Are consonant to. ↩
Foolish, simple. ↩
Greatly afraid lest he should die. ↩
Both privately and in public. ↩
In no other way, on no other terms. ↩
Do not think alike. ↩
Mien. ↩
First of all. “And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one Adah, and the name of the other Zillah” (Gen. 4:19). ↩
Sophistries, beguilements. ↩
Shoe; it seems to have been used in France, of a sabot, or wooden shoe. The reader cannot fail to recall the same illustration in John 1:27, where the Baptist says of Christ: “He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me; whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” ↩
Combed, studied. ↩
With perfect precision. ↩
Pained. ↩
Little. ↩
So far did this go. ↩
Fell; allowed. ↩
So dear, or dearer. ↩
Depart, separate. ↩
Whether. ↩
Stay; another form is bleve; from Anglo-Saxon, belitan, to remain. Compare German, bleiben. ↩
Witness, pledge. ↩
Better. ↩
This sentiment, as well as the illustration of the bird which follows, is taken from the third book of Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae, metrum 2. It has thus been rendered in Chaucer’s translation: “All things seek aye to their proper course, and all things rejoice on their returning again to their nature.” ↩
Men, by their own—their very—nature, are fond of novelty, and prone to inconstancy. ↩
Immediately on his door being opened. ↩
Lost, undone. ↩
Again. ↩
Lap. ↩
Gladden. ↩
Cage. ↩
Blue velvets. Blue was the colour of truth, as green was that of inconstancy. In John Stowe’s additions to Chaucer’s works, printed in 1561, there is “A balade whiche Chaucer made against women inconstaunt,” of which the refrain is, “In stead of blue, thus may ye wear all green.” ↩
Supposed to be the titmouse. ↩
Again, presently. ↩
Had he not. ↩
Unless we suppose this to be a namesake of the Camballo who was Canace’s brother—which is not at all probable—we must agree with Tyrwhitt that there is a mistake here; which no doubt Chaucer would have rectified, if the tale had not been “left half-told,” One manuscript reads “Caballo;” and though not much authority need be given to a difference that may be due to mere omission of the mark of contraction over the “a,” there is enough in the text to show that another person than the king’s younger son is intended. The Squire promises to tell the adventures that befell each member of Cambuscan’s family; and in thorough consistency with this plan, and with the canons of chivalric story, would be “the marriage of Canace to some knight who was first obliged to fight for her with her two brethren; a method of courtship,” adds Tyrwhitt, “very consonant to the spirit of ancient chivalry.” ↩
In the older editions, the verses here given as the prologue were prefixed to the “Merchant’s Tale,” and put into his mouth. Tyrwhitt was abundantly justified, by the internal evidence afforded by the lines themselves, in transferring them to their present place. ↩
Allow, approve. ↩
So far as my judgement goes. ↩
Value, esteem. ↩
It were dearer to me; I would rather. ↩
Unless. ↩
Rebuked; “snubbed.” ↩
Apply himself. ↩
Knowest. ↩
Promise. ↩
The “Breton Lays” were an important and curious element in the literature of the Middle Ages; they were originally composed in the Armorican language, and the chief collection of them extant was translated into French verse by a poetess calling herself “Marie,” about the middle of the thirteenth century. But though this collection was the most famous, and had doubtless been read by Chaucer, there were other British or Breton lays, and from one of those the “Franklin’s Tale” is taken. Boccaccio has dealt with the same story in the Decameron and the Philocopo, altering the circumstances to suit the removal of its scene to a southern clime. ↩
Rude, unlearned. ↩
Doubt. ↩
Strange. ↩
Devoted himself, strove. ↩
Hardly, for fear that she would not entertain his suit. ↩
Especially. ↩
Suffering, distress. ↩
Show. ↩
Would to God there may never be war or strife between us, through my fault. ↩
Burst. ↩
Perhaps the true reading is “beteth”—prepares, makes ready, his wings for flight. ↩
By nature. ↩
Slave. ↩
Enjoys the highest advantages of all. ↩
Prosper. ↩
The influence of the planets. ↩
Revenged. ↩
According to. ↩
Is capable of. ↩
Promised. ↩
Surely. ↩
On the west coast of Brittany, between Brest and L’Orient. The name is composed of two British words, pen, mountain, and mark, region; it therefore means the mountainous country ↩
Delight.
