Chaucer's Works, Volume 4 — The Canterbury Tales (Skeat 2nd ed. 1900)

«Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote / The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, / And bathed every veyne in swich licour, / Of which vertu engendred is the flour; / Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth / Inspired hath in every holt and heeth / The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne / Hath in the Ram his halve cours y-ronne, / And smale fowles maken melodye, / That slepen al the night with open yë, / (So priketh hem nature in hir corages): / Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages / (And palmers for to seken straunge strondes) / To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes; / And specially, from every shires ende / Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, / The holy blisful martir for to seke, / That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke.»
«Our swete lord god of hevene, that no man wole perisse, but wole that we comen alle to the knoweleche of him, and to the blisful lyf that is perdurable, amonesteth us by the prophete Ieremie, that seith in this wyse: 'stondeth upon the weyes, and seeth and axeth of olde pathes (that is to seyn, of olde sentences) which is the goode wey; and walketh in that wey, and ye shul finde refresshinge for your soules,' &c. Manye been the weyes espirituels that leden folk to oure Lord Iesu Crist, and to the regne of glorie. Of whiche weyes, ther is a ful noble wey and a ful covenable, which may nat faile to man ne to womman, that thurgh sinne hath misgoon fro the righte wey of Ierusalem celestial; and this wey is cleped Penitence.»

HEAD 段以四月甜雨 + 朝圣者启程立"经验朝圣路"主轴,TAIL 段以 Ieremie 召唤 + Penitence 路径立"精神朝圣路"反轴——一段诗一段讲道,plot 由"朝圣比赛"压紧而非戏剧冲突展开,故 82 而非更高。

«A KNIGHT ther was, and that a worthy man, / That fro the tyme that he first bigan / To ryden out, he loved chivalrye, / Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye. / Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre, / And therto hadde he riden (no man ferre) / As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse, / And ever honoured for his worthinesse. / At Alisaundre he was, whan it was wonne; / Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne / Aboven alle naciouns in Pruce. / In Lettow hadde he reysed and in Ruce, / No Cristen man so ofte of his degree. / In Gernade at the sege eek hadde he be / Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye. / At Lyeys was he, and at Satalye, / Whan they were wonne; and in the Grete See / At many a noble aryve hadde he be. / At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene, / And foughten for our feith at Tramissene / In listes thryes, and ay slayn his foo. / This ilke worthy knight had been also / Somtyme with the lord of Palatye, / Ageyn another hethen in Turkye: / And evermore he hadde a sovereyn prys. / And though that he were worthy, he was wys, / And of his port as meke as is a mayde. / He never yet no vileinye ne sayde / In al his lyf, un-to no maner wight. / He was a verray parfit gentil knight.»
«'Experience, though noon auctoritee / Were in this world, were right y-nough to me / To speke of wo that is in mariage; / For, lordinges, sith I twelf yeer was of age, / Thonked be god that is eterne on lyve, / Housbondes at chirche-dore I have had fyve; / For I so ofte have y-wedded be; / And alle were worthy men in hir degree. / But me was told certeyn, nat longe agon is, / That sith that Crist ne wente never but onis / To wedding in the Cane of Galilee, / That by the same ensample taughte he me / That I ne sholde wedded be but ones. / Herke eek, lo! which a sharp word for the nones / Besyde a welle Iesus, god and man, / Spak in repreve of the Samaritan: / "Thou hast y-had fyve housbondes," quod he, / "And thilke man, the which that hath now thee, / Is noght thyn housbond;" thus seyde he certeyn; / What that he mente ther-by, I can nat seyn;»

HEAD 段 Knight 32 行肖像——Alisaundre/Pruce/Lettow/Ruce/Gernade/Algezir/Belmarye/Lyeys/Satalye/Tramissene/Turkye/Palatye 十二战场地名 + "verray parfit gentil knight" 一行论定;LATE 段 Wyf of Bathe 用"Crist ne wente never but onis to wedding in the Cane of Galilee" + "Samartan 五夫"反权威立第一人称——两段以诗体立两极人物样本,中世纪英语文学群像最强标本,cast 92。

«Bifel that, in that seson on a day, / In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay / Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage / To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, / At night was come in-to that hostelrye / Wel nyne and twenty in a companye, / Of sondry folk, by aventure y-falle / In felawshipe, and pilgrims were they alle, / That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde; / The chambres and the stables weren wyde, / And wel we weren esed atte beste. / And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste, / So hadde I spoken with hem everichon, / That I was of hir felawshipe anon, / And made forward erly for to ryse, / To take our wey, ther as I yow devyse.»
«Seint Ambrose seith, that 'Penitence is the pleyninge of man for the gilt that he hath doon, and na-more to do any thing for which him oghte to pleyne.' And som doctour seith: 'Penitence is the waymentinge of man, that sorweth for his sinne and pyneth him-self for he hath misdoon.' Penitence, with certeyne circumstances, is verray repentance of a man that halt him-self in sorwe and other peyne for hise giltes. And for he shal be verray penitent, he shal first biwailen the sinnes that he hath doon, and stidefastly purposen in his herte to have shrift of mouthe, and to doon satisfaccioun, and never to doon thing for which him oghte more to biwayle or to compleyne, and to continue in goode werkes: or elles his repentance may nat availle. For as seith seint Isidre: 'he is a Iaper and a gabber, and no verray repentant, that eftsoone dooth thing, for which him oghte repente.' Wepinge, and nat for to stinte to doon sinne, may nat avaylle.»

HEAD 段用"I lay / Redy to wenden / At night was come / Wel nyne and twenty / And shortly"五个时间锚点把引子节奏拉到"几乎静止的静夜集合",TAIL 段用 "Seint Ambrose seith... / Penitence is... / And for he shal... / or elles... / Wepinge" 招名化引语堆叠 + 散文长句把节奏压成学术讲道——节奏在同书内极不均衡,中位 78。

«_Iamque domos patrias, Scithice post aspera gentis_ / _Prelia, laurigero, &c._ / [Statius, _Theb._ xii. 519.] / Whylom, as olde stories tellen us, / Ther was a duk that highte Theseus; / Of Athenes he was lord and governour, / And in his tyme swich a conquerour, / That gretter was ther noon under the sonne. / Ful many a riche contree hadde he wonne; / What with his wisdom and his chivalrye, / He conquered al the regne of Femenye, / That whylom was y-cleped Scithia; / And weddede the quene Ipolita, / And broghte hir hoom with him in his contree / With muchel glorie and greet solempnitee, / And eek hir yonge suster Emelye. / And thus with victorie and with melodye / Lete I this noble duk to Athenes ryde, / And al his hoost, in armes, him bisyde.»
«_Ier._ 6º. _State super vias et videte et interrogate de viis antiquis, que sit via bona; et ambulate in ea, et inuenietis refrigerium animabus vestris, &c._»

MID 用斜体"Iamque domos patrias, Scithice post aspera gentis / Prelia, laurigero"五音步拉丁诗行嵌入中古英语街歌前——Skeat 用斜体+年份码标注 Statius _Theb._ xii. 519,TAIL 用"Ier. 6º. State super vias et videte"拉丁 Vulgate 引耶利米书 6:16 立三段论开篇——Skeat 把"中世纪英语如何对接古典"做到 19 世纪学院校勘极致,prose 90。

«Whylom, as olde stories tellen us, / Ther was a duk that highte Theseus; / Of Athenes he was lord and governour, / And in his tyme swich a conquerour, / That gretter was ther noon under the sonne. / Ful many a riche contree hadde he wonne; / What with his wisdom and his chivalrye, / He conquered al the regne of Femenye, / That whylom was y-cleped Scithia; / And weddede the quene Ipolita, / And broghte hir hoom with him in his contree / With muchel glorie and greet solempnitee, / And eek hir yonge suster Emelye.»
«Our swete lord god of hevene, that no man wole perisse, but wole that we comen alle to the knoweleche of him, and to the blisful lyf that is perdurable, amonesteth us by the prophete Ieremie, that seith in this wyse: 'stondeth upon the weyes, and seeth and axeth of olde pathes (that is to seyn, of olde sentences) which is the goode wey; and walketh in that wey, and ye shul finde refresshinge for your soules,' &c. Manye been the weyes espirituels that leden folk to oure Lord Iesu Crist, and to the regne of glorie. Of whiche weyes, ther is a ful noble wey and a ful covenable, which may nat faile to man ne to womman, that thurgh sinne hath misgoon fro the righte wey of Ierusalem celestial; and this wey is cleped Penitence.»

MID 段用 Athenes(雅典)+ Femenye/Scithia(中世纪"女人国")+ Ipolita(亚马逊女王)+ Emelye(公主)四地名四民族立古希腊-斯基泰-亚马逊三层神话世界,TAIL 段用 Ierusalem celestial(天上耶路撒冷)+ regne of glorie(荣耀国)+ Penitence weyes(悔罪之路)三神学空间立中世纪精神世界——两段三层套叠,中世纪英语文学最厚的多世界缝合,world 92。

«Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote / The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, / And bathed every veyne in swich licour, / Of which vertu engendred is the flour; / Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth / Inspired hath in every holt and heeth / The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne / Hath in the Ram his halve cours y-ronne, / And smale fowles maken melodye, / That slepen al the night with open yë,»
«'Experience, though noon auctoritee / Were in this world, were right y-nough to me / To speke of wo that is in mariage; / For, lordinges, sith I twelf yeer was of age, / Thonked be god that is eterne on lyve, / Housbondes at chirche-dore I have had fyve;»

HEAD 段十四行"四月甜雨"一气写完春回,"shoures sote / droghte of Marche / swich licour / vertu engendred / Zephirus swete breeth / holt and heeth / tendre croppes / yonge sonne / halfe cours y-ronne / smale fowles"十组意象链旋紧,LATE 段六行"Experience vs auctoritee"开篇立反权威第一人称宣言——两段钩力各具一极,head 是自然诗,LATE 是经验哲学,钩 88。

«_Iamque domos patrias, Scithice post aspera gentis_ / _Prelia, laurigero, &c._ / [Statius, _Theb._ xii. 519.] / Whylom, as olde stories tellen us, / Ther was a duk that highte Theseus;»
«For I so ofte have y-wedded be; / And alle were worthy men in hir degree. / But me was told certeyn, nat longe agon is, / That sith that Crist ne wente never but onis / To wedding in the Cane of Galilee, / That by the same ensample taughte he me / That I ne sholde wedded be but ones. / Herke eek, lo! which a sharp word for the nones / Besyde a welle Iesus, god and man, / Spak in repreve of the Samaritan: / "Thou hast y-had fyve housbondes," quod he, / "And thilke man, the which that hath now thee, / Is noght thyn housbond;" thus seyde he certeyn; / What that he mente ther-by, I can nat seyn;»

MID 把 Statius 拉丁史诗五音步"Iamque domos patrias Scithice post aspera gentis / Prelia laurigero"用斜体保入英语叙事诗开篇——Skeat 脚注标 Theb. xii. 519,这是中世纪英语首次用拉丁史诗引子"接古典罗马再接希腊神话"的三层嵌套;LATE 用"housbondes at chirche-dore I have had fyve" + "Crist ne wente never but onis to wedding in the Cane of Galilee"中西部第一人称对话体立女性经验反权威——把英语诗体从"宫廷恋诗 + 教会拉丁散文"中间拉出而立"英语叙事诗"体裁,innov 90。

«§ 4. The spyces of Penitence been three. That oon of hem is solempne, / another is commune, and the thridde is privee. / Thilke penance that is solempne, is in two maneres; as to be put out of holy chirche in lente, / for slaugtre of children, and swich maner thing. / Another is, whan a man hath sinned openly, of which sinne the fame is openly spoken in the contree; / and thanne holy chirche by Iugement destreineth him for to do open penaunce. / Commune penaunce is that preestes enioinen men comunly in certeyn caas; / as for to goon, peraventure, naked in pilgrimages, or bare-foot. / Privee penaunce is thilke that men doon alday for privee sinnes, / of whiche we shryve us prively and receyve privee penaunce.»
«§ 3. And now, sith I have declared yow what thing is Penitence, now shul ye understonde that ther been three accions of Penitence. / The firste accion of Penitence is, that a man be baptized after that he hath sinned. / Seint Augustin seith: 'but he be penitent for his olde sinful lyf, he may nat biginne the newe clene lif.' For certes, if he be baptized withouten penitence of his olde gilt, he receiveth the mark of baptisme, but nat the grace ne the remission of his sinnes, til he have repentance verray. Another defaute is this, that men doon deedly sinne after that they han received baptisme. The thridde defaute is, that men fallen in venial sinnes after hir baptisme, fro day to day. Ther-of seith Seint Augustin, that 'penitence of goode and humble folk is the penitence of every day.'»

帕森故事开篇立"三大悔罪行动 + 三种悔罪类别"中世纪神学框架,后接"Contricioun + Confessioun + Satisfaccioun"三段论——结构严整但 Skeat 全本后段留 Retraction 撤其他故事的散文尾段,把"故事比赛"反转为"作者悔过",文学完整度打折,ending 76。