Why artow angry with my tale now?

I have a wyf pardee, as wel as thow,

Yet nolde I, for the oxen in my plogh,

Taken upon me moore than ynogh;

3160

Though that thou deme thiself that thou be oon,

I wol bileve wel that I am noon.

Of Goddės pryvėtee, nor of his wyf;

An housbonde shal nat been inquisityf

So he may fyndė Goddės foysoun there,
Óf the remenant nedeth nat enquere."

3165

What sholde I moore seyn, but this Millere
He nolde his wordes for no man forbere,
But told his cherlés tale in his manere.

Mathynketh that I shal reherce it heere;
And therfore every gentil wight I preye,
For Goddės love, demeth nat that I seye
Of yvel entente, but for I moot reherce
Hir talės allė, be they bettre or werse,

Or elles falsen som of my mateere :

And therfore, who so list it nat y-heere,

3170

3175

Turne over the leef and chese another tale;

For he shal fynde ynowe, bothe grete and smale,

Of storial thyng that toucheth gentillesse,
And eek moralitee, and hoolynesse,--
Blameth nat me if that ye chese amys.
The Millere is a cherl, ye knowe wel this,
So was the Reve, and othere manye mo,
And harlotrie they tolden bothẻ two.
Avyseth yow, putteth me out of blame;
And eek men shal nat maken ernest of game.

3180

3185

MILLER'S TALE

Heere bigynneth The Millere his Tale

Whilom ther was dwellynge at Oxenford
A riche gnof, that gestes heeld to bord,
And of his craft he was a carpenter.

With hym ther was dwellynge a poure scoler,

3190

Hadde lerned art, but al his fantasye

Was turned for to lerne astrologye,
And koude a certeyn of conclusiouns,
To demen by interrogaciouns,

If that men asked hym in certein houres

3195

Whan that men sholde have droghte or ellės

shoures,

Or if men asked hym what sholde bifalle

Of every thyng, I may nat rekene hem alle.

The Millere his Tale: no original or analogue has been discovered for this story, and there is no reason to doubt that it is

of Chaucer's own invention.

3188. gnof, churl.

heeld to bord, lodged.

This clerk was clepėd hendė Nicholas.
Of deerne love he koude, and of solas,
And ther-to he was sleigh and ful privee,
And lyk a mayden mekė for to see.
A chambre hadde he in that hostelrye
Allone, withouten any compaignye,
Ful fetisly y-dight, with herbės swoote,

3200

3205

And he hymself as sweete as is the roote

Of lycorys, or any cetéwale.

His Almageste, and bookės grete and smale,
His astrelabie, longynge for his art,

His augrym stonės, layen faire apart,

3210

On shelves couched at his beddes heed,
His presse y-covered with a faldyng reed,
And all above ther lay a gay sautrie,
On which he made a-nyghtės melodie
So swetely, that al the chambrẻ rong,
And Angelus ad Virginem, he song;

3215

strument for observing
the stars. Chaucer wrote
a treatise on its use.

3210. augrym stones, counters;
augrym is a corruption
from the Arabic Algo-
rithm, numeration.
3212. faldyng, a coarse cloth.
3213. sautrie, a psaltery.
3216. Angelus ad Virginem,
the music of a 13th
century chant to these
words is extant at the
British Museum, and
was used by Dr. Villiers
Stanford in his opera
Savonarola.

And after that he song the "kyngės noote";
Ful often blessed was his myrie throte,
And thus this sweetė clerk his tyme spente
After his freendės fyndyng and his rente.

This carpenter hadde wedded newe a wyf,
Which that he lovede moore than his lyf;
Of eightėteenė yeer she was of age.

3220

Jalous he was, and heeld hire narwe in cage,
For she was yong and wylde, and he was old, 3225
And demed hymself been lik a cokewold.

He knew nat Catoun, for his wit was rude,-
That bad man sholde wedde his simylitude.
Men sholdė wedden after hire estaat,

For youthe and elde is often at debaat;
But sith that he was fallen in the snare,
He moste endure, as oother folk, his care,
Fair was this yongé wyf, and therwithal,
As any wezele, hir body gent and smal.

3217. Of the "kynges noote nothing appears to be known.

3223. eighteteene, written in E5 in numerals.

3227. He knew nat Catoun: "The calling of this author Caton shews that he was more studied in French than in Latin. Who he was, or of what age, is uncertain, but his authority, four or five hundred years ago, seems to have been as great as if he had been the famous Censor of Rome. However, the maxim here

3230

alluded to is not properly
one of Cato's; but I find
it in a kind of Supple-
ment to the Moral Dis-
tichs, entitled Facetus int.
Auctores octo morales,
Lugd. 1538, cap. iii.
"Duc tibi prole parem spon-
sam moresque venustam,
Si cum pace velis vitam
deducere justam
(Tyrwhitt). The senti-
ment is as old as the
Seven Sages.

3228. sholde, Corpus and Lans-
downe MSS. omit.

3231. fallen in, H brought into. 3232. folk, H doon.

A ceynt she werede, y-barred al of silk;
A barmclooth eek, as whit as mornė milk,
Upon hir lendės, ful of many a goore;
Whit was hir smok, and broyden al bifoore,
And eek bihynde, on hir coler aboute,

3235

Of colblak silk withinne and eek withoute.
The tapes of hir white voluper

3240

Were of the same suyte of hir coler;
Hir filet brood, of silk and set ful hye;
And sikerly she hadde a likerous eye.
Ful smale y-pulled were hire browės two,

3245

And tho were bent, and blake as any sloo.
She was ful moore blisful on to see
Than is the newė pereionettė tree,

And softer than the wolle is of a wether;
And by hir girdel heeng a purs of lether,
Tasseled with grene and perled with latoun.
In al this world, to seken up and doun,
There nas no man so wys that koude thenche
So gay a popelote, or swich a wenche.
Ful brighter was the shynyng of hir hewe
Than in the Tour the noble y-forged newe.

3235. ceynt, girdle.

3236. barmclooth, apron. eek, om. E6.

3237. lendes, loins.

goore, gusset.

3241. tapes, ribbands.

voluper, cap.

3248. the newe pereionette tree, the pear-tree in spring.

3250

3255

3251. perled with latoun, with brass knobs.

3253. thenche, think, imagine. 3254. popelote, puppet.

3256. Tour, i.e. the Tower of London, where the mint

was.

the noble, a gold coin (6s. 8d.), first minted by Edward III.