Part 34 (2/2)

For thirteen is a convent as I guess;<25> Your confessor here, for his worthiness, Shall *perform up* the number of his convent. *complete*

Then shall they kneel adown by one a.s.sent, And to each spoke's end, in this mannere, Full sadly* lay his nose shall a frere; *carefully, steadily Your n.o.ble confessor there, G.o.d him save, Shall hold his nose upright under the nave.

Then shall this churl, with belly stiff and tought* *tight As any tabour,* hither be y-brought; *drum And set him on the wheel right of this cart Upon the nave, and make him let a fart, And ye shall see, on peril of my life, By very proof that is demonstrative, That equally the sound of it will wend,* *go And eke the stink, unto the spokes' end, Save that this worthy man, your confessour'

(Because he is a man of great honour), Shall have the firste fruit, as reason is; The n.o.ble usage of friars yet it is, The worthy men of them shall first be served, And certainly he hath it well deserved; He hath to-day taught us so muche good With preaching in the pulpit where he stood, That I may vouchesafe, I say for me, He had the firste smell of fartes three; And so would all his brethren hardily; He beareth him so fair and holily.”

The lord, the lady, and each man, save the frere, Saide, that Jankin spake in this mattere As well as Euclid, or as Ptolemy.

Touching the churl, they said that subtilty And high wit made him speaken as he spake; He is no fool, nor no demoniac.

And Jankin hath y-won a newe gown; My tale is done, we are almost at town.

Notes to the Sompnour's Tale

1. Trentals: The money given to the priests for performing thirty ma.s.ses for the dead, either in succession or on the anniversaries of their death; also the ma.s.ses themselves, which were very profitable to the clergy.

2. Possessioners: The regular religious orders, who had lands and fixed revenues; while the friars, by their vows, had to depend on voluntary contributions, though their need suggested many modes of evading the prescription.

3. In Chaucer's day the most material notions about the tortures of h.e.l.l prevailed, and were made the most of by the clergy, who preyed on the affection and fear of the survivors, through the ingenious doctrine of purgatory. Old paintings and illuminations represent the dead as torn by hooks, roasted in fires, boiled in pots, and subjected to many other physical torments.

4. Qui c.u.m patre: ”Who with the father”; the closing words of the final benediction p.r.o.nounced at Ma.s.s.

5. Askaunce: The word now means sideways or asquint; here it means ”as if;” and its force is probably to suggest that the second friar, with an ostentatious stealthiness, noted down the names of the liberal, to make them believe that they would be remembered in the holy beggars' orisons.

6. A G.o.dde's kichel/halfpenny: a little cake/halfpenny, given for G.o.d's sake.

7. Harlot: hired servant; from Anglo-Saxon, ”hyran,” to hire; the word was commonly applied to males.

8. Potent: staff; French, ”potence,” crutch, gibbet.

9. Je vous dis sans doute: French; ”I tell you without doubt.”

10. Dortour: dormitory; French, ”dortoir.”

12. The Rules of St Benedict granted peculiar honours and immunities to monks who had lived fifty years -- the jubilee period -- in the order. The usual reading of the words ending the two lines is ”loan” or ”lone,” and ”alone;” but to walk alone does not seem to have been any peculiar privilege of a friar, while the idea of precedence, or higher place at table and in processions, is suggested by the reading in the text.

13. Borel folk: laymen, people who are not learned; ”borel”

was a kind of coa.r.s.e cloth.

14. Eli: Elijah (1 Kings, xix.)

15. An emperor Jovinian was famous in the mediaeval legends for his pride and luxury

16. Cor meum eructavit: literally, ”My heart has belched forth;”

in our translation, (i.e. the Authorised ”King James” Version - Transcriber) ”My heart is inditing a goodly matter.” (Ps. xlv.

1.). ”Buf” is meant to represent the sound of an eructation, and to show the ”great reverence” with which ”those in possession,”

the monks of the rich monasteries, performed divine service,

17. N'ere thou our brother, shouldest thou not thrive: if thou wert not of our brotherhood, thou shouldst have no hope of recovery.

18. Thomas' life of Ind: The life of Thomas of India - i.e. St.

Thomas the Apostle, who was said to have travelled to India.

19. Potestate: chief magistrate or judge; Latin, ”potestas;”

Italian, ”podesta.” Seneca relates the story of Cornelius Piso; ”De Ira,” i. 16.

20. Placebo: An anthem of the Roman Church, from Psalm cxvi. 9, which in the Vulgate reads, ”Placebo Domino in regione vivorum” -- ”I will please the Lord in the land of the living”

21. The Gysen: Seneca calls it the Gyndes; Sir John Mandeville tells the story of the Euphrates. ”Gihon,” was the name of one of the four rivers of Eden (Gen. ii, 13).

22. Him that harrowed h.e.l.l: Christ. See note 14 to the Reeve's Tale.

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