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To anfwere to the court of certain thinges.

Now Lord, quod fhe, Crift Jefu, King of kinges, So wifly helpe me as I ne may:

I have ben fike, and that ful many a day:

I may not go fa fer (quod fhe) ne ride

But I be ded, so priketh it in my fide.
May I not axe a libel, Sire Sompnour,
And anfwere ther by my procuratonr
To swiche thing as men wold appofen me?

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Yes, quod this Sompnour, pay anon, let fee, 7180 Twelf pens to me, and I wol thee acquite:

I fhal no profit han therby but lite;

My maifter hath the profit and not I.
Come of, and let me riden haftily;

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Yeve me twelf pens, I may no lenger tarie. 7185
Twelf pens! quod fhe: now Lady Seint Marie
So wifly helpe me out of care and finne,
This wide world though that I fhuld it winne,
Ne have I not twelf pens within my hold.
Ye knowen wel that I am poure and old;
Kithe your almeffe upon me poure wretche.
Nay than, quod he, the foule fend me fetche
If I thee excufe, though thou fhuldest be spilt.
Alas! quod fhe, God wot I have no gilt.
Pay me, quod he, or by the fwete Seinte Anne
As I wol bere away thy newe panne

For dette which thou oweft me of old

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Whan that thou madeft thyn husbond cokewold

I paied at home for thy correction.
Thou lieft, quod fhe, by my falvation;
Ne was I never or now, widew ne wif,
Sompned unto your court in all my lif,
Ne never I n'as but of my body trewe.
Unto the devil rough and blake of hewe
Yeve I thy body and my panne alfo.

And whan the devil herd hire curfen fo
Upon hire knees, he fayd in this manere ;

Now Mabily, min moder dere,

Is this your will in ernest that ye sey?

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The devil, quod fhe, fo fetche him or he dey, 7210 And panne and all, but he wol him repent.

Nay, olde ftot, that is not min entent,
Quod this Sompnour, for to repenten me
For any thing that I have had of thee:
I wold I had thy fmok and every cloth.

Now brother, quod the devil, be not wroth;
Thy body and this panne ben min by right:
Thou fhalt with me to helle yet to-night,
Wher thou shalt knowen of our privetee
More than a maifter of divinitee.

And with that word the foule fend him hent

Body and foule: he with the devil went
Wher as thife Sompnours han hir heritage:
And God, that maked after his image
Mankinde, fave and gide us all and fome,
And lene this Sompnour good man to become.

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Lordings, I coude have told you (quod this Frere) Had I had leiser for this Sompnour here,

After the text of Crist, and Poule, and John,‹
And of oure other doctours many on,
Swiche peines that your hertes might agrife,
Al be it so that no tonge may devise,
Though that I might a thousand winter tell,
The peines of thilke curfed hous of hell:
But for to kepe us fro that cursed place
Waketh and prayeth Jefu of his grace
So kepe us fro the temptour Sathanas.
Herkneth this word, beware as in this cas;
The leon fit in his awaite alway

To fle the innocent if that he may.

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Difpofeth ay your hertes to withstond

The fend, that you wold maken thral and bond;
He may not tempten you over your might,
For Crift wol be your champion and your knight;
And prayeth that this Sompnour him repent
Of his misdedes or that the fend him hent.

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THE SOMPNOURES PROLOGUE. THIS Sompnour in his ftirops high he stood; Upon this Frere his herte was fo wood, That like an afpen leef he quoke for ire. Lordings, quod he, but o thing I defire; I you befeche that of your curtefie, Sin ye han herd this falfe Frere lie,

Volume 111.

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And ever enquering upon every thing,

Brother, quod he, wher is now your dwelling,
Another day if that I fhuld you

feche?

This yeman him answerd in fofte fpeche,
Brother, quod he, fer in the north contree,
Wheras I hope fomtime I fhal thee fee.
Or we depart I fhal thee so wel wisse,

That of min hous ne fhalt thou never misse.

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Now brother, quod this Sompnour, I you pray
Teche me, while that we riden by the way,

(Sith that ye ben a baillif as am 1)
Som fubtiltee, and tell me faithfully
In min office how I may mofte winne;
And fpareth not for confcience or for finne,
But as my brother tell me how do ye.

Now by my trouthe, brother min, faid he,

As I fhal tellen thee a faithful Tale.

My wages ben ful ftreit and eke ful fmale;
My lord is hard to me and dangerous,
And min office is ful laborious,

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And therfore by extortion I leve;

Forfoth I take all that men wol me yeve:

Algates by fleighte or by violence

Fro yere to yere I win all my difpence:

"your them; and the common opinion is that the thorne "whereupon they thus faften them and eat them is afterward "poifonfome. In Staffordthire and Shropshire the name is com"mon"-except that Cotgrave, in his Fr. Dict. explains arneat to fignify the ravenous bird called a serike, nynmurder ariangle. Sea Gloss, in v. Wariangles.

I can no better tellen faithfully.

Now certes (quod this Sompnour) so fare I;

I spare not to taken, God it wote,

But if it be to hevy or to hote.
What I may gete in confeil prively
No maner confcience of that have I.
N'ere min extortion I might not livén,
Ne of fwiche japes wol I not be fariven.
Stomak ne confcience know I non;
I fhrew thise fhrifte faders everich on:
Wel be we met by God and by Seint Jame.
But, leve brother, tell me than thy name,

Quod this Sompnour. Right in this mene while
This yeman gan a litel for to fmile.

Brother, quod he, wolt thou that I thee tell?

I am a fend, my dwelling is in hell,
And here I ride about my pourchafing

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To wote wher men wol give me any thing:
My pourchas is th' effect of all my rent,
Loke how thou rideft for the fame entent:
To winnen good thou rekkest never how:› :
Right fo fare I, for riden wol I now
Unto the worldes ende for a praye..

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A, quod this Sompnour, benedicite! what say ye?

I wend ye were a yeman trewely,

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Ye have a mannes fhape as wel as I :

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7018, to heroy or to hote] We have nearly the fame exreffion in Froigurt, v i. c. 229;" ne laiffoient riens à prendre, s'il n'eftoit trop chaud, trop froid, ou trop pefant."

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