Now is not that of God a ful fair grace,
That such a lewed mannes wit schal pace
The wisdom of an heep of lernede men?
Of maystres hadde moo than thries ten,
That were of lawe expert and curious:
Of which ther were a doseyn in an hous,
Worthi to be stiwardes of rente and lond
Of any lord that is in Engelond,
To make him lyve by his propre good,
In honour detteles, but if he were wood,
Or lyve as scarsly as he can desire;
And able for to helpen al a schire
In many caas that mighte falle or happe ;
And yit this maunciple sette here aller cappe.
The REEVE was a sklendre colerik man,
His berd was schave as neigh as ever he can.
His heer was by his eres rounde i-schorn.
His top was dockud lyk a preest biforn.
Ful longe wern his leggus, and ful lene,
Al like a staff, ther was no calf y-sene.
Wel cowde he kepe a gerner and a bynne:
Ther was non auditour cowde on him wynne.
Wel wiste he by the drought, and by the reyn,
The yeeldyng of his seed, and of his greyn.
His lordes scheep, his meet, and his dayerie,
588.-sette here aller cappe; i. e., outwitted them all. Conf. v. 3145. 591.-rounde. The MS. Harl. has neighe, but all the other MSS. I have consulted agree in the reading I have adopted in the text. This des cription is illustrated by the cut given on p. 13.
His swyn, his hors, his stoor, and his pultrie,
Was holly in this reeves governynge,
And by his covenaunt gaf the rekenynge,
Syn that his lord was twenti yeer of
age;
Ther couthe noman bringe him in arrerage.
Ther nas ballif, ne herde, ne other hyne,
That they ne knewe his sleight and his covyne:
They were adrad of him, as of the deth.
His wonyng was ful fair upon an heth,
With grene trees i-schadewed was his place.
He cowde bettre than his lord purchace.
Ful riche he was i-stored prively,
His lord wel couthe he plese subtilly,
To geve and lene him of his owne good,
/ And have a thank, a cote, and eek an hood.
In youthe he lerned hadde a good mester:
He was a wel good wright, a carpenter.
This reeve sat upon a wel good stot,
That was a pomely gray, and highte Scot.
A long surcote of pers uppon he hadde,
And by his side he bar a rusty bladde.
Of Northfolk was this reeve of which I telle,
Byside a toun men callen Baldeswelle.
/Tukkud he was, as is a frere, aboute,
And ever he rood the hynderest of the route.
A SOMPNOUR was ther with us in that place,
619.-pers. The MS. Harl. alone reads blew; perse was a sky-blue colour.
622.-Baldeswelle. A parish in Eynford hundred, Norfolk.
That hadde a fyr-reed cherubyns face,
For sawceflem he was, with eyghen narwe.
As hoot he was, and leccherous, as a sparwe,
With skalled browes blak, and piled berd:
Of his visage children weren sore aferd.
Ther nas quyksilver, litarge, ne brimstone,
Boras, ceruce, ne oille of tartre noon,
Ne oynement that wolde clense and byte,
That him might helpen of his whelkes white,
Ne of the knobbes sittyng on his cheekes,
Wel loved he garleek, oynouns, and ek leekes,
And for to drinke strong wyn reed as blood.
Thanne wolde he speke, and crye as he were wood.
And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
Than wolde he speke no word but Latyn.
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.
626.-cherubyns face. H. Stephens, Apol. Herod., i. 30, quotes the same thought from a French epigram,—
"Nos grands docteurs du cherubin visage."
648.-Questio quid juris. "This kind of question occurs frequently in Ralph de Hengham. After having stated a case, he adds, quid juris? and then proceeds to give the answer to it. See Heng. Mag., c. xi. Esto autem quod reus nullo modo venerit ad hunc diem, quid juris? &c. See also c. xii."-Tyrwhitt.
He was a gentil harlot and a kynde;
A bettre felaw schulde men nowher fynde.
He wolde suffre for a quart of wyn,
A good felawe to han his concubyn
A twelve moneth, and excuse him atte fulle.
And prively a fynch eek cowde he pulle.
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:
Of cursyng oweth ech gulty man to drede.
For curs wol slee right as assoillyng saveth,
And also ware him of a significavit.
In daunger he hadde at his owne assise
The yonge gurles of the diocise,
And knew here counseil, and was al here red.
A garland had he set upon his heed,
As gret as it were for an ale-stake:
649.-harlot. Chaucer gives us here an excellent picture of the class of society to which this name was applied in the middle ages. See the glossary.
664.-significavit. "The writ de excommunicato capiendo, commonly called a significavit, from the beginning of the writ, which is as follows: Rex vicecomiti L. salutem. Significavit nobis venerabilis pater H. L., episcopus, &c. Cod. Jur. Ecc, p. 1054."-Tyrwhitt.
665.—in daunger. The old meaning of the word danger was jurisdiction, or dominion whereby persons were liable to fine for certain offences to him in whose danger they were. Most of the MSS. have gise instead
A bokeler had he maad him of a cake.
With him ther rood a gentil PARDONER Of Rouncival, his frend and his
That streyt was comen from the court ef Rome.
Ful lowde he sang, Come 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,
But smothe it heng, as doth a strike of flex:
By unces hynge his lokkes that he hadde,
And therwith he his schuldres overspradde.
Ful thenne 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.
voys he hadde, as smale as eny goot.
No berd ne hadde he, ne never scholde have,
674.-Cume hider, love, to me. Probably the burden of a popular
675.-bar...a stif burdoun. "Sang the bass. See ver. 4163, and Ducange in v. Burdo."-Tyrwhitt.
684.-newe get. New fashion. Tyrwhitt has illustrated this phrase by a passage from Occleve's poem, De regimine principis,—
"Also ther is another newe gette,
Al foule waste of cloth and excessif."
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