STORIES FROM CHAUCER. Notes and Introduction

Transcription

1 STORIES FROM CHAUCER Also published publisbed with Notes and Introduction

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3 STORIES FROM CHAUCER RE-TOLD FROM ~HE CAN~ERBURr ~ALES by MARGARET C. MACAULAY Cambridge: at the University Press 1926

4 TO MY FATHER AND MOTHER cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York Information on this title: / Cambridge University Press 1911, 1926 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First edition 1911 Reprinted 1912, 1914 (twice), 1918, 1920 Second edition 1926 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library isbn Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

5 PREFAOE HIS venture, to which I have been encouraged by the Syndics of the Oambridge T University Press, is by no means the first of its kind. Tales from Ohaucer have frequently been published before, but the plan of this little book is nevertheless to some extent new. Usually the tales have been given in an isolated form, and thus they lose much of their interest as part of a larger work. Here an attempt has been made to exhibit the general scheme and conduct of The Oanterbury Tales, including the Prologue and some of the conversations of the pilgrims on the road, which form so interesting a feature of the original. It is hoped that the book may prove not a substitute for Ohaucer but a help and encouragement to some young people who might otherwise be deterred from reading him by the slight preliminary difficulties of his language. It does not profess to be a close translation of Chaucer into modern English: the general sense is kept, but much is omitted, and sentences are often rearranged with a view to the requirements of a. simple prose rendering.

6 vi Preface Like all Chaucer students I am greatly indebted to the modern editors of the Canterbury Tales, especially Professor Skeat and Mr Pollard; and the Introduction owes something also to the interesting little book on Chaucer by M. Legouis, recently published in the series Lea grands ecrivains etrangers. Finally I must acknowledge my great obligations to my father for his constant help and guidance. October, 1911 M. C. M. NOTE ON THE SECOND EDITION In this edition, some additional Tales of the Falls of Great Men have been substituted for the Tale of the Boy Martyr. September, 1925

7 CONTENTS The Prologue PAGE 1 THE FIRST DAY The Knight's Tale of Palamon and Arcite THE SECOND DAY The Man of Law's Tale of Constance Chaucer and the Host The Monk's Tale of the Falls of Great Men The Nuns' Priest's Tale of Chanticleer. THE THIRD DAY The Wife of Bath's Prologue The Wife of Bath's Tale. What Women Love Best The Friar's Tale of the Summoner and the Fiend. The Friar and the Summoner The Clerk of Oxford's Tale of Patient Griselda THE FOURTH DAY The Squire's Tale of Cambuscan The Pardoner's Prologue. The Pardoner's Tale of the Three Revellers The Canon's Yeoman. The Manciple and the Cook The Manciple's Tale. The Parson's Tale Pronouncing Dictionary (If Proper Names at end

8 LIST OF ILLUSTR.ATIONS The West Gate, Canterbury (Phot. Frith) The Knight. The Squire.., The Plioress The Nuns' Priest. The Monk The Friar The Clerk of Oxford The Sergeant at Law. The Wife of Bath The Parson. Ploughing (from the Louterell Psalter) Chaucer The Manciple The Summoner The Pardoner A Party of Pilgrims (from MS. Reg. 18 D. ii. in the Blitish Museum) A Feast (from the Louterell Psalter) A. Joust Daniel before Balthazar " " " Feeding Chickens " " " Carting Corn " " Sowing " " " Sheepfold " " " Carding and Spinning " " " Wrestling " " Silver Noble, Edward III " " The Canon's Yeoman Geoffrey Chaucer (from MS. Har!' 4866, in the British Museum) PAGE The figures of the Pilgrims are from the Chaucer Society's reprint of the Ellesmere MS. by kind permission of the Chaucer Society. '1'he engraving reproduced on p. 101 is from the painting by B. West. The portrait on p. 194 is found in a manuscript of a poem by Hoccleve, a younger contemporary of Chaucer, who says that he had it painted to remind his readers of the features of his master, who is now dead. 194