And they were clothed alle in o lyveree, Of a solempne and a greet fraternitee. Ful fressh and newe hir geere apiked was;1

Hir knyves were chaped 2 noght with bras,

But al with silver wroght ful clene and weel,

3

370

Hire girdles and hir pouches everydeel.
Wel semed ech of hem a fair burgeys,
To sitten in a yeldehalle on a deys.
Everich, for the wisdom that he kan,
Was shaply for to been an alderman.
For catel hadde they ynogh and rente,
And eek hir wyves wolde it wel assente;
And elles certeyn were they to blame.
It is ful fair to been y-cleped ma dame,
And goon to vigilies al bifore,
And have a mantel roialliche y-bore.

A Cook they hadde with hem for the

His barge y-cleped 19 was the Maude

and frye,

8

Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pye. But greet harm was it, as it thoughte me, That on his shyne a mormal hadde he; For blankmanger,10 that made he with the beste.

layne.

With us ther was a DOCTOUR OF

PHISIK,

weste

In houres, by his magyk natureel.
Wel koude he fortunen the ascendent
Of hise ymages 20 for his pacient.
He knew the cause of everich maladye,
Were it of hoot or cold, or moyste, or
drye,

420

And where engendred, and of what humour;

He was a verray parfit praktisour.

15 merchant who owned it 20 By astrology he could

18 ever near at hand

17 piloting

18 harbor

19 named

select a favorable time for his treat ment.

The cause y-knowe, and of his harm the

roote,

430

Anon he yaf the sike man his boote.1
Ful redy hadde he hise apothecaries,
To sende him drogges, and his letuaries,2
For ech of hem made oother for to wynne;
Hir frendschipe nas nat newe to bigynne.
Wel knew he the olde Esculapius,3
And Deyscorides, and eek Rufus;
Olde Ypocras, Haly, and Galyen;
Serapion, Razis, and Avycen;
Averrois, Damascien, and Constantyn;
Bernard, and Gatesden, and Gilbertyn.
Of his diete mesurable was he,
For it was of no superfluitee,
But of greet norissyng and digestible.
His studie was but litel on the Bible.
In sangwyn and in pers 5 he clad was al,
Lyned with taffata and with sendal; 6 440
And yet he was but esy of dispence;
He kepte that he wan in pestilence.
For gold in phisik is a cordial,
Therfore he lovede gold in special.

4

7

20 471

Gat-tothed 18 was she, soothly for to seye.
Upon an amblere esily she sat,
Y-wympled 19 wel, and on hir heed an hat
As brood as is a bokeler or a targe;
A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large,
And on hire feet a paire of spores sharpe.
In felaweshipe wel koude she laughe and
carpe.21

Of remedies of love she knew per-chaunce,
For she koude of that art the olde daunce.
A good man was ther of religioun,
And was a povre PERSOUN 22 of a toun;
But riche he was of hooly thoght and
werk.

But he ne lafte nat, for reyn ne thonder,
In siknesse nor in meschief to visite
The ferreste in his parisshe, muche and
lite,

Upon his feet, and in his hand a staf.
This noble ensample to his sheepe he yaf,
That firste he wroghte, and afterward he
taughte;

Out of the gospel he tho wordes caughte;
And this figure he added eek ther-to, 499
That if gold ruste, what shal iren doo?
For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,
No wonder is a lewed 2 man to ruste;
And shame it is, if [that] a prest take
keepe,

A [fouled] shepherde and a clene sheepe. Wel oghte a preest ensample for to yeve, By his clennesse, how that his sheepe sholde lyve.

He sette nat his benefice to hyre, And leet his sheepe encombred in the myre,

And ran to Londoun, unto Seint Poules,
To seken hym a chauntrie for soules,3 510
Or with a bretherhed to been withholde;
But dwelte at hoom, and kepte wel his
folde,

So that the wolf ne made it nat myscarie;
He was a shepherde and no mercenarie.
And though he hooly were, and vertuous,
He was nat to synful man despitous,
Ne of his speche daungerous ne digne,5
But in his techyng discreet and benygne.
To drawen folk to hevene by fairnesse
By good ensample, this was his bisynesse:
But it were any persone obstinat,
What so he were, of heigh or lough estat,
Hym wolde he snybben sharply for the
nonys.

6

521

Or breke it, at a rennyng, with his heed. His berd as any sowe or fox was reed,

8 too scrupulous 9 cartload

10 was pleasant or un

pleasant

11 make ditches and dig 12 coarse outer garment

13 An overseer of an es

14 An

tate.

officer who summoned people to ap- 28 off its hinges

1

9

Ay "Questio quid iuris" wolde he crie.
He was a gentil harlot 10 and a kynde;
A bettre felawe sholde men noght fynde
He wolde suffre for a quart of wyn
A good felawe to have his concubyn 650
A twelf-monthe, and excuse hym atte
fulle:

And prively a fynch eek koude he pulle.11
And if he foond owher a good felawe,
He wolde techen him to have noon awe,
In swich caas, of the ercedekenes curs,
But-if a mannes soule were in his purs;
For in his purs he sholde y-punysshed be.
"Purs is the ercedekenes helle," seyde he.
But we I woot he lyed right in dede;
Of cursyng oghte ech gilty man [him]
drede-

660

19

The yonge girles 10 of the diocise,
And knew hir consell, and was al hir reed.17
A gerland 18 hadde he set upon his heed,
As greet as it were for an ale-stake;
A bokeleer hadde he maad him of a cake.
With hym ther was a gentil PARDONER
Of Rouncivale,20 his freend and his
670
compeer,

That streight was comen fro the court of
Rome.

Ful loude he soong, “Com hider, love, to me." 21

This somonour bar to hym a stif burdoun,22

Was nevere trompe of half so greet a