The Reeve's Prologue
Folio 50v
1 of 2 folios
And euery wight gan laughen at this stryf
Thus swyued / was the Carpenters wyf
For al his kepyng and his Ialousye
And Absolon / hath kist hir nether Iye
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And Nicholas / is scalded in the toute
This tale is doon / and god saue al the route
¶ Here is ended / the Millerys tale ~
¶ The prologe / of the Reues tale ~
Whan folk hadde laughen / at this nyce cas
Of Absolon / and hende Nicholas
Diuerse folk / diuersely they seyde
But for the moore part they lowe and pleyde
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Ne at his tale / I seigh no man hym greue
But it were oonly / Osewold the Reue
By cause he was / of Carpenters craft
A litel Ire / is in his herte ylaft
He gan to grucche / and blamed it alite
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So the ik quod he / ful wel koude I thee quyte
With bleryng of a proud Millerys Iye
If þt me liste / speke of rybaudye
But ik am oold / me list no pleye for age
Gras tyme is doon / my fodder is now forage
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This white tope / writeth myne olde yerys
Myn herte / is also mowled / as myne herys
But if ik fare / as dooth an Openers
That ilke fruyt is euer lenger the wers
Til it be roten / in Mollok or in stree
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We olde men / I drede so fare we
Til we be roten / kan we noght be rype
We hoppe alwey / whil þt Êthe world wol pipe
For in oure wil / ther stiketh euere a nayl
To haue an hoor heer / and a grene tayl
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As hath a leek / for thogh oure myght be goon
Oure wil desireth folie / euere in oon
For whan we may noght doon / than wol we speke
Yet in oure asshen olde / is fyr yreke