To apeiren any man, or him defame,

* །

13155

And eke to bringen wives in fwiche a name; T315Q
Thou mayft ynough of other thinges fain.^
This dronken Miller spake ful fone again,
And fayde, Leve brother Ofewold,
Who hath no wif he is no cokewold;
But I fay not therfore that thou art on ;
Ther ben ful goode wives many on.
Why art thou angry with my Tale now?
I have a wif parde as wel as thou,«'»e
Yet n'olde I for the oxen in my plough-
Taken upon me more than ynough..
As demen of myself that I am on ; « on yo?
I wol beleven wel that I am non. !
An hufbond fhuld not ben inquifitif
Of Goddes privite ne of his wif

So he may finden Goddes foifon there
Of the remenant nedeth not to enquere.

What fhuld I more fay, but this Millerė
'He n'olde his wordes for no man forbere,
But told his cherles Tale in his manere,
Me thinketh that I fhal reherfe it here';
And therfore every gentil wight I pray,
For Goddes love, as deme not that I fay

"

3160

3165

3170

V. 3156] After this verfe the two following are found in fo many mff. that perhaps they ought to have been inferted in the text;

And ever a thoufand good ageins on badde,

That knoweft thou wel but if thou be madde.

V. 3172. as deme not] This phrafe has occurred before, ver. 2304, as kepe me; ver. 2319, as fende. I once thought that

Of evil entent, but that I mote reherfe

Hir Tales alle, al be they better or werse,
Or elles falfen fom of my matere;

And therfore who fo lift it not to here

3175

Turne over the leef, and chefe another Tale,
For he fhal find ynow bothe gret and smale,
Of ftorial thing that toucheth gentilleffe,
And eke moralite and holineffe.

Blameth not me if that ye chese amis;
The Miller is a cherl, ye know wel this,
So was the Reve, (and many other mo)
And harlotrie they tolden bothe two.

3180

Avifeth you now, and put me out of blame; 3185 And cke men fhuld not make ernest of game.

THE MILLERES TALE.

WHILOM ther was dwelling in Oxenforde
A riche gnof, that geftes helde to borde,

as in these cafes was used elliptically for do fo much as; but then the following verb must have been in the infinitive mood, whereas it is often in the imperative. See ver. 5773, as takeṭh; ver. 6631, as doth; ver. 13352, as beth. I am therefore rather inclined to understand it in the fenfe of fo, according to its original etymology. As is an abbreviation of als, and that of al fwa ; fic omnino. See ver. 5481, 5778, 7007.

The Milleres Tale] Nicholas, a scholar of Oxford, practiseth with Alison, the carpenter's wife of Ofney, to deceive her bufband, but in the end is rewarded accordingly. This is one of thofe Tales that Lydgate (in his Prologue to The Story of the Siege of Thebes) fays are of ribauldrie,

To makin laughtir in the cumpany.

And of his craft he was a carpenter.

With him ther was dwelling a poure fcoler,

Had lerned art, but all his fantafie

Was turned for to lerne aftrologie,

And coude a certain of conclufions
To demen by interrogations,

If that men afked him in certain houres

3190

3595

Whan that men fhulde have drought or elles fhoures;

Or if men afked him what fhulde falle

Of every thing, I may not reken alle.

This clerk was cleped Hendy Nicholas;
Of derne love he coude and of folas;
And therto he was flie and ful prive,
And like a maiden meke for to fe.
A chambre had he in that hostelrie
Alone, withouten any compagnie,
Ful fetifly ydight with herbes fote,

3206

3205

So, reader, you know what you are to expect; read or forbear

as you think fitting. Urry.

V. 3199. Hendy Nicholas] Hendy or Hende, (as it was more commonly written) fignified courteous: fo ver. 6868;

A fire, ye shuld ben kende

And curteis, as a man of youre eftat.

v. 3210. augrim stones] Augrim is a corruption of algorithm, the Arabian term for numeration. Augrim ftones therefore

On fhelves couched at his beddes hed,
His preffe ycovered with a falding red;
And all above ther lay a gay fautrie,
On which he made on nightes melodie
So fwetely, that all the chambre rong,
And Angelus ad Virginem he fong;
And after that he fong the kinges note:
Ful often bleffed was his mery throte,
And thus this fwete clerk his time spent
After his frendes finding and his rent.

This carpenter had wedded new a wif

3215

3220

Which that he loved more than his lif:
Of eightene yere fhe was I geffe of age.
Jalous he was, and held hire narwe in cage,
For fhe was wild and yonge, and he was old, 3225
And demed himself belike a cokewold.

He knew not Caton, for his wit was rude,

That bade a man fhulde wedde his fimilitude;

were the pebbles or counters which were anciently used in nu

meration.

.3217. the kinges more] What this note or tune was I must leave, to be explained by the mufical antiquaries, Angelus ad Virginem, I fuppofe, was Ave Maria, &c.

3223. Of eightene yere] The words-1 gef-are not in the mil. M. A. reads ferentene, which perhaps may be right, if ferventene be pronounced as of four fyllables. Afk. 1 and 2 would remove all difficulties, by reading Of eightene yere this woman was of age.

.3227. He knew not Caton] The calling of this author Caton thews that he was more ftudied in French than in Latin.

Men fhulden wedden after hir eftate,
For youthe and eide is often at debate;
But fithen he was fallen in the fnare

He most endure (as other folk) his care.
Fayre was this yonge wif, and therwithal

As

any wefel hire body gent and smal. A feint she wered, barred all of filk,

3230

3235

A barme-cloth eke as white as morwe milk

Upon hire lendes, ful of many a gore;

White was hire fmok, and brouded all before
And eke behind on hire colere aboute

Of cole-black filk within and eke withoute:

3240

The tapes of hire white volupere

Were of the fame fuit of hire colere;

See below, ver. 9251, 14946, 16155. Who he was or of what age is uncertain; but his authority four or five hundred years ago feems to have been as great as if he had really been the famous Cenfor of Rome. However, the maxim herc alluded to is not properly one of Cato's; but I find it in a kind of Supplement to The Moral Diftichs entitled Facetus, int. Auctores odo morales. Lugd. 1538, cap. iii.;

Duc tibi prole parem fponfam morefque venufam.

Si cum pace velis vitam deducere juftam.

The fame treatife, or at least one with the fame beginning, and on the fame fubject, is mentioned in the Cat. mf. Coll. Trin. Dublin, n. 275, under the title of Urbanus. It is there attributed to Daniel Ecclefienfis (Churche) who lived about the year 1180. See Bayle, Cent. iii. 17, and Fabric. Bib. Med. Æt. in v.

.3237. many a gore] This word is used again in ver. 13719. I do not understand it in either place.

Volume II.