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Sequitur pars quarta.
Here follows the fourth part
610 | In this estaat ther passed been foure yeer |
Er she with childe was; but as God wolde, | |
A knave child she bar by this Walter, | |
Ful gracious and fair for to biholde. | |
And whan that folk it to his fader tolde, | |
615 | Nat oonly he, but al his contree, merye |
Was for this child, and God they thanke and herye. |
Whan it was two yeer old, and fro the brest | |
Departed of his norice, on a day | |
This markys caughte yet another lest | |
620 | To tempte his wyf yet ofter if he may. |
O, nedelees was she tempted in assay! | |
But wedded men ne knowe no mesure, | |
Whan that they fynde a pacient creature. |
"Wyf," quod this markys, "ye han herd er this | |
625 | My peple sikly berth oure mariage; |
And namely sith my sone yboren is, | |
Now is it worse than evere in al oure age. | |
The murmur sleeth myn herte and my corage, | |
For to myne eres comth the voys so smeerte, | |
630 | That it wel ny destroyed hath myn herte. |
Now sey they thus, `whan Walter is agon, | |
Thanne shal the blood of Janicle succede, | |
And been oure lord, for oother have we noon.' | |
Swiche wordes seith my peple, out of drede, | |
635 | Wel oughte I of swich murmur taken heede, |
For certeinly I drede swich sentence, | |
Though they nat pleyn speke in myn audience. |
I wolde lyve in pees, if that I myghte; | |
Wherfore I am disposed outrely | |
640 | As I his suster servede by nyghte, |
Right so thenke I to serve hym pryvely. | |
This warne I yow, that ye nat sodeynly | |
Out of yourself for no wo sholde outreye. | |
Beth pacient, and therof I yow preye." |
645 | "I have," quod she, "seyd thus, and evere shal, |
I wol no thyng, ne nyl no thyng, certayn, | |
But as yow list. Naught greveth me at al | |
Though that my doughter and my sone be slayn- | |
At youre comandement, this is to sayn. | |
650 | I have noght had no part of children tweyne |
But first siknesse, and after wo and peyne. |
Ye been oure lord, dooth with your owene thyng | |
Right as yow list, axeth no reed at me; | |
For as I lefte at hoom al my clothyng, | |
655 | Whan I first cam to yow, right so," quod she, |
"Lefte I my wyl and al my libertee, | |
And took youre clothyng, wherfore I yow preye, | |
Dooth youre plesaunce; I wol youre lust obeye. |
And certes, if I hadde prescience | |
660 | Youre wyl to knowe, er ye youre lust me tolde, |
I wolde it doon withouten necligence. | |
But now I woot your lust and what ye wolde, | |
Al youre plesance ferme and stable I holde, | |
For wiste I that my deeth wolde do yow ese, | |
665 | Right gladly wolde I dyen yow to plese. |
Deth may noght make no comparisoun | |
Unto youre love!" and whan this markys say | |
The constance of his wyf, he caste adoun | |
His eyen two, and wondreth that she may | |
670 | In pacience suffre al this array; |
And forth he goth with drery contenance, | |
But ot his herte it was ful greet plesance. |
This ugly sergeant, in the same wyse | |
That he hir doghter caughte, right so he | |
675 | Or worse, if men worse kan devyse, |
Hath hent hire sone, that ful was of beautee, | |
And evere in oon so pacient was she, | |
That she no chiere maade of hevynesse, | |
But kiste hir sone, and after gan it blesse. |
680 | Save this, she preyde hym, that if he myghte, |
Hir litel sone he wolde in erthe grave | |
His tendre lymes, delicaat to sighte, | |
Fro foweles and fro beestes for to save. | |
But she noon answere of hym myghte have, | |
685 | He wente his wey, as hym nothyng ne roghte, |
But to Boloigne he tendrely it broghte. |
This markys wondred evere lenger the moore | |
Upon hir pacience, and if that he | |
Ne hadde soothly knowen therbifoore | |
690 | That parfitly hir children loved she, |
He wolde have wend that of som subtiltee, | |
And of malice, or for crueel corage, | |
That she hadde suffred this with sad visage. |
But wel he knew that next hymself, certayn, | |
695 | She loved hir children best in every wyse; |
But now of wommen wolde I axen fayn, | |
If thise assayes myghte nat suffise, | |
What koude a sturdy housbonde moore devyse | |
To preeve hire wyfhod or hir stedefastnesse, | |
700 | And he continuynge evere in sturdinesse? |
But ther been folk of swich condicioun | |
That whan they have a certein purpos take | |
They kan nat stynte of hir entencioun, | |
But right as they were bounden to that stake | |
705 | They wol nat of that firste purpos slake. |
Right so this markys fulliche hath purposed | |
To tempte his wyf, as he was first disposed. |
He waiteth, if by word or contenance | |
That she to hym was changed of corage; | |
710 | But nevere koude he fynde variance, |
She was ay oon in herte and in visage. | |
And ay the forther that she was in age, | |
The moore trewe, if that it were possible- | |
She was to hym in love, and moore penyble. |
715 | For which it semed thus, that of hem two |
Ther nas but o wyl; for, as Walter leste, | |
The same lust was hir plesance also, | |
And, God be thanked, al fil for the beste. | |
She shewed wel, for no worldly unreste | |
720 | A wyf as of hirself no thing ne sholde |
Wille in effect, but as hir housbonde wolde. |
The sclaundre of Walter ofte and wyde spradde, | |
That of a crueel herte he wikkedly, | |
For he a povre womman wedded hadde, | |
725 | Hath mordred bothe his children prively.- |
Swich murmur was among hem comunly; | |
No wonder is, for to the peples ere | |
Ther cam no word, but that they mordred were. |
For which, wher as his peple therbifore | |
730 | Hadde loved hym wel, the sclaundre of his diffame |
Made hem, that they hym hatede therfore. | |
To been a mordrere is an hateful name; | |
But nathelees, for ernest ne for game | |
He of his crueel purpos nolde stente: | |
735 | To tempte his wyf was set al his entente. |
Whan that his doghter twelf yeer was of age, | |
He to the court of Rome in subtil wyse | |
Enformed of his wyl sente his message, | |
Comaundynge hem swiche bulles to devyse | |
740 | As to his crueel purpos may suffyse, |
How that the pope as for his peples reste | |
Bad hym to wedde another, if hym leste. |
I seye, he bad they sholde countrefete | |
The popes bulles, makynge mencioun | |
745 | That he hath leve his firste wyf to lete |
As by the popes dispensacioun, | |
To stynte rancour and dissencioun | |
Bitwixe his peple and hym, thus seyde the bulle, | |
The which they han publiced atte fulle. |
750 | The rude peple, as it no wonder is, |
Wenden ful wel that it hadde be right so; | |
But whan thise tidynges cam to Grisildis, | |
I deeme that hir herte was ful wo. | |
But she, ylike sad for everemo, | |
755 | Disposed was, this humble creature, |
The adversitee of Fortune al t'endure, |
Abidynge evere his lust and his plesance | |
To whom that she was yeven, herte and al, | |
As to hire verray worldly suffisance. | |
760 | But shortly, if this storie I tellen shal, |
This markys writen hath in special | |
A lettre, in which he sheweth his entente, | |
And secreely he to Boloigne it sente; |
To the Erl of Panyk, which that hadde tho | |
765 | Wedded his suster, preyde he specially |
To bryngen hoom agayn hise children two, | |
In honurable estaat al openly; | |
But o thyng he hym preyede outrely, | |
That he to no wight, though men wolde enquere, | |
770 | Sholde nat telle whos children that they were, |
But seye, the mayden sholde ywedded be | |
Unto the Markys of Saluce anon. | |
And as this Erl was preyed, so dide he; | |
For at day set he on his wey is goon | |
775 | Toward Saluce, and lordes many oon, |
In riche array this mayden for to gyde, | |
Hir yonge brother ridynge hir bisyde. |
Arrayed was toward hir mariage | |
This fresshe mayde, ful of gemmes cleere; | |
780 | Hir brother, which that seven yeer was of age, |
Arrayed eek ful fressh in his manere. | |
And thus in greet noblesse, and with glad cheere, | |
Toward Saluces shapynge hir journey, | |
Fro day to day they ryden in hir wey. |
Explicit quarta pars (Here ends the fourth part)
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