715: Now have I toold you soothly, in a clause,
Now I have told you briefly, in a clause
716: Th' estaat, th' array, the nombre, and eek the cause
The state, the array, the number, and the cause
717: Why that assembled was this compaignye
Of the assembling of this company
718: In southwerk at this gentil hostelrye
In the Southwark, at this noble hostelry
719: That highte the tabard, faste by the belle.
Known as the Tabard Inn, hard by the Bell.
720: But now is tyme to yow for to telle
Now the time has come when to tell
721: How that we baren us that ilke nyght,
How all we bore ourselves that very night
722: Whan we were in that hostelrie alyght;
When all the hostelry we did alight;
723: And after wol I telle of our viage
And afterward the story I will engage
724: And al the remenaunt of oure pilgrimage.
To tell you of our common pilgrimage.
725: But first I pray yow, of youre curteisye,
But first, I pray you, of your courtesy,
726: That ye n' arette it nat my vileynye,
That you'll not ascribe it to vulgarity
727: Thogh that I pleynly speke in this mateere,
Though I speak plainly of this matter here,
728: To telle yow hir wordes and hir cheere,
To tell you their words and means of cheer,
729: Ne thogh I speke hir wordes proprely.
Nor though I speak their words properly.
730: For this ye knowen al so wel as I,
For this thing do you know as well as I,
731: Whoso shal telle a tale after a man,
Who shall tell a tale told by a man,
732: He moot reherce as ny as evere he kan
He must report, as nearly as he can
733: Everich a word, if it be in his charge,
Ever least a word, if he remember it,
734: Al speke he never so rudeliche and large,
All speak he never so large it rude,
735: Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe,
Or else he may be telling what is untrue,
736: Or feyne thyng, or fynde wordes newe.
Or embellishing, or fictionizing new words.
737: He may nat spare, althogh he were his brother;
He may not spare, although it was his brother;
738: He moot as wel seye o word as another.
He must as well say ibe word as another.
739: Crist spak hymself ful brode in hooly writ,
Christ spoke broadly of himself in holy writingI
740: And wel ye woot no vileynye is it.
And you know well there is nothing low in it.
741: Eek plato seith, whoso that kan hym rede,
And Plato says, who is able to read,
742: The wordes moote be cosyn to the dede.He
The words should be the cousin to the dead.
743: Also I prey yow to foryeve it me,
Also I pray that you will forgive me,
744: Al have I nat set folk in hir degree
If I have not set folk in their degree
745: Heere in this tale, as that they sholde stonde.
Here is the tale, as they stand alone.
746: My wit is short, ye may wel understonde.
My wits are not the best, may you understand.
747: Greet chiere made oure hoost us everichon,
Great cheer gave our host to us everyone,
748: And to the soper sette he us anon.
And to the supper he set upon us.
749: He served us with vitaille at the beste;
He served us with vistuals of the best;
750: Strong was the wyn, and wel to drynke us leste.
Strong was the wine, and pleasant for us to drink.
751: A semely man oure hooste was withalle
A seemly man our host was withall,
752: For to han been a marchal in an halle.
For to have been a marshall in a hall.
753: A large man he was with eyen stepe --
He was a large man with protruding eyes --
754: A fairer burgeys is ther noon in chepe --
A fine burgher as in cheapside lies --
755: Boold of his speche, and wys, and wel ytaught,
Bold in his speech, and wise, and well taught,
756: And of manhod hym lakkede right naught.
And of manhood he lacked right naught.
757: Eek therto he was right a myrie man,
And he was a right and merry man,
758: And after soper pleyen he bigan,
And after supper he began playing,
759: And spak of myrthe amonges othere thynges,
And spoke of mirth amoung other things,
760: Whan that we hadde maad oure rekenynges,
When all of us had made our reckonings,
761: And seyde thus: now, lordynges, trewely,
And said thus: now, lords, truly,
762: Ye been to me right welcome, hertely;
You are rightly and heartily welcome by me;
763: For by my trouthe, if that I shal nat lye,
For by my truth, I shall not lie,
764: I saugh nat this yeer so myrie a compaignye
I have not seen a more merry company than this year
765: Atones in this herberwe as is now.
Here in this inn as it is now.
766: Fayn wolde I doon yow myrthe, wiste I how.
Fain would I make you happy, if i knew how.
767: And of a myrthe I am right now bythoght,
And of a game have I this moment thought,
768: To doon yow ese, and it shal coste noght.
To give you joy, and it shall cost you not.
769: Ye goon to caunterbury -- God yow speede,
You go to Canterbury -- may God speed,
770: The blisful martir quite yow youre meede!
The blest martyr quite your meed!
771: And wel I woot, as ye goon by the weye,
And well I know, as you go on your way,
772: Ye shapen yow to talen and to pleye;
You'll tell good tales and shape yourseleves to play;
773: For trewely, confort ne myrthe is noon
For truly, no mirth nor comfort is none
774: To ride by the weye doumb as a stoon;
To ride the roads as dumb as is a stone;
775: And therfore wol I maken yow disport,
And therefore I will furnish you a sport,
776: As I seyde erst, and doon yow som confort.
As I said first, and to give you some comfort.
777: And if yow liketh alle by oon assent
And if you like it all by one assent
778: For to stonden at my juggement,
For to be stoned at my judgement,
779: And for to werken as I shal yow seye,
And for to work as I shall you see,
780: To-morwe, whan ye riden by the weye,
Tomorrow, when you ride by the way,
781: Now, by my fader soule that is deed,
Now, by my father's soul which is dead,
782: But ye be myrie, I wol yeve yow myn heed!
But you be merry, I give you my head!
783: Hoold up youre hondes, withouten moore speche.
Hold up your hands, without no more spoken.
784: Oure conseil was nat longe for to seche.
Our council was not too far to seek.
785: Us thoughte it was noght worth to make it wys,
We thought it was not worth it to think twice,
786: And graunted hym withouten moore avys,
And grnted him with no more adcive,
787: And bad him seye his voirdit as hym leste.
And bad him to say his verdict as him last.
788: Lordynges, quod he, now herkneth for the beste;
Lords, quoted he, here now is my advice;
789: But taak it nought, I prey yow, in desdeyn.
But speak it not, I pray you, in disdain.
790: This is the poynt, to speken short and pleyn,
This is the point, to speak short and plain,
791: That ech of yow, to shorte with oure weye,
That each of you, to put it short with our way,
792: In this viage shal telle tales tweye
In this voyage shall tales wend your way
793: To caunterbury-ward, I mene it so,
To canterbury town, I mean it so,
794: And homward he shal tellen othere two,
And homeward he shall tell another two,
795: Of aventures that whilom han bifalle.
Of adventures that with he has known befall.
796: And which of yow that bereth hym best of alle,
And which of you that bore him best of all,
797: That is to seyn, that telleth in this caas
That is to say, who tells upon the road,
798: Tales of best sentence and moost solaas,
Tales of the best sense and most amusing mode,
799: Shal have a soper at oure aller cost
Shall have a supper at all others cost
800: Heere in this place, sittynge by this post,
Here in this place, sitting by this post,
801: Whan that we come agayn fro caunterbury.
When we come again from Canterbury
802: And for to make yow the moore mury,
And for you to make the more merry
803: I wol myselven goodly with yow ryde,
I will myself, gladly, with you ride
804: Right at myn owene cost, and be youre gyde,
Right at my own cost, and be your guide
805: And whoso wole my juggement withseye
And whoever will my judgement see
806: Shal paye al that we spenden by the weye.
Shall pay for all that we spend along the way
807: And if ye vouche sauf that it be so,
And if you agree that it be so
808: Tel me anon, withouten wordes mo,
Tell me now or tell me no more
809: And I wol erly shape me therfore.
And I will act like that no more
810: This thyng was graunted, and oure othes swore
This thing was granted and ours oaths we swore
811: With ful glad herte, and preyden hym also
With full glad hearts, and prayed to him also
812: That he wolde vouche sauf for to do so,
That he would agree for it be so
813: And that he wolde been oure governour,
And that he would be our governor
814: And oure tales juge and reportour,
And our tales be judged and reported
815: And sette a soper at a certeyn pris,
And settle a supper at a certain price
816: And we wol reuled been at his devys
And we would rule by his own rules
817: In heigh and lough; and thus by oon assent
In high and low; and thus by one assent
818: We been acorded to his juggement.
We been accorded to his judgement
819: And therupon the wyn was fet anon;
And there upon the wine was fetched anon
820: We dronken, and to reste wente echon,
We drank, and to rest went everyone
821: Withouten any lenger taryynge.
Without any longer tarrying
822: Amorwe, whan that day bigan to sprynge,
Morning, when the day began to spring
823: Up roos oure hoost, and was oure aller cok,
Up rose our host, and our other cook
824: And gradrede us togidre alle in a flok,
And gathered us together in a flock
825: And forth we riden a litel moore than paas
And forth we rode a little more than pace
826: Unto the wateryng of seint thomas;
On to the watering of Saint Thomas
827: And there oure hoost bigan his hors areste
And there our host gave his horse a res
828: And seyde, lordynges, herkneth, if yow leste.
And said, lordings, listen, if you please
829: Ye woot youre foreward, and I it yow recorde.
You want your forward, and now I record it
830: If even-song and morwe-song accorde,
If even-song and more-song accord
831: Lat se now who shal telle the firste tale.
Now who now shall tell the first tale.
832: As evere mote I drynke wyn or ale,
As ever more I drink wine or ale
833: Whoso be rebel to my juggement
Whoever is a rebel to my judgement
834: Shal paye for al that by the wey is spent.
Shall pay for all that is spent on the way
835: Now draweth cut, er that we ferrer twynne;
Now draw cut, so that we further win
836: He which that hath the shorteste shal bigynne.
And he that draws the shortest shall begin
837: Sire knyght, quod he, my mayster and my lord,
Sir knight, said he, my master and my lord
838: Now draweth cut, for that is myn accord.
Now draw a cut, for that is my accord
839: Cometh neer, quod he, my lady prioresse.
Come here, said he, my lady princess
840: And ye, sire clerk, lat be youre shamefastnesse,
And you, Sir Clerk, or you will be shamed
841: Ne studieth noght; ley hond to, every man!
You wait not, lay hand to, every man!
842: Anon to drawen every wight bigan,
And to draw every one began
843: And shortly for to tellen as it was,
And shortly for to tell as it was
844: Were it by aventure, or sort, or cas,
Was it by adventure, or sort, or cause
845: The sothe is this, the cut fil to the knyght,
The truth is this, the cut fell to the knight
846: Of which ful blithe and glad was every wyght,
Of which right happy then was every wight
847: And telle he moste his tale, as was resoun,
And that is his tale as he would tell
848: By foreward and by composicioun,
By forward and by composition
849: As ye han herd; what nedeth wordes mo?
As you have heard; what more words are needed
850: And whan this goode man saugh that it was so,
And when this good man saw that it was so,
851: As he that wys was and obedient
As he was wise and obedient
852: To kepe his foreward by his free assent,
To keep his forward by his free assent
853: He seyde, syn I shal bigynne the game,
He said, when shall I begin the game,
854: What, welcome be the cut, a goddes name!
What, welcome the cut, in God's name!
855: Now lat us ryde, and herkneth what I seye.
Now let us ride, and hear what I say.
856: And with that word we ryden forth oure weye,
And with that word we rode forth on our way
857: And he bigan with right a myrie cheere
And he began to speak with a merry cheer
858: His tale anon, and seyde as ye may heere.
His tale anon, as it is written here.