To pray for them that Lovis servaunts be,
And write their woo, and lyve in charitee;'
And for to have of them compassion,

As though I were their owne brother dere.
Now listenyth every wight with goode entention
For I will now go streight to my matere,
In whiche ye shall the double sorowe here
Of Troylus, in lovyng of Crisseide,

And how that she forsoke hym or she deide.

It is well wist, how the Greekis stronge
In armes with a thousand shippes' went
To Troye wardes, and the cite longe
Assegide, wel ten yer or they stynt;
And in dyverse wise and in on intent,
The ravysshyng to vengyn of Heleyn,
By Paris done, they wroughten all hir peine.3
Now fil it so, that in the toun ther was
Dwellyng a lorde of grete auctoritee,
A gret dyvyne that clepid was Calcas,*
That in science so experte was, that he
Knew wel that Troye distroied shulde be,
By aunswer of his god, that highte thus,
Dan Phebus, or Apollo Delphicus.

5

1 This is one of the many examples to be found in Chaucer of the use of theological terms applied to the heathen mythology.

2 In the second book of the Iliad, which contains the celebrated catalogue of the Grecian ships, the number is not exactly determined. Chaucer probably obtained this number from the Eneid, book ii. 198, 'Non anni domuere decem, non mille carinæ '

3 The Harl. MS. reads, 'Full besyly they diden their peyn.' Speght's reading has been adopted as better with respect to both the sense and

metre.

4 In the Iliad, Calchas is thus introduced:

τοίσι δ ̓ ἀνέστη

Κάλχας Θεστορίδης, οἰωνοπόλων ὄχ ̓ ἄριστος,

ὃς ἤδη τα τ' ἐόντα, τα τ' ἔσσόμενα, πρό τ' ἐόντα,
καὶ νήεσσ ̓ ἡγήσατ' Αχαιων Ἴλιον εἴσω

ἣν διὰ μαντοσύνην, τήν οἱ πόρε Φοῖβος Απόλλων.

5 The Harl. MS., for Dan Phebus reads Deiphebus, evidently an error of the scribe.

So whan this Calcas knew by calkelyng,
And eke by answere of this Apollo,
That Greekis sholde such a peple bryng,
Thurgh which that Troye muste be fordo,
He cast anone out of the toun to go:
For wel wist he byfor1 that Troye sholde
Distroyed be, ye! wold who so or nolde.

Wherfor he to departe al softely,
He toke his ful purpos in this wyse,
And to the Greekis oost ful pryvily
He stale anon, and thei in courteys wyse
Dede him worship and servise,

Hopyng in hym kunning hem to rede
In every peril, which that was to drede.

Grete rumour gan, whan it was erst aspyed,
Thurgh al the toun, and generally was spokyn,
That Calcas traytour fled was and alyed
To her foos; and woldyn fayn be wrokyn
On hym that had his trouthe thus falsly brokyn,
And sworyn that he and all his kyn atoonys
Were worthy to be brent, bothe fell and bonys.2
Now had Calcas left, in this mischaunce,
Unknowyng of this fals and cursyd dede,
His doghtir, that lyvid in grete penaunce,
And for her lyf she was therfor in drede,
Ne in al this world she nyst not what to rede;
For bothe a widowe was she, and allone,

Of

any frend to whom she durst mone.

Cryseyde was this lady name aright;
As to my dome, in al Troyes citee
So fayr was none, for over every wight
So angelik was her natyf beute,
That lyke thing immortal seemyd she,

1 Speght reads by sort, meaning by destiny.

2 That is, Deserved to be burnt, both skin and bones.'

As soth a perfit hevenly creature,

That doun was sent in scorne of Nature.'

This lady, which that herd al day at ere
Her fadrys shame, his falsnes, and tresoun,
Wel ny out of her wyt for pure fere,
In widewys habyt large of samyte broun,1
Byfor Hector on knees she fel adoun,
With chere and voys ful pytous, and wepyng,
His mercy bad, her self excusyng.

Now was this Hector pitous of nature,
And saw how she was sorowful bygone,
And that she was so faire a creature,
Of his gladnesse he gladed her anone,
And seyd, Lete your father tresoun gone
To sory hap, and ye your self in joy
Dwellith whil yow good lyst in Troy.

4

And al the honour that men may do yow have,
As though your father dwellyd al here,
Ye shul have, and your body shul men save,
As ferforth as I may enquere and here:
And she him thonkyd oft in humble chere,
And ofter wold, if it had be his wille.

She toke her leve, went home, and held her stille.
And in her hows she abode with such meyne
As to her honour nede was to holde,

And while that she dwellyd in that citee,
Thurgh out in al, with yong and eke with olde,
Ful wel bylovyd, and folk wel of her tolde:"

1 That is, She was so perfect that she seemed to be something supernatural, made to put to shame the works of nature'

2 Samyte broun is in the Filostrato merely bruna veste. Samyte was a rich silk, perhaps satin, and is derived, according to Du Cange, from examitus.

3 Bade, bid, or prayed him for his mercy.-See ante, p. 18, note 3. 4 This is a very close translation of the Filostrato:

Tuo padre andar.'

lascia con la ria ventura

5 Held her in high estimation.

But whethir she childryn had or none,
I rede not, therefor I lete hit gone.'

The thingis fellen, as they done of werre,
Betwixen hem of Troy and Grekys oft;
For someday boghte they of Troy hit dere,
And oft foundin the Grekys al unsoft
The folk of Troy: and thus fortune aloft,
And under eft gan hem to whelmyn' bothe,
Aftir her cours, ay while they weryn wrothė.

But how this toun come to destruccioun,
Ne fallith not now to purpos me to telle;
For why? it were a long digressioun
Of my matere, and for yow longe to dwelle;
But the Troianys gestes, as they felle,
In Homer, or in Daris, or yn Dyte,*

3

Who so can may rede hem as they wryt.

1 This point is differently stated in the Filostrato:

2 For whelmyn the Harl. MS. reads whilyn. This may perhaps mean wheelen, an allusion to Fortune's wheel; but Speght's reading is adopted as being better on the whole.

3 Prefixed to the edition of Dares Phrygius, printed at Antwerp in 1608, is the following account, from the Anthropologia of Raphael Volaterranus, which is, however, apocryphal: Dares Phrygius historicus scripsit bellum Trojanum Græcè, in quo ipse militavit, ut ait Isiodorus, primus fere historicorum; qui tandem capto Ilio, cum Antenoris factione remansit, ut scribit Cornelius Nepos, qui opus ejus in sex libros e Græco convertit, dicavitque Crispo Sallustio.' It is needless to say that Cornelius Nepos is entirely innocent of the Latin translation; the original Greek was extant in the time of Elian.

4 Speght says, Ditis Historicus did write a book of the Troian war, found in a certain sepulchre.' Dictys Cretensis is said to have written a history of the Trojan war, which he ordered to be placed in his tomb. Here it remained till an earthquake in the reign of Nero burst open the sepulchre, and discovered the history. This is, of course, a fable,

But though the Greekes hem of Troy in shetten,'
And her citee bysegedyn al aboute,
The old usage nold they of Troy letten,
As for to honour her god and to loute;
But althermoost in honour, out of doute,
They had a relik hight Palladion,"
That was her trust abovyn everychon.

And so byfel, whan comyn was the tyme
Of Averil, whan clothid is the mede
With newe grene, of joly Veer the pryme,
And swete smellyng flouris, whit and rede,
In meny wyse shewyd, as I rede,

The folk of Troy, aftir her observances olde,
Palladions feste wentyn for to holde.

And to the temple, in alle her best wyse,
In general went every manner wight
That thryfty was to heryn her servise,
And that so meny a right lusty knyght,
So meny a fressh lady, and maydyn bryght,
Full wele byseyn the moost and eke the lest,
Ye, both for the seson and eke for the fest.

Among the which was this Cryseyda,
In wydowis abyte blake; but natheles,
Right as our chef letter is now A,

and the history which now goes under the name of Dictys Cretensis is supposed by some to have been written so late as the fifteenth century, a supposition proved by this passage to be false; by others it is thought, with more appearance of probability, to belong to the age of the lower empire.

1 This line is wanting in the Harl. MS.

2 The Palladion was a statue of Pallas said to have fallen from heaven beside the tent of Ilus as he was building Ilium, where it was preserved with great care, as it was supposed that upon its preservation depended the safety of the city.-See VIRGIL, Eneid, ii. 166, ix. 151. Chaucer calls it a relic, another instance of the way in which he realizes the spirit of the old mythology, by identifying its ideas and language with those of the theology of his own times.

3 Sotto candido velo, in bruna veste. Filostrato, parte 1.