The Cook's Prologue
Folio 47r
2 of 2 folios
A man may seye ful sooth / in game and pley
¶ Thou seist ful sooth / quod Roger by my fey
But sooth pley quaad pley / as the flemyng seith
And therfore / Herry Bailly / by thy feitħ
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Be thou na wrooth / er we departen heer
Though that my tale / be of an hostileer
But nathelees / I wol nat telle it yit
But er we parte / ywis thou shalt be quit /
And ther with al / he lougħ and made cheere
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And seyde his tale / as ye shul after heere
¶ Heere bigynneth the Cookes tale /
A Prentys whilom dwelled / in oure Citee
And of a craft of vitailliers was hee
Gaillard he was / as Goldfyncħ in the shawe
Broun as a berye / a propre short felwe
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With lokkes blake / ykembd ful fetisly
Dauncen he koude / so wel and iolily
That he was cleped Perkyn Reuelour
He was / as ful of loue and paramour
As is the hyve / ful of hony sweete
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Wel was the wenche / with hym mygħte meete
At euery bridale / wolde he synge and hoppe
He loued bet the Tauerne than the shoppe
For / whan ther / any ridyng was in Chepe
Out of the shoppe / thider wolde he lepe
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Til that he hadde / al the sigħte yseyn
And daunced wel / he wolde nat come ayeyn
And gadered hym / a meynee of his sort
To hoppe and synge / and maken swich disport
And ther they setten steuene for to meete
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To pleyen / at the dys in swich a Streete
For in the toun / nas ther no perntys
That fairer koude caste / a paire of dys
Than Perkyn koude / and therto he was free
Of his dispense / in place of pryuetee
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That fond his maister wel in his chaffare
For often tyme / he foond his box ful bare
For sikerly / a perntys Reuelour
That haunteth dys / Riot or paramour
His maister / shal it in his shoppe abye
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Al haue he / no part of the Mynstralcye
For thefte and Riot. they been conuertible
Al konne he pleye on gyterne / or Ribible