1

The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue and Tale

2

The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue.

Since neither the canon nor his servant, the yeoman, is present at the beginning of thepilgrimage neither of them is described in the General Prologue. What we know of them

we learn more realistically from the events and talk within the pilgrimage, as follows:

Just after the Second Nun has finished her tale, a cleric and his servant (yeoman) overtake thepilgrims in a great hurry

WHEN that told was the life of Saint Cecile, 2nd Nun’s tale

Ere we had ridden fully fivė mile,At Boughton-under-Blee us gan atake overtake

A man, that clothėd was in clothės black,And underneath he wore a white surplice. clerical garment

His hackney, which that was all pomely gris hired horse / dappled grey

560 So sweated, that it. wonder was to see, It seemed as he had prickėd milės three. spurred

The horse eke that his yeoman rode upon, his servant

So sweated, that unnethės might he gon. scarcely move

About the peytrel stood the foam full high, chest harness

He was of foam as fleckėd as a pie. magpie

A malė twofold on his crupper lay, doubled bag behind saddle

It seemėd that he carried little array, luggage

All light for summer rode this worthy man.

And in my heartė to wonder I began570 What that he was, till that I understood,

How that his cloak was sewėd to his hood;For which when I had long avisėd me, had considered

I deemėd him some Canon for to be. 1 I judged / cleric

His hat hung at his back down by a lace,For he had ridden more than trot or pace,He had aye prickėd like as he were wood spurred like mad

A dock-leaf he had [laid] under his hood (F = clote leaf)

For sweat, and for to keep his head from heat.

1 A canon was generally a cleric who was attached to a community of clergymen who served a cathedralchurch and obeyed some kind of rule. Some, more loosely attached, acted as parish priests. Our canon’s obedienceto any rule seems to be very loose indeed.

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But it was joyė for to see him sweat;580 His forehead droppėd, as a stillatory a still

Were full of plantain or of paritory. (Which was) full of medicinal herbs

And when that he was come, he ’gan to cry,“God save,” quod he, “this jolly company.

Fast have I prickėd,” quod he, “for your sake,Becausė that I wouldė you atake, overtake

To riden in this merry company.” 1

His Yeoman eke was full of courtesy, his servant

And saidė, “Sirs, now in the morrow tide this morning

Out of your hostelry I saw you ride,590 And warnėd here my lord and sovereign,

Which that to riden with you is full fain is anxious

For his disport; he loveth dalliance.” satisfaction / loves chat

“Friend, for thy warning God give thee good chance,”Then said our Host; “certain it would seemThy lord were wise, and so I may well deem; may judge

He is full jocund also, dare I lay: cheerful

Can he ought tell a merry tale or tway, or two

With which he gladden may this company?”

The yeoman gives a glowing recommendation of his master, the Canon 2

“Who, sir? My lord? Yea, Sir, withouten lie,600 He can of mirth and eke of jollity He knows

Not but enough; also, sir, trusteth me, i.e. plenty

An’ you him knew all so well as I If you

You would wonder how well and craftilyHe couldė work, and that in sundry wise.He hath take on him many a great emprise, enterprise

Which were full hard for any that is hereTo bring about, but they of him it lere. unless t. learn from him

As homely as he rideth among you, As unassumingly

If you him knew, it would be for your prow : profit

610 You woulden not forego his acquaintánce For muchel good, I dare lay in balánce I’d wager

All that I have in my possessïon.

1 It has been suggested that the the great sweaty hurry of the canon and his servant at the beginning of theprologue indicates that they have just duped the priest of the yeoman’s tale (see below), and are in a hurry to makeoff before their trickery is discovered.

2 The glowing recommendation is perhaps ironic, especially in view of what follows.

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He is a man of high discretïon.I warn you well, he is a passing man.” surpassing

“Well,” quod our host, “I pray thee tell me then,Is he a clerk, or no? Tell what he is.” a priest

“Nay, he is greater than a clerk, ywis,” indeed

Saidė this Yeoman, “and in wordės few,Host, of his craft somewhat I will you show.

620 I say, my lord can such a subtlety, (But all his craft you may not wit of me, know from

And somewhat help I yet to his working),That all the ground on which we be ridingTill that we come to Canterbury town,He could all cleanė turnen up so down, completely upside d.

And pave it all of silver and of gold.”

The Host, a good observer of men, expresses his scepticism.The yeoman changes his tune

And when this Yeoman had this tale y-told this account

Unto our Host, he said, “Ben’dicite,1 Bless me !

This thing is wonder marvellous to me,630 Since that thy lord is of so high prudénce,

Because of which men should him reverence,That of his worship recketh he so lite:2 His overslopė n’is not worth a mite outer cloak / dime

As in effect, to him, so may I go. I declare

It is all baudy and to-tore also dirty and torn

Why is thy lord so sluttish I thee pray so slovenly

And is of power better cloth to buy If he can buy

If that his deed accordė with thy speech ? And if he can do what you say Tell me that, and that I thee beseech.”

640 “Why?” quod this Yeoman, “ whereto ask you me? God help me so, for he shall never thee. never succeed

But I will not avowė that I say openly admit what

And therefore keep it secret I you prayHe is too wise, in faith, as I believe. too clever

Thing that is overdone, it will not preve work out

Aright, as clerkės say; it is a vice. as scholars

Wherefore in that I hold him lewd and nice. stupid & foolish

For when a man hath overgreat a wit, brains

Full oft him happens to misusen it:

1 Pronunced ben-dis-i-tee.

2 Cares so little about his dignity, i.e. dignified appearance.

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650 So doth my lord, and that me grieveth sore. God it amend; I can say you no more.” “Thereof no force, good Yeoman,” quod our host;“Since of the cunning of thy lord thou wost, you know his craft

Tell how he doth, I pray thee heartily,Since that he is so crafty and so sly.Where dwellen you, if it to tellen be?”

The yeoman begins to spill the truth about the canon’s profession and his own

“In the suburbs of a town,” quod he, in the edges

“Lurking in hernės and in lanės blind, corners

Whereas these robbers and these thieves by kind by nature

660 Holden their privy fearful residence, secret

As they that dare not shewen their presénce,So faren we, if I shall say the sooth.” truth

“Yet,” quod our host, “yet let me talk to thee; 1

Why art thou so discoloured of thy face?” “Peter,” quod he, “God give it hardė grace, By St Peter / God damn it

I am so usėd in the fire to blow, accustomed

That it hath changėd my colour I trow;I am not wont in no mirror to pry, not accustomed

But swinkė sore, and learn to multiply. work hard / increase (gold)

670 We blunder ever, and poren in the fire, stare into

And for all that we fail of our desire,For ever we lacken our conclusïon.To muchel folk we do illusïon, work confidence

And borrow gold, be it a pound or two,Or ten or twelve, or many summės mo’,And make them weenen, at the leastė way at least think

That of a pound we couldė maken tway, two

Yet is it false; but aye we have good hope we always

It for to do, and after it we grope :680 But that sciénce is so far us beforn, beyond us

We may not, although we had it sworn, vowed

It overtake, it slides away so fast;It will us maken beggars at the last.” make us

1 In the original the rhyme soothe / to thee would seem to imply that the -e at the end of the original word“soothe” was pronounced as a full syllable to rhyme sooth-ee with tó thee and with the emphasis unnaturally on to; but this seems to be a distortion, for rhymes’s sake, of the more usual emphasis as in line 1080-1: “Which thatthis fox y-shapen hath to thée; His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee” where the emphasis in the phrase isclearly on thee not on to. Compare also 1204-5: time: by me, a rhyme which occurs several other times inChaucer. Also swithe / hie thee at 1294-5.

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The Canon, unable to stop the revelations of his servant, takes off

While this Yeoman was thus in his talking,This Canon drew him near, and heard all thingWhich that this Yeoman spokė, for suspicion Of men’s speech ever had this Canon:For Cato saith, that he that guilty is,Deemeth all thing be spoke of him, y-wis : Thinks / indeed

690 That was the cause he gan so nigh him draw so near

To his Yeoman, to hearken all his saw. hear his saying, talk

And thus he said unto his Yeoman tho’; then

“Hold thou thy peace, and speak no wordės mo’: more

For if thou do, thou shalt it dear abide.Thou slanderest me here in this company,And eke discoverest that thou shouldest hide.” that (which)

“Yea,” quod our Host, “tell on, whatso betide; whatever happens

Of all his threatening reckė not a mite.” care not a bit

“In faith,” quod he, “no more I do but lite.” little

700 And when this Canon saw it would not be But his Yeoman would tell his privity, secrets

He fled away for very sorrow and shame.

Now the yeoman feels free to tell the whole truth about his experiences with the canon, an alchemist

“Ah” quod the Yeoman, “here shall rise a gameAll that I can anon I will you tell, All I know

Since he is gone; the foulė fiend him quell; may the f. devil get him

For never hereafter will I with him meetFor penny nor for pound, I you behete. I promise

He that brought me first unto that game,Ere that he die, sorrow have he and shame.

710 For it is earnest to me, by my faith; serious

That feel I well, whatso any man saith;And yet for all my smart, and all my grief, my hurt

For all my sorrow, labour, and mischief,I couldė never leave it in no wise.Now wouldė God my wit might sufficeTo tellen all that ’longeth to that art; belongs to

But natheless, yet will I tellen part;Since that my lord is gone, I will not spare,Such thing as that I know I will declare.

7

Introduction to The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale

About two hundred years after Chaucer’s time, the great poet and dramatist Ben Jonson

wrote a play called The Alchemist, which could serve as the title of the Canon’s

Yeoman’s tale also. An alchemist was a semi-scientist who believed that it was possible

to turn base metals, like lead or copper, into a noble metal like gold or silver. Inevitably

the search for the philosopher’s stone or elixir that would do the trick brought out the

confidence men who preyed on people’s gullibility and greed; and the game of the

alchemist /confidence man claiming to turn base metals into noble was still alive enough

two centuries after Chaucer to provide material for popular satire by Jonson. But, in a

sense alchemists of this kind never go away: they are the smooth-talking men who

enable people’s greed in any age. They do not create avarice, they just help it along in

order to benefit from it. Today the alchemist has been transmuted into the deceiving Wall

Street analyist, the “creative” accountant and the crooked CEO who cheat their

shareholders; or the boiler room speculator in penny stocks, and the Ponzi scheme

operator and who lures even the wary into dreams of getting rich quick.

Sometimes now, as then, the quasi-scientific “alchemist” seems to believe that he will

strike gold if he keeps at it long enough; sometimes, as in Jonson’s play, he is a charlatan

from beginning to end. If it is reasonable to conflate the Yeoman’s two Canons into one,

the composite Canon seems to believe in his own absurd dream to the point where he

feels justified in playing his confidence tricks to get money to continue his experiments.

He does not live the high life off other people’s money ( both he and his assistant are

poorly dressed and live in the poorer parts of town); he spends his cheatings on his

“research”. He cannot go to the stock market with an IPO, and so, to get capital he plays

on people’s greed by working a sleight of hand of the old-fashioned kind. He does far

less harm than his modern counterpart in the Financial District, for he works on a small

scale tricking willing victims whose greed and credulity have to some degree invited his

confidence game. And we need waste small sympathy on them.

If we strain hard enough, we can see connections, as some scholars have done, between

this tale and the preceding: the spiritual enlightenment of God’s grace that comes to the

young men in the Second Nun’s Tale is contrasted with the blindness that comes in this

tale from the greed and from the furnace work of the Canon and his servant; one wants

to convert people to the Truth, the other wants to convert lead to gold, and so forth. And

furnaces, of course, are common to both. But if the tales were not adjoining texts in

8

some manuscripts, such similarities would seem as strained or as coincidental as they

probably are. The differences are surely more important: the nun’s tale is about incredible

sacrifice embraced and endured for the true faith, and it celebrates the rejection of all

worldly good; the Canon’s Yeoman’s is about obsessiveness and the vice of greed, the

lust for knowledge and wealth, and the sordid kinds of work and trickery that they lead

to.

But, one might almost say by way of agreement with the comparatists that Obsession is

the topic of both tales: Cecilia is certainly obsessed with virginity, and actively courts

martyrdom for herself and others in order to turn the “base” body into glorified spirit; the

Canon is possessed with the notion that he can somehow get the philosopher’s stone or

the elixir that will enable him to convert base metals to the noblest. Had Chaucer chosen

to develop the Canon’s character and motivation, it would have been possible to make

him an early Faust figure, a man possessed with a passion and genuine drive for

knowledge or for scientific method who is reduced to using shabby tricks to subsidize his

experiments. Reputable scientists in our own day have sometimes stooped to equally

shady behavior to fund their research. Hence the narrator’s execrations against the canon

seem excessive, as if he were the enemy of mankind rather than a con-man with a

fixation, who preys on greedy dupes to finance his addiction.

The yeoman keeps denouncing the deceit and wickedness in the canon well after we have

got the point of the canon’s trickery, where the narrator’s rant merely interrupts the

narrative flow:

Too simple is my tonguė to pronounce,

As minister of my wit, the doubleness agent of my thought

Of this canon, root of all cursedness.

He seemėd friendly, to them that knew him not,

But he was fiendly, both in work and thought. devilish

It wearieth me to tell of his falseness;

And natheless yet will I it express,

To that intent men may beware thereby,

And for none other cause — truly.

There are too many other padding passages like this, long and short, which hold up the

flow of the narrative, a deficiency which partly explains why this is not one of the most

popular tales.1 Moreover, in the middle of one such passage we are told that the canon

1 992-1011: an over-long apology to good canons. 1065-1100 is largely padding in the middle of the

tale. 1012-1020 hints at something, and then says it won’t tell us about it, because that does not matter.

9

who is the subject of the yeoman’s tale is not, as we had thought, the canon who has just

left the pilgrimage, but someone else. This introduces a pointless confusion as to who

exactly worked the confidence trick with the quicksilver.

Yeoman:

“This canon was my lord, you woulden ween ? you would think

Sir Host, in faith, and by the heaven’s queen,

It was another canon, and not he,

That can an hundred part more subtlety. that knows 100 times

He hath betrayėd folkės many a time;

It leaves the reader to conflate the two canons, as I did earlier in this introduction, in

order to give the tale some satisfactory cohesion.

In any case, Chaucer leaves the tale itself (Part II) as little more than an extended

anecdote where characterization, motivation and narrative flow are sacrificed to banal

commentary and to the details of a confidence trick worked on one credulous cleric by

another . The dupe does not even have enough sense to wonder why someone who can

make silver at will should ever have to borrow money, or charge for his services. In fact

the tale is almost too elaborate for an anecdote but not elaborated enough for a tale of

the quality of the Miller’s or the Shipman’s where confidence trickery is also prominent.

It also lacks the immediacy of its own Prologue with the interesting figure of the sweaty,

“sluttish” canon, dashing to catch up with the pilgrims. And it fades away in a kind of

flabby moralizing anecdote about Plato, mixed in with limp Christian exhortation and

warning.

The plot is thin, the characterization thinner, the moralizing denunciations too frequent

for a superior tale. It is, in the long run, a preacher’s exemplum, without the force of the

Pardoner’s Tale or the charm and merriment of the Nun’s Priest’s. Easily the best parts

of the tale are the descriptions of the unglamorous life of an alchemist and the details of

how the double confidence trick is pulled off.

10

THE CANON’S YEOMAN’S TALE.

Part I 1

A canon gets the narrator involved in alchemy, which has been his ruination.

720 “With this Canon I dwelt have seven year,

And of his science am I never the nearr : nearer

All that I had, I have y-lost thereby,

And God wot, so have many more than I. God knows

There I was wont to be right fresh and gay used to / f. & fashionable

Of clothing, and of other good array, attire

Now may I wear an hose upon mine head; a stocking

And where my colour was both fresh and red,

Now is it wan, and of a leaden hue, pale & l. color

(Whoso it useth, so shall he it rue;) Whoever does it (alchemy) will regret

730 And of my swink yet blearėd is mine eye; my work / bleary

Lo which advantage is to multiply ! to practice alchemy

That sliding science hath me made so bare, slippery / so poor

That I have no good, wherever that I fare;

And yet I am indebted so thereby

Of gold that I have borrowed truly,

That while I live, I shall it quiten never; repay

Let every man beware by me for ever.

What manner man that casteth him thereto, commits himself

If he continue, I hold his thrift y-do. prosperity is gone

740 So help me God, thereby shall he not win,

But empty his purse, and maken his wits thin.

And when he, through his madness and folly,

Hath lost his ownė good through jeopardy, risking (it)

Then he exciteth other folk thereto, incites

To lose their goods as he himself hath do.

For unto shrewės joy it is and ease

To have their fellows in pain and [in] dis-ease. distress

Thus was I oncė learnėd of a clerk; taught by

Of that no charge; I will speak of our work. no matter

1 Part I is like another prologue.

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Some details of an alchemist’s laboratory: vessels, ingredients, jargon

750 When we be there as we shall exercise where we practice

Our elvish craft, we seemen wonder wise, witchcraft

Our terms be so clergïal and quaint, learned & strange

I blow the fire till that mine heartė faint.

What should I tellen each proportïon

Of things, which that we work upon,

As on five or six ounces, may well be,

Of silver, or some other quantity ?

And busy me to tellen you the names,

As orpiment, burnt bonės, iron squames, 1

760 That into powder grounden be full small?

And in an earthen pot how put is all,

And salt y-put in, and also pepper,

Before these powders that I speak of here,

And well y-covered with a lamp of glass?

And of much other thing which that there was?

And of the pots and glasses enluting, sealing

That of the air might passen out no thing?

And of the easy fire, and smart also, low & high

Which that was made? and of the care and woe,

770 That we had in our matters subliming,

And in amalgaming, and calcining

Of quicksilver, y-clept mercúry crude? called

For all our sleightės we can not conclude. our skill

Our orpiment, and sublimed mercury,

Our grounden litharge eke on the porphyry

Of each of these of ounces a certain

Not helpeth us, our labour is in vain.

Ne, eke our spirits ascension,

Ne our matters that lie all fix adown,

780 May in our working nothing us avail;

For lost is all our labour and travail, and work

1 As he says , there is no real need to understand all the terms with which he nevertheless overwhelms us

here and below about the ingredients and terminology of alchemical experiments. Readers who are really curious

to know should consult the notes in Skeat’s edition or the Riverside edition, or the works of W.C. Curry and J.W.Spargo. Perhaps it was necessary for Chaucer to show that he knew what he was talking about, but one also gets

the impression that he liked showing off his knowledge, as he does so often with his understanding of astronomy.

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And all the cost (a twenty devil way !) damn it !

Is lost also, which we upon it lay. spend

There is also full many another thing,

That is unto our craft appertaining, our trade

Though I by order not rehearse them can, recite

Because that I am a lewėd man, uneducated

Yet will I tell them as they come to mind,

Though I ne cannot set them in their kind, proper order

790 As bol-armoniac, verdigris, boras;

And sundry vessels made of earth and glass,

Our urinals, and our descensories,

Phials, crosletts and sublimatories,

Cucurbites, and alembics eke,

And other such gear, dear enough a leek, not worth a

What needeth it for to rehearse them all?

Waters rubifying, and bulls’ gall,

Arsenic, sal-armoniac, and brimstone?

And herbs could I tell eke many one,

800 As egremoine, valerian, and lunary,

And other such, if that me list to tarry; if I wished to linger

Our lamps burning bothė night and day,

To bring about our craft if that we may;

Our furnace eke of calcination,

And of waters albification,

Unslakėd lime, chalk, and glaire of an ey, white of egg

Powders diverse, ash, dung, piss, and clay,

Cered pots, saltpeter, and vitriol; waxed pots / acid

And divers firės made of wood and coal;

810 Sal-tartar, alkali, and salt preparate,

And combust matters, and coagulate;

Clay made with horse and man’s hair, and oil

Of tartar, alum, glass, barm, wort, and argoil,

Rosalgar, and other matters imbibing;

And eke of our matters encorporing,

And of our silver citrination,

Our cementing, and fermentation,

Our ingots, tests, and many [things] mo’.

I will you tell as was me taught also

820 The four spirits, and the bodies seven,

By order, as oft I heard my lord them neven. name them

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The first spirit Quicksilver cleped is; is called

The second Orpiment ; the third y-wis indeed

Sal Armoniac, and the fourth Brimstone.

The bodies seven eke, lo them here anon.

Sol gold is, and Luna silver we threpe ; sol( sun}; luna ( moon), we say

Mars iron, Mercury quicksilver we clepe: we call

Saturnus lead, and Jupiter is tin,

And Venus Copper, by my father kin.

The effort and money spent

830 This cursed craft whoso will exercise,

He shall no good have that him may suffice,

For all the good he spendeth thereabout

He losen shall, thereof have I no doubt.

Whoso that listeth utter [outen] his folly,

Let him come forth and learnen multiply:

And every man that hath ought in his coffer,

Let him appear, and wax a philosópher,1

Ascaunces that craft is so light to lere. As if / easy to learn

Nay, nay, God wot, all be he monk or frere, God knows, whether he is...

840 Priest or canon, or any other wight, person

Though he sit at his book both day and night

In learning of this elvish nicė lore, illicit foolish knowledge

All is in vain, and pardee muchel more by God

To learn a lewėd man this subtlety; To teach

Fie! speak not thereof, for it will not be.

And can he letterure, or can he none, if he knows books or not

As in effect, he shall find it all one;

For bothė two, by my salvation,

Concluden in multiplication

850 Y-likė well, when they have all y-do; Equally well when finished

This is to say, they failen bothė two. i.e. lettered & unlettered

Yet forgot I to make rehearsal to tell you

Of waters corrosive, and of limaile, & metal filings

And of bodies mollification,

And also of their induration,

Oils, ablusions, metal fusible,

1 “Let him ... become an alchemist” who seeks the philosopher’s stone. There is also an ironic pun on a more usual

meaning of philosopher, a wise man, a student of philosophy.

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To tellen all, would passen any Bible, surpass

That owhere is; wherefore as for the best anywhere

Of all these names now will I me rest;

860 For as I trow, I have you told enough

To raise a fiend, al look he never so rough. To call up a devil

Ah! nay, let be; the philosópher’s stone,1

Elixir cleped, we seeken fast each one, called elixir

For had we him, then were we siker enow; him = it; secure enough

But unto God of heaven I make avow,

For all our craft, when we have all y-do, done everything

And all our sleight, he will not come us to. our skill

He hath y-made us spenden muchel good,

For sorrow of which almost we waxen wood, go mad

870 But that good hope creepeth in our heart,

Supposing ever, though we sorė smart, hurt badly

To be relievėd by him afterward. reimbursed

The alchemical quest as addiction

Such supposing and hope is sharp and hard.

I warn you well it is to seeken ever. forever unattainable

That future temps hath made men to dissever, times / to cut off

(In trust thereof), from all that ever they had, In hopes of success

Yet of that art they cannot waxen sad, become weary

For unto them it is a bitter sweet;

So seemeth it; for n’ad they but a sheet

880 Which that they mighten wrap them in a-night, at night

And a bratt to walk in by daylight, cheap coat

They would them sell, and spend it on this craft;

They cannot stinten, till no thing be left. can’t stop

And evermore, wherever that they gon,

Men may them know by smell of brimstone;

For all the world they stinken as a goat;

Their savour is so rammish and so hot, stink / like ram

That though a man a milė from them be,

The savour will infect him, trusteth me.

1 The object of alchemy was to find or create something that would transmute base metals into gold or“multiply” the quantity of actual gold or silver. Sometimes the object sought was conceived of as the philosopher’sstone mentioned here, sometimes as a liquid or elixir mentioned in the next line. “Natural philosophy” as a termfor science was current until the eighteenth century at least.

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890 Lo, thus by smell and by threadbare array,

If that men list, those folk they knowen may. If they want

And if a man will ask them privily,

Why they be clothėd so unthriftily, so poorly

They right anon will rounen in his ear, whisper

And sayen, if that they espiėd were,

Men would them slay, because of their sciénce: their knowledge

Lo, thus these folk betrayen innocence.

Failures in the lab. Everyone has a different explanation

Pass over this; I go my tale unto.

Ere that the pot be on the fire y-do put

900 Of metals with a certain quantity,

My lord them tempereth, and no man but he; adjusts

(Now he is gone, I dare say boldėly;)

For as men say, he can do craftily;

Algate I wot well he hath such a name, Indeed I know

And yet full oft he runneth in a blame; makes errors

And wit you how? full oft it falleth so, do you know how?

The pot to-breaks, and farewell! all is go. shatters

These metals be of so great violence,

Our walls may not make them résistance,

910 But if they weren wrought of lime and stone; Unless

They piercen so, that through the wall they gon;

And some of them sink down into the ground,

(Thus have we lost by timės many a pound,)

And some are scattered all the floor about;

Some leap into the roof withouten doubt.

Though that the fiend not in our sight him show, the devil does not appear

I trow that he be with us, thilkė shrew. I think / that scoundrel

In hell, where that he is lord and sire,

N’is there no more woe, rancor, nor ire.

920

When that our pot is broke, as I have said,

Every man chides, and holds him evil apaid. thinks himself cheated

Some said it was ’long on the fire-making; was because of

Some said nay, it was ’long on the blowing, because of

(Then was I feared, for that was mine office;) my job

“Straw !” quod the third, “ ye be lewd and nice, stupid & dim

16

It was not tempered as it ought to be.”

“Nay,” quod the fourth, “ stint and hearken me; stop & listen

Because our fire was not made of beech,

That is the cause, and other none, so thee’ch.” I declare (lit. may I prosper)

930 I cannot tell whereon it was along, what caused it

But well I wot great strife is us among. well I know

The search goes on

“What?” quod my lord, “there n’is no more to doon nothing to be done

Of these perils I will beware eftsoon. hereafter

I am right siker that the pot was crazed. sure / cracked

Be as be may, be you no thing amazed.

As usage is, let sweep the floor as swithe; have the floor swept quickly

Pluck up your heartės and be glad and blithe.”

The mullok on a heap y-sweepėd was, The mess

And on the floor y-cast [was] a canvas,

940 And all this mullok in a sieve y-throw,

And sifted, and y-pikėd many a throw. picked through many times

“Pardee,” quod one, “somewhat of our metal By God

Yet is there here, though that we have not all.

And though this thing mis-happėd hath as now,

Another time it may be well enow. enough

We musten put our good in adventure; at risk

A merchant pardee may not aye endure,

Trusteth me well, in his prosperity:

Sometime his good is drenchėd in the sea, drowned, lost

950 And sometime comes it safe unto the lond.”

“Peace,” quod my lord, the next time I will fond manage

To bring our craft all in another plight, another result

And but I do, Sirs, let me have the wite : And unless / the blame

There was default in somewhat, well I wot.” well I know

Commentary

Another said the fire was over-hot.

But be it hot or cold, I dare say this,

That we concluden evermore amiss: end up wrong

We fail always of that which we would have,

And in our madness evermore we rave.

17

960 And when we be together every one,

Every man seemeth a Solomon.

But all thing, which that shineth as the gold,

Ne is not gold, as I have heard it told;

Nor every apple that is fair at eye,

Ne is not good, what so men clap or cry.

Right so, lo, fareth it amongest us.

He that seems the wisest, by Jesus,

Is most fool, when it cometh to the preef ; to the test

And he that seemeth truest, is a thief.

970 That shall ye know, ere that I from you wend, before I ... part

By that I of my tale have made an end. By the time I have

Part II

The tale proper begins here. A canon, but not apparently the one who has just left, deceives

another priest with an elaborate “alchemical” trick

There was a canon of religion

Amongst us, [who] would ínfect all a town,

Though it as great were as was Nineveh,

Rome, Alexandria, Troy, or other three.

His sleightės and his infinite falseness

There couldė no man writen, as I guess,

Though that he mightė live a thousand year;

In all this world, of falseness n’is his peer. isn’t his equal

980 For in his termės he will him so wind, his jargon

And speak his wordės in so sly a kind,

When he communen shall with any wight, converse / any person

That he will make him doaten anon right, make a fool of him

But it a fiend be, as himselfen is. Unless he’s devil

Parenthetic commentary

Full many a man hath he beguiled ere this, tricked before now

And will, if that he may live any while:

And yet men go and riden many a mile

Him for to seek, and have his acquaintánce,

Not knowing of his falsė governance.

990 And if you list to give me audience, If you’ll hear

18

I will it tellen here in your presénce.

But, worshipful canons religious,

Ne deemeth not that I slander your house,

Although that my tale of a canon be.

Of every order some shrew is pardee: some bad one, indeed

And God forbid that all a company

Should rue a singular man’s folly. a single

To slander you is no thing mine intent,

But to correct that is amiss I meant.

1000 This tale was not only told for you,

But eke for other more. Ye wot well how you know well

That among Christ’s apostles twelve

There was no traitor but Judas himself:

Then why should all the remnant have a blame,

That guiltless were? By you I say the same.

Save only this, if you will hearken me,

If any Judas in your convent be,

Removeth him betimės, I you redde promptly, I advise

If shame or loss may causen any dread.

1010 And be no thing displeasėd, I you pray,

But in this case hearken what I [shall] say.

Back to the yeoman’s story. Step 1 in the confidence game:

the canon borrows money which he promptly repays.

In London was a priest, an annualler, 1

That therein dwellėd haddė many a year,

Which was so pleasant and so serviceable Which = Who

Unto the wife, there as he was at table, where he boarded

That she would suffer him no thing to pay allow him

For board nor clothing, went he never so gay; so well-dressed

And spending silver had he right enow: enough

Thereof no force ; I will proceed as now, No matter

1020 And tellen forth my tale of the canon,

That brought this priest to confusion.

This falsė canon came upon a day

Unto the priest’s chamber, there he lay,

Beseeching him to lend him a certain

1 A priest who was paid by the families of the deceased to say Mass for the dead once a year or oftener.

19

Of gold, and he would quit it him again.

“Lend me a mark,”quod he, “but days three, 1

And at my day I will it quiten thee. repay

And if it so be that thou find me false,

Another day do hang me by the halse.” neck

1030 This priest him took a mark, and that as swithe, quickly

And this canon him thanked often sithe, many times

And took his leave, and wentė forth his way:

And at the thirdė day brought his money;

And to the priest he took his gold again,

Whereof this priest was wonder glad and fain. delighted

“Certės,” quod he, “nothing annoyeth me Certainly

To lend a man a noble, or two, or three, a gold coin

Or what thing were in my possession, or whatever

When he so true is of condition, so dependable

1040 That in nowise he breaken wil1 his day: fail to pay on time

To such a man I can never say nay.”

“What?” quod this canon, “should I be untrue?

Nay, that were thing y-fallen all of new. would be new for me

Truth is a thing that I will ever keep

Unto the day in which that I shall creep

Unto my grave, and elsė God forbid:

Believeth this as siker as your creed. as sure

God thank I, and in good time be it said,

That there was never man yet evil apaid disappointed

1050 For gold nor silver that he to me lent,

No never falsehood in mine heart I meant.

As a bonus, the canon will teach the priest some useful natural “philosophy”

And, Sir,” quod he, “now of my privity, my secrets

Since you so goodly have been unto me,

And kithed to me so great gentilesse, shown me kindness

Somewhat, to quiten with your kindėness, to requite

I will you show, and if you list to hear if you wish

I will you teachen plainly the manner,

How I can worken in philosophy. in “science”

1 A mark was about 2/3 of a pound sterling, a fairly substantial sum. A “noble” (1037) was worth abouthalf a mark.

20

Taketh good heed, you shall well see at eye,

1060 That I will do a mastery ere I go.” a marvel before

“Yea?” quod the priest, “Yea, Sir, and will ye so?

Mary! thereof I pray you heartily.” (By Mary !)

“At your commandėment, Sir, truly,

Quod the canon, “and elsė God forbid.”

More moral commentary

Lo, how this thiefė could his service bid. offer

Full sooth it is that such proffered service

Stinketh, as witnessen these oldė wise; wise old men

And that full soon I will it verify

In this canon, root of all treachery,

1070 That evermore delight has and gladness

(Such fiendly thoughtės in his heart impress)

How Christ’s people he may to mischief bring.

God keep us from his false dissimuling.

Nought wist this priest with whom that he dealt, this p. knew not

Nor of his harm coming nothing he felt.

O silly priest, O silly innocent,

With covetise anon thou shalt be blent; avarice / blinded

O graceless, full blind is thy conceit,

Nothing art thou aware of the deceit,

1080 Which that this fox y-shapen hath to thee; has planned

His wily wrenches thou ne mayst not flee. clever plots

Wherefore, to go to the conclusion

That referreth to thy confusion,

Unhappy man, anon I will me hie hurry

To tellen thine unwit and thy folly, stupidity

And eke the falseness of that other wretch,

As farforth as that my cunning will stretch. my ability

The canon of this tale was not my master (who has just left)

This canon was my lord, you woulden ween ? you would think

Sir Host, in faith, and by the heaven’s queen,

1090 It was another canon, and not he,

21

That can an hundred part more subtlety.1 that knows

He hath betrayed folkės many a time;

Of his falseness it dulleth me to rhyme.

Ever when that I speak of his falsehood

For shame of him my cheekės waxen red;

Algatės they beginnen for to glow, At any rate

For redness have I none, right well I know,

In my visage, for fumes diverse

Of metals, which you’ve heard me rehearse,

1100 Consumėd have and wasted my redness.

Now take heed of this canon’s cursedness.

Back to the tale again. The dupe is to be an active collaborator in the confidence trick which

purports to show how to turn quicksilver into solid silver

“Sir,” quod the canon, “let your man gon

For quicksilver, that we it had anon; so that we get it at once

And let him bringen ounces two or three;

And when he comes, as fastė shall you see

A wonder thing, which you ne’er saw ere this.”

“Sir,” quod the priest, “it shall be done y-wis. ”

He bade his servant fetchen him this thing,

And he all ready was at his bidding,

1110 And went him forth, and came anon again

With this quicksilver, shortly for to sayn,

And took these ounces three to the canon;

And he them laid well and fair adown,

And bade the servant coalės for to bring,

That he anon might go to his working.

The coalės right anon weren y-fet, fetched

And this canon took out a crossėlet crucible

Of his bosom, and showed it to the priest. From his

“This instrument,” quod he, “which that thou seest,

1120 Take in thine hand, and put thyself therein

Of this quicksilver an ounce, and here begin

In the name of Christ to wax a philosópher. to become an alchemist

There be full few, which that I wouldė proffer

To showen them this much of my sciénce:

1 It has been suggested that the Yeoman comes up with this clumsy device of another canon-alchemist inan effort not to incriminate himself by his indiscreet confession.

22

For here shall you see by experience,

That this quicksilver I will mortify, transmute

Right in your sight anon withouten lie,

And make it as good silver and as fine,

As there is any in your purse or mine,

1130 Or elsėwhere; and make it malleable;

And else holdeth me false and unable unfit

Amongest folk for ever to appear.

I have a powder here that cost me dear,

Shall make all good, for it is cause of all

My cunning, which that I you showen shall.

Voideth your man, and let him be thereout; Send out

And shut the door, while we be about

Our privity, that no man us espy,

While that we work in this philosophy.”

1140 All as he bade, fulfillėd was in deed.

This ilkė servant anonright out yede, went out at once

And his master shut the door anon,

And to their labour speedily they gon.

This priest at this cursed canon’s bidding,

Upon the fire anon he set this thing,

And blew the fire, and busied him full fast.

And this canon into the crosslet cast crucible

A powder, n’ot I whereof that it was I don’t know

Y-made, either of chalk, [either] [or] of glass,

1150 Or somewhat elsė, was not worth a fly, (which) wasn’t

To blinden with this priest; and bade him hie hurry

The coalės for to couchen all above to pile

The crosslet; “For in tokening I thee love,”

Quod this canon, “thine owen handės two

Shall worken all thing which that here is do.”

“Grand mercy,” quod the priest, and was full glad, Many thanks

And couched the coals as that the canon bade.1 arranged

1 I am indebted to the Riverside edition for the substance of this note. The trick is this. The canon has apre-formed piece of charcoal hollowed out and containing an ounce of silver filings, the opening blocked up withwax. Throwing some worthless powder on the fire and distracting the priest, he slips the charcoal to fit in orabove the crucible so that when the wax melts, the silver will drop into the crucible where the quicksilver willvaporize at a much lower temperature leaving only the real silver. He carves a piece of chalk to the exact size of asilver ingot he has up his sleeve and pours the molten silver from the fire into the chalk mold, then drops it in the

23

And while he busy was, this fiendly wretch, devilish w.

This false canon (the foulė fiend him fetch)

1160 Out of his bosom took a beechen coal, charcoal

In which full subtlely was made a hole,

And therein put was of silver limail silver filings

An ounce, and stoppėd was withouten fail

The hole with wax, to keep the limail in.

And understandeth, that this falsė gin device

Was not made there, but it was made before;

And other thingės I shall tell you more

Hereafterward, which that he with him brought;

Ere he came there, him to beguile he thought, he intended

1170 And so he did, ere that they went a-twin; apart

Till he had tervėd him, could he not blin. skinned him / quit

It dulleth me, when that I of him speak;

On his falsehood fain would I me wreak, avenge

If I wist how, but he is here and there, If I knew

He is so variant, he abides nowhere.

But taketh heed, Sirs, now for God’s love.

He took this coal, of which I spoke above,

And in his hand he bore it privily, secretly

And whilst the priest couchėd busily arranged

1180 The coals, as I told you ere this,

This canon said, “Friend, you do amiss;

This is not couchėd as it ought to be,

But soon I shall amenden it,” quod he.

Now let me meddle therewith but a while, let me fix it

For of you have I pity, by Saint Gile.

You be right hot, I see well how you sweat;

Have here a cloth and wipe away the wet.”

And whilės that the priest wipėd his face,

This canon took this coal, (with sorry grace !) bad luck to him!

1190 And laid it above on the midward

Of the crosslet, and blew well afterward,

Till that the coals gonnen fast [to] bren. to burn

“Now give us drinkė,” quod this canon then,

“As swithe all shall be well, I undertake. Soon

water to cool it. The quicksilver has been converted into real solid silver !

24

Sit we down, and let us merry make.”

And when that this canon’s beechen coal

Was burnt, all the limail out of the hole

Into the crosslet anon fell down;

And so it mustė needės by reason,

1200 Since it above so even couchėd was;

But thereof wist the priest nothing, alas! knew

He deemėd all the coals alikė good,

For of that sleight he nothing understood. that trick

And when this alchemister saw his time,

“Rise up, Sir Priest,” quod he, “and stand by me;

And for I wot well ingot have ye none, no mold

Go, walketh forth, and bring us a chalk stone;

For I will make it of the samė shape

That is an ingot, if I may have hap. if I can

1210 And bringeth eke with you a bowl or [else a] pan

FuIl of water, and you shall well see than

How that our busïness shall thrive and preve. and succeed

And yet, for you shall have no misbelieve

No wrong conceit of me in your absénce,

I n’ill not be out of your presénce,

But go with you, and come with you again.”1

The chamber-doorė, shortly for to sayn,

They opened and shut, and went their way,

And forth with them they carriėd the key,

1220 And came again withouten any delay.

What should I tarrien all the longė day?

He took the chalk, and shaped it in the wise

Of an ingot, as I shall you devise; show you

I say, he took out of his ownė sleeve

A teine of silver (evil may he chieve) A rod / bad luck to him

Which that ne was but a just ounce of weight. exactly

And taketh heed now of his cursėd sleight; trick

He shaped his ingot, in length and in breadth his mold

Of thilkė teine, withouten any dread, that rod without doubt

1230 So slily, that the priest it not espied;

And in his sleeve again he gan it hide;

And from the fire he took up his mattér,

And in the ingot put it with merry cheer:

1 The canon’s scrupulous care never to be out of his victim’s sight increases the victim’s trust in him.

25

And in the water-vessel he it cast,

When that him list, and bade the priest as fast When he wished

Look what there is. “Put in thine hand and grope;

Thou shalt there finden silver, as I hope.”

“What ! Devil of hell! should it elsė be?

Shaving of silver, silver is, pardee.

1240 He put his hand in, and took up a teyne a rod

Of silver fine, and glad in every vein

Was this priest, when he saw that it was so.

“God’s blessing, and His mother’s also, & Virgin Mary’s

And all hallows, have you, Sir Canon,” all saints

Saidė this priest, and I their malison, (may I have) their curse

But, an’ you vouchėsafe to teachen me if you consent

This noble craft and this subtility,

I will be yours in all that ever I may.” 1

A second trick to make silver. 2

Quod the canon, “Yet will I make assay trial, attempt

1250 The second time, that you may taken heed,

And be expért of this, and in your need

Another day assay in mine absénce

This discipline, and this crafty sciénce.

Let take another ouncė,” quod he tho, said he then

“Of quicksilver, withouten wordės mo’,

And do therewith as you have done ere this

With that other, which that now silver is.”

The priest him busieth all that ever he can

To do as this canon, this cursed man,

1260 Commandeth him, and fast he blew the fire,

For to come to the effect of his desire.

And this canon right in the meanėwhile

All ready was this priest eft to beguile, again deceive

And for a countenance in his hand he bare As cover / bore

1 “...and may I have their curse if I am not at your disposal in every way, if you will consent to teach methis noble and subtle skill.”

2 This second trick works much as before, except that the silver filings are in the hollow bottom of a stickwith which the canon pokes the fire. The wax at the end of the stick melts, the filings fall into the crucible, themercury vaporizes as before, and real silver is left in the crucible.

26

A hollow stick, (take keep and beware) take heed

In the end of which an ounce and no more

Of silver limail put was, as before

Was in his coal,1 and stopped with wax well

For to keep in his limail, every deal. every bit

1270 And while this priest was in his busïness,

This canon with his stick gan him dress

To him anon, and his powder cast in,

As he did erst — (The devil out of his skin

Him terve, I pray to God, for his falsehood, flay him

For he was ever false in thought and deed,)—

And with his stick, above the crossėlet,

That was ordainėd with that falsė jet, prepared / trick

He stirred the coals, till relent began to melt

The wax against the fire, as every man,

1280 But he a fool be, wot well it must need. unless he’s a fool knows it must

And all that in the stickė was out yede, poured out

And in the crosslet hastily it fell. in crucible

A third trick, with copper this time

Now, good Sirs, what will ye bet than well? What more can you want ?

When that this priest was thus beguiled again,

Supposing nought but truthė, sooth to sayn, truth to tell

He was so glad, that I can not express

In no mannér his mirth and his gladness,

And to the canon he profferėd eftsoon promptly

Body and good(s): “Yea,” quod the canon soon,

1290 “Though poor I be, crafty thou shalt me find: skillful

I warn thee [well], yet is there more behind. more to come

Is there any copper here within?” said he.

“Yea, Sir,” quod the priest, “I trow well there be.” I trust

“Else go buy us some, and that as swithe.2 at once

1 Just as previously it had been put in a coal.

2 Note the rhyme swithe / hie thee. If this is not a stretch for a rhyme, like Rome / to me, it would imply

that in the reconstructed pronunciation all final pronounced -e-‛s are full syllabic -ay- sounds in the standardSemblance reconstruction or -ee- in modern.. So in the following lines name / came would in Semblance benahmay / cahmay; ounce / pronounce : oonsay / pronoonsay. And so on Nobody, I think, accepts that as likely. 1336 below would have 2 syllables where it seems to have one. In all other uses of swithe in this tale the final -e would seem to be elided. See note to 662-3 above.

27

Now, good Sir, go forth thy way and hie thee.” and hurry

He went his way, and with the copper came,

And this canon it in his handės name. in h. hands he took

And of that copper weighėd out an ounce.

Too simple is my tonguė to pronounce,

1300 As minister of my wit, the doubleness instrument of my brain

Of this canon, root of all cursedness.

He seemėd friendly, to them that knew him not,

But he was fiendly, both in work and thought. devilish

It wearies me to tell of his falseness;

And natheless yet will I it express,

To that intent men may beware thereby,

And for none other causė truly.

He put this ounce of copper in the crosselet, 1

And on the fire as swithe he hath it set, quickly

1310 And cast in powder, and made the priest to blow,

And in his working for to stoopen low,

As he did erst , and all n’as but a jape; before / was only a trick

Right as him list the priest he made his ape. as he wished

And afterward in the ingot he it cast, in the mold

And in the pan [he] put it at the last

Of water, and in [he] put his own hand;

And in his sleeve, as you beforehand

Heard me tell, he had a silver teyne; rod

He slyly took it out, this cursed hine, wretch

1320 (Unwitting this priest of his false craft,) Unaware / trick

And in the pan’s bottom he it left.

And in the water rumbled to and fro, sloshed

And wonder privily took up also very cleverly

The copper teyne, (not knowing this priest,) without this p. knowing

And hid it, and him hent by the breast, caught him by lapels

And to him spoke, and thus said in his game;

“Stoopeth adown; by God you be to blame;

Helpeth me now, as I did you whilere; before

Put in your hand, and looketh what is there.”

1 Here there is simple magic-trick substitution. The canon slips into the water the silver ingot we knowhe had up his sleeve, while also slipping away the copper ingot.

28

They go to the assayer to test the silver. It is genuine.

1330 This priest took up this silver teyne anon;

And then said the canon, “Let us gon

With these three teynės which that we have wrought,

To some goldsmith, and wit if they be ought: find if ... (worth) anything

For by my faith I n’ouldė for my hood I’ll bet anything

But if that they were silver fine and good,

And that as swithė provėd shall it be.” quickly

Unto the goldsmith with these teynės three

They went and put these teynes in assay had them tested

To fire and hammer. Might no man say nay No one could deny

1340 But that they weren as them ought to be.

This sotted priest, who was gladder than he? Besotted

Was never bird gladder against the day,

Or nightingale in the season of May

N’as never none, that list better to sing, that wanted

Nor lady lustier in carolling,

Or for to speak of love and womanhood,

Nor knight in arms to do a hardy deed

To stand in gracė[s] of his lady dear,

Than had this priest this sorry craft to lere; learn

1350 And to the canon thus he spoke and said:

The canon sells the secret to the priest for a mere 40 pounds, a bargain ! 1

“For the love of God, that for us allė died,

And as I may deserve it unto you,

What shall this receipt cost? telleth me now.” the recipe

“By our Lady,” quod this Canon, “it is dear.

I warn you well, for save I and a frere, except me & a friar

In England there can no man it make.”

“No force,” quod he; “now, Sir, for Godė’s sake,

What shall I pay? tell me, I [you] pray.”

“Ywis,” quod he, “it is full dear I say. Indeed / v. expensive

1360 Sir, at one word, if that you list it have, want to have it

You shall pay forty pound, so God me save;

1 40 pounds was a whole year’s salary for many parish clerics as late as the 18th century. Goldsmith’scountry parson was “(sur)passing rich on forty pounds a year”. In the late 14th it was worth a great deal more.

29

And n’ere the friendship that you did ere this If it weren’t for

To me, you should pay more y-wis.” indeed

This priest the sum of forty pounds anon

Of nobles fetched, and took them every one in gold coins

To this canon, for this ilke receipt. for this recipe

All his working n’as but fraud and deceit.

“Sir Priest,” he said, “I keep not to have lose 1 fame (Lat. laus)

Of my craft, for I would it were kept close; confidential

1370 And as you love me, keepeth it secree:

For if men knewen all my subtlety,

By God, they woulden have so great envy

To me, because of my philosophy, my alchemy

I should be dead; there were no other way.”

“God forbid,” quod the priest, “what you say.

Yet had I lever spenden all the good I’d rather

Which that I have, and elsė were I wood or I’d be mad (wood)

Than that you shoulden fall in such mischief.”

“For your good will, Sir, have you right good preef,”2

1380 Quod the canon, “and farewell, grammercy.” many thanks

He went his way, and never the priest him saw

After that day. And when that this priest should

Maken assay, at such time as he would,

Of this receipt, farewell! it would not be. wouldn’t work

Lo, thus bejapėd and beguiled was he:

Thus maketh he his introduction he = alchemist canon

To bringen folk to their destruction.

The moral of this story

Considereth, sirs, how that in each estate

Betwixen men and gold there is debate,

1390 So farforth that unnethes is there none. scarcely(any gold left)

This multiplying blinds so many [a] one, this alchemy

That in good faith I trowė that it be

The causė greatest of such scarcity.

1 “I don’t care (keep not) to have praise (lose) for my skill (craft).”

2 Either “You have given proof of your goodwill” or “For your goodwill may you have great success”.

30

Philosóphers speak so mistily alchemists

In this craft, that men cannot come thereby,

For any wit that men have nowadays.

They may well chatteren, as do these jays,

And in their termės set their lust and pain, desire & effort

But to their purpose shall they ne’er attain.

1400 A man may lightly learn, if he have ought,

To multiply, and bring his good to nought.1

Lo, such a lucre is in this lusty game; here’s the reward for

A man’s mirth it will turn into grame, grief

And empty also great and heavy purses,

And maken folk for to purchase curses

Of them that have thereto their good y-lent.2

Oh, fie for shame! they that have been brent, burned

Alas! can they not flee the fire’s heat !

You that it use, I redde that you it lete, advise you to leave it

1410 Lest you lose all; for bet than never is late: better

Never to thriven, were too long a date.

Though you prowl aye, you shall it never find: search for ever

You be as bold as is Bayard the blind, B = any horse

That blunders forth, and peril casteth none: sees no danger

He is as bold to run against a stone,

As for to go beside it in the way: pass beside it

So faren you that multiply, I say.

If that your eyen cannot see aright,

Looketh that your mind lack not his sight. his = its

1420 For though you look never so broad, and stare,

You shall nothing win on that chaffare, business

But wasten all that you may rape and renne. grab & hold

Withdraw the fire, lest it too fastė bren; burn

Meddleth no morė with that art, I mean;

For if you do, your thrift is gone full clean.

And right as swithe I will you tellen here as quickly

What philosóphers say in this mattére.

Lo, thus saith Arnold of the Newė Town,3

1 Clearly an ironic use of “multiply” which , in fact, reduces.

2 From those who have given them their goods to be “multiplied”.

3 Arnaldus of Villanova, a thirteenth-century physician and chemist who wrote Rosarium Philosophorum.

31

As his “Rosary” maketh mention, a book on alchemy

1430 He saith right thus, withouten any lie;

“There may no man Mercury mortify, solidify

But it be with his brother’s knowledging.” 1 except / brother = sulphur

How that he, which that first said this thing,

Of philosóphers father was, Hermes: H. Trismegistus

He saith, how that the dragon doubteless dragon = mercury

Ne dieth not, but if that he be slain

With his brother. And this is for to sayn, With = By

By the dragon Mercury, and none other

He understood, and Brimstone by his brother, Brimstone = sulphur

1440 That out of Sol and Luna were y-draw Sun & moon = gold & silver

“And therefore,” said he, “take heed to my saw. my saying

Let no man busy him this art to seek,

But if that he the intention and speech Unless

Of philosóphers understanden can;

And if he do, he is a lewėd man. if he does (seek) / ignorant

For this science and this cunning,” quod he, knowledge & skill

“Is of the secret of secrets pardee.”

Also there was a disciple of Plato,

That on a timė said his master to,

1450 As his book Senior will bear witness,2

And this was his demand in soothfastness : in truth

“Tell me the name of thilkė privy stone.” that secret s.

And Plato answered unto him anon:

“Take the stone that Titanos men name.”

“Which is that?” quod he. “Magnetia is the same,”3

Said Plato. “Yea, Sir, and is it thus?

This is ignotum per ignotius. unknown through the more unknown

What is Magnetia, good Sir, I you pray ?”

“It is a water that is made, I say,

1460 Of the elements four,” quod Plato.

“Tell me the root, good Sir,” quod he tho, then

1 The kind of deliberately obscure jargon that follows was typical of a “profession” desperate todemonstrate its “deep” knowledge of things secret.

2 An Arabic book attributed to Senior Zadith and translated into Latin with various protagonists,including Plato or Solomon who are not in the original.

3 Titanos and Magnetia are, apparently, code names.

32

Of that water, if that it be your will.”

“Nay, nay,” quod Plato, “certain that I n’ill. I won’t

The philosophers sworn were every one,

That they ne should discover it unto none,

Nor in no book it write in no mannér;

For unto God it is so lief and dear, so precious

That He will not that it discovered be,

But where it liketh to his deity it pleases his Godhead

1470 Men for t’inspire, and eke for to defend to forbid

Whom that him liketh; lo, this is the end.”

Then thus conclude I, since that God of heaven

Ne will not that the philosóphers neven name, reveal

How that a man shall come unto this stone,

I redde as for the best [to] let it gon. I advise

For whoso maketh God his adversary,

As for to worken any thing in contary

Of His will, certės never shall he thrive,

Though that he “multiply” term of his life. work at alchemy his whole life

1480

And there a point; for ended is my tale. Put a period there

God send every good man boote of his bale. cure of his troubles

Here ends the Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale