THE PROLOGE OF THE CHANOUNES YEMAN.'

WHAN ended was the lif of seynt Cecile,

Er we fully had riden fyve myle,

At Boughtoun under Blee us gan atake
A man, that clothed was in clothes blake,*
And under that he had a whit surplice,
His hakeney, that was a pomely grice,
So swete, that it wonder was, to se,
It semed he hadde priked myles thre.
The hors eek that his Yeman rood upon,
So swette, that unnethes might he goon.

1 This prologue and tale come before The Maunciples in Tyrwhitt's edition; and that arrangement certainly agrees better with the fact mentioned in the opening, that the pilgrims were now at Boughtonunder-Blee, five miles on the London side of Canterbury. But, on the other hand, it makes the incident of their being overtaken by the Chanoun and his Yeman, who are represented as having seen them leave their hostelry in the morning, still more improbable. To reconcile these difficulties Tyrwhitt proposes two hypotheses. First, that The Nonnes Tale was intended by Chaucer to be the first on the return from Canterbury. Thus, the Chanoun might well have overtaken them at Boughton, after having galloped in pursuit of them from Canterbury. But this is inconsistent with the words of the Yeman, who, in his prologue, speaks as if riding towards Canterbury. Secondly, Tyrwhitt supposes that the pilgrims lay upon the road, and that The Nonnes Tale was the first of the second day's journey; but,' he adds, if they lay only five miles from Boughton, I do not see how they could spend the whole second day till evening' (as it appears from the prologue to The Persones Tale they did) in travelling from thence to Canterbury.' [The latter difficulty is not very great, as it may be supposed that having a short day's work before them they went slowly, or halted upon the way. It is more consistent with probability and with allusions in the poems to assume that they spent several days upon the road, and that all the Tales were told upon the journey to Canterbury. This necessitates a certain amount of transposition; but the order in the MSS. already varies. See the Scheme below, pp. 351-354.]

2 The idea of making the cathedral clergy live together in common under a certain rule, which was a compromise between the strictness of the monastic and the freedom of the secular life, appears to have originated with St. Augustin, (Aug. Serm. 49, de Diversis,) and was generally adopted throughout the Western Church. The canons, being all clergymen, wore a surplice, that is, a short linen garment without sleeves, and over this a black cloak with a hood, as here indicated.

Aboute the peytrel stood the foom ful hye,
He was of foom as flekked as a pye.1
A male tweyfold on his croper lay,
It semed that he caried litel array,
Al light for somer rood this worthy man.
And in myn herte wondren I bigan

What that he was, til that I understood,
How that his cloke was sowed unto his hood;"
For which whan I long had avysed me,
I demed him som chanoun for to be.
His hat heng at his bak doun by a laas,
For he had riden more than troť or paas,
He had i-pryked lik as he were wood.
A cloote-leef he had under his hood
For swoot, and for to kepe his heed from hete.
But it was joye for to se him swete;

His forhed dropped as a stillatorie

Were ful of plantayn and of peritorie.*

And whanne that he was com, he gan to crie,
'God save,' quod he, this joly compaignye!
Fast have I priked,' quod he, 'for your sake,
Bycause that I wolde you atake,

To ryden in this mery companye.'

5

His Yeman eek was ful of curtesye,
And seid, 'Sires, now in the morwe tyde
Out of your ostelry I saugh you ryde,
And warned heer my lord and soverayn,
Which that to ryden with yow is ful fayn,
For his desport; he loveth daliaunce.'

Frend, for thy warnyng God geve the good chaunce,

Sayde oure Host, 'for certes it wolde seme

Thy lord were wys, and so I may wel deme;

1 He was so spotted with foam that he looked like a magpie.

2 See ante, p. 24, note 2.

3 He had placed a leaf of the burdock between his hood and his head to preserve his hood from sweat, and because of the heat, to keep his head cool.

4 These were herbs which were distilled for medical purposes.

5 See ante, p. 24, note 1.

He is ful jocound also dar I leye;
Can he ought' telle a mery tale or tweye,
With which he glade may this companye?'
Who, sire? my lord? Ye, ye, withoute lye,
He can of merthe and eek of jolite

Not but y-nough; also, sir, trusteth me,
And ye him knewe as wel as do I,2
Ye wolde wonder how wel and thriftily
He couthe werke, and that in sondry wise.
He hath take on him many sondry emprise,
Which were ful hard for eny that is heere
To bringe aboute, but thay of him it leere.
As homely as he ryt amonges yow,
If ye him knewe, it wolde be your prow;
Ye nolde nought for-gon his acqueyntaunce
For moche good, I dar lay in balaunce
Al that I have in my possessioun.
He is a man of heigh discressioun,

I warne yow wel, he is a passyng man.'

'Wel,' quod our Oost, I pray the, tel me than, Is he a clerk, or noon? tell what he is.' 'Nay, he is gretter than a clerk I wis,' Sayde this Yeman, and in wordes fewe, Ost, of his craft somwhat I wil you schewe. I say, my lord can such a subtilite,

(But al his craft ye may nought wite of me,
And somwhat helpe I yit to his worchynge),
That al this ground on which we ben ridynge
Til that we comen to Caunterbury toun,
He couthe al clene turnen up so doun,
And pave it al of silver and of gold.'

And whan this Yeman hadde thus i-told

1 Ought seems here to have a sort of interrogative power, as if he had said, 'Can your master by any chance tell a tale or two?' See vol. i. p. 302, note 1. 2 This line appears to be an example of the emphatic word I at the end of a line, occupying the place of an iambus; unless it be preferred to sound the final e of knewe, which would be contrary to the rule, very generally observed, of eliding a final e before a vowel. [In this case, the final e is preserved by cæsura.-W. W.S.]

Unto oure Oost, he seyde, 'Benedicite!
This thing is wonder merveylous to me,
Syn that this lord is of so heigh prudence,
Bycause of which men schuld him reverence,
That of his worschip rekketh he so lite;
His over slop it is not worth a myte
As in effect to him, so mot I go;
It is al bawdy and to-tore also.
Why is thi lord so slottisch, I the preye,
And is of power better clothis to beye,
If that his dede accorde with thy speche?
Telle me that, and that I the biseche.'

'Why?' quod this Yeman, 'wherto axe ye me? God help me so, for he schal never the, (But I wol nought avowe what I say, And therfor kep it secre I yow pray) He is to wys in faith, as I bileve. Thing that is over-don, it wil nought preve Aright, as clerkes sein,' it is a vice;

Wherfore in that I holde him lewed and nyce.
For whan a man hath over-greet a witte,
Ful ofte him happeth to mysusen itte;
So doth my lord, and that me greveth sore.
God it amende, I can say now nomore.'
"Therof no fors, good Yeman,' quod oure Ost,
'Syn of the connyng of thi lord thou wost,
Tel how he doth, I pray the hertily,
Sin that he is so crafty and so sly.
Wher dwellen ye, if it to telle be?'*
'In the subarbes of a toun,' quod he,
Lurking in hirnes and in lanes blynde,

2

Wher as these robbours and these theves by kynde Holden here prive ferful residence,3

As thay that dor nought schewen her presence;

1 An allusion to the proverb, ne quid nimis.

2 If it be to be told.

3 This line has all the character of Shakespeare.

So faren we, if I schal say the sothe.'

6

'Now,' quod oure Ost, yit let me talke to the;
Why artow so discoloured on thy face?'
'Peter!' quod he, 'God give it harde grace,
I am so used the fuyr to blowe,

That it hath chaunged my colour I trowe;
I am not wont in no mirour to prie,
But swynke sore, and lerne to multiplie.
We blondren ever, and pouren in the fuyr,
And for al that we faile of oure desir,
For ever we lacken oure conclusioun.
To moche folk we ben illusioun,

And borwe gold, be it a pound or tuo,
Or ten or twelve, or many sommes mo,
And make hem wenen atte leste weye,
That of a pound we conne make tweye.
Yit is it fals; and ay we han good hope.
It for to doon, and after it we grope.
But that science is so fer us biforn,
We mowen nought, although we had it sworn,
It overtake, it slyt away so fast;

It wol us make beggers atte last.'

Whil this Yeman was thus in his talkyng, This Chanoun drough him ner and herd al thing Which that this Yiman spak, for suspeccioun Of mennes speche ever hadde this Chanoun; For Catoun1 saith, that he that gulty is, Demeth al thing be spoke of him, I wis;

2

By cause of that he gan so neigh to drawe
His Yeman, that he herde al his sawe;

And thus he sayd unto his Yeman tho;
'Hold now thi pees, and spek no wordes mo;

1 This precept of Cato is in lib. i. dist. 17:

'Ne cures si quis tacito sermone loquatur;

Conscius ipse sibi de se putat omnia dici.'-T.

2 Here we find that the original form of the conjunction because was the substantive cause, with the preposition by.