THE KNIGHTS TALE（第76页）

"itrowthereneedethlittleserning

tomakeyouassentetothisthing.

enear，andtakeyourladybythehand."

betwixtethemwasmadeanontheband，

thathightmatrinyormarriage，

byallthecounselofthebaronage.

andthuswithalleblissandmelody

hathpalany-weddedemily.

andgod，thatallthiswideworldhathwrought，

sendhimhislove，thathathitdearlybought.

fornowispalaninallhisweal，

livinginbliss，inriches，andinheal*.*health

andemilyhimlovessotenderly，

andheherservethallsogentilly，

thatneverwastherewordethembetween

ofjealousy，norofnoneotherteen*.*causeofanger

thusendethpalanandemily

andgodsaveallthisfairepany.

fortheplanandprincipalincidentsofthe"knightstale，"io，whohadhimselfborrowedfromsomepriorpoet，chronicler，orromancer.iospeaksofthestoryas"veryancient;"and，thoughthatmaynotbeproofofitsantiquity，itcertainlyshowsthathetookitfromanearlierwriter.the"tale"ios"theseida;"butinsomepointsthecopyhasadistinctdramaticsuperiorityovertheoriginal.the"theseida"containedtenthousandlines;chaucerhascondenseditintolessthanone-fourthofthenumber.the"knightstale"issupposedtohavebeenatfirstposedasaseparatework;io，orfromafrenchtranslation.

highte:wascalled;fromtheanglo-saxon"hatan"，tobidorcall;german，"heissen"，"heisst".

feminie:the"royaumedesfemmes"—kingdoftheamazons.gower，inthe"confessioamantis，"stylespenthesileathe"queenoffeminie."

wonnen:won，conquered;german"gewonnen."

ear:toplough;latin，"arare.""ihaveabundantmatterfordiscourse."thefirst，andhalfofthesecond，iostwelvebooksaredisposedofinthefewlinesforegoing.

waimen:bewailing;german，"wehklagen"

starf:died;german，"sterben，""starb".

theminotaur:thenster，half-manandhalf-bull，whichyearlydevouredatributeoffourteenathenianyouthsandmaidens，untilitwasslainbytheseus.

pillers:pillagers，strippers;french，"pilleurs."

thedonjonwasoriginallythecentraltoweror"keep"offeudalcastles;itwasemployedtodetainprisonersofimportance.hencethedernmeaningoftheworddungeon.

saturn，intheoldastrology，wasastunpropitiousstartobebornunder.

todieinthepainwasaproverbialexpressioninthefrench，usedasanalternativetoenforceareso露tionorapromise.edwardiii.，aordingtofroissart，eedinthewaragainstfranceordieinthepain—"oui露rroitenlapeine."itwasthefashioninthosetimestoswearoathsoffriendshipandbrotherhood;andhence，thoughthefashionhaslongdiedout，westillspeakof"swornfriends."

thesayingoftheoldscholarboethius，inhistreatise"deconsolationephilosophiae"，whichchaucertranslated，andfromwhichhehasfreelyborrowedinhispoetry.thewordsare"quislegemdetamantibus?majorlexarestsibi."（"whocangivelawtolovers?loveisalawuntohimself，andgreater"）