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CHAUCER'S TALE OF SIR THOPAS.
THE
PROLOGUE.<1>
WHEN
said was this miracle, every man
As sober* was, that wonder was to see, *serious
Till that our Host to japen* he began, *talk lightly
And then *at erst* he looked upon me, *for the first time*
And saide thus; "What man art thou?" quoth he;
"Thou lookest as thou wouldest find an hare,
For ever on the ground I see thee stare.
"Approache
near, and look up merrily.
Now ware you, Sirs, and let this man have place.
He in the waist is shapen as well as I; <2>
This were a puppet in an arm t'embrace
For any woman small and fair of face.
He seemeth elvish* by his countenance, *surly, morose
For unto no wight doth he dalliance.
"Say
now somewhat, since other folk have said;
Tell us a tale of mirth, and that anon."
"Hoste," quoth I, "be not evil apaid,* *dissatisfied
For other tale certes can* I none, *know
Eut of a rhyme I learned yore* agone." *long
"Yea, that is good," quoth he; "now shall we hear
Some dainty thing, me thinketh by thy cheer."* *expression, mien
_______________
Notes to the Prologue:
1.
This prologue is interesting, for the picture which it gives of Chaucer
himself; riding apart from and indifferent to the rest of the pilgrims,
with eyes fixed on the ground, and an "elvish", morose, or rather
self-absorbed air; portly, if not actually stout, in body; and evidently
a man out of the common, as the closing words of the Host imply.
2.
Referring to the poet's corpulency.
_______________
THE
TALE <1>
The
First Fit* *part
Listen, lordings, in good intent,
And I will tell you verrament* *truly
Of mirth and of solas,* *delight, solace
All of a knight was fair and gent,* *gentle
In battle and in tournament,
His name was Sir Thopas.
Y-born
he was in far country,
In Flanders, all beyond the sea,
At Popering <2> in the place;
His father was a man full free,
And lord he was of that country,
As it was Godde's grace. <3>
Sir
Thopas was a doughty swain,
White was his face as paindemain, <4>
His lippes red as rose.
His rode* is like scarlet in grain, *complexion
And I you tell in good certain
He had a seemly nose.
His
hair, his beard, was like saffroun,
That to his girdle reach'd adown,
His shoes of cordewane:<5>
Of Bruges were his hosen brown;
His robe was of ciclatoun,<6>
That coste many a jane.<7>
He
coulde hunt at the wild deer,
And ride on hawking *for rivere* *by the river*
With gray goshawk on hand: <8>
Thereto he was a good archere,
Of wrestling was there none his peer,
Where any ram <9> should stand.
Full
many a maiden bright in bow'r
They mourned for him par amour,
When them were better sleep;
But he was chaste, and no lechour,
And sweet as is the bramble flow'r
That beareth the red heep.* *hip
And so
it fell upon a day,
For sooth as I you telle may,
Sir Thopas would out ride;
He worth* upon his steede gray, *mounted
And in his hand a launcegay,* *spear <10>
A long sword by his side.
He
pricked through a fair forest,
Wherein is many a wilde beast,
Yea, bothe buck and hare;
And as he pricked north and east,
I tell it you, him had almest *almost
Betid* a sorry care. *befallen
There
sprange herbes great and small,
The liquorice and the setewall,* *valerian
And many a clove-gilofre, <12>
And nutemeg to put in ale,
Whether it be moist* or stale, *new
Or for to lay in coffer.
The
birdes sang, it is no nay,
The sperhawk* and the popinjay,** *sparrowhawk **parrot <13>
That joy it was to hear;
The throstle-cock made eke his lay,
The woode-dove upon the spray
She sang full loud and clear.
Sir
Thopas fell in love-longing
All when he heard the throstle sing,
And *prick'd as he were wood;* *rode as if he
His faire steed in his pricking were mad*
So sweated, that men might him wring,
His sides were all blood.
Sir
Thopas eke so weary was
For pricking on the softe grass,
So fierce was his corage,* *inclination, spirit
That down he laid him in that place,
To make his steed some solace,
And gave him good forage.
"Ah,
Saint Mary, ben'dicite,
What aileth thilke* love at me *this
To binde me so sore?
Me dreamed all this night, pardie,
An elf-queen shall my leman* be, *mistress
And sleep under my gore.* *shirt
An
elf-queen will I love, y-wis,* *assuredly
For in this world no woman is
Worthy to be my make* *mate
In town;
All other women I forsake,
And to an elf-queen I me take
By dale and eke by down." <14>
Into
his saddle he clomb anon,
And pricked over stile and stone
An elf-queen for to spy,
Till he so long had ridden and gone,
That he found in a privy wonne* *haunt
The country of Faery,
So wild;
For in that country was there none
That to him durste ride or gon,
Neither wife nor child.
Till
that there came a great giaunt,
His name was Sir Oliphaunt,<15>
A perilous man of deed;
He saide, "Child,* by Termagaunt, <16> *young man
*But if* thou prick out of mine haunt, *unless
Anon I slay thy steed
With mace.
Here is the Queen of Faery,
With harp, and pipe, and symphony,
Dwelling in this place."
The
Child said, "All so may I the,* *thrive
To-morrow will I meete thee,
When I have mine armor;
And yet I hope, *par ma fay,* *by my faith*
That thou shalt with this launcegay
Abyen* it full sore; *suffer for
Thy maw* *belly
Shall I pierce, if I may,
Ere it be fully prime of day,
For here thou shalt be slaw."* *slain
Sir
Thopas drew aback full fast;
This giant at him stones cast
Out of a fell staff sling:
But fair escaped Child Thopas,
And all it was through Godde's grace,
And through his fair bearing. <17>
Yet
listen, lordings, to my tale,
Merrier than the nightingale,
For now I will you rown,* *whisper
How Sir Thopas, with sides smale,* *small <18>
Pricking over hill and dale,
Is come again to town.
His
merry men commanded he
To make him both game and glee;
For needes must he fight
With a giant with heades three,
For paramour and jollity
Of one that shone full bright.
"*Do
come,*" he saide, "my minstrales *summon*
And gestours* for to telle tales. *story-tellers
Anon in mine arming,
Of romances that be royales, <19>
Of popes and of cardinales,
And eke of love-longing."
They
fetch'd him first the sweete wine,
And mead eke in a maseline,* *drinking-bowl
And royal spicery; of maple wood <20>
Of ginger-bread that was full fine,
And liquorice and eke cumin,
With sugar that is trie.* *refined
He
didde,* next his white lere,** *put on **skin
Of cloth of lake* fine and clear, *fine linen
A breech and eke a shirt;
And next his shirt an haketon,* *cassock
And over that an habergeon,* *coat of mail
For piercing of his heart;
And
over that a fine hauberk,* *plate-armour
Was all y-wrought of Jewes'* werk, *magicians'
Full strong it was of plate;
And over that his coat-armour,* *knight's surcoat
As white as is the lily flow'r, <21>
In which he would debate.* *fight
His
shield was all of gold so red
And therein was a boare's head,
A charboucle* beside; *carbuncle <22>
And there he swore on ale and bread,
How that the giant should be dead,
Betide whatso betide.
His
jambeaux* were of cuirbouly, <23> *boots
His sworde's sheath of ivory,
His helm of latoun* bright, *brass
His saddle was of rewel <24> bone,
His bridle as the sunne shone,
Or as the moonelight.
His
speare was of fine cypress,
That bodeth war, and nothing peace;
The head full sharp y-ground.
His steede was all dapple gray,
It went an amble in the way
Full softely and round
In land.
Lo,
Lordes mine, here is a fytt;
If ye will any more of it,
To tell it will I fand.* *try
The
Second Fit
Now
hold your mouth for charity,
Bothe knight and lady free,
And hearken to my spell;* *tale <25>
Of battle and of chivalry,
Of ladies' love and druerie,* *gallantry
Anon I will you tell.
Men
speak of romances of price* * worth, esteem
Of Horn Child, and of Ipotis,
Of Bevis, and Sir Guy, <26>
Of Sir Libeux, <27> and Pleindamour,
But Sir Thopas, he bears the flow'r
Of royal chivalry.
His
goode steed he all bestrode,
And forth upon his way he glode,* *shone
As sparkle out of brand;* *torch
Upon his crest he bare a tow'r,
And therein stick'd a lily flow'r; <28>
God shield his corse* from shand!** *body **harm
And,
for he was a knight auntrous,* *adventurous
He woulde sleepen in none house,
But liggen* in his hood, *lie
His brighte helm was his wanger,* *pillow <29>
And by him baited* his destrer** *fed **horse <30>
Of herbes fine and good.
Himself drank water of the well,
As did the knight Sir Percivel, <31>
So worthy under weed;
Till on a day - . . .
_______________
Notes to the Tale:
1.
"The Rhyme of Sir Thopas," as it is generally called, is introduced by
Chaucer as a satire on the dull, pompous, and prolix metrical romances
then in vogue. It is full of phrases taken from the popular rhymesters
in the vein which he holds up to ridicule; if, indeed — though of that
there is no evidence — it be not actually part of an old romance which
Chaucer selected and reproduced to point his assault on the prevailing
taste in literature. Transcriber's note: The Tale is full of
incongruities of every kind, which Purves does not refer to; I point
some of them out in the notes which follow - marked TN.
2.
Poppering, or Poppeling, a parish in the marches of Calais of which the
famous antiquary Leland was once Rector. TN: The inhabitants of Popering
had a reputation for stupidity.
3. TN:
The lord of Popering was the abbot of the local monastery - who could,
of course, have no legitimate children.
4.
Paindemain: Either "pain de matin," morning bread, or "pain de Maine,"
because it was made best in that province; a kind of fine white bread.
5.
Cordewane: Cordovan; fine Spanish leather, so called from the name of
the city where it was prepared
6.
Ciclatoun: A rich Oriental stuff of silk and gold, of which was made the
circular robe of state called a "ciclaton," from the Latin, "cyclas."
The word is French.
7.
Jane: a Genoese coin, of small value; in our old statutes called "gallihalpens,"
or galley half-pence.
8. TN:
In Mediaeval falconry the goshawk was not regarded as a fit bird for a
knight. It was the yeoman's bird.
9. A
ram was the usual prize of wrestling contests. TN: Wrestling and archery
were sports of the common people, not knightly accomplishments.
10.
Launcegay: spear; "azagay" is the name of a Moorish weapon, and the
identity of termination is singular.
12.
Clove-gilofre: clove-gilliflower; "Caryophyllus hortensis."
13.
TN: The sparrowhawk and parrot can only squawk unpleasantly.
14.
TN: The sudden and pointless changes in the stanza form are of course
part of Chaucer's parody.
15.
Sir Oliphaunt: literally, "Sir Elephant;" Sir John Mandeville calls
those animals "Olyfauntes."
16.
Termagaunt: A pagan or Saracen deity, otherwise named Tervagan, and
often mentioned in Middle Age literature. His name has passed into our
language, to denote a ranter or blusterer, as be was represented to be.
17.
TN: His "fair bearing" would not have been much defence against a
sling-stone.
18.
TN: "Sides small": a conventional description for a woman, not a man.
19.
Romances that be royal: so called because they related to Charlemagne
and his family.
20.
TN: A knight would be expected to have a gold or silver drinking vessel.
21.
TN: The coat-armour or coat of arms should have had his heraldic emblems
on it, not been pure white
22.
Charboucle: Carbuncle; French, "escarboucle;" a heraldic device
resembling a jewel.
23.
Cuirbouly: "Cuir boulli," French, boiled or prepared leather; also used
to cover shields, &c.
24.
Rewel bone: No satisfactory explanation has been furnished of this word,
used to describe some material from which rich saddles were made. TN:
The OED defines it as narwhal ivory.
25.
Spell: Tale, discourse, from Anglo-Saxon, "spellian," to declare, tell a
story.
26.
Sir Bevis of Hampton, and Sir Guy of Warwick, two knights of great
renown.
27.
Libeux: One of Arthur's knights, called "Ly beau desconus," "the fair
unknown."
28.
TN: The crest was a small emblem worn on top of a knight's helmet. A
tower with a lily stuck in it would have been unwieldy and absurd.
29.
Wanger: pillow; from Anglo-Saxon, "wangere," because the "wanges;" or
cheeks, rested on it.
30.
Destrer: "destrier," French, a war-horse; in Latin, "dextrarius," as if
led by the right hand.
31.
Sir Percival de Galois, whose adventures were written in more than
60,000 verses by Chretien de Troyes, one of the oldest and best French
romancers, in 1191.
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