that it is yowr maner and Saracyns lawe nat as to take a wif[1] but
of the yift of a lawful man. Wiltow have hir of hym and of his
yift as that thow hast nonother friend in this cuntrey? Whiche
whan he seeth me shal trowe to be his and shal doubte. Than if
that he turne hom as to see whether it be I, I shal meete and abide
hym in the chamber;[2] [he] shal arbiter hymsilf to [be] dis-
ceived, than he turneth ageyn to the. And I eftsoones[3] shal come
bifore hym, and so shal he yeve me to the to be seen of al theym that
standen aboute; and so was it don."
XXIX. The Roman Merchant Who Laid a Wager on His Wife's Chastity.[4]
Ther were ii manchauntis in Rome of the whiche that oon had a
wif, a chast[5] and a faire womman. Forsoth that other no trustifeith
had in no womman. Whan and wherfor sumtyme whan and
other wern disceived of wymmens[6] lightnes[7] he joied[8]; he forsoth
of the trust and feith of his wif ageynsaide that other, of the
whiche thei[9] put in plegge al their possessioun: this that he shuld
corrupt hir withyn xv daies, he forwhi as with this condicioun stidefastly
kept: that the husbond shuld nat warne or tel his wif of this
covenaunt. She therfor busied with al maner of lightnes as with
nothyng lad nor huyred, bi hir footemayde or seruaunt with yiftes
corrupt she was disceived. Forsoth she had a Ryng that is to of
hir first husbondes yift[10] above al possessiouns most diere.[11] She had also a vernacle[12] in signe and of an hand and an half from the
kne vnto the Right hipe. And whan so bi the footemaide or
seruaunt prively had taken he that knowen Ryng, and with the
knowlache that I have saide, told and rehersed to his felaw as signes
and tokenes of most certayne advowtrye, he bitake with cursid suspeccioun
exiled hymsilf of his possessioun and vsid of exile. This
- ↑ H. & S. 'wit;' Lat. (I, 70, l. 42), coniugem.
- ↑ English omits first clause of next sentence, ubi cum invenerit me, when he has found me there.
- ↑ H. & S. 'eftscones.'
- ↑ See Mod. Lang. Notes, vol. XXIV, p. 219; H. & S., I, 71-72.
- ↑ H. & S. 'chaste.'
- ↑ H. & S. 'wymmenis.'
- ↑ 'lightnes' inserted on margin of Ms.
- ↑ H. & S. omit 'he joied.'
- ↑ H. & S. 'the.'
- ↑ Lat. (I, 71, l. 19) Habebat autem anulum sibi primum mariti manus. When this tale was printed in Mod. Lang. Notes several years ago (1909), the Latin original had not been published. For this reason I offer there a few emendations of the Middle English text: with the Latin text now accessible, my emendations are, for the most part, omitted in this reprint.
- ↑ H. & S. 'kiere'. Lat. carum (I, 71, l. 21.)
- ↑ Lat. verrucam.
