The Pardoner's Prologue & Tale
Folio 140r
7 of 14 folios
And swere in doom in doom / and eek in rigħtwisnesse
310
But ydel sweryng is a cursednesse
Bihoold and se / that in the firste table
Of heigħe goddes heestes honurable
Hou / that the seconde heeste / of hym / is this
Take nat my name / in ydel or amys
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Lo rather he forbedeth swich sweryng
Than homycide / or any cursed thyng
I seye / that as by ordre / thus it stondetħ
This knowen / that hise heestes vnderstondetħ
How þt / the seconde heeste of god is that
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And forther ou / I wol thee telle al plat
That vengeance / shal nat parten from his hous
That of hise othes / is to outrageous
By goddes percious herte / and by his nayles
And by the blood of Crist that is in hayles
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Seuene is my chaunce / and thyn is cynk & treye
By goddes Armes / if thou falsly pleye
This dagger / shal thurgħ out thyn herte go
This fruyt cometh / of the bicched bones two
Forsweryng Ire / falsnesse / homycide
330
Now for the loue of Crist þt for vs dyde
Lete youre othes / bothe grete and smale
But sires / now wol I telle fortħ my tale
Thise Riotours thre / of whiche I telle
Longe erst er pime rong of any belle
335
Were set hem / in a Tauerne to drynke
And as they sat they herde a belle clynke
Biforn a cors / was caried / to his graue
That oon of hem / gan callen to his knaue
Go bet quod he / and axe redily
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What cors is this / þt passeth heer forby
And looke / þt thou reporte his name weel
¶ Sir quod this boy / it nedeth neueradeel
It was me toold / er ye cam heer two houres
He was pardee / an old felawe of youres
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And sodeynly / he was yslayn to nygħt
For dronke / as he sat on his bench vp rigħt
Ther cam a piuee theef / men clepeth deetħ
That in this contree / al the peple sleetħ
And w his spere / he smoot his herte atwo
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And wente his wey / with outen wordes mo
He hath / a thousand slayn this pestilence
And maister / er ye come in his persence
Me thynketh / that it were necessarie
For to be war / of swich an aduersarie
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Beth redy / for to meete hym eueremoore
Thus taugħte me my dame / I sey namoore