THE WYCLIF BIBLE (c. 1380) THE KING JAMES BIBLE (1611) MATTHEW III. THE COMING OF JOHN THE MATTHEW III. THE COMING OF JOIN THE In tho daies Joon Baptist cam and prechid In those daies came John the Baptist, preachin the desert of Judee, and seide, Do ye pen- ing in the wildernesse of Judea, and saying, aunce, for the kyngdom of hevenes schal nygh. Repent yee: for the kingdome of heaven is at For this is he of whom it is seid bi Isaie the hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the profete, seiynge, A vois of a crier in desert, Prophet Esaias, saying, The voyce of one cryMake ye redi the weyes of the Lord, make yeing in the wildernesse, Prepare ye the way of right the pathis of hym. And this Joon hadde clothing of camels heris, and a girdil of skyn aboute his leendis, and his mete was hony soukis1 and hony of the wode. Thanne Jerusalem wente out to hymn, and al Judee, and al the countre aboute Jordan, and thei werun waischen of hym in Jordan, and knowlechiden her synnes. But he sigh many of Farisies and of Saduces comynge to his baptem, and seide to hem, Generaciouns of eddris,2 who schewid to you to fle fro wrath that is to come? Therfor do ye worthi fruytis of penaunce. And nyle ye seie3 with ynne you, We han Abraham to fadir: for I seie to you that God is myghti to reise up of thes stones the sones of Abraham. And now the axe is putte to the root of the tre: therfor every tre that makith not good fruyt schal be kutte doun, and schal be cast in to the fire. I waisch you in watyr in to penaunce: but he that schal come aftir me is stronger than I, whos schoon I am not worthi to bere: he schal baptise you in the Holi Goost, and fier. Whos wenewynge4 clooth is in his hond, and he schal fulli clense his corn floor, and schal gadere his whete in to his berne; but the chaf he schal brenne with fier that mai not be quenchid. Thanne Jhesus cam fro Galilee in to Jordan to Joon, to be baptisid of him. Jon forbede hym and seide, I owe to be baptisid of thee, and thou comest to me? But Jhesus answerid and seide to hym, Suffre now: for thus it fallith to us to fulfille alle rightfulnesse. Then Joon suffrid hym. And whanne Jhesus was baptisid, anon he wente up fro the watir: and lo, hevenes weren opened to hym, and he say the spirit of God comynge doun as a dowve, and comynge on him. And lo, a vois fro hevenes, seiynge, This is my loved sone, in whiche I have plesid to me. (Punctuation and capitalization modernized.) 1 honey-suckles (Wyclif, translating from the Vulgate, evidently mistook the meaning of the Latin locusta) 2 adders 3 will not ye to say 4 winnowing the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camels haire, and a leatherne girdle about his loynes, and his meate was locusts and wilde honie. Then went out to him Hierusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordane. And were baptized of him in Jordane, confessing their sinues. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his Baptisme, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meete for repentance. And thinke not to say within your selves, Wee have Abraham to our father: For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is layd unto the roote of the trees: Therefore every tree which bringeth not foorth good fruite, is hewen downe, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that commeth after mee, is mightier than I, whose shooes I am not worthy to beare, hee shall baptize you with the holy Ghost, and with fire. Whose fanne is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floore, and gather his wheate into the garner: but wil burne up the chaffe with unquenchable fire. Then commeth Jesus from Galilee to Jordane, unto John, to be baptized of him: But John forbade him, saying, I have need to bee baptized of thee, and commest thou to me? And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becommeth us to fulfill all righteousnesse. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when hee was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and loe, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And loe, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Soone, in whom I am well pleased. (Verse numbering omitted.) CHAUCER'S PRONUNCIATION = a longah as in father: bathed [bahth-ed]. a short ah without prolongation, as in aha: at [aht]. ai, ayah'ee (nearly equal to modern long i): day [dah'ee]. u, awah'oo (nearly equal to modern ou in house: straunge [strahwnjë]. e longai as in pair: bere [bearë]. e shorte as in ten: hem [hem]. e finale (pronounced as a very light sep arate syllable, like the final e in the German eine. So also is es of the plural.): soote [soht]. It is regularly elided before a following vowel, before he, his, him, hire (her), here (their), hem (them), and occasionally before other words beginning with h; also in hire, here, oure, etc. fa, ee our long a; eck [āke]. ei, ey=ah' ee (or our long i, aye): wey [wy]. eu, ew French u: hewe [hü-e]. i longee (nearly): shires [sheer-es]. i shorti in pin: with [with]. o, oo long oa in oar: roote [nearly rōtë]. o shorto in not: [not]. oi, oy=oo' ce (near equal to modern oi): floytinge [floiting]. ou, ow our oo in rood in words that in Mod. Eng. have taken the sound of ou in loud: hous [hoos]. ou, owoh' oo in words that now have the u short u in pull: but [boot]. soften sharp when final. never sh or ch (vision has therefore three syllables, condicioun four, etc.). tas at present; but final -tion two syllables (si-oon). The following may serve to illustrate the approximate pronunciation of a few lines, without attempting Mr. Skeat's finer distinctions, such as vahyn for veyne, etc. Note that ë is a separate syllable lightly pronounced, that u equals u in full, and ü is French u. Whan that Ahpreellë with 'is shoorës sohtë The drookht of March hath persëd toh the rohtë, of which vertü engendred is the floor; saikë. CHAUCER'S METRE A large part of Chaucer's work is written in heroic couplets: every two consecutive lines rhyming, and each line containing five iambic feet, that is, five groups of two syllables each, with the accent on the second syllable of each foot; e. g. And bath'led eve'jry veyn'in swich'li cour' An extra syllable is often added at the end of the line: e. g. Whan that] April]le with his shou res soolte Sometimes the first foot is shortened to one long syllable: e. g. Twenty bolkes clad] in blak] or reed] THE TEXT We have followed, with a few changes, the text of The Canterbury Tales printed by Dr. th=th in thin or th in this, as in Mod. Eng. W. W. Skeat in the Clarendon Press Series, w sometimes oo as in herberw. which is based on the Ellesmere MS. 10 And bathed every veyne4 in swich licour5, That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke26. Bifel that, in that sesoun on a day, 20 19 Indicative plural of the verb "long". 20 seek 21 shores 27 An inn (a tabard was a short coat). 12 when the spring sun has passed through the second, or April, half of his course in that constellation of the 28 heart zodiac called the 29 full Ram, i. e., about 30 chance April 11 31 fallen 13 birds How ex "I take unceasing delight in Chaucer. quisitely tender he is, and yet how perfectly free from the least touch of sickly melancholy or morbid drooping! The sympathy of the poet with the subjects of his poetry is particularly remarkable in Shakespeare and Chaucer; but what the first effects by a strong act of imagination and mental metamorphosis, the last does without any effort, merely by the inborn kindly joyousness of his nature. How well we seem to know Chaucer! How absolutely nothing do we know of Shakespeare!"-Coleridge. See also Dryden "On Chaucer" in the present volume. In felawshipe, and pilgrims were they alle, And wel we weren esed32 atte beste. And shortly, whan the sonne was to33 reste, 30 And made forward35 erly for to ryse, But natheles, whyl I have tyme and space, 39 Of ech of hem, so as it semed me, A Knight there was, and that a worthy man, In Lettow47 hadde he reysed48 and in Ruce49, No cristen man so ofte of his degree50. In Gernade51 at the sege eek hadde he be Of Algezir52, and riden in Belmarye53. At Lyeys54 was he, and at Satalye54 50 60 Whan they were wonne; and in the Grete See55 And everemore he hadde a sovereyn prys62. And of his port1 as meek as is a mayde. His hors were goode, but he was nat gay4. His arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe), 70 A not-heed34 hadde he, with a broun visage. With him ther was his sone, a yong Squyer, A lovyer, and a lusty bacheler11, 80 With lokkes crulle12, as13 they were leyd in That of hir smyling was ful simple and coy; presse. Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse. Hir gretteste ooth was but by seynt Loy45; of Entuned in hir nose ful semely; And he hadde been somtyme in chivachye16, Wel coude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde. 120 And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly47, Juste24 and eek daunce, and wel purtreye25 and And sikerly52 she was of greet disport53, wryte. 140 And ful plesaunt, and amiable of port54, the 34 nut-head, 24 joust (engage in a tournament) give 25 draw 26 hotly 27 night-time for 28 carved 29 the knight 16 military expeditions 17 An ancient province of France. 30 no more 31 it pleased him 32 arrowS 33 order his tackle (equipment) yeomanlike ner in man a cropped head 35 wood-craft closely 46 named 47 daintily, exactly 48 fell 49 pleasure 50 cup 51 reached 52 surely 53 good humor 54 bearing 55 took pains 56 imitate 57 behavior 58 to be dignified 59 worthy 60 compassionate 61 bread made of the best flour cakebread *Stratford le Bow, where there was a Benedie. tine nunnery, and where Anglo-French would be spoken, rather than the Parisian kin Therefor he was a pricasour29 aright; 150 Grehoundes he hadde, as swifte as fowel in flight; Or if men smoot it with a yerde1 smerte2: 159 170 191 Of priking and of hunting for the hare Another Nonne with hir hadde she, wood26, 180 211 A Frere39 there was, a wantown40 and a merye, As seyde him-self, more than a curat, 220 229 cans (Grey Friars): Carmelites (White Friars); Augustin (or Austin) Friars. 44 knows 45 country gentlemen 47 give, assign 48 where he knew he could get a good gift 49 give 50 the man 51 the friar 52 boast 53 heart (Black 54 he suffer sorely Francis |