Canterbury Tales and Other Poems, Geoffrey Chaucer [good fiction books to read txt] 📗

I to-morr’w may have victory. *cause Mine be the travail, all thine be the glory.

Thy sovereign temple will I most honour Of any place, and alway most labour

In thy pleasance and in thy craftes strong.

And in thy temple I will my banner hong, hang And all the armes of my company,

And evermore, until that day I die,

Eternal fire I will before thee find

And eke to this my vow I will me bind: My beard, my hair that hangeth long adown, That never yet hath felt offension indignity Of razor nor of shears, I will thee give, And be thy true servant while I live.

Now, lord, have ruth upon my sorrows sore, Give me the victory, I ask no more.”

 

The prayer stint* of Arcita the strong, *ended The ringes on the temple door that hong, And eke the doores, clattered full fast, Of which Arcita somewhat was aghast.

The fires burn’d upon the altar bright, That it gan all the temple for to light; A sweete smell anon the ground up gaf, gave And Arcita anon his hand up haf, lifted And more incense into the fire he cast, With other rites more and at the last

The statue of Mars began his hauberk ring; And with that sound he heard a murmuring Full low and dim, that saide thus, “Victory.”

For which he gave to Mars honour and glory.

And thus with joy, and hope well to fare, Arcite anon unto his inn doth fare.

As fain* as fowl is of the brighte sun. glad And right anon such strife there is begun For thilke granting, in the heav’n above, *that Betwixte Venus the goddess of love,

And Mars the sterne god armipotent,

That Jupiter was busy it to stent*: *stop Till that the pale Saturnus the cold,<70>

That knew so many of adventures old,

Found in his old experience such an art, That he full soon hath pleased every part.

As sooth is said, eld* hath great advantage, age In eld is bothe wisdom and usage: experience Men may the old out-run, but not out-rede. outwit Saturn anon, to stint the strife and drede, Albeit that it is against his kind, *nature Of all this strife gan a remedy find.

“My deare daughter Venus,” quoth Saturn, “My course*, that hath so wide for to turn, *orbit <71>

Hath more power than wot any man.

Mine is the drowning in the sea so wan; Mine is the prison in the darke cote, cell Mine the strangling and hanging by the throat, The murmur, and the churlish rebelling, The groyning*, and the privy poisoning. discontent I do vengeance and plein correction, *full I dwell in the sign of the lion.

Mine is the ruin of the highe halls,

The falling of the towers and the walls Upon the miner or the carpenter:

I slew Samson in shaking the pillar:

Mine also be the maladies cold,

The darke treasons, and the castes* old: *plots My looking is the father of pestilence.

Now weep no more, I shall do diligence That Palamon, that is thine owen knight, Shall have his lady, as thou hast him hight*. *promised Though Mars shall help his knight, yet natheless Betwixte you there must sometime be peace: All be ye not of one complexion,

That each day causeth such division,

I am thine ayel*, ready at thy will; *grandfather <72>

Weep now no more, I shall thy lust* fulfil.” pleasure Now will I stenten of the gods above, *cease speaking Of Mars, and of Venus, goddess of love, And telle you as plainly as I can

The great effect, for which that I began.

 

Great was the feast in Athens thilke* day; *that And eke the lusty season of that May

Made every wight to be in such pleasance, That all that Monday jousten they and dance, And spenden it in Venus’ high service.

But by the cause that they shoulde rise Early a-morrow for to see that fight,

Unto their reste wente they at night.

And on the morrow, when the day gan spring, Of horse and harness* noise and clattering armour There was in the hostelries all about: And to the palace rode there many a rout *train, retinue Of lordes, upon steedes and palfreys.

There mayst thou see devising* of harness decoration So uncouth and so rich, and wrought so weel unkown, rare Of goldsmithry, of brouding, and of steel; embroidery The shieldes bright, the testers, and trappures* helmets<73>

Gold-hewen helmets, hauberks, coat-armures; **trappings Lordes in parements* on their coursers, *ornamental garb <74>; Knightes of retinue, and eke squiers,

Nailing the spears, and helmes buckeling, Gniding* of shieldes, with lainers** lacing; *polishing <75>

There as need is, they were nothing idle: **lanyards The foamy steeds upon the golden bridle Gnawing, and fast the armourers also

With file and hammer pricking to and fro; Yeomen on foot, and knaves* many one servants With shorte staves, thick as they may gon**; close *walk Pipes, trumpets, nakeres*, and clariouns, *drums <76>

That in the battle blowe bloody souns; The palace full of people up and down, There three, there ten, holding their questioun, conversation Divining* of these Theban knightes two. conjecturing Some saiden thus, some said it shall he so; Some helden with him with the blacke beard, Some with the bald, some with the thick-hair’d; Some said he looked grim, and woulde fight: He had a sparth of twenty pound of weight. double-headed axe Thus was the halle full of divining *conjecturing Long after that the sunne gan up spring.

The great Theseus that of his sleep is waked With minstrelsy, and noise that was maked, Held yet the chamber of his palace rich, Till that the Theban knightes both y-lich* alike Honoured were, and to the palace fet. *fetched Duke Theseus is at a window set,

Array’d right as he were a god in throne: The people presseth thitherward full soon Him for to see, and do him reverence,

And eke to hearken his hest* and his sentence**. command *speech An herald on a scaffold made an O, <77>

Till the noise of the people was y-do*: *done And when he saw the people of noise all still, Thus shewed he the mighty Duke’s will.

“The lord hath of his high discretion

Considered that it were destruction

To gentle blood, to fighten in the guise Of mortal battle now in this emprise:

Wherefore to shape* that they shall not die, *arrange, contrive He will his firste purpose modify.

No man therefore, on pain of loss of life, No manner* shot, nor poleaxe, nor short knife *kind of Into the lists shall send, or thither bring.

Nor short sword for to stick with point biting No man shall draw, nor bear it by his side.

And no man shall unto his fellow ride

But one course, with a sharp y-grounden spear: *Foin if him list on foot, himself to wear. He who wishes can And he that is at mischief shall be take, fence on foot to defend And not slain, but be brought unto the stake, himself, and he that That shall be ordained on either side; is in peril shall be taken*

Thither he shall by force, and there abide.

And if so fall the chiefetain be take should happen

On either side, or elles slay his make, equal, match No longer then the tourneying shall last.

God speede you; go forth and lay on fast.

With long sword and with mace fight your fill.

Go now your way; this is the lordes will.

The voice of the people touched the heaven, So loude cried they with merry steven*: *sound God save such a lord that is so good,

He willeth no destruction of blood.

 

Up go the trumpets and the melody,

And to the listes rode the company

*By ordinance*, throughout the city large, in orderly array

Hanged with cloth of gold, and not with sarge*. *serge <78>

Full like a lord this noble Duke gan ride, And these two Thebans upon either side: And after rode the queen and Emily,

And after them another company

Of one and other, after their degree.

And thus they passed thorough that city And to the listes came they by time:

It was not of the day yet fully prime*. *between 6 & 9 a.m.

When set was Theseus full rich and high, Hippolyta the queen and Emily,

And other ladies in their degrees about, Unto the seates presseth all the rout.

And westward, through the gates under Mart, Arcite, and eke the hundred of his part, With banner red, is enter’d right anon; And in the selve* moment Palamon selfsame Is, under Venus, eastward in the place, With banner white, and hardy cheer and face expression In all the world, to seeken up and down So even without variatioun *equal There were such companies never tway.

For there was none so wise that coulde say That any had of other avantage

Of worthiness, nor of estate, nor age, So even were they chosen for to guess.

And *in two ranges faire they them dress*. they arranged themselves When that their names read were every one, in two rows

That in their number guile* were there none, fraud Then were the gates shut, and cried was loud; “Do now your devoir, younge knights proud The heralds left their pricking up and down *spurring their horses Now ring the trumpet loud and clarioun.

There is no more to say, but east and west In go the speares sadly* in the rest; *steadily In go the sharpe spurs into the side.

There see me who can joust, and who can ride.

There shiver shaftes upon shieldes thick; He feeleth through the hearte-spoon<79> the prick.

Up spring the speares twenty foot on height; Out go the swordes as the silver bright.

The helmes they to-hewen, and to-shred*; *strike in pieces <80>

Out burst the blood, with sterne streames red.

With mighty maces the bones they to-brest*. burst He <81> through the thickest of the throng gan threst. *thrust There stumble steedes strong, and down go all.

He rolleth under foot as doth a ball.

He foineth* on his foe with a trunchoun, *forces himself And he him hurtleth with his horse adown.

He through the body hurt is, and *sith take, afterwards captured*

Maugre his head, and brought unto the stake, As forword* was, right there he must abide. *covenant Another led is on that other side.

And sometime doth* them Theseus to rest, caused Them to refresh, and drinken if them lest. pleased Full oft a day have thilke Thebans two these Together met and wrought each other woe: Unhorsed hath each other of them tway twice There is no tiger in the vale of Galaphay, <82>

When that her whelp is stole, when it is lite little So cruel on the hunter, as Arcite

For jealous heart upon this Palamon:

Nor in Belmarie <83> there is no fell lion, That hunted is, or for his hunger wood mad Or for his prey desireth so the blood, As Palamon to slay his foe Arcite.

The jealous strokes upon their helmets bite; Out runneth blood on both their sides red, Sometime an end there is of every deed For ere the sun unto the reste went,

The stronge king Emetrius gan hent sieze, assail This Palamon, as he fought with Arcite, And made his sword deep in his flesh to bite, And by the force of twenty is he take, Unyielding, and is drawn unto the stake.

And in the rescue of this Palamon

The stronge king Licurgus is borne down: And king Emetrius, for all his