The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems Part 19

Heardest thou ever such a song ere now?

Lo what a compline<21> is y-mell* them all. *among A wilde fire upon their bodies fall, Who hearken'd ever such a ferly* thing? *strange <22> Yea, they shall have the flow'r of ill ending!

This longe night there *tides me* no rest. *comes to me*

But yet no force*, all shall be for the best. *matter For, John," said he, "as ever may I thrive, If that I may, yon wenche will I swive*. *enjoy carnally Some eas.e.m.e.nt* has law y-shapen** us *satisfaction **provided For, John, there is a law that sayeth thus, That if a man in one point be aggriev'd, That in another he shall be relievd.

Our corn is stol'n, soothly it is no nay, And we have had an evil fit to-day.

And since I shall have none amendement Against my loss, I will have eas.e.m.e.nt: By G.o.dde's soul, it shall none, other be."

This John answer'd; Alein, *avise thee*: *have a care*

The miller is a perilous man," he said, "And if that he out of his sleep abraid*, *awaked He mighte do us both a villainy*." *mischief Alein answer'd; "I count him not a fly.

And up he rose, and by the wench he crept.

This wenche lay upright, and fast she slept, Till he so nigh was, ere she might espy, That it had been too late for to cry: And, shortly for to say, they were at one.

Now play, Alein, for I will speak of John.

This John lay still a furlong way <23> or two, And to himself he made ruth* and woe. *wail "Alas!" quoth he, "this is a wicked j.a.pe*; *trick Now may I say, that I is but an ape.

Yet has my fellow somewhat for his harm; He has the miller's daughter in his arm: He auntred* him, and hath his needes sped, *adventured And I lie as a draff-sack in my bed; And when this j.a.pe is told another day, I shall be held a daffe* or a c.o.c.kenay <24> *coward I will arise, and auntre* it, by my fay: *attempt Unhardy is unsely, <25> as men say."

And up he rose, and softely he went Unto the cradle, and in his hand it hent*, *took And bare it soft unto his beddes feet.

Soon after this the wife *her routing lete*, *stopped snoring*

And gan awake, and went her out to p.i.s.s And came again and gan the cradle miss And groped here and there, but she found none.

"Alas!" quoth she, "I had almost misgone I had almost gone to the clerkes' bed.

Ey! Benedicite, then had I foul y-sped."

And forth she went, till she the cradle fand.

She groped alway farther with her hand And found the bed, and *thoughte not but good* *had no suspicion*

Because that the cradle by it stood, And wist not where she was, for it was derk; But fair and well she crept in by the clerk, And lay full still, and would have caught a sleep.

Within a while this John the Clerk up leap And on this goode wife laid on full sore; So merry a fit had she not had *full yore*. *for a long time*

He p.r.i.c.ked hard and deep, as he were mad.

This jolly life have these two clerkes had, Till that the thirde c.o.c.k began to sing.

Alein wax'd weary in the morrowing, For he had swonken* all the longe night, *laboured And saide; "Farewell, Malkin, my sweet wight.

The day is come, I may no longer bide, But evermore, where so I go or ride, I is thine owen clerk, so have I hele.*" *health "Now, deare leman*," quoth she, "go, fare wele: *sweetheart But ere thou go, one thing I will thee tell.

When that thou wendest homeward by the mill, Right at the entry of the door behind Thou shalt a cake of half a bushel find, That was y-maked of thine owen meal, Which that I help'd my father for to steal.

And goode leman, G.o.d thee save and keep."

And with that word she gan almost to weep.

Alein uprose and thought, "Ere the day daw I will go creepen in by my fellaw:"

And found the cradle with his hand anon.

"By G.o.d!" thought he, "all wrong I have misgone: My head is *totty of my swink* to-night, *giddy from my labour*

That maketh me that I go not aright.

I wot well by the cradle I have misgo'; Here lie the miller and his wife also."

And forth he went a twenty devil way Unto the bed, there as the miller lay.

He ween'd* t' have creeped by his fellow John, *thought And by the miller in he crept anon, And caught him by the neck, and gan him shake, And said; "Thou John, thou swines-head, awake For Christes soul, and hear a n.o.ble game!

For by that lord that called is Saint Jame, As I have thries in this shorte night Swived the miller's daughter bolt-upright, While thou hast as a coward lain aghast*." *afraid "Thou false harlot," quoth the miller, "hast?

Ah, false traitor, false clerk," quoth he, "Thou shalt be dead, by G.o.dde's dignity, Who durste be so bold to disparage* *disgrace My daughter, that is come of such lineage?"

And by the throate-ball* he caught Alein, *Adam's apple And he him hent* dispiteously** again, *seized **angrily And on the nose he smote him with his fist; Down ran the b.l.o.o.d.y stream upon his breast: And in the floor with nose and mouth all broke They wallow, as do two pigs in a poke.

And up they go, and down again anon, Till that the miller spurned* on a stone, *stumbled And down he backward fell upon his wife, That wiste nothing of this nice strife: For she was fall'n asleep a little wight* *while With John the clerk, that waked had all night: And with the fall out of her sleep she braid*. *woke "Help, holy cross of Bromeholm," <26> she said; "In ma.n.u.s tuas! <27> Lord, to thee I call.

Awake, Simon, the fiend is on me fall; Mine heart is broken; help; I am but dead: There li'th one on my womb and on mine head.

Help, Simkin, for these false clerks do fight"

This John start up as fast as e'er he might, And groped by the walles to and fro To find a staff; and she start up also, And knew the estres* better than this John, *apartment And by the wall she took a staff anon: And saw a little s.h.i.+mmering of a light, For at an hole in shone the moone bright, And by that light she saw them both the two, But sickerly* she wist not who was who, *certainly But as she saw a white thing in her eye.

And when she gan this white thing espy, She ween'd* the clerk had wear'd a volupere**; *supposed **night-cap And with the staff she drew aye nere* and nere*, *nearer And ween'd to have hit this Alein at the full, And smote the miller on the pilled* skull; *bald That down he went, and cried," Harow! I die."

These clerkes beat him well, and let him lie, And greithen* them, and take their horse anon, *make ready, dress And eke their meal, and on their way they gon: And at the mill door eke they took their cake Of half a bushel flour, full well y-bake.

Thus is the proude miller well y-beat, And hath y-lost the grinding of the wheat; And payed for the supper *every deal* *every bit Of Alein and of John, that beat him well; His wife is swived, and his daughter als*; *also Lo, such it is a miller to be false.

And therefore this proverb is said full sooth, "*Him thar not winnen well* that evil do'th, *he deserves not to gain*

A guiler shall himself beguiled be:"

And G.o.d that sitteth high in majesty Save all this Company, both great and smale.

Thus have I quit* the Miller in my tale. *made myself quits with

Notes to the Reeve's Tale

1. The incidents of this tale were much relished in the Middle Ages, and are found under various forms. Boccaccio has told them in the ninth day of his "Decameron".

2. Camuse: flat; French "camuse", snub-nosed.

3. Gite: gown or coat; French "jupe."

4. Soler Hall: the hall or college at Cambridge with the gallery or upper storey; supposed to have been Clare Hall.

(Transcribers note: later commentators identify it with King's Hall, now merged with Trinity College)

5. Manciple: steward; provisioner of the hall. See also note 47 to the prologue to the Tales.

6. Testif: headstrong, wild-brained; French, "entete."

7. Strother: Tyrwhitt points to Anstruther, in Fife: Mr Wright to the Vale of Langstroth, in the West Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re.

Chaucer has given the scholars a dialect that may have belonged to either district, although it more immediately suggests the more northern of the two.

(Transcribers note: later commentators have identified it with a now vanished village near Kirknewton in Northumberland.

There was a well-known Alein of Strother in Chaucer's lifetime.)

8. w.a.n.ges: grinders, cheek-teeth; Anglo-Saxon, "w.a.n.g," the cheek; German, "w.a.n.ge."

9. See note 1 to the Prologue to the Reeves Tale

10. In the "Cento Novelle Antiche," the story is told of a mule, which pretends that his name is written on the bottom of his hind foot. The wolf attempts to read it, the mule kills him with a kick in the forehead; and the fox, looking on, remarks that "every man of letters is not wise." A similar story is told in "Reynard the Fox."

11. Levesell: an arbour; Anglo-Saxon, "lefe-setl," leafy seat.

12. Noth: business; German, "Noth," necessity.

13. Bathe: both; Scottice, "baith."

14. Capel: horse; Gaelic, "capall;" French, "cheval;" Italian, "cavallo," from Latin, "caballus."

15. Make a clerkes beard: cheat a scholar; French, "faire la barbe;" and Boccaccio uses the proverb in the same sense.

16. "Gar" is Scotch for "cause;" some editions read, however, "get us some".

17. Chalons: blankets, coverlets, made at Chalons in France.

18. Crock: pitcher, cruse; Anglo-Saxon, "crocca;" German, "krug;" hence "crockery."

19. Dwale: night-shade, Solanum somniferum, given to cause sleep.