情色书屋

THE KNIGHT’S TALE04
书名： 坎特伯雷故事集 作者： （英） 乔叟 本章字数： 12026 更新时间： 2024-06-13 17:43:43

The heralds, that full loude yell and cry,

Be in their joy for weal of Dan* Arcite. *Lord

But hearken me, and stinte noise a lite,

What a miracle there befell anon

This fierce Arcite hath off his helm y-done

And on a courser for to shew his face

He *pricketh endelong* the large place, *rides from end to end*

Looking upward upon this Emily;

And she again him cast a friendly eye

(For women, as to speaken *in commune*, *generally*

They follow all the favour of fortune),

And was all his in cheer*, as his in heart. *countenance

Out of the ground a fire infernal start

From Pluto sent, at request of Saturn

For which his horse for fear began to turn,

And leap aside, and founder* as he leap *stumble

And ere that Arcite may take any keep*, *care

He pight* him on the pummel** of his head. *pitched **top

That in the place he lay as he were dead.

His breast to-bursten with his saddle-bow.

As black he lay as any coal or crow,

So was the blood y-run into his face.

Anon he was y-borne out of the place

With hearte sore, to Theseus’ palace.

Then was he carven* out of his harness. *cut

And in a bed y-brought full fair and blive* *quickly

For he was yet in mem’ry and alive,

And always crying after Emily.

Duke Theseus, with all his company,

Is come home to Athens his city,

With alle bliss and great solemnity.

Albeit that this aventure was fall*, *befallen

He woulde not discomforte* them all *discourage

Then said eke, that Arcite should not die,

He should be healed of his malady.

And of another thing they were as fain*. *glad

That of them alle was there no one slain,

All* were they sorely hurt, and namely** one,*although **especially

That with a spear was thirled* his breast-bone. *pierced

To other woundes, and to broken arms,

Some hadden salves, and some hadden charms:

And pharmacies of herbs, and eke save* *sage,Salvia officinali

They dranken, for they would their lives have.

For which this noble Duke, as he well can,

Comforteth and honoureth every man,

And made revel all the longe night,

Unto the strange lordes, as was right.

Nor there was holden no discomforting,

But as at jousts or at a tourneying;

For soothly there was no discomfiture

For falling is not but an aventure*. *chance, accident

Nor to be led by force unto a stake

Unyielding, and with twenty knights y-take

One person all alone, withouten mo’,

And harried* forth by armes, foot, and toe, *dragged,hurried

And eke his steede driven forth with staves,

With footmen, bothe yeomen and eke knaves*, *servants

It was *aretted him no villainy:* *counted no disgrace to him*

There may no man *clepen it cowardy*. *call it cowardice*

For which anon Duke Theseus *let cry*, — *caused to be proclaimed*

To stenten* alle rancour and envy, — *stop

The gree* as well on one side as the other, *prize,merit

And either side alike as other’s brother:

And gave them giftes after their degree,

And held a feaste fully dayes three:

And conveyed the kinges worthily

Out of his town a journee* largely *day’s journey

And home went every man the righte way,

There was no more but “Farewell, Have good day.”

Of this bataille I will no more indite

But speak of Palamon and of Arcite.

Swelleth the breast of Arcite and the sore

Increaseth at his hearte more and more.

The clotted blood, for any leache-craft* *surgical skill

Corrupteth and is *in his bouk y-laft* *left in his body*

That neither *veine blood nor ventousing*, *blood-letting or cupping*

Nor drink of herbes may be his helping.

The virtue expulsive or animal,

From thilke virtue called natural,

Nor may the venom voide, nor expel

The pipes of his lungs began to swell

And every lacert* in his breast adown *sinew, muscle

Is shent* with venom and corruption. *destroyed

Him gaineth* neither, for to get his life, *availeth

Vomit upward, nor downward laxative;

All is to-bursten thilke region;

Nature hath now no domination.

And certainly where nature will not wirch,* *work

Farewell physic: go bear the man to chirch.**church

This all and some is, Arcite must die.

For which he sendeth after Emily,

And Palamon, that was his cousin dear,

Then said he thus, as ye shall after hear.

“Nought may the woful spirit in mine heart

Declare one point of all my sorrows’ smart

To you, my lady, that I love the most:

But I bequeath the service of my ghost

To you aboven every creature,

Since that my life ne may no longer dure.

Alas the woe! alas, the paines strong

That I for you have suffered and so long!

Alas the death, alas, mine Emily!

Alas departing* of our company! *the severance

Alas, mine hearte’s queen! alas, my wife!

Mine hearte’s lady, ender of my life!

What is this world? what aske men to have?

Now with his love, now in his colde grave

Al one, withouten any company.

Farewell, my sweet, farewell, mine Emily,

And softly take me in your armes tway,

For love of God, and hearken what I say.

I have here with my cousin Palamon

Had strife and rancour many a day agone,

For love of you, and for my jealousy.

And Jupiter so *wis my soule gie*, *surely guides my soul*

To speaken of a servant properly,

With alle circumstances truely,

That is to say, truth, honour, and knighthead,

Wisdom, humbless*, estate, and high kindred,*humility

Freedom, and all that longeth to that art,

So Jupiter have of my soul part,

As in this world right now I know not one,

So worthy to be lov’d as Palamon,

That serveth you, and will do all his life.

And if that you shall ever be a wife,

Forget not Palamon, the gentle man.”

And with that word his speech to fail began.

For from his feet up to his breast was come

The cold of death, that had him overnome*. *overcome

And yet moreover in his armes two

The vital strength is lost, and all ago*. *gone

Only the intellect, withoute more,

That dwelled in his hearte sick and sore,

Gan faile, when the hearte felte death;

Dusked* his eyen two, and fail’d his breath. *grew dim

But on his lady yet he cast his eye;

His laste word was; “Mercy, Emily!”

His spirit changed house, and wente there,

As I came never I cannot telle where.

Therefore I stent*, I am no divinister**; *refrain**diviner

Of soules find I nought in this register

Ne me list not th’ opinions to tell

Of them, though that they writen where they dwell;

Arcite is cold, there Mars his soule gie.* *guide

Now will I speake forth of Emily.

Shriek’d Emily, and howled Palamon,

And Theseus his sister took anon

Swooning, and bare her from the corpse away.

What helpeth it to tarry forth the day,

To telle how she wept both eve and morrow?

For in such cases women have such sorrow,

When that their husbands be from them y-go*,*gone

That for the more part they sorrow so,

Or elles fall into such malady,

That at the laste certainly they die.

Infinite be the sorrows and the tear

Of olde folk, and folk of tender years,

In all the town, for death of this Theban:

For him there weepeth bothe child and man.

So great a weeping was there none certain,

When Hector was y-brought, all fresh y-slain,

To Troy: alas! the pity that was there,

Scratching of cheeks, and rending eke of hair.

“Why wouldest thou be dead?” these women cry,

“And haddest gold enough, and Emily.”

No manner man might gladden Theseus,

Saving his olde father Egeus,

That knew this worlde’s transmutatioun,

As he had seen it changen up and down,

Joy after woe, and woe after gladness;

And shewed him example and likeness.

“Right as there died never man,” quoth he,

“That he ne liv’d in earth in some degree*, *rank,condition

Right so there lived never man,” he said,

“In all this world, that sometime be not died.

This world is but a throughfare full of woe,

And we be pilgrims, passing to and fro:

Death is an end of every worldly sore.”

And over all this said he yet much more

To this effect, full wisely to exhort

The people, that they should them recomfort.

Duke Theseus, with all his busy cure*, *care

*Casteth about*, where that the sepulture *deliberates*

Of good Arcite may best y-maked be,

And eke most honourable in his degree.

And at the last he took conclusion,

That there as first Arcite and Palamo

Hadde for love the battle them between,

That in that selve* grove, sweet and green, *self-same

There as he had his amorous desires,

His complaint, and for love his hote fires

He woulde make a fire*, in which th’ office *funera pyre

Of funeral he might all accomplice;

And *let anon command* to hack and hew*immediately gave orders*

The oakes old, and lay them *on a rew* *in a row*

In culpons*, well arrayed for to brenne**. *logs**burn

His officers with swifte feet they renne* *ru

And ride anon at his commandement.

And after this, Duke Theseus hath sent

After a bier, and it all oversprad

With cloth of gold, the richest that he had;

And of the same suit he clad Arcite.

Upon his handes were his gloves white,

Eke on his head a crown of laurel green,

And in his hand a sword full bright and keen.

He laid him *bare the visage* on the bier, *with face uncovered*

Therewith he wept, that pity was to hear.

And, for the people shoulde see him all,

When it was day he brought them to the hall,

That roareth of the crying and the soun’.

Then came this woful Theban, Palamon,

With sluttery beard, and ruggy ashy hairs,

In clothes black, y-dropped all with tears,

And (passing over weeping Emily)

The ruefullest of all the company.

And *inasmuch as* the service should be *in order that*

The more noble and rich in its degree,

Duke Theseus let forth three steedes bring,

That trapped were in steel all glittering.

And covered with the arms of Dan Arcite.

Upon these steedes, that were great and white,

There satte folk, of whom one bare his shield,

Another his spear in his handes held;

The thirde bare with him his bow Turkeis*, *Turkish.

Of brent* gold was the case** and the harness: *burnished **quiver

And ride forth *a pace* with sorrowful cheer** *at a foot pace*

Toward the grove, as ye shall after hear. **expression

The noblest of the Greekes that there were

Upon their shoulders carried the bier,

With slacke pace, and eyen red and wet,

Throughout the city, by the master* street, *main

That spread was all with black, and wondrous high

Right of the same is all the street y-wrie.* *covered

Upon the right hand went old Egeus,

And on the other side Duke Theseus,

With vessels in their hand of gold full fine

All full of honey, milk, and blood, and wine;

Eke Palamon, with a great company;

And after that came woful Emily,

With fire in hand, as was that time the guise*, *custo

To do th’ office of funeral service

High labour, and full great appareling* *preparation

Was at the service, and the pyre-making,

That with its greene top the heaven raught*, *reached

And twenty fathom broad its armes straught*: *stretched

This is to say, the boughes were so broad.

Of straw first there was laid many a load

But how the pyre was maked up on height,

And eke the names how the trees hight*, *were called

As oak, fir, birch, asp*, alder, holm, poplere, *aspe

Willow, elm, plane, ash, box, chestnut, lind*, laurere, *linden, lime

Maple, thorn, beech, hazel, yew, whipul tree,

How they were fell’d, shall not be told for me;

Nor how the goddes* rannen up and down *the forest deities

Disinherited of their habitatioun,

In which they wonned* had in rest and peace,*dwelt

Nymphes, Faunes, and Hamadryades;

Nor how the beastes and the birdes all

Fledden for feare, when the wood gan fall;

Nor how the ground aghast* was of the light,*terrifie

That was not wont to see the sunne bright;

Nor how the fire was couched* first with stre**,*laid **straw

And then with dry stickes cloven in three,

And then with greene wood and spicery*, *spices

And then with cloth of gold and with pierrie*,*precious stones

And garlands hanging with full many a flower

The myrrh, the incense with so sweet odour;

Nor how Arcita lay among all this,

Nor what richess about his body is;

Nor how that Emily, as was the guise*, *custom

*Put in the fire* of funeral service; *appplied the torch*

Nor how she swooned when she made the fire

Nor what she spake, nor what was her desire;

Nor what jewels men in the fire then cas

When that the fire was great and burned fast

Nor how some cast their shield, and some their spear,

And of their vestiments, which that they wear,

And cuppes full of wine, and milk, and blood,

Into the fire, that burnt as it were wood*; *ma

Nor how the Greekes with a huge rout* *procession

Three times riden all the fire about <89

Upon the left hand, with a loud shouting,

And thries with their speares clattering;

And thries how the ladies gan to cry;

Nor how that led was homeward Emily;

Nor how Arcite is burnt to ashes cold;

Nor how the lyke-wake* was y-hold *wake

All thilke* night, nor how the Greekes play *that

The wake-plays*, ne keep** I not to say: *funeral games **care

Who wrestled best naked, with oil anoint,

Nor who that bare him best *in no disjoint*. *in any contest*

I will not tell eke how they all are gone

Home to Athenes when the play is done;

But shortly to the point now will I wend*, *come

And maken of my longe tale an end.

By process and by length of certain years

All stinted* is the mourning and the tears *ended

Of Greekes, by one general assent.

Then seemed me there was a parlement

At Athens, upon certain points and cas*: *cases

Amonge the which points y-spoken was

To have with certain countries alliance,

And have of Thebans full obeisance.

For which this noble Theseus anon

Let* send after the gentle Palamon, *caused

Unwist* of him what was the cause and why: *unknown

But in his blacke clothes sorrowfully

He came at his commandment *on hie*; *in haste*

Then sente Theseus for Emily.

When they were set*, and hush'd was all the place*seated

And Theseus abided* had a space *waited

Ere any word came from his wise breast

*His eyen set he there as was his lest*, *he cast his eyes

And with a sad visage he sighed still, wherever he pleased*

And after that right thus he said his will.

"The firste mover of the cause abov

When he first made the faire chain of love

Great was th' effect, and high was his intent;

Well wist he why, and what thereof he meant:

For with that faire chain of love he bond* *bound

The fire, the air, the water, and the lon

In certain bondes, that they may not flee:<91

That same prince and mover eke," quoth he,

"Hath stablish'd, in this wretched world adown,

Certain of dayes and duration

To all that are engender'd in this place,

Over the whiche day they may not pace*, *pass

All may they yet their dayes well abridge.

There needeth no authority to allege

For it is proved by experience;

But that me list declare my sentence*. *opinion

Then may men by this order well discern,

That thilke* mover stable is and etern. *the same

Well may men know, but that it be a fool,

That every part deriveth from its whole.

For nature hath not ta'en its beginning

Of no *partie nor cantle* of a thing, *part or piece*

But of a thing that perfect is and stable,

Descending so, till it be corruptable.

And therefore of His wise purveyance* *providence

He hath so well beset* his ordinance,

That species of things and progressions

Shallen endure by successions,

And not etern, withouten any lie:

This mayst thou understand and see at eye.

Lo th' oak, that hath so long a nourishing

From the time that it 'ginneth first to spring

And hath so long a life, as ye may see,

Yet at the last y-wasted is the tree.

Consider eke, how that the harde stone

Under our feet, on which we tread and gon*, *walk

Yet wasteth, as it lieth by the way.

The broade river some time waxeth drey*. *dry

The greate townes see we wane and wend*. *go,disappear

Then may ye see that all things have an end.

Of man and woman see we well also, —

That needes in one of the termes two, —

That is to say, in youth or else in age,-

He must be dead, the king as shall a page;

Some in his bed, some in the deepe sea,

Some in the large field, as ye may see

There helpeth nought, all go that ilke* way: *same

Then may I say that alle thing must die.

What maketh this but Jupiter the king?

The which is prince, and cause of alle thing,

Converting all unto his proper will,

From which it is derived, sooth to tell

And hereagainst no creature alive,

Of no degree, availeth for to strive.

Then is it wisdom, as it thinketh me,

To make a virtue of necessity,

And take it well, that we may not eschew*, *escape

And namely what to us all is due.

And whoso grudgeth* ought, he doth folly, *murmurs at

And rebel is to him that all may gie*. *direct, guide

And certainly a man hath most honour

To dien in his excellence and flower

When he is sicker* of his goode name. *certain

Then hath he done his friend, nor him*, no shame*himself

And gladder ought his friend be of his death,

When with honour is yielded up his breath,

Than when his name *appalled is for age*; *decayed by old age*

For all forgotten is his vassalage*. *valour, service

Then is it best, as for a worthy fame,

To dien when a man is best of name.

The contrary of all this is wilfulness.

Why grudge we, why have we heaviness,

That good Arcite, of chivalry the flower

Departed is, with duty and honour,

Out of this foule prison of this life?

Why grudge here his cousin and his wife

Of his welfare, that loved him so well?

Can he them thank? nay, God wot, neverdeal*, —*not a jot

That both his soul and eke themselves offend*, *hurt

And yet they may their lustes* not amend**. *desires **control

What may I conclude of this longe serie*, *string of remarks

But after sorrow I rede* us to be merry, *counsel

And thanke Jupiter for all his grace?

And ere that we departe from this place,

I rede that we make of sorrows two

One perfect joye lasting evermo':

And look now where most sorrow is herein,

There will I first amenden and begin

"Sister," quoth he, "this is my full assent,

With all th' advice here of my parlement,

That gentle Palamon, your owen knight,

That serveth you with will, and heart, and might,

And ever hath, since first time ye him knew

That ye shall of your grace upon him rue*, *take pity

And take him for your husband and your lord:

Lend me your hand, for this is our accord.

*Let see* now of your womanly pity. *make display*

He is a kinge's brother's son, pardie*. *by God

And though he were a poore bachelere,

Since he hath served you so many a year,

And had for you so great adversity,

It muste be considered, *'lieveth me*. *believe me*

For gentle mercy *oweth to passen right*." *ought to be rightly

Then said he thus to Palamon the knight; directed*

"I trow there needeth little sermoning

To make you assente to this thing.

Come near, and take your lady by the hand."

Betwixte them was made anon the band,

That hight matrimony or marriage,

By all the counsel of the baronage.

And thus with alle bliss and melody

Hath Palamon y-wedded Emily.

And God, that all this wide world hath wrought,

Send him his love, that hath it dearly bought.

For now is Palamon in all his weal,

Living in bliss, in riches, and in heal*. *health

And Emily him loves so tenderly,

And he her serveth all so gentilly,

That never was there worde them between

Of jealousy, nor of none other teen*. *cause of anger

Thus endeth Palamon and Emily

And God save all this faire company.

NOTES:

1. For the plan and principal incidents of the"Knight's Tale," Chaucer was indebted to Boccaccio,who had himself borrowed from some prior poet,chronicler, or romancer. Boccaccio speaks of the story as "very ancient;" and, though that may not be proof of its antiquity, it certainly shows that he took it from an earlier writer. The "Tale" is more or less a paraphrase of Boccaccio's "Theseida;" but in some points the copy has a distinct dramatic superiority over the original. The "Theseida" contained ten thousand lines; Chaucer has condensed it into less than one-fourth of the number. The "Knight's Tale" is supposed to have been at first composed as a separate work; it is undetermined whether Chaucer took it direct from the Italian of Boccaccio, or from a French translation.

2. Highte: was called; from the Anglo-Saxon"hatan", to bid or call; German, "Heissen", "heisst".

3. Feminie: The "Royaume des Femmes" —kingdom of the Amazons. Gower, in the "Confessio Amantis," styles Penthesilea the "Queen of Feminie."

4. Wonnen: Won, conquered; German "gewonnen."

5. Ear: To plough; Latin, "arare." "I have abundant matter for discourse." The first, and half of the second,of Boccaccio's twelve books are disposed of in the few lines foregoing.

6. Waimenting: bewailing; German, "wehklagen"

7. Starf: died; German, "sterben," "starb".

8. The Minotaur: The monster, half-man and half-bull, which yearly devoured a tribute of fourteen Athenian youths and maidens, until it was slain by Theseus.

9. Pillers: pillagers, strippers; French, "pilleurs."

10. The donjon was originally the central tower or"keep" of feudal castles; it was employed to detain prisoners of importance. Hence the modern meaning of the word dungeon.

11. Saturn, in the old astrology, was a most unpropitious star to be born under.

12. To die in the pain was a proverbial expression in the French, used as an alternative to enforce a resolution or a promise. Edward III., according to Froissart, declared that he would either succeed in the war against France or die in the pain — "Ou il mourroit en la peine." It was the fashion in those times to swear oaths of friendship and brotherhood; and hence, though the fashion has long died out, we still speak of "sworn friends."

13. The saying of the old scholar Boethius, in his treatise "De Consolatione Philosophiae", which Chaucer translated, and from which he has freely borrowed in his poetry. The words are "Quis legem det amantibus? Major lex amor est sibi." ("Who can give law to lovers? Love is a law unto himself, and greater")

14. "Perithous" and "Theseus" must, for the metre,be pronounced as words of four and three syllables respectively — the vowels at the end not being diphthongated, but enunciated separately, as if the words were printed Pe-ri-tho-us, The-se-us. The same rule applies in such words as "creature" and"conscience," which are trisyllables.

15. Stound: moment, short space of time; from Anglo-Saxon, "stund;" akin to which is German,"Stunde," an hour.

16. Meinie: servants, or menials, &c., dwelling together in a house; from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning a crowd. Compare German, "Menge," multitude.

17. The pure fetters: the very fetters. The Greeks used "katharos", the Romans "purus," in the same sense.

18. In the medieval courts of Love, to which allusion is probably made forty lines before, in the word"parlement," or "parliament," questions like that here proposed were seriously discussed.

19. Gear: behaviour, fashion, dress; but, by another reading, the word is "gyre," and means fit, trance —from the Latin, "gyro," I turn round.

20. Before his head in his cell fantastic: in front of his head in his cell of fantasy. "The division of the brain into cells, according to the different sensitive faculties," says Mr Wright, "is very ancient, and is found depicted in mediaeval manuscripts." In a manuscript in the Harleian Library, it is stated,"Certum est in prora cerebri esse fantasiam, in medio rationem discretionis, in puppi memoriam" (it is certain that in the front of the brain is imagination,in the middle reason, in the back memory) — a classification not materially differing from that of modern phrenologists.

21. Dan: Lord; Latin, "Dominus;" Spanish, "Don."

22. The "caduceus."

23. Argus was employed by Juno to watch Io with his hundred eyes but he was sent to sleep by the flute of Mercury, who then cut off his head.

24. Next: nearest; German, "naechste".

25. Clary: hippocras, wine made with spices.

26. Warray: make war; French "guerroyer", to molest; hence, perhaps, "to worry."

27. All day meeten men at unset steven: every day men meet at unexpected time. "To set a steven," is to fix a time, make an appointment

28. Roundelay: song coming round again to the words with which it opened.

29. Now in the crop and now down in the breres:Now in the tree-top, now down in the briars. "Crop and root," top and bottom, is used to express the perfection or totality of anything.

30. Beknow: avow, acknowledge: German, "bekennen."

31. Shapen was my death erst than my shert: My death was decreed before my shirt ws shaped — that is, before any clothes were made for me, before my birth.

32. Regne: Queen; French, "Reine;" Venus is meant.The common reading, however, is "regne," reign or power.

33. Launde: plain. Compare modern English,"lawn," and French, "Landes" — flat, bare marshy tracts in the south of France.

34. Mister: manner, kind; German "muster," sample,model.

35. In listes: in the lists, prepared for such single combats between champion and accuser, &c.

36. Thilke: that, contracted from "the ilke," the same.

37. Mars the Red: referring to the ruddy colour of the planet, to which was doubtless due the transference to it of the name of the God of War. In his "Republic,"enumerating the seven planets, Cicero speaks of the propitious and beneficent light of Jupiter: "Tum(fulgor) rutilis horribilisque terris, quem Martium dicitis" — "Then the red glow, horrible to the nations,which you say to be that of Mars." Boccaccio opens the "Theseida" by an invocation to "rubicondo Marte."

38. Last: lace, leash, noose, snare: from Latin, "laceus."

39. "Round was the shape, in manner of compass,Full of degrees, the height of sixty pas" The building was a circle of steps or benches, as in the ancient amphitheatre. Either the building was sixty paces high; or, more probably, there were sixty of the steps or benches.

40. Yellow goldes: The sunflower, turnsol, or girasol,which turns with and seems to watch the sun, as a jealous lover his mistress.

41. Citheron: The Isle of Venus, Cythera, in the Aegean Sea; now called Cerigo: not, as Chaucer's form of the word might imply, Mount Cithaeron, in the south-west of Boetia, which was appropriated to other deities than Venus — to Jupiter, to Bacchus, and the Muses.

42. It need not be said that Chaucer pays slight heed to chronology in this passage, where the deeds of Turnus, the glory of King Solomon, and the fate of Croesus are made memories of the far past in the time of fabulous Theseus, the Minotaur-slayer.

43. Champartie: divided power or possession; an old law-term, signifying the maintenance of a person in a law suit on the condition of receiving part of the property in dispute, if recovered.

44. Citole: a kind of dulcimer.

45. The picke-purse: The plunderers that followed armies, and gave to war a horror all their own.

46. Shepen: stable; Anglo-Saxon, "scypen;" the word "sheppon" still survives in provincial parlance.

47. This line, perhaps, refers to the deed of Jael.

48. The shippes hoppesteres: The meaning is dubious. We may understand "the dancing ships," "the ships that hop" on the waves; "steres" being taken as the feminine adjectival termination: or we may,perhaps, read, with one of the manuscripts, "the ships upon the steres" — that is, even as they are being steered, or on the open sea — a more picturesque notion.

49. Freting: devouring; the Germans use "Fressen" to mean eating by animals, "essen" by men.

50. Julius: i.e. Julius Caesar

51. Puella and Rubeus were two figures in geomancy, representing two constellations-the one signifying Mars retrograde, the other Mars direct.

52. Calistope: or Callisto, daughter of Lycaon,seduced by Jupiter, turned into a bear by Diana, and placed afterwards, with her son, as the Great Bear among the stars.

53. Dane: Daphne, daughter of the river-god Peneus,in Thessaly; she was beloved by Apollo, but to avoid his pursuit, she was, at her own prayer, changed into a laurel-tree.

54. As the goddess of Light, or the goddess who brings to light, Diana — as well as Juno — was invoked by women in childbirth: so Horace, Odes iii. 22, says:—

"Montium custos nemorumque, Virgo,

Quae laborantes utero puellas

Ter vocata audis adimisque leto,

Diva triformis."

("Virgin custodian of hills and groves, three-formed goddess who hears and saves from death young women who call upon her thrice when in childbirth")

55. Every deal: in every part; "deal" corresponds to the German "Theil" a portion.

56. Sikerly: surely; German, "sicher;" Scotch,"sikkar," certain. When Robert Bruce had escaped from England to assume the Scottish crown, he stabbed Comyn before the altar at Dumfries; and,emerging from the church, was asked by his friend Kirkpatrick if he had slain the traitor. "I doubt it," said Bruce. "Doubt," cried Kirkpatrick. "I'll mak sikkar;"and he rushed into the church, and despatched Comyn with repeated thrusts of his dagger.

57. Kemped: combed; the word survives in "unkempt."

58. Alauns: greyhounds, mastiffs; from the Spanish word "Alano," signifying a mastiff.

59. Y-ment: mixed; German, "mengen," to mix.

60. Prime: The time of early prayers, between six and nine in the morning.

61. On the dais: see note 32 to the Prologue.

62. In her hour: in the hour of the day (two hours before daybreak) which after the astrological system that divided the twenty-four among the seven ruling planets, was under the influence of Venus

63. Adon: Adonis, a beautiful youth beloved of Venus, whose death by the tusk of a boar she deeply mourned.

64. The third hour unequal: In the third planetary hour; Palamon had gone forth in the hour of Venus,two hours before daybreak; the hour of Mercury intervened; the third hour was that of Luna, or Diana."Unequal" refers to the astrological division of day and night, whatever their duration, into twelve parts,which of necessity varied in length with the season.

65. Smoking: draping; hence the word "smock;" "smokless," in Chaucer, means naked.

66. Cerrial: of the species of oak which Pliny, in his"Natural History," calls "cerrus."

67. Stace of Thebes: Statius, the Roman who embodied in the twelve books of his "Thebaid" the ancient legends connected with the war of the seven against Thebes.

68. Diana was Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Hecate in hell; hence the direction of the eyes of her statue to "Pluto's dark region." Her statue was set up where three ways met, so that with a different face she looked down each of the three; from which she was called Trivia. See the quotation from Horace, note 54.

69. Las: net; the invisible toils in which Hephaestus caught Ares and the faithless Aphrodite, and exposed them to the "inextinguishable laughter" of Olympus.

70. Saturnus the cold: Here, as in "Mars the Red" we have the person of the deity endowed with the supposed quality of the planet called after his name.

71. The astrologers ascribed great power to Saturn,and predicted "much debate" under his ascendancy; hence it was "against his kind" to compose the heavenly strife.

72. Ayel: grandfather; French "Aieul".

73. Testers: Helmets; from the French "teste", "tete",head.

74. Parements: ornamental garb, French "parer" to deck.

75. Gniding: Rubbing, polishing; Anglo-Saxon"gnidan", to rub.

76. Nakeres: Drums, used in the cavalry; Boccaccio's word is "nachere".

77. Made an O: Ho! Ho! to command attention; like"oyez", the call for silence in law-courts or before proclamations.

78. Sarge: serge, a coarse woollen cloth

79. Heart-spoon: The concave part of the breast,where the lower ribs join the cartilago ensiformis.

80. To-hewen and to-shred: "to" before a verb implies extraordinary violence in the action denoted.

81. He through the thickest of the throng etc.. "He" in this passage refers impersonally to any of the combatants.

82. Galaphay: Galapha, in Mauritania.

83. Belmarie is supposed to have been a Moorish state in Africa; but "Palmyrie" has been suggested as the correct reading.

84. As I came never I cannot telle where: Where it went I cannot tell you, as I was not there. Tyrwhitt thinks that Chaucer is sneering at Boccacio's pompous account of the passage of Arcite's soul to heaven. Up to this point, the description of the death-scene is taken literally from the "Theseida."

85. With sluttery beard, and ruggy ashy hairs: With neglected beard, and rough hair strewn with ashes."Flotery" is the general reading; but "sluttery" seems to be more in keeping with the picture of abandonment to grief.

86. Master street: main street; so Froissart speaks of"le souverain carrefour."

87. Y-wrie: covered, hid; Anglo-Saxon, "wrigan," to veil.

88. Emily applied the funeral torch. The "guise"was, among the ancients, for the nearest relative of the deceased to do this, with averted face.

89. It was the custom for soldiers to march thrice around the funeral pile of an emperor or general; "on the left hand" is added, in reference to the belief that the left hand was propitious — the Roman augur turning his face southward, and so placing on his left hand the east, whence good omens came. With the Greeks, however, their augurs facing the north, it was just the contrary. The confusion, frequent in classical writers, is complicated here by the fact that Chaucer's description of the funeral of Arcite is taken from Statius' "Thebaid" — from a Roman's account of a Greek solemnity.

90. Lyke-wake: watching by the remains of the dead; from Anglo-Saxon, "lice," a corpse; German,"Leichnam."

91. Chaucer here borrows from Boethius, who says:"Hanc rerum seriem ligat, Terras ac pelagus regens,Et coelo imperitans, amor." (Love ties these things together: the earth, and the ruling sea, and the imperial heavens)

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