1 have leuere here [hear] an harlotrie [buffoonery] or a somer game of souteres [shoe-makers], Or lesynges [lyings] to laughe at⚫ and belye my neighbore, pan al þat euere Marke made Mathew, John, & lucas." * * "I haue be prest and parsoun⚫ passynge thretti wynter, Lete can I neither solfe [sol-fa] ne synge ne seyntes lyues rede, But I can fynde in a felde⚫ or in a fourlonge an hare, Better pan in beatus vir· or in beati omnes Construe oon clause wel⚫ and kenne it to my parochienes.'"* [The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, &c., by William Langland; text of 1377, edited by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat, M.A. (Early English Text Society), 1869, pp. 78-80.] THE PARABLE OF THE TARES IN THE WHEAT. By JOHN WICLIF. [See p. 40; see also pp. 282 and 283.] 'Another parable Jhesus putte forth to hem, seyinge, The kyngdam of heuenes is maad liche to a man, that sew good seed in his feeld. But, when men slepten, his enmye came, and sew aboue dernel, 'or cokil [tares], in the midil of whete, and wente awey. Sothely when the herbe hadde growid, and maad fruyt, thanne the dernel, or cokil, apperiden. Forsothe the seruauntis of the husbondeman 'comyinge nig, 'seiden to hym, Lord, wher thou hast nat sowen good seed in thi feeld? wher of than hath it dernel, 'or cokil? And he seith to hem, The man enmye hath don this thing. Trewly the seruauntis seiden to him, Wolt thou we go, and gedren hem? And he saith, Nay, lest perauenture ge gedrynge dernels, or coclis, draw vp by the roote togidre with hem and the whete. Suffre ge 'hem bothe wexe til to rype corne; and in tyme of rype corn I shal seie to reperis, First gedre gee 'to gedre dernels, 'or cockilis, and byndeth hem to gidre in knytchis, 'or smale bundelis, for to be brent, but gedere ge whete in to my berne.' [The Holy Bible in the earliest English versions, made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wycliffe and his followers; edited by the Rev. Josiah Forshall and Sir Frederic Madden, 1850, iv., 34-5.] * Of. Chaucer's poor parson of a town':- But he ne lafte not for reyne ne thonder, In siknesse nor in meschief to visite The ferreste in his parissche, moche and lite, Uppon his feet, and in his hond a staf.' This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf That first he wroughte, and after that he taughte And this figure he addede eek therto, * 'He was also a lerned man, a clerk * That Cristes gospel trewely wolde preche; (Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.) THE SUBSTITUTION OF ENGLISH FOR FRENCH. By JOHN OF TREVISA. [A 'pis apeyryng [injuring or impairing] of þe burp-tonge [the mother tongue, English] ys by-cause of twey [two] þinges :-on ys, for [because] chyldern in scole, azenes [against] þe vsage and manere of al oper nacions, bub [are] compelled for to leue here [their] oune longage, & for to construe here lessons & here binges a [in] Freynsch, & habbeþ, subthe [have since] be Normans come furst in-to Engelond. Also, gentil men children bub ytau3t for to speke Freynsch fram tyme þat a [they] bup yrokked in here cradel, & connep [know how to] speke & playe wip a child hys brouch; and oplondysch [rustic] men wol lykne ham-sylf [themselves] to gentil men, & fondeb [endeavour] wiþ gret bysynes [pains] for to speke Freynsch, for to be more ytold of [reckoned of ]. 'pys manere was moche y-vsed to-fore [before] be furste moreyn [murrain or plague, probably that of 1348] & ys seþthe [since] somdel ychaunged [somewhat changed]. For Iohan Cornwal, a mayster of gramere, chayngede be lore [learning] in gramer-scole, & construccion [construing] of Freynsch in-to Englysch; & Richard Pencrych lurnede þat manere techyng [manner of teaching] of hym, & ober men of Pencrych; so pat now, be 3er of oure Lord a bousond bre hondred foure score & fyue, of be secunde kyng Richard after be conquest nyne (i.e., the ninth year of the reign of Richard II.), in al þe gramer-scoles of Engelond childern leueb Frensch & construep & lurneb an [in] Englysch, and habbeþ þer-by avauntage in on syde & desavauntage yn anober; here [their] avauntage ys, þat a lurneb here gramer yn lasse tyme han childern wer ywoned [wont] to do— disavauntage ys, þat now childern of gramer-scole conneb [know] no more Frensch ban can here lift [knows their left] heele, & þat ys harm for ham [them], & a scholle [if they shall] passe be se & trauayle in strange londes, & in meny caas also. Also gentil men habbeb now moche yleft [left-off] for to teche here childern Frensch,' [Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, 1387, from the contemporary MS. Tiberius D. vii., quoted in Morris and Skeat's Specimens of Early English, Pt. II., p. 241, ed. 1894.] EXTRACT XIV. 1377-78 (Koch); 1377-83 (Skeat). THE VISION OF PHILOSOPHY. By GEOFFREY CHAUCER. [Boëthius, 480?-524 (from whom the following extract is translated), was a Roman patrician, imprisoned by the Emperor Theodoric. During his confinement he wrote his treatise, De Consolatione Philosophie. Chaucer's version was preceded by one by King Alfred. See pp. 36 and 13.] In be mene while þat I stille recordede bise pinges wip my self [his opening complaint]. and markede my wepli compleynte wip office of poyntel [style]. I saw stondyng above þe heygt of my heued a woman of full greet reuerence by semblaunt hir eyen brennyng and clere seing ouer þe comune mygt [might] of men. wiþ a lijfly colour and wib swiche vigoure and strenkeþ [strength] þat it mygte not be emptid [exhausted]. Al were it so þat sche was ful of so greet age. þat menne wolde not trowe in no manere bat sche were of oure elde. pe stature of hir was of a doutous iugement. for sumtyme sche constreynede [contracted] and schronk hir seluen lyche to be comune mesure of men. and sumtyme it semede bat she touchede be heuene wiþ be heygte of hir heued, and when sche hef [raised] hir heued heyer sche percede be selue heuene. so þat þe sygt of men loking was in ydel [in vain]. ¶ Hir clobes weren maked of rygt delye [thin] bredes and subtil crafte of perdurable [lasting] matere. be wyche clopes sche hadde wouen wib her owen hondes: as I knewe wel aftir by hir selfe. declaryng and shewyng to me be beaute. be wiche clobes a derkenes of a forleten [neglected] and dispised elde hadde duskid and dirkid as it is wont to dirken [darken] bysmoked [besmoked] ymages. &c.' [Chaucer's Boethius, from the Addit. MS. 10,340 (Br. Museum), ed. by Dr. R. Morris (E. E. Text Soc.), 1868, 5. It will be useful to compare the text in Skeat's Chaucer, 1894, based on Dr. Furni vall's ed. of MS. Camb. I. i. 3, 21 (Chaucer Soc., 1886).] EXTRACT XV. A.D. 1390. THE PORTRAIT OF THE SCHIPMAN. By GEOFFREY CHAUCER. [See p. 37.] 'A Schipman was ther, wonyng [dwelling] fer by weste: For ought I woot, he was of Dertemouthe. He rood upon a rouncy [horse], as he couthc, In a gowne of faldyng [coarse cloth] to the kne. A daggere hangyng on a laas [lace, lanyard] hadde he Aboute his nekke under his arm adoun. The hoote somer hadde maad his hew al broun; And certeinly he was a good felawe. Ful many a draught of wyn had he drawe From Burdeux-ward, whil that the chapman sleep. Of nyce conscience took he no keep. If that he foughte, and hadde the heigher hand, By water he sente hem hoom to every land. But of his craft to rikne wel the tydes, His stremes and his dangers him bisides, His herbergh [harbour] and his mone [moon] his lodemcnage [pilotage], Ther was non such from Hulle to Cartage. Hardy he was, and wys to undertake; With many a tempest hath his berd ben schake, He knew wel all the havenes, as thei were, From Scotlond [or Gottland] to the cape of Fynestere, And every cryk in Bretayne and in Spayne; His barge y-clepud was the Magdelayne.' We get a further glimpse of this sun-burned mariner in the prologue to his tale. The host, with a brace of oaths, calls upon the parson : 'The Person him answerde: "Benedicite! What cyleth the man, so synfully to swere?" For we schul have a predicacion; This loller heer wolde prechen us somwhat." Sayde the Schipman; "heer schal he naught preche, We levyn [believe] al in the gret God," quod he. Or springen cokkil [tares *] in our clene corn. My joly body schal a tale telle, [And I schal clinken you so mery a belle But it schal not ben of philosophie, Ne of physike, ne termes qucinte of lawe; [Canterbury Tales. Aldine Edition of Chaucer's Works, ii., 13,— iii., 106-7. Cf. the text of Skeat's edition, 1894.] [The author, it will be observed, claims to write in the ' common Feople's language.' See p. 42.] 'Now that God for his godenes and charite cecse the sooner in the comoun peple such vnwijs, vntrewe, and ouerhasti vndirnyming and blamyng maad upon the clergie, and that for the harmes and yuclis therbi comyng now seid, y schal do therto sumwhat of mi part in this, that y schal iustifie xj. gouernauncis [practices] of the clergie, whiche summe of the comoun peple vnwijsly and vntreuli iugen and condempnen to be yuele; of which xj. gouernauncis oon is the having and vsing of ymagis in chirchis; and an othir is pilgrimage in going to the memorialis or the mynde placis [shrines, mynde=remembrance] of Seintis, and that pilgrimagis and offringis mowe be doon weel, not oonli priuely, but also openli; and not oonli so of lay men, but rather of preestis and of bischopis. * Cf. Extract XII.—The Parable of the Tares in the Wheat. And this y schal do bi writing of this present book in the comoun peplis langage pleinli and openli and schortli, and to be clepid The repressing of ouer miche wijting [blaming] the clergie: and he [it] schal haue v. principal parties. In the firste of whiche parties schal be mad in general maner the seid repressing, and in general maner proof to the xj. seid gouernauncis. And in the ije. iije. iiije. and ve. principal parties schal be maad in special maner the seid repressing; and in special maner the proof to the same xj. gouernauncis; thoug alle othere gouernauncis of the clergie, for whiche the clergy is worthi to be blamed in brotherly and neigbourly correpcioun, y schal not be aboute to excuse neither defende; but preie, speke, and write in al pacience and doctrine, that the clergie forsake hem, leue, and amende.' [Pecock's Repressor, 1860, i., 4, Babington's Edition, Rolls Collection.] EXTRACT XVII. A.D. 1485. SIR ECTOR'S LAMENT FOR SIR LANCELOT. By SIR THOMAS MALORY. [After the death of King Arthur at the Battle of Camlan, Sir Lancelot visited Guenever at Almesbury. Passing thence he entered a monastery, and, there dying, his body was carried, by his own desire, to his castle of Joyous Gard, concerning which we are told in La Mort d'Arthure, 'some men say Anwick, and some men say it is Bamborow.' It is supposed to be Berwick. See p. 43.] And whan syr Ector herde suche noyse & lyghte in the quyre of Ioyous garde [Lancelot's castle] he alyght & put his hors from hym & came in to the quyre & there he sawe men synge wepe/ & al they knewe syr Ector / but he knewe not them / than wente syr Bors vnto syr Ector & tolde hym how there laye his brother syr Launcelot dede / & than Syr Ector threwe hys shelde swerde & helme from hym / & whan he behelde syr Launcelottes vysage he fyl [fell] doun in a swoun/ & whan he waked it were harde ony tonge to telle the doleful complayntes that he made for his brother /A Launcelot he sayd thou were hede of al crysten knyghtes & now I dare say sayd syr Ector thou sir Launcelot there thou lyest that thou were neuer matched of erthely knyghtes hande /& thou were the curtest [most courteous] knyght that euer bare shelde & thou were the truest frende to thy louar that euer bestrade hors & thou were the treuest louer of a synful man that euer loued woman / & thou were the kyndest man that euer strake wyth swerde /& thou were the godelyest persone pt euer cam emonge prees [press] of knyghtes / & thou was the mekest man & the Ientyllest that euer ete in halle emonge ladyes / & thou were the sternest knyght to thy mortal foo that euer put spere in the breste/' [Le Morte Darthur, Book xxi., Capitulum xiii. Facsimile reprint of Caxton's original edition of 1485, edited by H. Oskar Sommer, Ph.D., 1889, vol. i. p. 895*.] |