"I bare him on hond, he bath enchanted me; (My dame taughte me that subtiltee)

And eke I sayd, I metre of him all night,
He wold han slain me, as I lay upright,
An all my bed was full of veray blood;
But yet I hope that ye shulu do me good:
For blood betokeneth gold, as me was taught.
And al was false, I dremed of him right naught,
But as I folwed ay my dames lore,

As wel of that as of other thinges more.

"But now, sire, let me see, what shall I sain?
A ha, by God I have my tale again.
Whan that my fourthe husbonde was on bere,
I wept algate and made a sory chere,
As wives moten, for it is the usage;

And with my coverchefe covered my visage;
But, for that I was purveyed of a make,
I wept but smal, and that I undertake.
To chirche was myn husbond born a-morwe
With neigheboures that for him maden sowre,
And Jankin oure clerk was on of tho:

As helpe me God, whan that I saw him go
After the bere, me thought he had a paire
Of legges and of feet, so clene and faire,
That all my herte I yave unto his hold.
He was, I trow, a twenty winter old,
And I was fourty, if I shal say soth,
But yet I had alway a coltes toth.
Gat-tothed I was, and that became me wele,
I had the print of seinte Venus sele.

As helpe me God, I was a lusty on,

And faire, and riche, and yonge, and wel begon:
And trewely, as min husbondes tolden me,
I had the beste queint that might be.

For certes I am all venerian

In feling, and my herte is marcian:
Venus me yave my lust and likerousnesse,
And Mars yave me my sturdy hardinesse.
Min ascendent was Taure, and Mars therinne:
Alas, alas, that ever love was sinne !
I folwed ay min inclination

By vertue of my constellation:

That made me that I coude nat withdraw

My chambre of Venus from a good felaw.
Yet have I Martes merke upon my face,
And also in another privee place.
For God so wisly be my salvation,
I loved never by no discretion,
But ever folwed min appetit,

All were he shorte, longe, blake, or white,
I toke no kepe, so that he liked me,
How poure he was, ne eke of what degree.
"What shuld I saye? but at the monthes ende
This joy clerk Jankin, that was so hende,
Hath wedded me with gret solempnitee,
And to him yave I all the lond and fee,
That ever was me yeven therbefore:
But afterward repented me ful sore.
He n'olde suffre nothing of my list.
By God he smote me ones with his fist,
For that I rent out of his book a lefe,
That of the stroke myn ere wex al defe.
Stibborn I was, as is a leonesse,
And of my tonge a veray jangleresse,
And walk I wold, as I had don beforn,
Fro hous to hous, although he had it sworn:
For which he oftentimes wolde preche,
And me of olde Romaine gestes teche.
"How he Sulpitius Gallus left his wif,
And hire forsoke for terme of all his lif,
VOL. 1.

Not but for open-heded he hire say
Loking out at his dore upon a day.

"Another Romaine told he me by name, That, for his wif was at a sommer game Without his weting, he forsoke hire eke.

"And than wold he upon his Bible seke
That ilke proverbe of Ecclesiaste,
Wher he commandeth, and forbedeth faste,
Man shal not suffer his wif go roule aboute.
"Than wold he say right thus withouten doute:
Who so that bildeth his hous all of salwes,
And pricketh his blind hors over the falwes,
And suffereth his wif to go seken halwes,
Is worthy to be honged on the galwes.'
"But all for nought, I sette not an hawe
Of his proverbes, ne of his olde sawe;
Ne I wold not of him corrected be.

I hate hem that my vices tellen me,
And so do mo of us (God wote) than I.
This made him wood with me all utterly;
I n'olde not forbere him in no cas.

"Now wol I say you soth by Seint Thomas, Why that I rent of his book a lefe,

For which he smote me, so that I was defe.
"He had a book, that gladly night and day
For his disport he wolde it rede alway,
He cleped it Valerie, and Theophrast,
And with that book he lough alway ful fast.
And eke ther was a clerk somtime at Rome,
A cardinal, that highte Seint Jerome,
That made a book against Jovinian,
Which book was ther, and eke Tertullian,
Crisippus, Tortula, and Helowis,
That was abbesse not fer fro Paris;
And eke the paraboles of Salomon,
Ovides art, and bourdes many on;
And alle thise were bonden in o volume.
And every night and day was his custume
(Whan he had leiser and vacation
From other worldly occupation)

To reden in this book of wikked wives.
He knew of hem mo legendes and mo lives,
Than ben of goode wives in the Bible.

"For trusteth wel, it is an impossible, That any clerk wol spoken good of wives, (But if it be of holy seintes lives)

Ne of non other woman never the mo.
Who peinted the leon, telleth me, who?
By God, if wimmen hadden written stories,
As clerkes han, within bir oratories,

They wold have writ of men more wikkednesse,
Than all the merke of Adam may redresse.
The children of Mercury and of Venus
Ben in hir werking ful contrarious.
Mercury loveth wisdom and science,
And Venus loveth riot and dispence.
And for hir divers disposition,
Eche falleth in others exaltation.
As thus, God wote, Mercury is desolat
In Pisces, wher Venus is exaltat,
And Venus falleth wher Mercury is reised.
Therfore no woman of no clerk is preised.
The clerk whan he is old, and may nought do
Of Venus werkes not worth his old sho,
Than siteth he doun, and writeth in his dotage,
That wimmen cannot kepe hir mariage.
But now to purpos, why I tolde thee,
That I was beten for a book parde.

"Upon a night Jankin, that was our sire, Red on his book, as he sate by the fire,

E

Of Eva first, that for hire wikkednesse
Was all mankind brought to wretchedness,
For which that Jesu Crist himself was slain,
That bought us with his herte-blood again.

"Lo here expresse of wimmen may ye find, That woman was the losse of all mankind.

"Tho redde he me how Sampson lost his heres Sleping, his lemman kitte hem with hire sheres, Teurgh whiche treson lost he both his eyen.

"Tho redde he me, if that I shal not lien,
Of Hercules, and of his Deianire,
That caused him to set himself a-fire.

"Nothing forgat he the care and the wo,
That Socrates had with his wives two;
How Xantippa cast pisse upon his hed.
This sely man sat still, as he were ded,
He wiped his hed, no more dorst he sain,
But, er the thonder stint ther cometh rain.

"Of Pasiphae, that was the quene of Crete,
For shrewednesse him thought the tale swete.
Fie, speke no more, (it is a grisely thing)
Of hire horrible lust and hire liking.

"Of Clitemnestra for hire lecherie
That falsely made hire husbond for to die,
He redde it with ful good devotion.

"He told me eke, for what occasion
Amphiorax at Thebes lost his lif:
My husbond had a legend of his wif
Eriphile, that for an ouche of gold
Hath prively unto the Grekes told,
Wher that hire husbond hidde him in a place,
For which he had at Thebes sory grace.

"Of Lima told he me, and of Lucie:
They bothe made hir husbondes for to die,
That on for love, that other was for hate.
Lima hire husbond on an even late
Enpoysoned hath, for that she was his fo:
Lucia likerous loved hir husbond so,
That for he shuld alway upon hire thinke,
She yave him swiche a maner love-drinke,
That he was ded er it was by the morwe:
And thus algates husbondes hadden sorwe.
"Than told he me, how on Latumeus
Complained to his felaw Arius,
That in his garden growed swiche a tree,
On which he said how that his wives three
Honged hemself for hertes despitous.

O leve brother,' quod this Arius,
'Yeve me a plant of thilke blessed tree,
And in my gardin planted shal it be.'

"Of later date of wives hath he redde, That som han slain hir husbonds in hir bedde, And let hir lechour dight hem all the night, While that the corps lay in the flore upright: And som han driven nailes in hir brain, While that they slepe, and thus they han hem slain: Som han hem yeven poyson in hir drink : He spake more harm than herte may bethinke. "And therwithall he knew of mo proverbes, Than in this world their growen gras or herbes. "Bet is' (quod he) 'thin habitation Be with a leon, or a foule dragon, Than with a woman using for to chide.

"Bet is' (quod he) high in the roof abide, Than with an angry woman doun in the hous, They ben so wikked and contrarious: They haten, that hir husbonds loven ay.'

"He sayd, a woman cast hire shame away, Whan she cast of hire smock; and forthermo, A faire woman, but she be chast also,

Is like a gold ring in a sowes nose.
"Who coude wene, or who coude suppose
The wo that in min herte was, and the pine?
And whan I saw he n'olde never fine
To reden on this cursed book all night,
Al sodenly three leves have I plight
Out of his book, right as he redde, and eke
I with my fist so toke him on the cheke,
That in oure fire he fell bakward adoun.
And he up sterte, as doth a wood leoun,
And with his fist he smote me on the hed,
That in the flore I lay as I were ded.
And whan he saw how stille that I lay,
He was agast, and wold have fled away,
Til at the last out of my swough I brayde.

1

O, hast thou slain me, false theef?' I sayde, And for my lond thus hast thou mordred me? Er I be ded, yet wol I kissen thee.' And nere he came, and kneled faire adoun, And sayde; Dere suster Alisoun, As helpe me God I shall thee never smite: That I have don it is thyself to wite, Foryeve it me, and that I thee beseke.' And yet eftsones I hitte him on the cheke, And sayde; Theef, thus much am I awreke. Now wol I die, I may no longer speke.'

"But at the last, with mochel care and wo We fell accorded by ourselven two: He yaf me all the bridel in min hond To han the governance of hous and lond, And of his tonge, and of his hond also, And made him brenne his book anon right the. "And whan that I had getten unto me By maistrie all the soverainetee,

And that he sayd, Min owen trewe wif,
Do as thee list, the terme of all thy lif,
Kepe thin honour, and kepe eke min estat ;'
After that day we never had debat.
God helpe me so, I was to him as kinde,
As any wif fro Denmark unto Inde,
And al so trewe, and so was he to me:
I pray to God that sit in majestee
So blisse his soule; for his mercy dere.
Now wol I say my tale if ye wol here."

The Frere lough whan he herd all this: "Now dame," quod he, “so have I joye and blis This is a long preamble of a tale."

And whan the Sompnour herd the Frere gale, "Lo" (quod this Sompnour) "Goddes armes two, A frere wol entermit him evermo: Lo, goode men, a flie and eke a frere Wol fall in every dish and eke matere. What spekest thou of preambulatioun ? What? amble or trot; or pees, or go sit doun: Thou lettest our disport in this matere."

[Frere;

"Ye, wolt thou so, sire Sompnour?" quod the "Now by my faith I shal, er that I go, Tell of a sompnour swiche a tale or two, That all the folk shal laughen in this place." "Now elles, Frere, I wol beshrewe thy face," (Quod this Sompnour) " and I beshrewe me, But if I telle tales two or three

Of freres, or I come to Sideuborne,
That I sha! make thin herte for to morne:
For wel I wot thy patience is gon."

Our Hoste cried; "Pees, and that anon;"
And sayde; "Let the woman tell hire tale.
Ye fare as folk that dronken ben of ale.
Do, dame, tell forth your tale, and that is best."
"Alredy, sire," quod she, "right as you lest,

If I have licence of this worthy frere." [here." "Yes, dame," quod he, "tell forth, and I wol

THE WIF OF BATHES TALE.

Is olde dayes of the king Artour,
Of which that Bretons speke gret honour,
All was this lond ful filled of faerie;
The elf-quene, with her joly compagnie,
Danced ful oft in many a grene mede.
This was the old opinion as I rede;
I speke of many hundred yeres ago;
But now can no man see non elves mo,
For now the grete charitee and prayeres
Of lim toures and other holy freres,
That serchen every land and every streme,
As thikke as motes in the sonne-beme,
Blissing halles, chambres, kichenes, and boures,
Citees and burghes, castles highe and toures,
Thropes and bernes, shepenes and dairies,
This maketh that ther ben no faeries:
For ther as wont to walken as an elf,
Ther walketh now the limitour himself,
In undermeles and in morweninges,

And sayth his matines and his holy thinges,
As he goth in his limitatioun.
Women may now go safely up and doun,
In every bush, and under every tree,
Ther is non other incubus but he,
And he ne will don hem no dishonour.

And so befell it, that this king Artour
Had in his hous a lusty bacheler,
That on a day came riding fro river,
And happed, that, alone as she was borne,
He saw a maiden walking him beforne,
Of which maid he anon, maugre hire hed,
By veray force beraft hire maidenhed:
For which oppression was swiche clamour,
And swiche pursuite unto the king Artour,
That damned was this knight for to be ded
By course of lawe, and shuld have lost his hed,
(Paraventure swiche was the statute tho,)
But that the quene and other ladies mo
So longe praieden the king of grace,
Til be his lif him granted in the place,
And yaf him to the quene, all at hire will
To chese whether she wold him save or spill.
The quene thanked the king with al hire might;
And after this thus spake she to the knight,
Whan that she saw hire time upon a day.
"Thou standest yet" (quod she) "in swiche array,
That of thy lif yet hast thou no seuretee;
I grant the lif, if thou canst tellen me,
What thing is it that women most desiren:
Beware, and kepe thy nekke-bone from yren.
And if thou canst not tell it me anon,
Yet wol I yeve thee leve for to gon
A twelvemonth and a day, to seke and lere
An answer suffisant in this matere.
And seuretee wol I have, or that thou pace,
Thy body for to yelden in this place."

Wo was the knight, and sorwefully he siketh;
But what? he may not don all as him liketh.
And at the last he chese him for to wende,
And come agen right at the yeres ende
With swiche answer, as God wold him purvay:
And taketh his leve, and wendeth forth his way.

He seketh every hous and every place, '
Wher as he hopeth for to finden grace,
To lernen what thing women loven moste :
But he ne coude ariven in no coste,
Where as he mighte find in this matere
Two creatures according in fere.

Som saiden, women loven hest richesse,
Som saiden honour, som saiden jolinesse,
Som riche array, som saiden lust a-bedde,
And oft time to be widewe and to be wedde.

Some saiden, that we ben in herte most esed
Whan that we ben yflatered and ypreised.
He goth ful nigh the sothe, I wol not lie;
A man shal winne us best with flaterie;
And with attendance, and with besinesse
Ben we ylimed bothe more and lesse.

And som men saiden, that we loven best
For to be free, and do right as us lest,
And that no man repreve us of our vice,
But say that we ben wise and nothing nice.
For trewely ther n'is non of us all,

If any wight wol claw us on the gall,
That we n'ill kike, for that he saith us soth
Assay, and he shal find it, that so doth.
For be we never so vicious withinne,
We wol be holden wise and clene of sinne.
And som saiden, that gret delit han we
For to be holden stable and eke secre,
And in o purpos stedfastly to dwell,
And not bewreyen thing that men us tell.
But that tale is not worth a rake-stele.
Parde we women connen nothing hele,
Witnesse on Mida; wol ye here the tale?

Ovide, amonges other thinges smale,
Said, Mida had under his longe heres
Growing upon his hed two asses eres ;
The whiche vice he hid, as he best might,
Ful subtilly from every mannes sight,
That, save his wif, ther wist of it no mo;
He loved hire most, and trusted hire also;
He praied hire, that to no creature
She n'olde tellen of his disfigure.

She swore him, nay, for all the world to winue, She n'olde do that vilanie, ne sinne,

To make hire husbond han so foule a name :
She n'olde not tell it for hire owen shame.
But natheles hire thoughte that she dide,
That she so longe shuld a conseil hide;
Hire thought it swal so sore aboute hire herte,
That nedely som word hire must asterte;
And sith she dorst nat telle it to man,
Doun to a mareis faste by she ran,
Til she came ther, hire herte was a-fire:
And as a bitore bumbleth in the mire,
She laid hire mouth unto the water doun.
"Bewrey me not, thou water, with thy soun,"
Quod she, "to thee I tell it, and no mo,
Min husbond hath long asses eres two.
Now is min herte all hole, now is it out,
I might no lenger kepe it out of dout."
Here may ye see, though we a time abide,
Yet out it moste, we can no conseil hide.
The remenant of the tale, if ye wol here,
Redeth Ovide, and ther ye may it lere.

This knight, of which my tale is specially,
Whan that he saw he might not come therby,
(This is to sayn, what women loven most)
Within his brest ful sorweful was his gost.

But home he goth, he mighte not sojourne,

The day was come, that homward must he turne.

And in his way, it happed him to ride In all his care, under a forest side, Wheras he saw upon a dance go

Of ladies foure and twenty, and yet mo.
Toward this ilke dance he drow ful yerue,
In hope that he som wisdom shulde lerne ;
But certainly, er he came fully there,
Yvanished was this dance, he n'iste not wher;
No creature saw he that bare lif,
Save on the grene he saw sitting a wif,
A fouler wight ther may no man devise.
Againe this knight this olde wif gan arise,

And said; "Sire knight, here forth ne lith no way.
Tell me what that ye seken by your fay.
Paraventure it may the better be:

Thise olde folk con mochel thing," quod she. "My leve mother," quod this knight, "certain, I n'am but ded, but if that I can sain, What thing it is that women most desire: Coude ye me wisse, I wold quite wel your hire." "Plight me thy trouthe here in myn hond," quod "The nexte thing that I requere of thee [she, -Thou shalt it do, if it be in thy might, And I wol tell it you or it be night." "Have here my trouthe," quod the knight, "I "Thanne," quod she, "I dare me wel avaunte, Thy lif is sauf, for I wol stond therby, Upon my lif the quene wol say as I: Let see, which is proudest of hem alle, That wereth on a kerchef or a calle,

[graunte."

That dare sayn nay of that I shal you teche.
Let us go forth withouten lenger speche."
Tho rowned she a pistel in his ere,
And bad him to be glad, and have no fere.
Whan they ben comen to the court, this knight
Said, he had hold his day, as he had hight,
And redy was his answere, as he saide.
Ful many a noble wif, and many a maide,
And many a widewe, for that they ben wise,
(The quene hireself sitting as a justice)
Assembled ben his answer for to here,
And afterward this knight was bode appere.

To every wight commanded was silence,
And that the knight shuld tell in audience,
What thing that worldly women loven best.
This knight ne stood not still, as doth a best,
But to this question anon auswerd
With manly vois, that all the court it herd.
"My liege lady, generally," quod he,
"Women desiren to han soverainetee,
As well over hir husbond as hir love,
And for to ben in maistrie him above.
This is your most desire, though ye me kille,
Doth as you list, I am here at your wille."

In all the court ne was ther wif ne maide,
Ne widewe, that contraried that he saide,
But said, he was worthy to han his lif.

And with that word up stert this olde wif,
Which that the knight saw sitting on the grene.
"Mercy," quod she," my soveraine lady quene,
Er that your court depart, as doth me right.
I taughte this answere unto this knight,
For which he plighte me his trouthe there,
The firste thing I wold of him requere,
He wold it do, if it lay in his might

Before this court than pray I thee, sire knight,"
Quod she, "that thou me take unto thy wif,
For wel thou wost, that I have kept thy lif:
If I say false, say nay npon thy fay."

This knight answered, "Alas and wala wa!

I wot right wel that swiche was my behest.
For Goddes love as chese a new request:
Take all my good, and let my body go."

66 Nay then," quod, she, "I shrewe us bothe two. For though that I be o de, foule, and pore,

I n'olde for all the metal ne the ore,
That under erthe is grave, or lith above,

But if thy wif I were and eke thy love."
"My love?" quod he, "nay my dampnation.
Alas! that any of my nation

Shuld ever so foule disparage be."

But all for nought; the end is this, that he
Constrained was, he nedes must hire wed,
Aud taketh this olde wif, and goth to bed.

Now wolden som men sayn paraventure,
That for my negligence I do no cure
To tellen you the joye and all the array,
That at the feste was that ilke day.

To which thing shortly answeren I shal:
I say ther was no joy no feste at al,
Ther n'as but hevinesse and mochel sorwe,
For prively he wedded hire on the morwe,`
And all day after hid him as an oule,
So wo was him, his wif loked so foule.

Gret was the wo the knight had in his thought
Whan he was with his wif a-bed ybrought,
He walweth, and he turneth to and fro.
This olde wif lay smiling evermo,
And said: "O dere husbond, benedicite,
Fareth every knight thus with his wif as ye?
Is this the law of king Artoures hous?
Is every knight of his thus dangerous?
I am your owen love, and eke your wif,
I am she, which that saved hath your lif,
And certes yet did I you never unright.
Why fare ye thus with me this firste night?
Ye faren like a man had lost his wit.
What is my gilt? for Goddes love tell it,
And it shal ben amended, if I may."

"Amended?"quod this knight, "alas! nay, nay, It wol not ben amended never mo; Thou art so lothly, and so olde also,

And therto comen of so low a kind,

That litel wonder is though I walwe and wind;

So wolde God, min herte wolde brest."

"Is this" quod she, "the cause of your unrest ?” "Ye certainly," quod he, " no wonder is." "Now sire," quod she, “I coude amend all this, If that me list, ere it were dayes three, So wel ye mighten bere you unto me.

"But for ye speken of swiche gentillesse,
As is descended out of old richesse,
That therfore shullen ye be gentilmen;
Swiche arrogance n'is not worth an hen.

"Loke who that is most vertuous alway,
Prive and apert, and most entendeth ay
To do the gentil dedes that he can,
And take him for the gretest gentilman.
Crist wol we claime of him our gentillesse,
Not of our elders for hir old richesse.
For though they yeve us all hir heritage,
For which we claim to ben of high parage,
Yet may they not bequethen, for no thing,
To non of us, hir vertuous living,

That made hem gentilmen called to be,
And bade us folwen hem in swiche degree.

"Wel can the wise poet of Florence, That highte Dant, speken of this sentence: Lo, in swiche maner rime is Dantes tale.

"Ful selde up riseth by his branches smale

Prowesse of man, for God of his goodnesse
Wol that we claime of him our gentillesse:
For of our elders may we nothing claime
But temporel thing, that man may hurt and maime.
"Eke every wight wot this as wel as I,
If gentillesse were planted naturelly
Unto a certain linage doun the line,
Prive and apert, than wol they never fine
To don of gentillesse the faire office,
They mighten do no vilanie or vice.

"Take fire and bere it into the derkest hous
Betwix this and the mount of Caucasus,
And let men shette the dores, and go thenne,
Yet wol the fire as faire lie and brenne
As twenty thousand men might it behold;
His office naturel ay wol it hold,
Up peril of my lif, til that it die.

"Here may ye see wel, how that genterie Is not annexed to possession,

Sith folk ne don bir operation
Alway, as doth the fire, lo, in his kind.

For God it wot, men moun ful often find
A lordes sone do shame and vilanie.
And he that wol han pris of his genterie,
For he was boren of a gentil hous,
And had his elders noble and vertuous,
And n'ill himselven do no gentil dedes,
Ne folwe his gentil auncestrie, that ded is,
He n'is not gentil, be he duk or erl;
For vilains sinful dedes make a cherl.
For gentillesse n'is but the renomee
Of thin auncestres, for hir high bountee,
Which is a strange thing to thy persone:
Thy gentillesse cometh fro God alone.
Than cometh our veray gentillesse of grace,
It was no thing bequethed us with our place.
"Thinketh how noble, as saith Valerius,
Was thilke Tullius Hostilius,

That out of poverte rose to high noblesse,
Redeth Senek, and redeth eke Boece,
Ther shull ye seen expresse, that it no dred is,
That he is gentil that doth gentil dedis.
And therfore, leve husbond, I thus conclude,
Al be it that my auncestres weren rude,
Yet may the highe God, and so hope I,
Granten me grace to liven vertuously:
Than am I gentil, whan that I beginne
To liven vertuously, and weiven sinne.

"And ther as ye of poverte me repreve,
The highe God, on whom that we beleve,
In wilful poverte chese to lede his lif:
And certes, every man, maiden, or wif
May understond that Jesus Heven king
Ne wold not chese a vicious living.
"Glad poverte is an honest thing certain.
This wol Senek and other clerkes sain.
Who so that halt him paid of his poverte,
I hold him rich, al had he not a sherte.
He that coveiteth is a poure wight,
For he wold han that is not in his might.
But he that nought hath, ne coveiteth to have,
Is riche, although ye hold him but a knave,
Veray poverte is sinne proprely. 0,

"Juvenal saith of poverte merily:
The poure man whan he goth by the way,
Beforn the theves he may sing and play.
Poverte is hateful good; and, as I gesse,
A ful gret bringer out of besinesse;
A gret amender eke of sapience
To him, that taketh it in patience.

Poverte is this, although it seme elenge,
Possession that no wight wol challenge.
Poverte ful often, whan a man is low,
Maketh his God and eke himself to know:
Poverte a spectakel is, as thinketh me,
Thurgh which he may his very frendes see.
And therfore, sire, sin that I you not greve,
Of my poverte no more me repreve.

"Now, sire, of elde, that ye repreven me:
And certes, sire, though non auctoritee
Were in no book, ye gentiles of honour
Sain, that men shuld an olde wight honour,
And clepe him fader, for your gentillesse ;
And auctours shal I finden, as I gesse.

"Now ther ye sain that I am foule and old, Than drede ye not to ben a cokewold. For filthe, and elde also, so mote I the, Ben grete wardeins upon chastitee. But natheles, sin I know you delit, I shal fulfill your worldly appetit.

"Chese now" (quod she) "on of these thinges
twey,

To han me foule and old til that I dey,
And be to you a trewe humble wif,
And never you displese in all my lif:
Or elles wol ye han me yonge and faire,
And take your aventure of the repaire,
That shal be to your hous because of me,
Or in som other place it may wel be?

Now chese yourselven whether that you liketh."
This knight aviseth him, and sore siketh,
But at the last he said in this manere;

"My lady and my love, and wif so dere,

I put me in your wise governance,
Cheseth yourself which may be most plesance
And most honour to you and me also,

I do no force the whether of the two:
For as you liketh, it sufficeth me."

"Than have I got the maisterie," quod she, "Sin I may chese and governe as me lest." "Ye certes, wif," quod he, "I hold it best." "Kisse me," quod she, "we be no lenger wrothe,

For by my trouth I wol be to you bothe,
This is to sayn, ye bothe faire and good.
I pray to God that I mote sterven wood,
But I to you be al so good and trewe,
As ever was wif, sin that the world was newe;
And but I be to-morwe as faire to seen,
As any lady, emperice, or quene,
That is betwix the est and eke the west,
Doth with my lif and deth right as you lest.
Cast up the curtein, loke how that it is."

And whan the knight saw veraily all this,
That she so faire was, and so yonge therto,
For joye he hent hire in his armes two:
His herte bathed in a bath of blisse,
A thousand time a-row he gan hire kisse:
And she obeyed him in every thing,
That mighte don him plesance or liking.
And thus they live unto hir lives ende
In parfit joye, and Jesu Crist us sende
Husbondes meke and yonge, and fressh a-bed,
And grace to overlive hem that we wed.

And eke I pray Jesus to short hir lives,
That wol not be governed by hir wives.
And old and angry nigards of dispence,
God send hem sone a veray pestilence.