A quick-and-dirty transcription of the Prologue of the B text for classroom use — even though my very smart pal Lawrence Warner says there’s no such thing as the B text.
In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne, | |
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep were, | dressed — shepherd |
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes, | clothes — hermit |
Wente wide in this world wondres to here. | hear |
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles [5] | But — morning — Malvern |
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte. | to me — happened — marvel — it seemed to me |
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste | weary — tired of aimless wandering |
Under a brood bank by a bourne syde; | broad — brook |
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres, | |
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye. [10] | sounded — merry |
Thanne gan [me] to meten a merveillous swevene — | began — to dream — dream |
That I was in a wildernesse, wiste I nevere where. | knew |
As I biheeld into the eest an heigh to the sonne, | |
I seigh a tour on a toft trieliche ymaked, | saw — tower — hill — splendidly made |
A deep dale bynethe, a dongeon therinne, [15] | valley |
With depe diches and derke and dredfulle of sighte. | |
A fair feeld ful of folk fond I ther bitwene — | found |
Of alle manere of men, the meene and the riche, | all kinds — poor |
Werchynge and wandrynge as the world asketh. | |
Somme putten hem to the plough, pleiden ful selde, [20] | them[selves] — seldom |
In settynge and sowynge swonken ful harde, | planting — worked |
And wonnen that thise wastours with glotonye destruyeth | won what these wasters |
And somme putten hem to pride, apparailed hem therafter, | them[selves] |
In contenaunce of clothynge comen disgised — | display |
In preieres and penaunce putten hem manye, [25] | prayers |
Al for the love of Oure Lord lyveden ful streyte | strictly |
In hope to have heveneriche blisse — | the happiness of the kingdom of heaven |
As ancres and heremites that holden hem in hire selles, | anchorite friars — them[selves] — their cells |
Coveiten noght in contree to cairen aboute | travel |
For no likerous liflode hire likame to plese. [30] | lecherous ‐ livelihood — their — body |
And somme chosen chaffare; they cheveden the bettre — | business — achieved |
As it semeth to oure sight that swiche men thryveth; | such |
And somme murthes to make as mynstralles konne, | pleasures — know how |
And geten gold with hire glee — ynnelees, I leeve — | their — guiltless — believe |
Ac japeres and jangeleres, Judas children, [35] | but — jesters |
Feynen hem fantasies, and fooles hem maketh — | feign |
And han wit at wille to werken if they wolde. | |
That Poul precheth of hem I wol nat preve it here: | St. Paul — them — prove |
Qui loquitur turpiloquium is Luciferes hyne. | “He who speaks foully” — lackey |
Bidderes and beggeres faste aboute yede [40] | mendicants — went |
[Til] hire bely and hire bagge [were] bredful ycrammed, | their — full of bread |
Faiteden for hire foode, foughten at the ale. | deceived |
In glotonye, God woot, go thei to bedde, | knows |
And risen with ribaudie, tho Roberdes knaves; | ribaldry — those |
Sleep and sory sleuthe seweth hem evere. [45] | sloth — follows them |
Pilgrymes and palmeres plighten hem togidere | vow — formed an alliance |
For to seken Seint Jame and seintes at Rome; | |
Wenten forth in hire wey with many wise tales, | |
And hadden leve to lyen al hire lif after. | permission — lie — all their life |
I seigh somme that seiden thei hadde ysought seintes: [50] | saw |
To ech a tale that thei tolde hire tonge was tempred to lye | disposed |
Moore than to seye sooth, it semed bi hire speche. | truth — their |
Heremytes on an heep with hoked staves, | in a crowd — hooked |
Wenten to Walsyngham — and hire wenches after: | |
Grete lobies and longe that lothe were to swynke [55] | lazy people — work |
Clothed hem in copes to ben knowen from othere, | cloaks — be — [each] other |
And shopen hem heremytes hire ese to have. | shaped themselves as — their ease |
I fond there freres, alle the foure ordres, | friars |
Prechynge the peple for profit of [the] womb[e]: | belly |
Glosed the gospel as hem good liked; [60] | explained |
For coveitise of copes construwed it as thei wolde. | greed |
Manye of thise maistres mowe clothen hem at likyng | may clothe themselves |
For hire moneie and hire marchaundise marchen togideres. | |
Sith charite hath ben chapman and chief to shryve lordes | merchant |
Manye ferlies han fallen in a fewe yeres. [65] | wonders have |
But Holy Chirche and hii holde bettre togidres | they |
The mooste meschief on molde is mountynge up faste. | earth |
Ther preched a pardoner as he a preest were: | |
Broughte forth a bulle with bisshopes seles, | papal proclamation — seals |
And seide that hymself myghte assoillen hem alle [70] | absolve |
Of falshede of fastynge, of avowes ybroken. — | |
Lewed men leved hym wel and liked hise wordes, | unlearned — believed |
Comen up knelynge to kissen his bulle. | |
He bonched hem with his brevet and blered hire eighen, | struck — paper letter — conned their eyes |
And raughte with his rageman rynges and broches. [75] | laid his hands on — fake document |
— Thus ye gyven youre gold glotons to helpe, | |
And leneth it losels that leccherie haunten“ | lend — good-for-nothings |
Were the bisshop yblessed and worth bothe his eris, | ears |
His seel sholde noght be sent to deceyve the peple. | seal (on a leter) |
Ac it is noght by the bisshop that the boy precheth — [80] | But |
For the parisshe preest and the pardoner parten the silver | divide |
That the povere [peple] of the parissche sholde have if they ne were. | poor — were not |
Persons and parisshe preestes pleyned hem to the bisshop | complained |
That hire parisshes weren povere sith the pestilence tyme, | poor since the plague |
To have a licence and leve at London to dwelle, [85] | permission |
And syngen ther for symonie, for silver is swete. | |
Bisshopes and bachelers, bothe maistres and doctours — | |
That han cure under Crist, and crownynge in tokene | have spiritual responsibility — tonsure (shaved top of the head) |
And signe that thei sholden shryven hire parisshens, | hear confession |
Prechen and praye for hem, and the povere fede — [90] | |
Liggen at Londoun in Lenten and ellis. | lie — at other times |
Somme serven the King and his silver tellen, | count |
In Cheker and in Chauncelrie chalangen his dettes | the court of the Exchequer — chancery court |
Of wardes and of wardemotes, weyves and streyves. | gathering of citizens in a ward — waifs — strays |
And somme serven as servaunts lordes and ladies, [95] | |
And in stede of stywardes sitten and demen. | judge |
Hire messe and hire matyns and many of hire houres | their mass — their morning services |
Arn doone undevoutliche; drede is at the laste | |
Lest Crist in Consistorie acorse ful manye! | episcopal court |
I parceyved of the power that Peter hadde to kepe — [100] | |
To bynden and unbynden, as the Book telleth — | |
How he it lefte with love as Oure Lord highte | ordered |
Amonges foure vertues, most vertuous of alle vertues, | |
That cardinals ben called and closynge yates | gates |
There Crist is in kyngdom, to close and to shette, [105] | shut |
And to opene it to hem and hevene blisse shewe. | |
Ac of the Cardinals at court that kaughte of that name | but |
And power presumed in hem a Pope to make | |
To han the power that Peter hadde, impugnen I nelle — | I will not impugn |
For in love and in lettrure the eleccion bilongeth; [110] | scripture |
Forthi I kan and kan naught of court speke moore. | therefore |
Thanne kam ther a Kyng: Knyghthod hym ladde; | led |
Might of the communes made hym to regne. | common people |
And thanne cam Kynde Wit and clerkes he made, | Natural Intelligence |
For to counseillen the Kyng and the Commune save. [115] | |
The Kyng and Knyghthod and Clergie bothe | |
Casten that the Commune sholde hem [communes] fynde. | brought about |
The Commune contreved of Kynde Wit craftes, | devised |
And for profit of al the peple plowmen ordeyned | |
To tilie and to travaille as trewe lif asketh. [120] | |
The Kyng and the Commune and Kynde Wit the thridde | third |
Shopen lawe and leaute — ech lif to knowe his owene. | shaped — loyalty — each |
Thanne loked up a lunatik, a leene thyng withalle, | looked |
And knelynge to the Kyng clergially he seide, | in the manner of a scholar |
“Crist kepe thee, sire Kyng, and thi kyngryche, [125] | kingdom |
And lene thee lede thi lond so leaute thee lovye, | grant |
And for thi rightful rulyng be rewarded in hevene” | |
And sithen in the eyr on heigh an aungel of hevene | since |
Lowed to speke in Latyn — for lewed men ne koude | approved of — unlearned — could not |
Jangle ne jugge that justifie hem sholde, [130] | complain — judge |
But suffren and serven — forthi seide the aungel: | therefore |
“Sum Rex, sum Princeps,” — neutrum fortasse deinceps” | |
O qui iura regis Christi specialia regis, | |
Hoc qiiod agas nielius — iustus es, esto pius” | |
Nudum ius a te vestiri vult pietate. [135] | |
Qualia vis nietere, talia grana sere: | |
Si ius nudatur, nudo de iure metatur; | |
Si seritur pietas, de pietate metas. | |
Thanne greved hym a goliardeis, a gloton of wordes, | “one lacking in respect, flippant scoffer” — glutton |
And to the aungel an heigh answerde after: [140] | |
“Dum ‘rex’ a ‘regere’ dicatur nomen habere, | |
Nomen habet sine re nisi studet iura tenere.” | |
Thanne gan al the commune crye in vers of Latyn | began |
To the Kynges counseil — construe whoso wolde — | translate |
“Precepta Regis sunt nobis vincula legis.” | “The King’s precepts are binding laws to us” |
With that ran ther a route of ratons at ones | throng — rats |
And smale mees myd hem: mo than a thousand [145] | mice &mash; amid — more |
Comen to a counseil for the commune profit; | |
For a cat of a court cam whan hym liked | |
And overleep hem lightliche and laughte hem at his wille, [150] | outrun them easily |
And pleide with hem perillousli and possed aboute. | pushed |
“For doute of diverse dredes we dar noght wel loke” | various — dare |
And if we grucche of his gamen he wol greven us alle — | complain — games &mash; injure |
Cracchen us or clawen us and in hise clouches holde. | scratch — clutch’s |
That us lotheth the lif er he late us passe. [155] | that we would loathe life before he let us die |
Mighte we with any wit his wille withstonde, | intelligence |
We myghte be lordes olofte and lyven at oure ese.” | above |
A raton of renoun, moost renable of tonge, | rat — reputation — fluent |
Seide for a sovereyn [salve] to hem alle, | |
“I have yseyen segges,” quod he, “in the Cite of Londoun [160] | men — said [quoth] |
Beren beighes ful brighte abouten hire nekkes, | bear — collars |
And somme colers of crafty work; uncoupled they wenden | intricate workmanship — go |
Bothe in wareyne and in waast where hem leve liketh, | warren — waste — wherever they like |
And outher while thei arn elliswhere, as I here telle. | |
Were ther a belle on hire beighe, by Jesus, as me thynketh, [165] | collar |
Men myghte witen wher thei wente and awey renne. | know — run |
And right so,” quod that raton, “reson me sheweth | said — rat |
To bugge a belle of bras or of bright silver | buy |
And knytten it on a coler for oure commune profit | |
And hangen it upon the cattes hals — thanne here we mowen [170] | neck — we may hear |
Wher he ryt or rest or rometh to pleye; | rides |
And if hym list for to laike, thanne loke we mowen | likes — play — may |
And peeren in his presence the while hym pleye liketh, | appear |
And if hym wratheth, be war and his wey shonye.” | is hostile — shun his way |
Al the route of ratons to this reson assented; [175] | group &mash; rats |
Ac tho the belle was ybrought and on the beighe hanged | although — neck |
Ther ne was raton in al the route, for al the reaume of France, | rat &mdsh; group — realm |
That dorste have bounden the belle aboute the cattes nekke, | dared |
Ne hangen it aboute his hals al Engelond to wynne, | neck |
[Ac] helden hem unhardy and hir counseil feble, [180] | but — cowardly |
And leten hire laboure lost and al hire longe studie. | |
A mous that muche good kouthe, as me tho thoughte, | knew — as it then seemed to me |
Strook forth sternely and stood bifore hem alle, | went |
And to the route of ratons reherced thise wordes: | throng — spoke |
“Though we hadde ykilled the cat, yet sholde ther come another [185] | even if |
To cracchen us and al oure kynde, though we cropen under benches. | even if we crept |
Forthi I counseille al the commune to late the cat worthe, | therefore — advise — let the cat be |
And be we nevere so bolde the belle hym to shewe. | |
The while he caccheth conynges he coveiteth noght oure caroyne, | rabbits — flesh |
But fedeth hym al with venyson; defame we hym nevere. [190] | |
For bettre is a litel los than a long sorwe: | |
The maze among us alle, theigh we mysse a sherewe! | confusion — though — villain |
For I herde my sire seyn, is seven yeer ypassed, | |
“‘Ther the cat is a kitoun, the court is ful elenge.’” | wretched |
That witnesseth Holy Writ, whoso wole it rede — [195] | |
Ve terre ubi puer rex est, &c. | “Woe to the last where a child is king!” |
For may no renk ther reste have for ratons by nyghte. | man |
For many mennes malt we mees wolde destruye, | mice |
And also ye route of ratons rende mennes clothes, | tear |
Nere the cat of the court that kan you overlepe; [200] | were it not for |
For hadde ye rattes youre [raik] ye kouthe noght rule yowselve. | way — could |
“I seye for me,“ quod the mous, “I se so muchel after, | much |
Shal nevere the cat ne the kiton by my counseil be greved, | nor |
Ne carpynge of this coler that costed me nevere. | foolish talk |
And though it costned me catel, biknowen it I nolde, [205] | chattel (property) — would not |
But suffren as hymself wolde [s]o doon as hym liketh — | |
Coupled and uncoupled to cacche what thei mowe. | may |
Forthi ech a wis wight I warne — wite wel his owene!” | therefore — man |
(What this metels bymeneth, ye men that ben murye, | dream — means |
Devyne ye — for I ne dar, by deere God in hevene)! [210] | |
Yet hoved ther an hundred in howves of selk — | waited — hoods — silk |
Sergeants, it semed, that serveden at the Barre, | |
Pleteden for penyes and pounded the lawe, | pleaded — pennies |
And noght for love of Oure Lord unlose hire lippes ones. | |
Thow myghtest bettre meete myst on Malverne Hilles [215] | measure |
Than get a “mom’ of hire mouth til moneie be shewed! | |
Barins and burgeises and bondemen als | barons — burgesses |
I seigh in this assemblee, as ye shul here after; | saw |
Baksteres and brewesteres and bochiers manye, | bakers — brewers — butchers |
Wollen webbesters and weveres of lynnen, [220] | weavers |
Taillours and tynkers and tollers in markettes, | toll-collectors |
Masons and mynours and many othere craftes: | |
Of alle kynne lybbynge laborers lopen forth somme — | kinds — living — leapt |
As dykeres and delveres that doon hire dedes ille | ditch-diggers — laborers |
And dryveth forth the longe day with “Dieu save Dame Emme!” [225] | “God save Dame Emme!” |
Cokes and hire knaves cryden, “Hote pies, hote! | their servants |
Goode gees and grys! Go we dyne, go we!” | piglets |
Taverners until hem tolden the same: | |
“Whit wyn of Oseye and wyn of Gascoigne, | Alsace |
Of the Ryn and of the Rochel, the roost to defie!” [230] | Rhine — La Rochelle |
— Al this I seigh slepyng, and sevene sythes more. | saw — times |