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From The Canterbury Tales:
The Squire's Tale

Incipit pars tercia
(Here begins the third part)

      Appollo whirleth up his chaar so hye
Til that the god Mercurius hous, the slye ----

Heere folwen the wordes of the Frankelyn to the Squier,
and the wordes of the hoost to the Frankelyn.

      "In feith, Squier, thow hast thee wel yquit,
And gentilly I preise wel thy wit,"
675Quod the Frankeleyn, "considerynge thy yowthe,
So feelyngly thou spekest, sire, I allow the;
As to my doom, ther is noon that is heere
Of eloquence that shal be thy peere,
If that thou lyve; God yeve thee good chaunce,
680And in vertu sende thee continuance!
For of thy speche I have greet deyntee;
I have a sone, and, by the Trinitee,
I hadde levere than twenty pound worth lond,
Though it right now were fallen in myn hond,
685He were a man of swich discrecioun
As that ye been! Fy on possessioun
But if a man be vertuous withal!
I have my sone snybbed, and yet shal,
For he to vertu listneth nat entende,
690But for to pleye at dees, and to despende
And lese al that he hath, is his usage.
And he hath levere talken with a page
Than to comune with any gentil wight
Where he myghte lerne gentillesse aright."
695      "Straw for youre gentillesse," quod our Hoost,
"What, Frankeleyn, pardee! sire, wel thou woost
That ech of yow moot tellen atte leste
A tale or two, or breken his biheste."
      "That knowe I wel, sire," quod the Frankeleyn,
700"I prey yow, haveth me nat in desdeyn
Though to this man I speke a word or two."
      "Telle on thy tale, withouten wordes mo."
      "Gladly, sire Hoost," quod he, "I wole obeye
Unto your wyl; now herkneth what I seye.
705I wol yow nat contrarien in no wyse
As fer as that my wittes wol suffyse;
I prey to God that it may plesen yow,
Thanne woot I wel that it is good ynow."


Next:
The Franklin's Prologue (ll. 1-20)
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