Text 81: Chaucer's The Friar's Tale (ii)

Original Text:

This worthy lymytour / this noble frere
He made al wey / a manere louring cheere
Vp on the Somnour / but for honeftee
No vileyns word / as yet to hym spak he
But ate lafte / he seyde vn to the wyf
Dame quod he / god yeue yow right good lyf
Ye han heer touched / al fo mote I thee
In scole matere / gpret difficultee

Ye han seyd muche thing / right wel I seye
But dame / here as we ryden by the weye
Vs nedeth nat / to speken / but of game
And lete auctoritees / on goddess name
To prechyng / and to scole of clergye
But if it like / to this compaignye
I wol yow / of a Somnour telle a game

Our Modern translation:

This worthy limiter, this noble friar
He always made a kind of scowling face
At the Summoner, but for courtesy
No insolent word as yet he spoke to him
But finally he said to the wife:
“My lady”, said he, “God give you a good life!
You have here mentioned, as I must tell you,
school matters of great difficulty.
You have said many things right well, I say;
But, my lady, here as we ride along our way,
We need not to speak of anything but of pleasant matters,
And leave authorities, in God’s name,
to preach and to their schools of clergymen.
But if it pleases to all this company,then
I will tell you an amusing story about a summoner.