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Sequitur pars quinta.
Here follows the fifth part
785 | Among al this, after his wikke usage, |
This markys yet his wyf to tempte moore | |
To the outtreste preeve of hir corage, | |
Fully to han experience and loore, | |
If that she were as stidefast as bifoore, | |
790 | He on a day in open audience |
Ful boistously hath seyd hir this sentence. |
"Certes, Grisilde, I hadde ynogh plesance, | |
To han yow to my wyf for your goodnesse, | |
As for youre trouthe, and for your obeisance - | |
795 | Noght for youre lynage, ne for youre richesse; |
But now knowe I, in verray soothfastnesse, | |
That in greet lordshipe, if I wel avyse, | |
Ther is greet servitute in sondry wyse. |
I may nat doon as every plowman may; | |
800 | My peple me constreyneth for to take |
Another wyf, and crien day by day, | |
And eek the pope, rancour for to slake, | |
Consenteth it, that dar I undertake - | |
And trewely thus muche I wol yow seye, | |
805 | My newe wyf is comynge by the weye. |
Be strong of herte, and voyde anon hir place, | |
And thilke dower that ye broghten me | |
Taak it agayn, I graunte it of my grace. | |
Retourneth to youre fadres hous," quod he; | |
810 | "No man may alwey han prosperitee. |
With evene herte I rede yow t'endure | |
This strook of Fortune or of aventure." |
And she answerde agayn in pacience, | |
"My lord," quod she, "I woot and wiste alway | |
815 | How that bitwixen youre magnificence |
And my poverte, no wight kan ne may | |
Maken comparisoun; it is no nay. | |
I ne heeld me nevere digne in no manere | |
To be your wyf, no, ne youre chamberere. |
820 | And in this hous ther ye me lady maade - |
The heighe God take I for my witnesse, | |
And also wysly he my soule glaade - | |
I nevere heeld me lady ne maistresse, | |
But humble servant to youre worthynesse, | |
825 | And evere shal whil that my lyf may dure |
Aboven every worldly creature. |
That ye so longe of youre benignitee | |
Han holden me in honour and nobleye, | |
Wher as I was noght worthy for to bee, | |
830 | That thonke I God and yow, to whom I preye |
Foryelde it yow; ther is namoore to seye. | |
Unto my fader gladly wol I wende, | |
And with hym dwelle unto my lyves ende. |
Ther I was fostred of a child ful smal, | |
835 | Til I be deed, my lyf ther wol I lede, |
A wydwe clene in body, herte, and al, | |
For sith I yaf to yow my maydenhede | |
And am youre trewe wyf, it is no drede, | |
God shilde swich a lordes wyf to take | |
840 | Another man, to housbonde or to make. |
And of youre newe wyf, God of his grace | |
So graunte yow wele and prosperitee, | |
For I wol gladly yelden hir my place | |
In which that I was blisful wont to bee. | |
845 | For sith it liketh yow my lord," quod shee, |
"That whilom weren al myn hertes reste, | |
That I shal goon, I wol goon whan yow leste. |
But ther as ye me profre swich dowaire | |
As I first broghte, it is wel in my mynde | |
850 | It were my wrecched clothes, no thyng faire, |
The whiche to me were hard now for to fynde. | |
O goode God! how gentil and how kynde | |
Ye semed by youre speche and youre visage | |
The day that maked was oure mariage! |
855 | But sooth is seyd - algate I fynde it trewe, |
For in effect it preeved is on me - | |
Love is noght oold, as whan that it is newe, | |
But certes, lord, for noon adversitee, | |
To dyen in the cas it shal nat bee | |
860 | That evere in word or werk I shal repente |
That I yow yaf myn herte in hool entente. |
My lord, ye woot that in my fadres place | |
Ye dide me streepe out of my povre weede, | |
And richely me cladden of youre grace. | |
865 | To yow broghte I noght elles, out of drede, |
But feith, and nakednesse, and maydenhede. | |
And heere agayn my clothyng I restoore, | |
And eek my weddyng ryng for everemore. |
The remenant of youre jueles redy be | |
870 | In-with youre chambre, dar I saufly sayn. |
Naked out of my fadres hous," quod she, | |
"I cam, and naked moot I turne agayn. | |
Al your plesance wol I folwen fayn, | |
But yet I hope it be nat your entente | |
875 | That I smoklees out of your paleys wente. |
Ye koude nat doon so dishonest a thyng, | |
That thilke wombe in which your children leye, | |
Sholde biforn the peple in my walkyng | |
Be seyn al bare; wherfore I yow preye, | |
880 | Lat me nat lyk a worm go by the weye! |
Remembre yow, myn owene lord so deere, | |
I was your wyf, though I unworthy weere. |
Wherfore, in gerdoun of my maydenhede | |
Which that I broghte, and noght agayn I bere, | |
885 | As voucheth sauf to yeve me to my meede |
But swich a smok as I was wont to were, | |
That I therwith may wrye the wombe of here | |
That was your wyf. And heer take I my leeve | |
Of yow, myn owene lord, lest I yow greve." |
890 | "The smok," quod he, "that thou hast on thy bak, |
Lat it be stille, and bere it forth with thee." | |
But wel unnethes thilke word he spak, | |
But wente his wey for routhe and for pitee. | |
Biforn the folk hirselven strepeth she, | |
895 | And in hir smok, with heed and foot al bare, |
Toward hir fader hous forth is she fare. |
The folk hir folwe, wepynge in hir weye, | |
And Fortune ay they cursen, as they goon; | |
But she fro wepyng kepte hir eyen dreye, | |
900 | Ne in this tyme word ne spak she noon. |
Hir fader, that this tidynge herde anoon, | |
Curseth the day and tyme that nature | |
Shoop hym to been a lyves creature. |
For out of doute this olde povre man | |
905 | Was evere in suspect of hir mariage, |
For evere he demed, sith that it bigan, | |
That whan the lord fulfild hadde his corage, | |
Hym wolde thynke it were a disparage | |
To his estaat, so lowe for talighte, | |
910 | And voyden hir as soone as ever he myghte. |
Agayns his doghter hastily goth he, | |
For he by noyse of folk knew hir comynge, | |
And with hir olde coote, as it myghte be, | |
He covered hir, ful sorwefully wepynge, | |
915 | But on hir body myghte he it nat brynge. |
For rude was the clooth, and moore of age | |
By dayes fele than at hir mariage. |
Thus with hir fader for a certeyn space | |
Dwelleth this flour of wyfly pacience, | |
920 | That neither by hir wordes ne hir face, |
Biforn the folk, ne eek in hir absence, | |
Ne shewed she that hir was doon offence, | |
Ne of hir heighe estaat no remembraunce | |
Ne hadde she, as by hir contenaunce. |
925 | No wonder is, for in hir grete estaat |
Hire goost was evere in pleyn humylitee. | |
No tendre mouth, noon herte delicaat, | |
No pompe, no semblant of roialtee, | |
But ful of pacient benyngnytee, | |
930 | Discreet and pridelees, ay honurable, |
And to hire housbonde evere meke and stable. |
Men speke of Job, and moost for his humblesse, | |
As clerkes whan hem list konne wel endite, | |
Namely of men; but as in soothfastnesse, | |
935 | Though clerkes preise wommen but a lite, |
Ther kan no man in humblesse hym acquite, | |
As womman kan, ne kan been half so trewe | |
As wommen been, but it be falle of newe. |
Next: The Clerk's Tale, Sixth Part (ll. 939-1218)
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