Canterbury Tales and Other Poems by Geoffrey Chaucer (best summer reads .TXT) 📕

will him nothing hide.

See ye that oak? right there ye shall him find.

God save you, that bought again mankind, And you amend!” Thus said this olde man; And evereach of these riotoures ran,

Till they came to the tree, and there they found Of florins fine, of gold y-coined round, Well nigh a seven bushels, as them thought.

No longer as then after Death they sought; But each of them so glad was of the sight, For that the florins were so fair and bright, That down they sat them by the precious hoard.

The youngest of them spake the firste word: “Brethren,” quoth he, “*take keep* what I shall say; heed

My wit is great, though that I bourde* and play *joke, frolic This treasure hath Fortune unto us given In mirth and jollity our life to liven; And lightly as it comes, so will we spend.

Hey! Godde’s precious dignity! who wend weened, thought Today that we should have so fair a grace?

But might this gold he carried from this place Home to my house, or elles unto yours

(For well I wot that all this gold is ours), Then were we in high felicity.

But truely by day it may not be;

Men woulde say that we were thieves strong, And for our owen treasure do us hong. have us hanged This treasure muste carried be by night, As wisely and as slily as it might.

Wherefore I rede,* that cut** among us all advise *lots We draw, and let see where the cut will fall: And he that hath the cut, with hearte blithe Shall run unto the town, and that full swithe, quickly And bring us bread and wine full privily: And two of us shall keepe subtilly

This treasure well: and if he will not tarry, When it is night, we will this treasure carry, By one assent, where as us thinketh best.”

Then one of them the cut brought in his fist, And bade them draw, and look where it would fall; And it fell on the youngest of them all; And forth toward the town he went anon.

And all so soon as that he was y-gone, The one of them spake thus unto the other; “Thou knowest well that thou art my sworn brother, *Thy profit* will I tell thee right anon. what is for thine Thou knowest well that our fellow is gone, advantage

And here is gold, and that full great plenty, That shall departed* he among us three. divided But natheless, if I could shape it so *contrive That it departed were among us two,

Had I not done a friende’s turn to thee?”

Th’ other answer’d, “I n’ot* how that may be; *know not He knows well that the gold is with us tway.

What shall we do? what shall we to him say?”

“Shall it be counsel?”* said the firste shrew;* secret **wretch “And I shall tell to thee in wordes few What we shall do, and bring it well about.”

“I grante,” quoth the other, “out of doubt, That by my truth I will thee not bewray.” betray “Now,” quoth the first, “thou know’st well we be tway, And two of us shall stronger be than one.

Look; when that he is set,* thou right anon sat down Arise, as though thou wouldest with him play; And I shall rive him through the sides tway, *stab While that thou strugglest with him as in game; And with thy dagger look thou do the same.

And then shall all this gold departed* be, divided My deare friend, betwixte thee and me: Then may we both our lustes all fulfil, *pleasures And play at dice right at our owen will.”

And thus accorded* be these shrewes** tway agreed *wretches To slay the third, as ye have heard me say.

 

The youngest, which that wente to the town, Full oft in heart he rolled up and down The beauty of these florins new and bright.

“O Lord!” quoth he, “if so were that I might Have all this treasure to myself alone, There is no man that lives under the throne Of God, that shoulde have so merry as I.”

And at the last the fiend our enemy

Put in his thought, that he should poison buy, With which he mighte slay his fellows twy. two For why, the fiend found him *in such living, leading such a That he had leave to sorrow him to bring. (bad) life*

For this was utterly his full intent

To slay them both, and never to repent.

And forth he went, no longer would he tarry, Into the town to an apothecary,

And prayed him that he him woulde sell Some poison, that he might *his rattes quell, kill his rats*

And eke there was a polecat in his haw, farmyard, hedge <27>

That, as he said, his eapons had y-slaw: slain And fain he would him wreak,* if that he might, *revenge Of vermin that destroyed him by night.

Th’apothecary answer’d, “Thou shalt have A thing, as wisly* God my soule save, surely In all this world there is no creature That eat or drank hath of this confecture, Not but the mountance of a corn of wheat, amount That he shall not his life anon forlete; immediately lay down*

Yea, sterve* he shall, and that in lesse while die Than thou wilt go apace* nought but a mile: quickly

This poison is so strong and violent.”

This cursed man hath in his hand y-hent taken This poison in a box, and swift he ran Into the nexte street, unto a man,

And borrow’d of him large bottles three; And in the two the poison poured he;

The third he kepte clean for his own drink, For all the night he shope him* for to swink* purposed **labour In carrying off the gold out of that place.

And when this riotour, with sorry grace, Had fill’d with wine his greate bottles three, To his fellows again repaired he.

What needeth it thereof to sermon* more? talk, discourse For, right as they had cast his death before, *plotted Right so they have him slain, and that anon.

And when that this was done, thus spake the one; “Now let us sit and drink, and make us merry, And afterward we will his body bury.”

And with that word it happen’d him *par cas by chance To take the bottle where the poison was, And drank, and gave his fellow drink also, For which anon they sterved* both the two. *died But certes I suppose that Avicen

Wrote never in no canon, nor no fen, <28>

More wondrous signes of empoisoning,

Than had these wretches two ere their ending.

Thus ended be these homicides two,

And eke the false empoisoner also.

 

O cursed sin, full of all cursedness!

O trait’rous homicide! O wickedness!

O glutt’ny, luxury, and hazardry!

Thou blasphemer of Christ with villany, outrage, impiety And oathes great, of usage and of pride!

Alas! mankinde, how may it betide,

That to thy Creator, which that thee wrought, And with his precious hearte-blood thee bought, Thou art so false and so unkind,* alas! unnatural Now, good men, God forgive you your trespass, And ware you from the sin of avarice. *keep Mine holy pardon may you all warice, heal So that ye offer *nobles or sterlings, gold or silver coins*

Or elles silver brooches, spoons, or rings.

Bowe your head under this holy bull.

Come up, ye wives, and offer of your will; Your names I enter in my roll anon;

Into the bliss of heaven shall ye gon; I you assoil* by mine high powere, *absolve <29>

You that will offer, as clean and eke as clear As ye were born. Lo, Sires, thus I preach; And Jesus Christ, that is our soules’ leech, healer So grante you his pardon to receive;

For that is best, I will not deceive.

 

But, Sirs, one word forgot I in my tale; I have relics and pardon in my mail,

As fair as any man in Engleland,

Which were me given by the Pope’s hand.

If any of you will of devotion

Offer, and have mine absolution,

Come forth anon, and kneele here adown And meekely receive my pardoun.

Or elles take pardon, as ye wend, go All new and fresh at every towne’s end, So that ye offer, always new and new,

Nobles or pence which that be good and true.

‘Tis an honour to evereach* that is here, each one That ye have a suffisant pardonere suitable T’assoile you in country as ye ride, *absolve For aventures which that may betide.

Paraventure there may fall one or two

Down of his horse, and break his neck in two.

Look, what a surety is it to you all,

That I am in your fellowship y-fall,

That may assoil* you bothe *more and lass, absolve When that the soul shall from the body pass. great and small

I rede* that our Hoste shall begin, *advise For he is most enveloped in sin.

Come forth, Sir Host, and offer first anon, And thou shalt kiss; the relics every one, Yea, for a groat; unbuckle anon thy purse.

 

“Nay, nay,” quoth he, “then have I Christe’s curse!

Let be,” quoth he, “it shall not be, *so the’ch. so may I thrive*

Thou wouldest make me kiss thine olde breech, And swear it were a relic of a saint,

Though it were with thy *fundament depaint’. stained by your bottom*

But, by the cross which that Saint Helen fand, found <30>

I would I had thy coilons* in mine hand, *testicles Instead of relics, or of sanctuary.

Let cut them off, I will thee help them carry; They shall be shrined in a hogge’s turd.”

The Pardoner answered not one word;

So wroth he was, no worde would he say.

 

“Now,” quoth our Host, “I will no longer play With thee, nor with none other angry man.”

But right anon the worthy Knight began (When that he saw that all the people lough*), *laughed “No more of this, for it is right enough.

Sir Pardoner, be merry and glad of cheer; And ye, Sir Host, that be to me so dear, I pray you that ye kiss the Pardoner;

And, Pardoner, I pray thee draw thee ner, nearer And as we didde, let us laugh and play.”

Anon they kiss’d, and rode forth their way.

 

Notes to the Pardoner’s Tale

 

1. The outline of this Tale is to be found in the “Cento Novelle Antiche,” but the original is now lost. As in the case of the Wife of Bath’s Tale, there is a long prologue, but in this case it has been treated as part of the Tale.

 

2. Hautein: loud, lofty; from French, “hautain.”

 

3. Radix malorum est cupiditas: “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim.vi. 10)

 

4.All had she taken priestes two or three: even if she had committed adultery with two or three priests.

 

5. Blackburied: The meaning of this is not very clear, but it is probably a periphrastic and picturesque way of indicating damnation.

 

6. Grisly: dreadful; fitted to “agrise” or horrify the listener.

 

7. Mr Wright says: “The common oaths in the Middle Ages were by the different parts of God’s body; and the popular preachers represented that profane swearers tore Christ’s body by their imprecations.” The idea was doubtless borrowed from the passage in Hebrews (vi. 6), where apostates are said to “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.”