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The Canterbury Tales and Other Works of Chaucer (Middle English), by Geoffery Chaucer, [14th cent.], at sacred-texts.com

The Canterbury Tales

The Prioress' Tale

 Ther was in Asye, in a greet citee,
 Amonges Cristene folk a Jewerye,
490 Sustened by a lord of that contree
 For foule usure and lucre of vileynye,
 Hateful to Crist and to his compaignye;
 And thurgh the strete men myghte ride or wende,
 For it was free and open at eyther ende.
 A litel scole of Cristen folk ther stood
 Doun at the ferther ende, in which ther were
 Children an heep, ycomen of Cristen blood,
 That lerned in that scole yeer by yere
 Swich manere doctrine as men used there,
500 This is to seyn, to syngen and to rede,
 As smale children doon in hire childhede.
 Among thise children was a wydwes sone,
 A litel clergeon, seven yeer of age,
 That day by day to scole was his wone,
 And eek also, where as he saugh th' ymage
 Of Cristes mooder, hadde he in usage,
 As hym was taught, to knele adoun and seye
 His Ave Marie, as he goth by the weye.
 Thus hath this wydwe hir litel sone ytaught
510 Oure blisful Lady, Cristes mooder deere,
 To worshipe ay, and he forgat it naught,
 For sely child wol alday soone leere.
 But ay, whan I remembre on this mateere,
 Seint Nicholas stant evere in my presence,
 For he so yong to Crist dide reverence.
 This litel child, his litel book lernynge,
 As he sat in the scole at his prymer,
 He Alma redemptoris herde synge,
 As children lerned hire antiphoner;
520 And as he dorste, he drough hym ner and ner,
 And herkned ay the wordes and the noote,
 Til he the firste vers koude al by rote.
 Noght wiste he what this Latyn was to seye,
 For he so yong and tendre was of age.
 But on a day his felawe gan he preye
 T' expounden hym this song in his langage,
 Or telle hym why this song was in usage;
 This preyde he hym to construe and declare
 Ful often tyme upon his knowes bare.
530 His felawe, which that elder was than he,
 Answerde hym thus: "This song, I have herd seye,
 Was maked of our blisful Lady free,
 Hire to salue, and eek hire for to preye
 To been oure help and socour whan we deye.
 I kan namoore expounde in this mateere.
 I lerne song; I kan but smal grammeere."
 "And is this song maked in reverence
 Of Cristes mooder?" seyde this innocent.
 "Now, certes, I wol do my diligence
540 To konne it al er Cristemasse be went.
 Though that I for my prymer shal be shent
 And shal be beten thries in an houre,
 I wol it konne Oure Lady for to honoure!"
 His felawe taughte hym homward prively,
 Fro day to day, til he koude it by rote,
 And thanne he song it wel and boldely,
 Fro word to word, acordynge with the note.
 Twies a day it passed thurgh his throte,
 To scoleward and homward whan he wente;
550 On Cristes mooder set was his entente.
 As I have seyd, thurghout the Juerie
 This litel child, as he cam to and fro,
 Ful murily than wolde he synge and crie
 O Alma redemptoris everemo.
 The swetnesse his herte perced so
 Of Cristes mooder that, to hire to preye,
 He kan nat stynte of syngyng by the weye.
 Oure firste foo, the serpent Sathanas,
 That hath in Jues herte his waspes nest,
560 Up swal, and seide, "O Hebrayk peple, allas!
 Is this to yow a thyng that is honest,
 That swich a boy shal walken as hym lest
 In youre despit, and synge of swich sentence,
 Which is agayn youre lawes reverence?"
 Fro thennes forth the Jues han conspired
 This innocent out of this world to chace.
 An homycide therto han they hyred,
 That in an aleye hadde a privee place;
 And as the child gan forby for to pace,
570 This cursed Jew hym hente, and heeld hym faste,
 And kitte his throte, and in a pit hym caste.
 I seye that in a wardrobe they hym threwe
 Where as thise Jewes purgen hire entraille.
 O cursed folk of Herodes al newe,
 What may youre yvel entente yow availle?
 Mordre wol out, certeyn, it wol nat faille,
 And namely ther th' onour of God shal sprede;
 The blood out crieth on youre cursed dede.
 O martir, sowded to virginitee,
580 Now maystow syngen, folwynge evere in oon
 The white Lamb celestial -- quod she --
 Of which the grete evaungelist, Seint John,
 In Pathmos wroot, which seith that they that goon
 Biforn this Lamb and synge a song al newe,
 That nevere, flesshly, wommen they ne knewe.
 This poure wydwe awaiteth al that nyght
 After hir litel child, but he cam noght;
 For which, as soone as it was dayes lyght,
 With face pale of drede and bisy thoght,
590 She hath at scole and elleswhere hym soght,
 Til finally she gan so fer espie
 That he last seyn was in the Juerie.
 With moodres pitee in hir brest enclosed,
 She gooth, as she were half out of hir mynde,
 To every place where she hath supposed
 By liklihede hir litel child to fynde;
 And evere on Cristes mooder meeke and kynde
 She cride, and atte laste thus she wroghte:
 Among the cursed Jues she hym soghte.
600 She frayneth and she preyeth pitously
 To every Jew that dwelte in thilke place,
 To telle hire if hir child wente oght forby.
 They seyde "nay"; but Jhesu of his grace
 Yaf in hir thoght inwith a litel space
 That in that place after hir sone she cryde,
 Where he was casten in a pit bisyde.
 O grete God, that parfournest thy laude
 By mouth of innocentz, lo, heere thy myght!
 This gemme of chastite, this emeraude,
610 And eek of martirdom the ruby bright,
 Ther he with throte ykorven lay upright,
 He Alma redemptoris gan to synge
 So loude that al the place gan to rynge.
 The Cristene folk that thurgh the strete wente
 In coomen for to wondre upon this thyng,
 And hastily they for the provost sente;
 He cam anon withouten tariyng,
 And herieth Crist that is of hevene kyng,
 And eek his mooder, honour of mankynde,
620 And after that the Jewes leet he bynde.
 This child with pitous lamentacioun
 Up taken was, syngynge his song alway,
 And with honour of greet processioun
 They carien hym unto the nexte abbay.
 His mooder swownynge by his beere lay;
 Unnethe myghte the peple that was theere
 This newe Rachel brynge fro his beere.
 With torment and with shameful deeth echon,
 This provost dooth thise Jewes for to sterve
630 That of this mordre wiste, and that anon.
 He nolde no swich cursednesse observe.
 "Yvele shal have that yvele wol deserve";
 Therfore with wilde hors he dide hem drawe,
 And after that he heng hem by the lawe.
 Upon this beere ay lith this innocent
 Biforn the chief auter, whil the masse laste;
 And after that, the abbot with his covent
 Han sped hem for to burien hym ful faste;
 And whan they hooly water on hym caste,
640 Yet spak this child, whan spreynd was hooly water,
 And song O Alma redemptoris mater!
 This abbot, which that was an hooly man,
 As monkes been -- or elles oghte be --
 This yonge child to conjure he bigan,
 And seyde, "O deere child, I halse thee,
 In vertu of the hooly Trinitee,
 Tel me what is thy cause for to synge,
 Sith that thy throte is kut to my semynge?"
 "My throte is kut unto my nekke boon,"
650 Seyde this child, "and as by wey of kynde
 I sholde have dyed, ye, longe tyme agon.
 But Jesu Crist, as ye in bookes fynde,
 Wil that his glorie laste and be in mynde,
 And for the worship of his Mooder deere
 Yet may I synge O Alma loude and cleere.
 "This welle of mercy, Cristes mooder sweete,
 I loved alwey, as after my konnynge;
 And whan that I my lyf sholde forlete,
 To me she cam, and bad me for to synge
660 This anthem verraily in my deyynge,
 As ye han herd, and whan that I hadde songe,
 Me thoughte she leyde a greyn upon my tonge.
 "Wherfore I synge, and synge moot certeyn,
 In honour of that blisful Mayden free
 Til fro my tonge of taken is the greyn;
 And after that thus seyde she to me:
 `My litel child, now wol I fecche thee,
 Whan that the greyn is fro thy tonge ytake.
 Be nat agast; I wol thee nat forsake.'"
670 This hooly monk, this abbot, hym meene I,
 His tonge out caughte, and took awey the greyn,
 And he yaf up the goost ful softely.
 And whan this abbot hadde this wonder seyn,
 His salte teeris trikled doun as reyn,
 And gruf he fil al plat upon the grounde,
 And stille he lay as he had ben ybounde.
 The covent eek lay on the pavement
 Wepynge, and herying Cristes mooder deere,
 And after that they ryse, and forth been went,
680 And tooken awey this martir from his beere;
 And in a tombe of marbul stones cleere
 Enclosen they his litel body sweete.
 Ther he is now, God leve us for to meete!
 O yonge Hugh of Lyncoln, slayn also
 With cursed Jewes, as it is notable,
 For it is but a litel while ago,
 Preye eek for us, we synful folk unstable,
 That of his mercy God so merciable
 On us his grete mercy multiplie,
690 For reverence of his mooder Marie. Amen.

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