takes a staff, and joins his mates.
tells Jack there's a thief in the house.
If they can get a light, they'll catch him.
But they can't wake the
Mistress, as it'd make her in such a rage.
Jack tells the Paramour to go up and look in the ashes,
With the staffys end hize oppon his browe.
The hosteler lay oppon his bedd, & herd of this affray, And stert hym vp liztlich, & pou3t he wold a-say: He toke A staff in his hond, & hized wondir blyve TyH he were with the felisshipp þat shuld nevir thryve : "What be yee?" quod the hosteler, & knew hem both[e] wele.
"Hyust! pese!" quod the paramour; "Iak, pow must
Ther' is a theff, I tell the, with-in this halle dorr."
"A theff!" quod Iak! "this is a nobil chere
That pow hym hast I-found; yf wee hym my3te cache."
"31s, 3is, care the nau3t; with hym wee shul mache
Wel Inowze, or he be go, yf so we had[de] lizte;
ffor wee too be stronge Inow3 with o man for to fizte."
"The Devil of heH," quod Iak, "breke this thevis bonys!
The key of the kychen, as it were for pe nonys,
Is above with oure dame, & she hath such vsage,
And she be wake[n] of hir/ sclepe, she fallith in such a rage,
That al the wook aftir ther' may no man hir' plese,
So she sterith aboute this house in a [ful] wood rese. 548
But now I am a-visid bet how we shułł have ly3te; [lf 187, bk]
I have too gistis a-ryn1, that this same nyzte
Sopid in the hall, & had a liti feire.
Go vp," quod Iak, " & loke, & in the asshis pire2;
And I woh kepe the dorr; he shal nat stert out."
"Nay, for God! þat wol I nat, lest I cach a cloute,"
Seid the todir to Iak; "for pow knowest better þen I
Al the estris of this house: go up thy selff, & spy!" 556
"Nay for soth!" quod Iak, "that were grete vnryzte,
To aventur oppon a man þat with hym did nat fizte.
Sithens pow hast hym bete, & with by staff I-pilt,
Me pinkith it were no reson þat I shuld bere þe gilt: 560
ffor, by the blysyng of the cole, he my3t se myne hede,
And ligtly leue3 me such a stroke, ny hond to be dede.
1? herein, within. See 1. 569.
or go with him to search for
the thief;
1 pen wołł wee do by comon assent, sech hym al aboute; Who pat metith hym first, pay hym on the snoute; ffor me pouzt I herd hym here last among the pannys. Kepe pow the todir syde, but ware pe watir cannys! And yf he be here in, right sone wee shul hym fynd; And wee to be strong Inowze, o theff for to bynd." "A! ha ha!" pouzt pe Pardonere, "beth pere pannys The Pardoner a-ryn?"
And drouze oppon þat side, & pouzt oppon a gynne :
So atte last he fond oon, & set it on his hede;
ffor, as the case was faH, there-to he had grete nede.
But zit he graspid ferthermore to have somwhat in honde, gets hold of a
And fond a grete ladiH, rizt as he was gonde,
And pou3t[e] for to stert[en] out be-twen hem both[e] to;
And waytid wele the paramour þat had [de] doon hym wo;
And set hym with pe ladiH on the grusti on pe nose, 577
That al the wook [per-]aftir he had such a pose,
That both his eyen waterid erlich by the morowe.
But she pat cause was of al, had perof no sorowe.
But nowe to be Pardoner: as he wold stert awey,
The hosteler met with hym, but no thing to his pay:
The Pardoner ran so swith, pe pan[ne] fil hym fro,
And Iak [the] hosteler aftir hym, as blyve as he myзt go;
And stappid oppon a bronde, al [at] vn-[a-]ware,
That hym had been better to have goon more a-sware:
on the nose with
it, and makes his
nose run for a week.
Hostler Jack chevies the Pardoner, who drops his pan,
and its edge cuts a vein and sinew
588 in Jack's shin.
ffor pe egge of pe panne met with his shyn,
And karff a too a veyn, & þe next[e] syn.
But whils pat it was grene, he pou3t [ful] litil on,
But when pe oeptas 2 was a-past, þe greff sat nere þe boon.
3et Iak leyd to his hond to grope wher' it sete;
And when he fond he was I-hurt, þe Pardonere he gan to
thrett,
The Paramour may begin here; but he'd hardly know that the water-cans were in the place.
2 Urry prints 'greneness.' "Typica Febris. Glossæ antiquæ MSS. Typica febris est, quam quidem periodicam vocant. PAPIÆ, vel Triteus, vel Tetreus, vel Tphemerius, vel penteus, vel epteus, vel hebdom." JOAN. DE JANUA, febris periodica.
Jack swears he'll
thrash the Pardoner if he can catch him.
And swore by seynt Amyas, 'pat he shuld [hit] abigg
With strokis hard & sore, even oppon the rigg;
Yff he hym my3te fynde, he no thing wold hym spare.'
That herd pe Pardonere wele, & held hym bettir a square,
And pouzt[e] þat he had[de] strokis ryzte I-nowze;
Witnes on his armys, his bak, & [eke] his browe.
But where is he?" Iak," then quod the paramour, "wher' is this theff
"I note," quod tho Iak; "rizt now he lept me fro,
That Cristis curs go with hym! for I have harm) & spite,
Be my trowith!" "& I also ; & he goith nat al quyte!
But & wee my3t hym fynd, we wold aray hym so
That he [ne] shuld have leggi ne foot, to-morow on to go.
But howe shut we hym fynd? pe moon is [now] a-down)."
The Pardoner overhears them, and draws back to avoid their blows.
They agree to fasten the gates, and catch the Pardoner next day.
The Pardoner's cheeks bleed,
and he's very savage at Kit's selling him so.
As grace was for pe Pardonere, & eke when þey did roun),
He herd hem evir wel I-nowze, & went the more a-side,
And drouze hym evir bakward, & lete the strokis glyde.
"Iak," quod the Paramour, "I hold it for the best,
Sith [that] the moon is down), [now] for to go to rest,
And make the gatis fast; he may nat then a-stert,
And eke of his own) staff he berith a redy mark,
Wher-by pow maist hym know a-monge[s] al the route,
And powe bere a redy ey, & weyt[e] wele aboute,
To morowe when they shuH wend: this is þe best rede.
Iak, what seyst powe there-to? is pis wel I-seyd?”
"Thy wit is cler," quod Iak, "thy wit mut nedis stonde."
He made the gatis fast; ther' is no more to doon.
The Pardoner stood a-syde, his chekis ron on blood,'
And was rigt evil at ese, al ny3t in his hede:
He must of force lige lyke2 a colyn3 swerd :
3it it grevid hym wondir sore, for makeing of his berd;
He paid atte ful ther-fore, purh a vomman art,
ffor wyne, & eke for cavdiH, & had perof no part;
? MS altered to 'on bleed.' See 1. 671-2.
2 MS lyle.
3 Cologne. See in the Percy Folio Ballads, i. 68, 1. 167-9, the 'Collen brand,'' Millaine knife' and 'Danish axe'; also i. 69, 1. 171, 179-81.
1He per-for preyd Seynt Iuliane,2 as yee mowe vndirstonde,
That the devil hir' shuld spede, on watir, & on londe,
So to disseyve a traveling man of his herbegage;
And coude nat els, save curs, his angir to a-swage;
And was distract [eke] of his wit, & in grete dispeyr';
ffor aftir his hete he cauzte a cold, purh pe ny3tis eyr,
That he was ner' a-foundit, & coude noon othir help.
But as he sou3t his logging', he appid3 oppon a whelp 632 and as he's going
That lay vndir a steyir, a grete Walssh dogg,
That bare a-boute his nek a grete huge clogg',
Be-cause þat he was spetouse, & wold[e] sone bite:
The clogg was hongit a-bout his nek, for men shuld nat
No thing the doggis master, yf he did eny harm);
to his bed,
a great Welsh
dog
So, for to excuse hem both, it was a wyly charm).
The Pardoner wold have loggit hym pere, & lay som
The warrok was a-wakid, & cauzt hym by the thy,
And bote hym wondir spetously, defendyng wele his couch,
That the Pardonere my3t nat ne[re] hym, nepere touch,
But held hym [right] a square, by þat othir syde,
As holsom was at that tyme, for tereing of his hyde: 644
He coude noon othir help, but leyd a-down) his hede
In the doggis littir, & wisshid aftir brede
The Pardoner
daren't move, and
is forced to lie
down in the dog's
litter,
Many a tyme & offt, the dogge for to plese,
To have I-ley more nere, [right] for his own) ese.
But, wissh[en] what he wold, his fortune seyd[e] nay ;
So trewly for the Pardonere it was a dismol day.
The dogg lay evir grownyng, redy for to snache;
Wherfor the Pardoner' durst nat with hym mache;
But lay as styH as ony stone, remembryng his foly,
That he wold trust a tapster of a comon hostry:
ffor comynly for pe most part they been wyly echon).
2 The patron-saint of Innholders. See Andeley's Vacabondes & Harman's Caveat, notes.
and think what a
fool he's been to
trust a Tapster
no one's ready so soon as the Pardoner.
He washes the blood off his
cheeks, binds up his head, and pretends to be merry.
But nowe to all the company: a morow, when þey shuld
Was noon of al the feleshippe half so sone I-dizte
As was the gentil Pardoner; for al tyme of þe nyzte
He was a-redy in his aray, & had no thing to doon,
Saff shake a lite his eris, & trus, & [tho] be goon.
Yet, or he cam in company, he wissh a-wey the blood, [if 189]
And bond the sorys to his hede with the typet of his hood,
And made liztsom cher, for men shuld nat spy
No thing of his turment, ne of his luxury.1
The Hostler can't And the hosteler' of the house, for no thyng he coude pry,
identify the
He coude nat knowe the pardoner a-mong the company
and keeps in the middle of the
company.
A morowe, when they shuld wend, for auzt þat þey coude
So wisely went the Pardoner' out of pe doggis bour'; 668
who shirks him, And blynchid from the hosteler, & turned offt a-boute,
And evirmore he held hym a-mydward [of] the route,
And was evir synging, to make[n] al thing good;
But zit his notis wer' som-what lowe, for akyng of his hede.2
So at that [ilche] tyme he had[de] no more grame,
But held hym to his harmys3 [for] to scape shame.
The Pilgrims leave Canterbury early.
The Host joys in the fine -weather,
The knyzt & al the felisship, forward gon þey wende,
Passing forth [right] merely [un]to pe townys ende; 676
And by pat tyme þey were there, pe day be-gan to rype,
And the sonne merely, vpward gan she pike,
Pleying [right] vndir the egge of pe firmament.
"Now," quod pe hoost of Southwork, & to pe feleshipp
"Who sawe evir so feir', or [evir] so glad a day?
And how sote this seson is, entring in to may,
[When Chauceres daysyes sprynge. Herke eek the fowles
The thrustelis & the thrusshis, in pis glad mornyng,
The ruddok & the Goldfynch; but pe Nyztyngale,
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