The Reeve's Tale
Folio 52r
3 of 12 folios
And eek / for she was som del smoterlich
She was as digne / as water in a dich
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And ful of hoker / and of bismare
Hir thoghte / þt a lady sholde hir spare
What for hir kynrede / and hir nortelrye
That she hadde lerned / in the Nonnerye
A doghter hadde they / bitwix hem two
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Of twenty yeer / with outen any mo
Sauyng a child / þt was of hal yeer age
In Cradel it lay / and was a propre page
This wenche / thikke and wel ygrowen was
With camuse nose / and eyen greye as glas
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With buttokes brode / and brestes rounde and hye
But right fair was hir heer I wol nat lye
¶ The person of the toun / for she was so feir
In purpos was / to maken hir his heir
Bothe of his catel / and his Mesuage
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And straunge he made it of hir mariage
His purpos was / for to bistowe hir hye
In to som worthy blood of Auncetrye
For holicherches good / moot been despended
On holicherches blood / þt is descended
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Ther fore / he wolde his holy blood honoure
Thogh þt he / holy chirche sholde deuoure
¶ Greet sokne / hath this Miller out of doute
With whete and malt of al the land aboute
And nameliche / ther was a greet Collegge
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Men clepeth / the soler halle at Cantebregge
Ther was hir whete / and eek hir malt ygrounde
And on a day / it happed in a stounde
Syk was this maunciple / on a maladie
Men wenden wisly / þt he sholde dye
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For which this Millere / stal bothe mele and corn
An hondred tyme / moore than biforn
For ther biforn / he stal but curteisly
But now / he was a theef outrageously
For which the wardeyn / chidde and made fare
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But ther of / sette the Millere noght a tare
He craked boost and swoor it was noght so
Thanne were ther / yonge poure scolers two