麒麟小说

THE PARSONS TALE（第3页）

andifyevouchesafe，anonishall

beginuponmytale，forwhichipray

tellyouradvice，*icannobettersay。*opinion

butnathelessthismeditation

iputitayeundercorrection

ofclerkes，*foriamnottextuel;*scholars

itakebutthesentence，*trustmewell。*meaning，sense

thereforeimakeaprotestation，

thatiwillstandetocorrection。"

uponthiswordwehaveassentedsoon;

for，asusseemed，itwas*fortodon，**athingworthdoing*

toendeninsomevirtuoussentence，**discourse

andfortogivehimspaceandaudience;

andbadeourhostheshouldetohimsay

thatallewetotellhistalehimpray。

ourhostehad。thewordesforusall:

"sirpriest，"quothhe，"nowfaireyoubefall;

saywhatyoulist，andweshallgladlyhear。"

andwiththatwordhesaidinthismannere;

"telle，"quothhe，"yourmeditatioun，

buthastenyou，thesunnewilladown。

befructuous，*andthatinlittlespace;*fruitful;profitabl

andtodowellgodsendeyouhisgrace。"

rom，ram，ruf:acontemptuousreferencetothealliterativepoetrywhichwasatthattimeverypopular，inpreferenceeven，itwouldseem，torhyme，inthenorthernpartsofthecountry，wherethelanguagewasmuchrebarbarousandunpolishedthaninthesouth。

perfectgloriouspilgrimage:thewordisusedheretosignifytheshrine，ordestination，towhichpilgrimageismade。