THE SECOND NUNS TALE（第20页）

anghisothersainteshonestly;

herhousethechurchofsaintceciliehight;**iscalled

sainturbanhallowdit，ashewellmight;

inwhic混♂tothisday，innoblewise，

mendotochristandtohissaintservice.

thistalewasoriginallyposedbychaucerasaseparatework，andassuchitismentionedinthe"legendofgoodwomen"underthetitleof"thelifeofsaintcecile".tyrwhittquotesthelineinwhichtheauthorcallshimselfan"unworthysonofeve，"andthatinwhichhesays，"yetprayiyou，thatreadewhatiwrite"，asinternalevidencethattheinsertionofthepoeminthecanterburytaleswastheresultofanafterthought;whilethewholetenoroftheintroductionconfirmsthebeliefthatchaucerposeditasawriterortranslator—not，dramatically，asaspeaker.thestoryisalstliterallytranslatedfromthelifeofstceciliainthe"legendaaurea."

leas:leash，snare;thesameas"las，"oftenerusedbychaucer.

thenativityandassumptionofthevirginmaryformedthethemesofsomeofstbernardssteloquentserns.

parewiththisstanzathefourthstanzaoftheprioressstale，thesubstanceofwhichisthesame.

"butheansweredandsaid，itisnotmeettotakethechildrensbread，andcastittodogs.andshesaid，truth，lord:yetthedogseatofthecrumbswhichfallfromtheirmasterstable."—matthewxv.26，27.

seenote1.

thesearelatinpuns:heavenslily-"coelililium";thewayofblind-"caecivia";heavenandlia-from"coeli"，heaven，and"ligo，"tobind;heavenandleos-fromcoeliand"laos，"（ioniangreek）or"leos"（atticgreek），thepeople.suchpunningderivationsofpropernameswereverymuchinfavourinthemiddleages.theexplanationsofstceciliasnameareliterallytakenfromtheprologuetothelatinlegend.

estshoracesdescriptionofthewiseman，who，angotherthings，is"inseipsetotus，teres，atquerotundus."（"pleteinhimself，polishedandrounded"）—satires，2，vii.80.

lou:lingering，orlyingconcealed;thelatinoriginalhas"intersepulchramartyrumlatiantem"（"hidingangthetombsofmartyrs"）

thefourteenlineswithinbracketsaresupposedtohavebeenoriginallyaninterpolationinthelatinlegend，fromwhichtheyareliterallytranslated.theyawkwardlyinterrupttheflowofthenarration

engine:wit;thedevisingorconstructivefaculty;latin，"ingeniu"

cold:wretched，distressful;seenote22tothenunsprieststale.

corniculere:thesecretaryorregistrarwhowaschargedwithpublishingtheacts，decreesandordersoftheprefect.

"ihavefoughtagoodfight，ihavefinishedmcourse，ihavekeptthefaith:henceforththereislaidupformeacrownofrighteousness"—2tiiv.7，8.

didhimto-beat:causedhimtobecruellyorfatallybeaten;theforceofthe"to"isintensive.