Which harm I felt, for he ne mighte byleve.*
So on a day of me he took his leve,
So sorwful eek, that I went verrayly,
That he had feled als moche harm as I,

Whan that I herd him speke, and saugh his hewe.
But natheles, I thought he was so trewe,
And eek that he schulde repeire ageyn
Withinne a litel while, soth to seyn,
And resoun wold eek that he moste go
For his honour, as oft it happeth so."
Than I made vertu of necessite,
And took it wel, sethens it moste be.
As I best might, I had fro him my sorwe,
And took him by the hand, seint Johan to borwe,'
And sayde thus: Lo, I am youres al,

Beth such as I have be to you and schal.'
What he answerd, it needeth nat to reherse:
Who can say bet than he, who can do werse?
Whan he hath al wel sayd, than hath he doon.
Therfor bihoveth him a ful long spoon,

That schal ete with a feend; thus herd I say.
So atte last he moste forth his way,

And forth he fleeth, til he cam ther him leste.
Whan it cam him to purpos for to reste,
I trow he hadde thilke text' in mynde,
That alle thing repeyryng to his kynde

I can form some conception of the pain of death from what I then suffered. I felt such distress as he could not believe.

2 Harl. MS. omits as oft it happeth so. The words are supplied from Tyrwhitt.

Mr.

3 With the help of St. John, a common form of invocation. 4 This expressive proverb was common in the middle ages. Wright points out two places in Shakespeare where it occurs. Comedy of Errors, Act iv. sc. 3, Marry, he must have a long spoon that must eat with the devil;' and Tempest, Act ii. sc. 2, Stephano says, Mercy! mercy! this is a devil, and no monster: I will leave him; I have no long spoon.'

5 This is taken from Boethius, lib. iii. met. 2, thus translated by Chaucer: All thynges seken ayen to hir propre course, and all thynges rejoysen on hir retourninge agayne to hir nature.' The comparison of

the bird is from the same source.

Gladeth himself; thus seyn men, as I gesse;
Men loven of kynde newefangilnesse,

As briddes doon, that men in cage feede.

For theigh thou night and day take of hem heede,
And straw her cage faire and soft as silk,
And geve hem sugre, hony, breed, and mylk,
Yet right anoon as that his dore is uppe,
He with his feet wil sporne doun his cuppe,'
And to the wode he wil, and wormes ete;
So newefangel be thei of her mete,
And loven non leveres of propre kinde;
No gentiles of blood ne may hem binde.
So ferde this tercelet, alas the day!

Though he were gentil born, and fresh, and gay,
And goodly for to see, and humble, and free,
He saw upon a time a kite' fle,

And sodeynly he loved this kite soo,
That al his love is clene fro me goo;

And hath his trouthe falsed in this wise.
Thus hathe the kite my love in hir servise,
And I am lorne withoute remedy.'
And with that worde this faukon gan to cry,
And swowneth eft in Canacees barme.
Gret was the sorwe for that haukes harme,
That Canace and alle hire wommen made;
They nysten howe they myght the faukon glade.
But Canace hom bereth hir in hir lappe,
And softely in plastres gan hir wrappe,

Ther as sche with hir bek hadde hurt hir selve.
Now can nought Canace bot herbes delve
Out of the grounde, and maken salves newe
Of herbes precious and fyne of hewe,

A leaf or two have unfortunately been lost-from-the-sl. MS after this line, and I am obliged to take the remainder of the tale frðin Tyrwhitt, collated with the Laned. MS.-W.

2 The kite is a cowardly species of hawk, quite unfit for falconry and was, therefore, the emblem of everything base, in the ages when the love of this sport almost amounted to madness.

To helen with this hauk;' fro day to night
Sche doth hir besines, and al hir might.
And by hir beddes heed sche made a mewe,'
And covered it with veluettes blewe,

In signe of trewthe that is in womman seene;
And al withoute the mewe is peynted greene,
In whiche were peynted alle this false foules,
As ben this ideves, tercelettes, and owles;
And pies, on hem for to crye and chide,
Right for despite were peynted hem byside."
Thus lete I Canace hir hauk kepyng.
I wil nomore nowe speken of hir rynge,
Til it come eft to purpos for to seyn,
How that this faukon gat hir love ageyn
Repentaunt, as the story telleth us,
By mediacioun of Camballus

The kinges sone, of which that I yow tolde;
But hennesforth I wil my proces holde
To speken of aventures, and of batailes,
That yit was never herd so grete mervailes.
First wil I telle yow of Cambynskan,
That in his time many a cite wan;
And after wil I speke of Algarsif,
How that he wan Theodora to his wif.'
For whom ful ofte in grete peril he was,
Ne had he ben holpen by the hors of bras.

To heal this hawk with.

2 A mew was the technical name for the place where hawks were kept to mew or moult in.

3 Blue was the colour of truth, and green of inconstancy; hence, in Chaucer's Ballade on an Inconstant Lady:-

Instede of blewe, thus may ye were al grene.'

4 The MSS. transpose these two lines, evidently by mistake. Magpies are observed to follow all birds and beasts of prey with loud cries, as if scolding them, to which habit the allusion refers.

The lines of this couplet are also transposed in many MSS. and printed editions. Tyrwhitt puts them right, and observes, * According to the common arrangement, old Cambuscan is to win Theodora to his wryf, and we are not told what is to be the object of Algarsif's adventures.'

Aud after wil I speke of Camballo,

That fought in listes with the bretheren tuo
For Canace, er that he might hir wynne,
And ther I left I wol ageyn beginne.'

THE FRANKELEYNES PROLOGE.

IN faith, Squier, thou hast the wel y-quit
And gentilly, I preise wel thy wit,'
Quod the Frankeleyn, 'considering thin youthe;
So felingly thou spekest, sire, I aloue the,
As to my dome, ther is non that is here,

Of eloquence that schal be thy pere,

If that thou live; God geve thee goode chance,
And in vertue send the continuance,

For of thy speking I have gret deinte.

I have a sone, and by the Trinite

It were me lever than twenty pound worth lond,
Though it right now were fallen in my hond,
He were a man of swiche discretion,

As that ye ben; fie on possession, 3

In the Lansd. MS. the following lines are added:/

Bot I wil here now make a knotte

To the time it come next to my lotte;

For bere be flawes behinde an kepe trenlya,

That wolde talke ful besilye,

And have her sporte as wele as 1,

And the dale passeth fast certanty.

Therefore, oste, taketh nowe goole heade

Who schalle next telle, and late him speede.-T.

[The lines here quoted are spurious, but the Ellesmere MS. and others have two additional lines, which are probably genuine, though the sentence is left incomplete. They are:

...

"Appollo whirleth up his char so hye, Til that the god Mercurious hous the re." Add He entreth. The meaning is, the time flies till the sun enters the sign Gemini, which was the mansion of Mercury.-W. W.S.]

2-All from this verse to the end of the second paragraph, That wot I Fel that it is good y-now,' is supplied from the Lansd. by Mr. Wright. I care not for property or possession, unless the owner be virtuous

But if a man be vertuous withal.
I have my sone snibbed, and yet shal,
For he to vertue listeth not to entend,
But for to play at dis, and to dispend,
And lese all that he hath, is his usage;
And he had lever talken with a page,
Than to commune with any gentil wight,
Ther he might leren gentillesse aright.'

'Straw for your gentillesse!' quod our hoste. "What? Frankeleyn, parde, sire, wel thou wost, That eche of you mote tellen at the lest

A tale or two, or breken his behest.'

'That know I wel, sire,' quod the Frankeleyn,
'I pray you haveth me not in disdein,
Though I to this man speke a word or two,'
'Tell on thy tale, withouten wordes mo.'
'Gladly, sire hoste,' quod he, 'I wol obeye
Unto your wille; now herkeneth what I seye;
I wol you not contrarien in no wise,
As fer as that my wittes may suffice.
I pray to God that it may plesen you,
That wot I wel that it is good y-now.

'This olde gentil Bretons in here daies Of divers aventures maden laies,1 Rimyden in her firste Breton tonge;

Whiche laies with here instrumentes' thei songe,
Other elles redden hem for her plesance,
And one of hem have I in remembrance,

Which I schal seie with goode wil as I can.

But, sires, because I am a burel man,

This expression appears to be from the conclusion of Marie's Lai Eliduc

Del aventure de ces treis,

Li auncien Bretun curteis

Firent le lai pur remembrer'

2 They were sung to the harp, as appears from a fragment in Mr. Douce's collection:

Bone lais de harpe vus apris,

Lais Bretons de nostre pais.'