From Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", The Franklin's Tale, lines 553-558

From The Canterbury Tales:
The Franklin's Tale
lines 553-588: The wizard performs his conjuring: the black costal rocks are vanished

	This subtil clerk swich routhe had of this man,
	That nyght and day he spedde hym that he kan
555	To wayten a tyme of his conclusioun,
	This is to seye, to maken illusioun
	By swich an apparence or jogelrye -
	I ne kan no termes of astrologye -
	That she and every wight sholde wene and seye
560	That of Britaigne the rokkes were aweye,
	Or ellis they were sonken under grounde.
	So atte laste he hath his tyme yfounde
	To maken hise japes and his wrecchednesse
	Of swich a supersticious cursednesse.
565	Hise tables Tolletanes forth he brought,
	Ful wel corrected, ne ther lakked nought,
	Neither his collect ne hise expans yeeris,
	Ne his rootes, ne hise othere geeris,
	As been his centris and hise argumentz,
570	And hise proporcioneles convenientz
	For hise equacions in every thyng.
	And by his eighte speere in his wirkyng
	He knew ful wel how fer Alnath was shove
	Fro the heed of thilke fixe Aries above
575	That in the ninthe speere considered is.
	Ful subtilly he kalkuled al this.

	This subtle clerk such ruth had for this man,
	That night and day he sped about his plan,
555	To wait the proper time for his conclusion;
	That is to say, the time to make illusion,
	By such devices of his jugglery -
	I understand not this astrology -
	That she and everyone should think and say
560	That all the Breton rocks were gone away,
	Or else that they were sunken underground.
	So at the last the proper time he found
	To do his tricks and all his wretchedness
	Of such a superstitious wickedness.
565	For his Toletan Tables forth he brought,
	All well corrected, and he lacked in naught,
	The years collected nor the separate years,
	Nor his known roots, nor any other gears,
	As, say, his centres and his argument,
570	And his proportionals convenient
	In estimating truly his equations.
	The eighth sphere showed him in his calculations
	How far removed was Alnath, passing by,
	From head of that fixed Aries on high,
575	That in the ninth great sphere considered is;
	Right cleverly he calculated this.

	Whan he hadde founde his firste mansioun,
	He knew the remenaunt by proporcioun,
	And knew the arisyng of his moone weel,
580	And in whos face and terme, and everydeel;
	And knew ful weel the moones mansioun
	Acordaunt to his operacioun,
	And knew also hise othere observaunces
	For swiche illusiouns and swiche meschaunces
585	As hethen folk useden in thilke dayes;-
	For which no lenger maked he delayes,
	But thurgh his magik, for a wyke or tweye,
	It semed that alle the rokkes were aweye.

	When he the moon's first mansion thus had found,
	The rest proportionally he could expound;
	And knew the moon's arising-time right well,
580	And in what face and term, and all could tell;
	This gave him then the mansion of the moon-
	He worked it out accordingly right soon,
	And did the other necessary rites
	To cause illusions and such evil sights
585	As heathen peoples practised in those days.
	Therefore no longer suffered he delays,
	But all the rocks by magic and his lore
	Appeared to vanish for a week or more.