And eek of love-likynge."

Thay fet him first the swete wyn,
And made him eek in a maselyn
A real spicerye,

Of gyngebred that was so fyn,
And licorys, and eek comyn,
With sugre that is trye.
He dede next his white leere

Of cloth of lake whyt and cleere
A brech and eek a schert;
And next his schert an aketoun,
And over that an haberjoun,

For persying of his hert;
And over that a fyn hauberk,
Was al i-wrought of Jewes werk,

Ful strong it was of plate;
And over that his cote-armour,
As whyt as is a lily flour,

In which he wold debate.
His scheld was al of gold so red,
And therinne was a bores heed,

A charbocle by his syde;

15270

15261-love likynge. The Lansd. MS. reads, with Tyrwhitt, lovelongyng.

15263. Tyrwhitt reads this and the next line,

And mede eke in a maselin,

And real spicerie.

But I prefer much the reading of Harl. MS., as mead was not a very romantic liquor to be served to a knight adventurous.

15272-Jewes werk. I have not met with any passage in medieval writers explaining the nature of this Jewes werk, but I am not quite prepared to think with Tyrwhitt that a Jew means here a magician.

15286-rowel boon. This material, whatever it may be, is mentioned elsewhere as that of which rich saddles were made; as in the early ballad of Thomas and the Elf queen, speaking of the latter,

15289-fine. 15296-a fyt.

Hir sadille was of reuylle bone,
Semely was that sight to se,
Stifly sette with precious stone,
Compaste aboute with crapoté.

I have added this word from the Lansd. MS.

This was a common English term for the different

parts or divisions of a metrical romance.

And herkneth to my spelle :
Of batail and of chivalry,

Of ladys love and drewery,

Anoon I wol yow telle.

Men speken of romauns of pris,
Of Horn child, and of Ypotis,
Of Bevys, and sir Gy,

Of sir Libeaux, and Pleyndamour,
But sir Thopas bereth the flour

Of real chivalry.

His goode steede he bistrood,
And forth upon his way he glood,

As spark out of the bronde;
Upon his crest he bar a tour,
And therin stiked a lily flour,

God schilde his corps fro schonde.
And for he was a knyght auntrous,
He nolde slepen in noon hous,

But liggen in his hood.

His brighte helm was his wonger,
And by him baytith his destrer

Of herbes fyne and goode.

Him self drank water of the welle,
As dede the knight sir Percivelle

15310

15320

15305-romaunces of pris. Nearly all the romances here enumerated are extant. The romance of Horn is preserved in Anglo-Norman and in English; the latter version is printed in Ritson's Metrical Romances. Ypotis is found in a Cottonian MS. (Calig. A. II) and in the Vernon MS. at Oxford. Bevis of Hampton and Guy of Warwick are too well known to need any explanation. Sir Libeaux, or Libeaus Desconus (the fair unknown), is printed also in Ritson's Metrical Romances.

15324-sir Percivelle. I have adopted Tyrwhitt's reading instead of that of the Harl. MS., of Pertinelle, because I remember no romance or

So worthy under wede,

[Til on a day]

66

PROLOGE TO MELIBEUS.

"No mor of this, for Goddes dignité!"
Quod our hoste," for thou makest me
So wery of thy verrey lewednesse,
That al so wisly God my soule blesse,
Myn eeres aken for thy drasty speche.
Now such a rym the devel I byteche!

This may wel be rym dogerel," quoth he.

Why so?" quod I, "why wilt thou lette me
More of my tale than another man,

Syn that it is the beste rym that I can?”
"By God!" quod he, "for pleinly at o word,
Thy drasty rymyng is not worth a tord:
Thou dost nought elles but despendist tyme.
Sir, at o word, thou schalt no lenger ryme.

15330

15340

tale of a knight of Pertinelle, and the romance of Percival is well known. Tyrwhitt observes, "The romance of Perceval le Galois, or de Galis, was composed in octosyllable French verse by Chrestien de Troyes, one of the oldest and best French romancers, before the year 1191. Fauchet, 1. ii, c. x. It consisted of above sixty thousand verses (Bibl. des Rom. T. 11, p. 250), so that it would be some trouble to find the fact which is, probably, here alluded to. The romance, under the same title, in French prose, printed at Paris, 1530, fol. can only be an abridgement, I suppose, of the original poem."

15325-So worthy under wede. "This phrase occurs repeatedly in the romance of Emaré.

fol. 70. b.

74. b.

Than sayde that worthy unther wede.

The childe was worthy unther wede,
And sate upon a nobyl stede.

See also fol. 71, b. 73, a."-Tyrwhitt.

15326-Til on a day. These words are not in the Harl. MS.

Y

Let se wher thou canst tellen ought in gest,
Or telle in prose som what atte lest,

In which ther be som merthe or doctrine."

66

Gladly," quod I, "by Goddes swete pyne,
I wol yow telle a litel thing in prose,

That oughte like yow,
as I
suppose,
Or elles certes ye be to daungerous.
It is a moral tale vertuous,

Al be it told som tyme in sondry wise
Of sondry folk, as I schal yow devyse.
As thus, ye woot that every evaungelist,
That telleth us the peyne of Jhesu Crist,
Ne saith not alle thing as his felawes doth:
But natheles here sentence is al soth,
And alle accorden as in here sentence,

Al be ther in her tellyng difference.

For some of hem sayn more, and some lesse,
Whan thay his pitous passioun expresse;

I mene of Mark and Mathew, Luk and Johan,
But douteles her sentence is al oon.
Therfor, lordynges alle, I yow biseche,
If yow think that I varye as in my speche,
As thus, though that I telle som what more
Of proverbes, than I have herd bifore
Comprehended in this litel tretys here,"
To enforcen with theffect of my matiere,
And though I not the same wordes say
As
ye have herd, yit to yow alle I pray,

15364-I have. The Lansd. MS. and Tyrwhitt read, ye.

15350

15360