee, and highe on hors he fat,
And on his hed a Faundrifh bever hat.
His bootes clapfed fayre and fetifly;
His refons fpake he ful folempnely,
Souning alway the encrefe of his winning:
He wold the fee were kept for any thing
Betwixen Middelburgh and Orewell.
Wel coud he in efchanges fheldes felle.
This worthy man ful wel his wit besette;
Ther vifte no wight that he was in dette,
So ftedefäftly didde he his governance
With his bargeines and with his chevifance.
Forfothe he was a worthy man withalle,
But foth to sayn I n'ot how men him calle
A Clerk ther was of Oxenford also,
That unto logike hadde long ygo.
As lene was his hors as is a rake,
And he was not right fat I undertake,
But loked holwe, and therto foberly.
Ful thredbare was his overest courtepy,
For he hadde geten him yet no benefice,
Ne was nought worldly to have an office;
For him was lever han at his beddes hed
Twenty bokes clothed in blake or red
Of Ariftotle and his philofophie
Then robes riche, or fidel or fautrie:
But all be that he was a philofophre
Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre,
But all that he might of his frendes hente
On bokes and on lerning he it spente,
And befily gan for the foules praie
Of hem that yave him wherwith to scolaie.
Of ftudie toke he mofte cure and hede;
Not a word fpake he more than was nede,
And that was faid in forme and reverence,
And short and quike, and ful of high sentence
Souring in moral vertue was his fpeche,
And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche.

A Sergeant of the Lawe ware and wife,
That often hadde yben at the paruis,
Ther was alfo, ful riche of excellence;
Difcrete he was, and of grete reverence;
He femed fwiche, his words were so wife :
Juftice he was ful often in affife

By patent and by pleine commiffioun :
For his fcience and for his high renoun

i. e. guarded. The old fubfidy of tonnage or poundage was given to the king "pur la faufgarde et custodie del mer," 12 Edw. IV. c. 3.

A good Wif was ther of befide Bathe, But the was fom del defe, and that was fcathe. Of cloth making she hadde swiche an haunt, Ste pafled hem of Ipres and of Gaunt. In all the parish wif ne was ther non That to the offring before hire shulde gon, And if ther did, certain fo wroth was she, That he was out of alle charitee. Hire coverchiefs weren ful fine of ground; I dorite fwere they weyeden a pound That on the Sonday were upon hire hede: Hire hofen weren of fine scarlet rede,

Ful ftreite yteyed, and shoon ful moist and newe:
Bold was hire face, and fayre and rede of hew.
She was a worthy woman all hire live;
Hourbondes at the chirche dore had she had five,
Withouten other compagnie in youthe,
But therof nedeth not to speke as nouthe;
And thries hadde the ben at Jerufaleme;
She hadde passed many a strange streine :
At Rome the hadde ben, and at Boloine,
la Galice at Seint James, and at Coloine:
She coude moche of wandring by the way;
Gat-tothed was the, fothly for to say;
Upon an ambler efily she fat,
Ywimpled wel, and on hire hede an hat
As brode as is a bokeler or a targe,
A fote mantel about hire hippes large,
And on hire fete a pair of fporres fharpe.
In fclawship wel coude she laughe and carpe;
Of remedies of love the knew parchance,
For of that arte fhe coude the olde dance.
A good man ther was of religioun
That was a peure Parfone of a toun,
But riche he was of holy thought and werk;
He was also a lerned man, a Clerk,
That Criftes gofpel trewely wolde preche;
His parifhens devoutly wolde he teche;
Benigne he was, and wonder diligent,
And in adverfite ful patient,

And fwiche he was ypreved often fithes;
Ful both were him to curfen for his tithes,
But rather wolde he yeven out of doute
Unto his poure parishens aboute

Of his offring, and eke of his fubftance;
He coude in litel thing have fuffifance :
Wide was his parish, and houfes fer afonder,
But he ne left nought for no rain ne thonder,
In fikenesse and in mischief to visite
The ferreft in his parith meche and lite
Upon his fete, and in his hand a fstaf:
This noble enfample to his fhepe he yaf,
That first he wrought and afterward he taught,
Out of the gospel he the wordes caught,
And this figure he added yet thereto
That if gold rufte, what fhuld iren do
Fer if a precft be foule on whom we trust
No wonder is a lewed man to ruft;
And name it is if that a preeft take kepe
To fee a hitten fhepherd and clene fhepe:

Wel ought a preeft enfample for to yeve
By his cleneneffe how his fhepe fhulde live.
He fette not his benefice to hire,
And lette his fhepe accombred in the mire,
And ran unto London unto Seint Poules
To feken him a chanterie for foules,
Or with a brotherhede to be withold,
But dwelt at home and kepte wel his fold,
So that the wolf ne made it not mifcarie:
He was a fhepherd and no mercenarie;
And though he holy were and vertuous
He was to finful men not difpitous,
Ne of his fpeche dangerous ne digne,
But in his teching difcrete and benigne.
To drawen folk to heven with faireneffe;
By good enfample, was his befinesse ;
But it were any perfone obftinat,
What fo he were of highe or low eftat,
Him wolde he fnibben sharply for the nones:
A better preeft I trowe that no wher non is,
He waited after no pompe ne reverence,
Ne maked him no fpiced confcience
But Criftes lore, and his apostles twelve
He taught, but first he folwed it himselve.
With him ther was a Plowman, was his brother,
That hadde ylaid of dong ful many a fother;
A true fwinker and a good was he,
Living in pees and parfite charitee:
God loved he befte with alle his herte
At alle times, were it gain or fmerte,
And than his neighebour right as himfelve.
He wolde threfh, and therto dike and delve,
For Criftes fake, for every poure wight
Withouten hire, if it lay in his might.

His tithes paied he ful fayre and wel
Both of his propre fwinke and his catel.
In a tabard he rode upon a mere.

Ther was also a Reve, and à Millere, A Sompnour, and a Pardoner alfo, A Manciple, and myfelf; ther n'ere no mo. The Miller was a ftout carl for the nones, Ful bigge he was of braun and cke of bones, That proved wel, for over all ther he came, At wraftling he wolde bere away the ram. He was fhort fhuldered, brode, a thikke gnarre, Ther n'as no dore that he n'olde heve of barre Or breke it at a renning with his hede; His berd as any fowe or fox was rede, And therto brode as though it were a spade. Upon the cop right of his nofe he hade A wert, and therop ftode a tufte of heres Rede as the briftles of a fowcs eres : His nofe-thirles blacke were and wide: A fwerd and bokeler bare he by his fide: His mouth as wide was as a forneis: He was a jangler and a Goliardeis, And that was most of finne and harlotries : Wel coude he fielen corne and tollen thries; And yet he had a thomb of gold parde, A white cote and a blew hode wered he: A baggepipe wel coude he blowe and foune, And therwithall he brought us cut of toune. A gentil Manciple was ther of a temple, Of which achatours mighten take enfemple

For to ben wife in bying of vitaille,
For whether that he paide or toke by taille
Algate he waited fo in his achate
That he was ay before in good eftate:
Now is not that of God a ful fayre grace
That fwiche a lewed mannes wit fhal pace
The wisdom of an hepe of lered men?

Of maifters had he mo than thries ten
That were of lawe expert and curious,
Of which ther was a dofein in that hous
Worthy to ben stewardes of rent and lond
Of any lord that is in Englelond,
To maken him live by his propre good
In honour detteles, but if he were wood,
Or live as fcarfly as him lift defire,
And able for to helpen all a fhire
In any cas that mighte fallen or happe;
And yet this Manciple fette hir aller cappe.
The Reve was a flendre colerike man,
His berd was fhave as neighe as ever he can
His here was by his eres round yfhorne ;
His top was docked like a preeft beforne:
Ful longe were his legges and ful lene,
Ylike a staff; ther was no calf yfene :
· Wel coude he kepe a garner and a binne;
Ther was non auditour coude on him winne;
Wel wifte he by the drought and by the rain
The yelding of his feed and of his grain.
His lordes thepe, his nete, and his deirie,
His fwine, his hors, his ftore, and his pultrie,
Were holly in his Reves governing,
And by his covenant yave he rekening,
Sin that his lord was twenty yere of age;
Ther coude no man bring him in arerage.
Ther n'as bailliff, ne herde, ne other hine,
That he ne knew his fleight and his covine;
They were adradde of him as of the deth."
His wonning was ful fayre upon an heth;
With grene trees yfhadewed was his place;
He coude better than his lord pourchace :
Ful riche he was yftored privily:
His lord wel coude he plefen fubtilly
To yeve and lene him of his owen good,
And have a thank and yet a cote and hood.
In youthe he lerned hadde a good mistere;
He was a wel good wright, a carpentere.
This Reve fate upon a right good stot
That was all pomelee grey, and highte Scot:
A long furcote of perfe upon he hade,
And by his fide he bare a rusty blade.
Of Norfolk was this Reve of which I tell,
Befide a toun men clepen Baldefwell.
Tucked he was, as is a frere aboute,

And ever he rode the hindereft of the route.
A Sampnour was ther with us in that place
That hadde a fire-red cherubinnes face,
For faufefleme he was, with eyen narwe;
As hote he was and likerous as a fparwe,
With fcalled browes blake and pilled berd;
Of his vifage children were fore aferd.
Ther n'as quickfilver, litarge, ne brimston,
Boras, cerufe, ne oile of tartre non,
Ne oinement, that wolde clenfe or bite,
That him might helpen of his whelkes white,

Ne of the knobbes fitting on his chekes:
Wel loved he garlike, onions, and lekes,
And for to drinke ftrong win as rede as blood,
Than wolde he fpeke and crie as he were wood;
And whan that he wel dronken had the win,
Than wold he fpeken no word but Latin:
A fewe termes coude he, two or three,
That he had lerned out of fom decree;
No wonder is, he heard it all the day:
And eke ye knowen wel how that a jay
Can clepen watte as wel as can the pope :
But who fo wolde in other thing him grope
Than hadde he spent all his philofophie;
Ay Queftio quid juris? wolde he crie.

He was a gentil harlot and a kind;
A better felaw fhulde a man not find:
He wolde fuffre for a quart of wine
A good felaw to have his concubine
A twelvemonth, and excufe him at the full >
Ful prively a finch eke coude he pull;
And if he found o where a good felawe
He wolde techen him to have non awe
In fwiche a cas of the archedekenes curse,
But if a mannes foule were in his purse,
For in his purfe he shulde ypunished be;
Purfe is the archedekens helle, faid he,
But wel I wote he lied right in dede;
Of curfing ought eche gilty man him drede,
For curfe wol fle right as affoiling saveth,
And alfo ware him of a fignificavit.

In danger hadde he at his owen gife
The yonge girles of the diocife,
And knew hir counfeil and was of hir rede.
A gerlond hadde he fette upon his hede
As gret as it were for an aleftake;
A bokeler hadde he made him of a cake.

With him ther rode a gentil Pardonere
Of Rouncevall, his frend and his compere,
That ftreit was comen from the court of Rome;
Ful loude he fang, Come hither love to me.
This Sompnour bare to him a stiff burdoun,
Was never trompe of half so gret a foun.
This Pardoner had here as yelwe as wax.
But fmoth heng as doth a strike of flax;
By unces heng his lokkes that he hadde,
And therwith he his fhulders overspradde:
Full thinne it lay, by culpons on and on,
But hode for jolite ne wered he non.
For it was truffed up in his wallet.
Him thought he rode all of the newe get,
Dishevele, fauf his cappe, he rode all bare:
Swiche glaring eyen hadde he as an hare :'
A vernicle hadde he fewed upon his cappe;
His wallet lay beforne him in his lappe
Bret-ful of pardon come from Rome al hote:
A vois he hadde as fmale as hath a gote:
No berd hadde he, ne never non fhulde have;
As fmothe it was as it were newe fhave:
I trowe he were a gelding or a mare.
But of his craft, fro Berwike unto Ware

The name of harlot was anciently given to men, as well as women.