Dame, quod this Pluto, be no lenger wroth, 10185 I yeve it up: but fin I swore min oth That I wold graunten him his fight again, My word fhal stand, that werne I you certain : I am a king, it fit me not to lie. And I, quod fhe, am Quere of Faerie. Hire anfwere she shal han I undertake; Now let us turn again to January, This freshe May, that is fo bright and shene, 10190 10195 10200 Gan for to fike, and said, Alas, my fide! Now, Sire, quod fhe, for ought that may betide I mofle have of the peres that I fee 10205 Or I mofte die, fo fore longeth me To eten of the fmale peres grene; Help for hire love that is of heven quene. That she may dien but she of it have. Alas! quod he, that I n'adde here a knave 10210 That coude climbe: alas! alas! (quod he) For I am blinde. Ye, Sire, no force, quod fhe; But wold ye vouchefauf, for Goddes fake, 10215 The pery in with your armes for to take, 10220 Certes, faid he, therin fhal be no lack, And caught hire by a twist; and up fhe goth. (Ladies, I pray you that ye be not wroth; I can nat glofe; I am a rude man:) Gan pullen up the smock, and in he throng. And made him fee as wel as ever he might; 10225 10230 .10227. Gan pullen] After this verse the editt. (except Ca. 2, and Pynf. 1, 2,) have eight others of the loweft and moft fuperfluous ribaldry that can well be conceived. It would be a mere lofs of time to argue from the lines themfelves that they were not written by Chaucer, as we have this thort and decifive reafon for rejecting them, that they are not found in any one mf. of authority. They are not found in mff. A. C. 1, Ask. 1,2. HA. B. C. D. G. Bod. a. C. y. §. e. (. C. 2. T. N. Ch. In mff. E. H. I. W. either the whole Tale or that part where they might be looked for is wanting. The only tolerable mf. in which I have seen them is F. and there they have been added in the margin by a later hand, perhaps not older than Caxton's first edition. And whan he thus had caught his fight again Up to the tree he caft his eyen two, And up he yaf a roring and a cry, As doth the mother whan the child fhal dic: As me was taught to helpen with your eyen Was nothing better for to make you fee 10235 I0240 10245 Than ftrogle with a man upon a tree : Strogle! quod he; ye, algate in it went. Gode yeve you both on fhames deth to dien; 10250 . 10240. Out! belpe!] Two lines which follow this in the common editt. are omitted for the reafons ftated in the note upon ver. 10227; and I fhall take the fame liberty, upon exactly the fame grounds, with four more which have been inferted in thofe editt. after ver. 10250. 10241. Oftronge lady ftore] As all the best mf. support this reading I have not departed from it, for fear store thould have fone fignification that i am not aware of. Some mff. have foure, mf. G. boure, edit. Ca. 2, bore; bóra, meretrix, Iland, He fwived thee, I faw it with min eyen, Than is, quod fhe, my medicine al false; For certainly if that ye mighten fee 10255 Ye wold not fay thise wordes unto me. And by my feith me thought he did thee fo. 10260 This thank have I for I have made you fee: Now Dame, quod he, let al paffe out of mind: 10265 And that thy fmock had lein upon his breft. Ye, Sire, quod fhe, ye may wene as you left: 10270 But, Sire, a man that waketh of his flepe He may not fodenly wel taken kepe Right fo a man that long hath blind ybe He may not fodenly fo wel yfee, 10275 V. 10261. re mafe, ye mafen] The final has been added without authority, and unnecellarily. This line is very oddly written in mff. Ask. 1, 2; Ya may ya may ya quod fhe, Volume 111. R First whan his fight is newe comen agein, 10280 He which that misconceiveth oft misdemeth. He kiffeth hire and clippeth hire ful oft, 10290 Now, goode men, I pray you to be glad. THE SQUIERES PROLOGUE. By Goddes mercy, fayde oure Hofte tho, In women ben; for ay as befy as bees IC 295 v. 10293.] It has been faid in the Difcourfe, &c. §. 23. that this new Prologue has been prefixed to The Squieres Tale upon the authority of the befl mf. They are as follows; 4. C. 1, Afk. 1, 2, HA. D. Bod. a. y. S. The concurrence of the first five mfl. would alone have been more than fufficient to cutweigh the authorities in favour of the otherPrologue. Ed. Ca. 2, (though it has not this Prologue) agrees with thefe mff. in placing The Squieres Tale after The Marchantes. |