But take it nat, I pray you, in difdain: This is the point, to speke it plat and plain, 791 To Canterbury ward I mene it fo, And homeward he shall tellen other two, 795 Of aventures that whilom han befalle. And which of you that bereth him best of alle, That is to sayn, that telleth in this cas Tales of beft fentence and moft folas, 800 Shal have a fouper at youre aller coft Whan that ye comen agen from Canterbury. the more mery And for to maken you 805 Telle me anon withouten wordes mo, 810 And I wol erly fhapen me therfore. This thing was granted, and our othes fwore .792. This is the point] See the Difcourfe, c. § 7. .812. and our othes fwore] i. e. and we fwore our othes, -and praied him, &c. It is too frequent a practice with our Author to omit the governing pronoun before his verbs. See below, ver. 1757, And fawe-for-and they fawe; ver. 5042, and fayn---for--and they fayn; ver. 5054, and yet lith----for and yet he lith; ver. 6123, and blamed him felf-for---and With ful glad herte, and praiden him alfo And of our Tales juge and reportour, In highe and lowe: and thus by on affent A morwe whan the day began to fpring 815 T 820 825 830 he blamed himfelf; ver. 6398, and made him----for---- and I made him. V.819. In bigbe and love] In, or, De alto et basso, barb. Lat. Haut et bas, Fr. were expreflions of entire fubmiffion on one fide and fovereignty on the other. So P. L. p. 283, fpeaking of the Pope, fays-" He falle at his dome fet it lowe and bie." See Du Cange in v. .827. a litel more than pas] A pas, with Chaucer, means always, I believe, a foot-pace. See ver. 2899, And riden forth a pas-and ver. 12800, Than thou wolt gou a fas not but a mile. See alfo ver. 16043-more than trot or pas. Let fe now who fhal telle the first Tale: As ever mote I drinken win or ale Who fo is rebel to my jugement 835 Shal pay for alle that by the way is spent. Now draweth cutte or that ye forther twinne; He which that hath the shortest shal beginne. Sire Knight, (quod he) my maifter and my lord, Now draweth cutte, for that is min accord. 840 Cometh nere (quod he) my Lady Prioresse, And shortly for tellen as it was, Were it by aventure, or sort, or cas, The fothe is this, the cutte felle on the Knight, 845 By forword and by compofition, 850 As ye han herd; what nedeth wordes mo? And whan this good man saw that it was so, To kepe his forword by his free affent, 855 What, welcome be the cutte a Goddes name. .837. Now draweth cutte] Draweth is the fecond perfon plural of the imperative mode. See the Essay, &c. n. 32. The ceremony of drawing cutte occurs again ver. 12727, feq. Frois fart calls it tirer à la longue paille, V. i. c. 294. Now let us ride, and herkeneth what I say. And with that word we riden forth our way; 860 865 THE KNIGHTES TALE. WHILOM, as olde stories tellen us, That greter was ther non under the fonne; And brought hire home with him to his contree 879 And eke hire yonge fufter Emelie. And thus with victorie and with melodie 875 Let I this worthy duk to Athenes ride, And all his host in armes him befide. .868. the regne of Feminie] The kingdom of the Amazons. So Penthefilea is called by Gower the Queen of Feminee, Conf. Amat. fol. 75, a. 97, b. And certes, if it n'ere to long to here, 880 The faire hardy quene of Scythia, And of the fefte that was at hire wedding, 885 And of the temple at hire home coming; But all this thing I mofte as now forbere: I have, God wot, a large feld to ere, And weke ben the oxen in my plow: 890 I wil not letten eke non of this route; Let every felaw telle his Tale aboute, And let fe now who fhal the fouper winne. This duk, of whom I made mentioun, 895 Whan he was comen almoft to the toun, He was ware, as he caft his eye afide, Wher that ther kneled in the highe wey A compagnie of ladies twey and twey, 9CQ .886. And of the temple] The editions, and all the mff. except two, read tempeft. But The Thefeida fays nothing of any tempeft; on the contrary it says that the paffage Tofto fornito fu et fenza pene. I have therefore preferred the reading of mf. C. i, and HA. as |