Up roos oure Hoost and was oure aller cok,
And gadrede us togidre alle in a flok,
And forth we riden, a litel moore than paas,
Unto the wateryng of Seint Thomas;
And there oure Hoost bigan his hors areste
And seydė, "Lordynges, herkneth, if yow leste:
Ye woot youre foreward and I it yow recorde.
If even-song and morwe-song accorde,

Lat se now who shal telle the firstė tale.
As evere mote I drynke wyn or ale,
Whoso be rebel to my juggėment

Shal paye for all that by the wey is spent!

825

830

Now draweth cut, er that we ferrer twynne.

835

He which that hath the shorteste shal bigynne.

Sire Knyght," quod he, "my mayster and my lord,
Now draweth cut, for that is myn accord.
Cometh neer," quod he, "my lady Prioresse,
And ye sire Clerk, lat be your shamefastnesse, 840
Ne studieth noght; ley hond to, every man.'

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

823. oure aller cok, cock (or
alarum) of us all.

825. paas, a foot-pace.
826. the watering of S. Thomas,
a brook near the second
milestone on the Canter-
bury Road, where pil-
grims watered their
horses.

829. Ye woot youre foreward, you know your agreement.

835. draweth cut, draw lots. ferrer twynne, depart

farther.

844. aventure, etc., hazard, destroy, or chance.

The sothe is this, the cut fil to the knyght,

Of which ful blithe and glad was every wyght:

845

And telle he moste his tale as was resoun
By foreward and by composicioun,

As ye han herd; what nedeth wordės mo?

And whan this goode man saugh that it was so,
As he that wys was and obedient

850

To kepe his foreward by his free assent,
He seydė, "Syn I shal bigynne the game,
What, welcome be the cut a Goddės name!
Now lat us ryde, and herkneth what I seye."
And with that word we ryden forth oure weye,
And he bigan with right a myrie cheere
His tale anon, and seyde in this manère.

854. What, why.

thou for the, H.

854. a, on, in God's name.

855

TALES OF THE FIRST DAY

GROUP A

KNIGHT'S TALE

A discussion of Chaucer's adaptation of Boccaccio's Teseide in this tale will be found in the Introduction. The line on the left hand margin, e.g. from 1. 865 to 883, denotes that the passage forms part of the 374 lines which bear a general, or the 132 which bear a slight, resemblance to the corresponding passages in the Teseide. Dots mark the 270 lines directly translated. This collation was originally made by Mr. H. L. D. Ward for the Chaucer Society.

Heere bigynneth The Knyghtes Tale

WHILOM, as oldė stories tellen us,

Ther was a duc that hightė Thesëus ;

860

Of Atthenes he was lord and governour,
And in his tymẻ swich a conquerour,
That gretter was ther noon under the sonne.

Ful many a richẻ cóntree hadde he wonne;

That with his wysdom and his chivalrie
He conquered al the regne of Femenye,

865

866. the regne of Femenye, the kingdom of the Amazons.

And thus with victorie and with melodye
Lete I this noble duc to Atthenes ryde
And al his hoost in armės hym bisyde.

And certės, if it nere to long to heere,
I wolde han told yow fully the manere
How wonnen was the regne of Femenye
By Theseus and by his chivalrye;
And of the gretė bataille for the nones
Bitwixen Atthenės and Amazones;
And how asseged was Ypolita,

The fairé, hardy queene of Scithia,
And of the feste that was at hir weddýnge,
And of the tempest at hir hoom comýnge;
But al that thyng I moot as now forbere.
I have, God woot, a large feeld to ere,
And waykė been the oxen in my plough.
The remenant of the tale is long ynough,
I wol nat letten eek noon of this route.
Lat every felawe telle his tale aboute,
And lat se now who shal the soper wynne,
And ther I lefte I wol ageyn bigynne.

871. faire, H6 yonge.

875. nere, ne were, were not. 876. han told yow, H; yow have

875

880

885

890

toold, E; have told, rest. 886. ere, plough.

889. letten, hinder; lette eek none of al this, H.

This duc of whom I maké mencioun,
Whan he was come almost unto the toun
In al his wele, and in his moostė pride,
He was war, as he caste his eye aside,
Where that ther kneled in the hyẻ weye
A compaignye of ladyes, tweye and tweye,
Ech after oother, clad in clothes blake;
But swich a cry and swich a wo they make
That in this world nys creäture lyvynge
That herde swich another waymentynge:
And of this cry they noldė nevere stenten,
Til they the reynės of his brydel henten.

895

900

904

"What folk been ye, that at myn homcomýnge

· Perturben so my festé with criýnge?"

· Quod Theseus. "Have ye so greet envye

. Of myn honoúr, that thus compleyne and crye?
Or who hath yow mysboden or offended?
And telleth me if it may been amended,
And why that ye been clothed thus in blak?"
The eldeste lady of hem alle spak

910

Whan she hadde swowned with a deedly cheere
That it was routhẻ for to seen and heere,
And seydė, "Lord, to whom fortune hath geven 915
Victorie, and as a conqueror to lyven,

. Nat greveth us youre glorie and youre honour,
But we biseken mercy and sucóur.

Have mercy on oure wo and oure distresse :

897. hye, om. E.

902. waymentynge, lamentation. 904. henten, seized.

909. mysboden, abused.
913. cheere, countenance.
917. H omits second youre.