The droghtedrought, dryness of March hath percedpierced to the roote,
And bathed every veynevein (of plants) in swich licoursuch liquid
Of which vertuBy which power engendredproduced is the flourflower,
Whan Zephirusthe West Wind eekalso with his sweete breeth
InspiredBreathed into hath in every holtwoodland and heeth
The tendre croppesshoots, new leaves, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the RamAries his halve cours yronnerun,
And smale fowelesbirds maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open yeeye
(so priketh hemthem Nature in hir coragestheir hearts),
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmerespilgrims for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwesfaraway shrines, kowtheknown in sondry londesvarious lands;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to sekeseek,
That hem hath holpenhas helped them whan that they were seekesick.
BifilIt befell that in that seson on a day,
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay
Redy to wendengo, journey on my pilgrymage
To Caunterbury with ful devout corageheart,
At nyght was come into that hostelrye
Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye,
Of sondry folkvarious kinds of people, by aventurechance yfallefallen (together)
In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde.
The chambresrooms and the stables weren wydespacious,
And wel we weren esedmade comfortable atteat the beste.
And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste,
So hadde I spoken with hem everichonevery one
That I was of hir felaweshipe anonimmediately,
And made forwardagreement erly for to ryse,
To take oure wey ther as I yow devysedescribe.
But nathelessnonetheless, whil I have tyme and space,
ErBefore that I ferther in this tale pacego, proceed,
Me thynketh itIt seems to me acordauntaccording to resoun
To telle yow al the condicioun
Of ech of hemeach of them, so as it semed me,
And whiche they weren, and of what degree,
And eekalso in what arrayclothes, gear that they were inne;
And at a knyght than wol I first bigynne.
A knyght ther was, and that a worthy man,
That fro the tyme that he first bigan
To riden out, he loved chivalrie,
Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.
Ful worthy was he in his lordes werrewar,
And therto hadde he riden, no man ferrefarther,
As wel in Cristendom as in hethenesse,
And evere honoured for his worthynesse.
At AlisaundreAlexandria (Egypt) he was whan it was wonne.
Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne
Aboven alle nacions in PrucePrussia;
In LettowLithuania hadde he reysedtraveled and in RuceRussia,
No Cristen man so ofte of his degree.
In GrenadeGrenada (Spain) at the seegesiege eekalso hadde he be
Of AlgezirAlgeciras, and riden in BelmaryeBenmarin (Morocco).
At Lyeys Ayas (Turkey) was he and at SatalyeAntalya (Turkey)
Whan they were wonne; and in the Grete See Mediterranean
At many a noble armeearmed expedition hadde he be.
At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene,
And foughten for oure feith at Tramyssene
In lysteslists (formal duels) thries, and ayalways slayn his foo.
This ilkesame worthy knyght hadde been also
Somtyme with the lord of PalatyeBalat (Turkey)
AgaynAgainst another hethen in Turkye.
And everemoore he hadde a sovereyn prys;
And though that he were worthy, he was wyswise,
And of his portmanner as meeke as is a mayde.
He nevere yet no vileynye rudeness, evil ne sayde
In al his lyf unto no maner wightany kind of person.
He was a verraytruly, parfitperfect gentil knyght.
But, for to tellen yow of his array,
His horshorses were goode, but he was nat gay.
Of fustiancoarse cloth he wered a gypon tunic
Al bismotered (rust) stained with his habergeonby his coat of mail,
For he was late ycome from his viagevoyage,
And wente for to doon his pilgrymage.
With hym ther was his sone, a yong squieryoung knight,
A lovyere and a lusty bacheler,
With lokkes crullecurly asas if they were leyd in presse.
Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.
Of his stature he was of evene lengthemedium height,
And wonderly delyvereagile, and of greet strengthe.
And he hadde been somtyme in chyvachie
In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Pycardie,
And born hym weel, as of so litel spacefor such a short time,
In hope to stonden in his ladylady's grace.
EmbroudedEmbroidered was he, as it were a meede meadow
Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and reede.
Syngynge he was, or floytyngeplaying the flute, al the day;
He was as fressh as is the month of May.
Short was his gowne, with sleves longe and wyde.
Wel koude he sitte on hors and faire ryde.
He koude songes make and wel endite,
JusteJoust and eekalso daunce, and weel purtreyedraw, paint and write.
So hootehotly he lovede that by nyghtertaleat nighttime.
He sleep namoore than dooth a nyghtyngale.
Curteis he was, lowelyhumble, and servysableattentive,
And carfcarved (meat) biforn his fader at the table.
A yemanyeoman hadde he and servantz namono more
At that tyme, for hym listeit pleased him (to) ride so,
And he was clad in cote and hood of grene.
A sheef of pecok arwesarrows with peacock feathers, bright and kene,
Under his belt he bar ful thriftilyefficiently,
(wel koude he dressearrange his takeltackle, equipment yemanly:
His arwes drouped noght with fetheres lowe)
And in his hand he baar a myghty bowe.
A not heedclose-cropped head hadde he, with a broun visageface.
Of wodecraft wel koude he al the usage. practices
Upon his arm he baar a gay bracerarm guard,
And by his syde a swerd and a bokelersmall shield,
And on that oother syde a gay daggere
Harneised wel and sharp as point of spere;
A CristopherSt. Christopher's medal on his brest of silver sheene.
An horn he bar, the bawdrykshoulder strap was of grene;
A forsterforester, gamekeeper was he, soothlytruly, as I gesse.
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