Wel knew he the old Esculapius,
And Dioscorides, and eke Rufùs;
Old Hippocras, Hali, and Gallien,
Serapion, Rasis, and Avicen;
Averrois, Damascene, and Constantin;
Bernard, and Gatisden, and Gilbertin.
Of his diete mesúrable was he,
For it was of no superfluitee,

But of gret nourishing, and digestible.
His studie was but litel on the Bible.
In sanguin1 and in perse2 he clad was alle
Lined with taffata, and with sendalle3.
And yet he was but esy of dispence+:
He kepte that he wan' in the pestilence.
For golde in phisike is a cordial;
Therfore he loved gold in special.

A good Wif was ther of besidè Bathe,
But she was som del defe, and that was scathe®.
Of cloth making she haddè swiche an haunt,
She passed hem of Ipres, and of Gaunt.
In all the parish wif ne was ther non,
That to the offring before hire shulde gon,
And if ther did, certain so wroth was she,
That she was out of allè charitee.
Hire coverchiefs weren ful fine of ground;
I dorstè swere, they weyeden' a pound;

1 Blood-red colour.

3 Thin silk. 4 Expense. 7 Weighed.

2 Sky-coloured, or blueish grey. 5 Gained, got. 6 Misfortune.

That on the Sonday were upon hire hede.

Hire hosen weren of fine scarlet rede,

Ful streite yteyed', and shoon ful moist and newe.
Bold was hire face, and fayre and rede of hew.
She was a worthy woman all hire live,

Housbondes at the chirche dore had she had five,
Withouten other compagnie in youthe.

But therof nedeth not to speke as nouthe2.
And thries hadde she ben at Jerusaleme.
She hadde passed many a strangè streme.
At Rome she haddè ben, and at Boloine,
In Galice at Seint James, and at Coloine.
She coude moche of wandring by the way.
Gat-tothed was she, sothly for to say.
Upon an ambler esily she sat,

Ywimpled wel, and on hire hede an hat,
As brode as is a bokeler, or a targe.
A fote-mantel about hire hippès large,
And on hire fete a pair of sporres sharpe.
In felawship wel coude she laughe and carpe
Of remedies of love she knew parchance,
For of that arte she coude the oldè dance.
A good man ther was of religioun,
That was a pourè Persone of a toun:
But riche he was of holy thought and werk.
He was also a lerned man, a clerk,
That Cristès gospel trewely wolde preche.
His parishens devoutly wolde he teche.

Benigne he was, and wonder diligent,
And in adversite ful patient:

And swiche he was ypreved1 often sithes2.
Ful loth were him to cursen for his tithes,
But rather wolde he yeven3 out of doute,
Unto his pourè parishens aboute,
Of his offring, and eke of his substance.
He coude in litel thing have suffisance.
Wide was his parish, and houses fer asonder,
But he ne left nought for no rain ne thonder,
In sikenesse and in mischief to visite
The ferrest in his parish, moche and lite*,
Upon his fete, and in his hand a staf.
This noble ensample to his shepe he yaf3,
That first he wrought, and afterward he taught.
Out of the gospel he the wordès caught,
And this figure he added yet therto,

That if golde rustè, what shuld iren do?
For if a preest be foule, on whom we trust,
No wonder is a lewèd man to rust:

And shame it is, if that a preest take kepe,
To see a shitten shepherd, and clene shepe:
Wel ought a preest ensample for to yeve,
By his clenenessè, how his shepe shulde live.
He settè not his benefice to hire,
And lette his shepe accombred in the mire,
And ran unto London, unto Seint Poules,
To seken him a chanterie for soules,

1 Proved.

2 Times.

3 Give.

5 Gave.

4 The nearest and most distant of his parishioners..

Or with a brotherhede to be withold:
But dwelt at home, and keptè wel his fold,
So that the wolf ne made it not miscarie.
He was a shepherd, and no mercenarie.
And though he holy were, and vertuous,
He was to sinful men not dispitous,
Ne of his spechè dangerous ne digne,
But in his teching discrete and benigne.
To drawen folk to heven, with fairènesse,
By good ensample, was his besinesse :
But it were any persone obstinat,

What so he were of highe, or low estat,
Him wolde he snibben1 sharply for the nonès.
A better preest I trowe that nowhere non is.
He waited after no pompe ne reverence,
Ne maked him no spiced conscience,
But Cristès lore, and his apostles twelve,
He taught, but first he folwed it himselve.

With him ther was a Plowman, was his brother,
That hadde ylaid of dong* ful many a fother 5.
A trewè swinker, and a good was he,
Living in pees, and parfite charitee.
God loved he bestè with alle his herte
At allè timès, were it gain or smerte7,
And than his neighèbour right as himselve.
He wolde thresh, and therto dike, and delve,
For Cristès sake, for every pourè wight,
Withouten hire, if it lay in his might.

1 Snub, reprove.

4Dung.

2 No where.

5 Load.

3 Nice, in an affected sense. 6 Peace. 7 Pain.

His tithès paied he ful fayre and wel
Both of his propre swinke, and his catel.
In a tabard he rode upon a mere.

Ther was also a reve, and a millere,
A sompnour1, and a pardoner2 also,
A manciples, and myself, ther n'ere no mo.
The Miller was a stout carl for the nones,
Ful bigge he was of braun, and eke of bones;
That proved wel, for over all ther he came,
At wrastling he wold bere away the ram*.
He was short shuldered brode, a thikkè gnarre',
Ther n'as no dore, that he n'olde heve of barre,
Or breke it at a renning with his hede.

6

His berd as any sowe or fox was rede,
And therto brode, as though it were a spade.
Upon the cop right of his nose he hade
A wert, and theron stode a tufte of heres,
Rede as the bristles of a sowès eres.
His nose-thirlès blackè were and wide.
A swerd and bokeler bare he by his side.
His mouth as widè was as a forneis.
He was a jangler, and a goliardeis 10,

1 A sompnour, an officer employed to summon delinquents in

ecclesiastical courts, now called an apparitor.-Tyrwhitt.

2 A pardoner, a seller of pardons or indulgences.

3 A manciple, an officer who has the care of furnishing victuals for an inn of court.

4 The prize.

7 Top.

8 Nostrils.

5 A hard knot in a tree.

9 Prater... 10 Buffoon.

6 A running.