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1. The General Prologue
2. The Knight's Tale
3. The Miller's Prologue
4. The Miller's Tale
5. The Reeve's Prologue
6. The Reeve's Tale
7. The Cook's Prologue
8. The Cook's Tale
9. Introduction to the Man of Law's Tale
10. The Man of Law's Tale
11. The Wife of Bath's Prologue
12. The Wife of Bath's Tale
13. The Friar's Prologue
14. The Friar's Tale
15. The Summoner's Prologue
16. The Summoner's Tale
17. The Clerk's Tale
18. Lenvoye de Chaucer
19. Words of the Host
20. The Merchant's Prologue
21. The Merchant's Tale
22. Epilogue to the Merchant's Tale
23. The Squire's Tale
24. The Franklin's Tale
25. The Physician's Tale
26. Introduction to the Pardoner's Tale
27. The Pardoner's Prologue & Tale
28. The Shipman's Tale
29. The Prioress' Tale
30. The Tale of Sir Thopas
31. Here the Host 'stynteth' Chaucer's Tale of Sir Thopas
32. The Tale of Melibeus
33. The Monk's Prologue
34. The Monk's Tale
35. The Nun's Priest's Prologue
36. The Nun's Priest's Tale
37. Epilogue to the Nun's Priest's Tale
38. The Second Nun's Tale
39. The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue
40. The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
The Merchant's Tale Folio 110r 27 of 27 folios
To my purpos / Placebo what seye ȝe
I seye it is a cursed man / qd he
That lettitħ Matrimoyne / sekerly
330
And witħ that word / they resyn sodeynly
And ben assentid fully / that he shulde
Be wedded / whan hī list / and where he wolde
Heigħ fantasie / and curious besynesse
Fro day to day / gan in the soule impresse
335
Of Ianuarie / a boute his mariage
Many fair shape / and many a fair visage
There passetħ thurgħ his hert / nygħ t be nygħ t
As who toke a Myrour / polysshed brygħ t
And sette it / in a comune / Market place
340
Than shuld he se / ful many a fygure pace
By his Mirour / and in this same wyse
Gan Ianuarie / witħ Inne his þ ouȝt deuyse
Of Maydenes / whicħ that dwelt hi beside
He wyst nougħ t where / that he mygħ t a byde
345
For if that on / haue beaute in hire face
A nother stondetħ so / in the peeples grace
For hire sadnes / and hire benignitee
That of the peeple / the grettest voys hatħ she
And sō me were riche / and had a bad name
350
But natheles / betwixt ernest and game
He at the last / a poyntetħ hī oon one
And lete alle othere / from his hert gone
And chesitħ hire / of his owen auctorite
For loue is blynde / al day / and may nat Corrected from: wel<nothing> wel se
355
He portrayed in his hert / and in his thougħ t
Hire mydel smal / and hire armes sklendre
Hire wys gouer naū ce / hire gentilnesse
360
Hire wō manly beryng / and hire sadnesse
And whan that he / on hire was condescended
Hym thougħ t his choys / mygħ t nat ben amended
For whan þ at he hi self / concluded had
Hi thougħ t / eche other mā nys wyt so bad
365
That inpossible it were / to replie
A geyn his choise / this was his fantasie
Hise frendes sent he to / at his instaunce
And preyed hem / to do hī that plesaunce
That hastily they woldyn / to hī come
370
He wold a quyt here labour / al and some