}

THE PILGRIMS AT SUPPER AT CANTERBURY.

367

and a cawdle of wine and sugar.

doner goes back to his mates,

A cawdeł I-made with swete wyne, & with sugir also ;—
ffor trewly I have no talent to ete in yeur absence;
So longith my hert toward 3ewe, to be in yeur/ presence.'
He toke his leve, & went his wey as pouze no þing' were,
And met with al the fel[e]shippe; but in what plase ne where Then the Par-
He spak no word ther-of, but held hym close & stil
As he pat hopid sikirlich to have had al his wit;
And pouzt [ful] many a mery pou3t by hym self a-loon:
"I am I-loggit," pouzt he, "best, howe-so-evir it gone!
And pouze it have costid me, 3it wol I do my peyn
ffor to pike hir' purs to ny3te, & wyn my cost ageyn." 376 and pick Kit's
Now leve I the Pardonere til þat it be eve,

And wohl retourne me ageyn rizt ther' as I did leve.

Whan al wer com to-gidir, in[to] hir' herbegage,

372

13

and thinks he'll have the best bed,

pocket too.

The hoost of Southwork, as ye knowe, þat had no spice of The Host

rage,

380

But al thing wroust prudencial, as sobir man & wise; "Nowe wołł wee to the souper, sir knyzt, seith yeur/ proposes Supper.

avyse,"

384 The Knight

says he'll act

Quod the hoost ful curteysly; & in þe same wise
The knyzt answerd hym ageyn, "sir, as yee devise
I must obey, yee woot wele; but yf I faille witt,
Then takith þese prelatis to 3ewe, & wasshith, & go sit ;
ffor I woH be yeur/ Marchal, & serve[n] 3ewe echone;
And pen pe officers & I, to soper shuł wee goon."
They wissh, & sett rizte as he bad, ech man with his fere, They sit down in
And begonne to talk, of sportis & of chere

388

392

hat they had pe aftir-mete, whils [pat] pey were out;
ffor othir occupacioun, til they were servid aboute,
hey had nat at þat tyme, but eny man kitt a loff;
But þe Pardonere kept hym close, & told[e] no þing' of
The myrth & hope þat he had, but kept it for hym-selff;
And pouze he did, it is no fors; for he had nede to solue
Long or it wer mydny3t, as yee shul here sone;
ffor he met with his love, in crokeing of pe moon.
They were I-seruyd honestly, & ech man held hym payde:

us Marshall.

order, and chat of their afternoon's walk.

(The Pardoner keeps quiet;

but he has to 'sol-fa' for it 397 afterwards.)

At Supper, all

fare equally, as all pay alike;

ffor of o maner of service hir soper was araide,

400

[leaf 185, back]

As ski wold, & reson, sith the lest of al
Payid I-lich[e] much, for growing of pe gal.
But zit, as curtesy axith, pouz it' were som dele streyte,

but the 'quality' The statis þat wer a-bove had of pe feyrest endreyte. 404 Wherfor they did hir gentilnes ageyn to al pe rout;

get the pick,

and therefore

stand wine for

the others.

After Supper,

the steady men go to bed.

The Miller and Cook sit up drinking.

The Pardoner sings (that Kit may hear him)

with the Summoner, Reeve, &c.

This angers the
Host and
Merchant,

off to bed,

They dronken wyne at hire cost, onys round a-boute.

1

Nowe pass y1 ligtly ovir: when they soupid had,
Tho that were of governaunce, as wise men & sad
Went to hir' rest, & made no more to doon;
Butte 2 Miller & pe Coke, dronken by the moon
Twyes to ech othir in the repenyng'.

408

And when the Pardoner hem aspied, a-noon he gan to syng', "Doubil me this bourdon," chokelyng' in his throte, 413 ffor the tapster shuld[e] here of his mery note.

416

He clepid to hym the Sompnoure þat was his own discipit,
The yeman, & the Reve, & [eke] þe MauncipiH;
And stoden so holowing; for no thing wold they leve,
Tyl the tyme pat it was wel within [the] eve.

The hoost of Southwork herd hem wele, & pe Marchaunt
both,

As they were at a-countis, & wexen som-what wroth. 420 who get them all But 3it they preyd hem curteysly to reste for to wend; And so they did, al they route, þey dronk & made an ende; And eche man drouze to cusky, to sclepe & take his rest, Save pe Pardonere, pat drewe apart, & weytid hym a trest3 ffor to hyde hym selff, tiH the candit were out.

except the Pardoner, who hides.

Kit, her Paramour, and the Hostler, have a good supper off the goose and eawdle that the

for.

425

And in the meen[e] while, have ye no doute,
The tapster & hir/ Paramour, & the Hosteler of the House
Sit to-gidir pryuelich, & of pe best[e] gouse
hat was I-found in town), & I-set at sale,

428

Pardoner's paid They had ther'-of sufficiaunt, & dronk but litiH ale;
And sit & ete pe cawdel, for pe Pardonere þat was made
With sugir & with swete wyne, rizt as hym-selff[e] bade:

MS passy.

3

2 But the.
Urry prints by a chaste.'
MS Sitto gidir.

So he pat payd for all in feer, [ne] had[de] nat a twynt ; ffor offt is more better I-merkid then [there is] I-mynt : And so [it] farid pere ful rizte, as yee have I-herd.

(But who is, þat a womman coud nat make his berd, 436 (Whom can't a

And she were there-about, & set hir/ wit ther-to?
Yee woot wele I ly nat; &, wher I do or no,
I wołł nat here termyn it,-lest ladies stond in plase,
Or els gentil vommen,—for lesing' of my grace,
Of daliaunce & of sportis, & of goodly chere;
Therfor, anenst hir' estatis, I wołł in no manere
Deme ne determyn; but of lewd[e] kittis,
As tapsters, & oper such, þat hath wyly wittis
To pik mennys pursis, & eke to bler hir eye;

So wele they makè semè soth, when þey falssest ly.)
Now of Kitt Tapster', & of hir Paramour,

[leaf 186]

woman make a fool of, if she sets her mind on it?

But I mustn't

offend the Ladies.

440

I'll only scold Kits and Tapsters 444 who blear men's eyes.)

And the hosteler of pe House, pat sit in kittis bour: 448
When they had ete & dronk rizt in the same plase,
Kit be-gan to rendir out al thing' as it was,—

The wowing of pe Pardonere, & his cost also,

After their
carouse,

Kit tells her
Paramour and the

Hostler all the
Pardoner's moves

And howe he hopid for to lygg al ny3t with hir also; 452 to lie with her; "But perof he shall be sikir as of goddis cope;"

And sodenly kissid hir Paramour ; & seyd, "we shul sclope but says she'll Togidir hul by hul, as we have many a nyzte.

sleep with her Paramour, and he shall thrash the

And yf he com & make noyse, I prey 3ew dub hym kny3t." Pardoner.
"3is, dame," quod hir' Paramour, "be pow nat a-gast! 457
This is his owne staff, pou seyist; þereof he shal a-tast!"
"Now trewly," quod the hosteler, "& he com by my lot,
He shall drynk for kittis love with-out[e] cup or pot; 460
And he be so hardy to wake[n] eny gist,

I make a-vowe to pe Pecok, pere shal wake a foul myst;"
And arose vp ther-with-al, & toke his leve a-noon :—
It was a shrewid company; they had servid so many oon.
With such maner of feleshipp ne kepe I nevir to dele, 465
Ne no man þat lovith his worshipp & his hele.-
Quod Kitt to hir' Paramour, "ye must wake a while,
ffor trewlich I am sikir, þat within this myle

The Hostler de

clares that if the

Pardoner comes

by him, he'll pay him out.

Kit tells her
Paramour to

468 watch, and take

care to cool the Pardoner's heat.

She goes to bed.

The Pardoner goes to Kit's

door,

The Pardonere wol be comyng', his hete to a-swage;
But loke ye pay hym redelich, to kele[n] his corage;

And perfor, love, dischauce yewe nat til þis chek be do."
"No! for God! kit! pat wol I no!"

Then Kit went to bed, & blewe out al the lizte,

And by that tyme it was, nere hond quarter ny3t.1

472

Whan al was stiH, the Pardonere gan to walk, [leaf 186, bk] As glad as eny goldfynch, þat he herd no man talk : 476 And drowze to Kittis dorward, to herken & to list,

expecting to find And went to 2 have fond þe dor vp by þe hasp; & eke pe

it unlockt,

but it's lockt.

He scratches and whines like a dog.

Kit's Paramour shouts at him.

The Pardoner sees that he's seid,

swears at Kit,

and wishes she were in the stocks.

A cool end to all his warm love

longings!

twist

Held hym out a whils, & pe lok also;

3it trowid he no gyle, but went[e] nere to,

480

And scrapid the dorr welplich, & wynyd with his mowith,
Aftir a doggis lyden3, as nere as he couth.

484

"Away, dogg, with evil deth!" quod he, þat was within,
And made hym al redy, the dorr [for] to vnpyn.
"A!" thou3t pe Pardoner tho, "I trow my berd be made!
The tapster' hath a paramour, & Hath made hem glade
With pe CawdeH pat I ordeyned for me, as I ges:
Now the devil hir spede, such oon as she is!

488

She seid I had I-congerid hir': our lady gyve hir' sorow!
Now wold to God she were in stokkis til I shuld hir

borowe !

ffor she is the falssest þat evir 3it I knewe,

To pik pe mony out of my purs! lord! she made hir

trew!"

And per-with he cauzt a cardiakiH & a cold sot;

492

ffor who hath love longing, & is of corage Hote,
He hath ful many a myry pou3t to-fore his delyte;
And rizt so had the Pardoner, and was in evil plizte; 496
ffor fayling of his purpose he was no thing in ese;
Wherfor he fit sodenlich in-to a [ful] wood rese,

This line is repeated on the back of leaf 186, sign. BB6:
And by that tyme it was nere quarter nyzte.'

2 MS wentto (thought to).

3

Latin, language.

Entryng wondir fast in-to a fren[e]sy,

ffor pure verry angir, & for gelousy;

500

He gets in a furious mad rage,

flor when he herd a man within, he was almost wood;

And be-cause pe cost was his, no marvel pouz his1 mood
Were turned in-to vengaunce, yf it my3t[e] be :
But this was the myscheff, al so strong as he

and vows

vengeance.

504

Was he þat was within, & lizter man also ;

As previd wel pe bateH be-twene hem both[e] to.

The Pardonere scrapid efft a-geyn; for no þing wold he The Pardoner blyn,

scratches again.

So feyn he wold have her[e]d more of hym þat was with-in. "What dogg is pat?" quod the Paramour; "Kit! wost Kit tells her

pou ere?"

509

"Have God my trowith," quod she, "it is pe Pardonere." "The Pardoner with myscheff! god gyve hym evil preffi!"

Paramour

it's that thief of a

Pardoner.
[leaf 187]

Sir," she seid[e], "be my trowith he is pe same theff." "Ther-of pow liest," quod the Pardonere, & my3t nat long' The Pardoner forbere,

66

513

abuses Kit,

516 calls her many

"A, thy fals body!" quod he, "þe devil of het pe tere !
ffor be trowith a falssher sawe I nevir noon :
my
And nempnid hir namys many mo pen oon,
Huch 2, to rech[en] hire, were noon honeste
Amonge[s] men of good, of worship & degre.
But shortly to conclude; when he had chid I-nowe, 519
He axid his staff spitouslich with wordis sharp & rowe.
"Go to bed," quod he within, "no more noyse pow make!
Thy staff shall be redy to morow, I vndirtake."
"In soth," quod he, "I woH nat fro pe dorr[e] vend
TyH I have my staff, pow bribour!" "pen have pe todir
end!"

Quod he pat was with-in; & leyd it on his bak,
Rizte in the same plase, as Chapmen berith hir pak;
And so he did too mo, as he coud a-rede,

Graspyng aftir with the staff in lengith & eke in brede,
And fond hym othir while red[i]lich I-nowze

524

529

bad names,

and asks for his staff.

The Paramour hits him with it

on his back