No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale The Wife of Bath’s Tale Page 9

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Original Text	Modern Text
‘Amended?’ quod this knight, ‘allas! nay, nay! It wol nat been amended never mo! Thou art so loothly, and so old also, And ther-to comen of so lowe a kinde, That litel wonder is, thogh I walwe and winde. So wolde God myn herte wolde breste!’	‘Amended?’ quod this knight, ‘allas! nay, nay! It wol nat been amended never mo! Thou art so loothly, and so old also, And ther-to comen of so lowe a kinde, That litel wonder is, thogh I walwe and winde. So wolde God myn herte wolde breste!’
‘Is this,’ quod she, ‘the cause of your unreste?’	‘Is this,’ quod she, ‘the cause of your unreste?’
‘Ye, certainly,’ quod he, ‘no wonder is.’	‘Ye, certainly,’ quod he, ‘no wonder is.’
‘Now, sire,’ quod she, ‘I coude amende al this, If that me liste, er it were dayes three, So wel ye mighte here yow unto me.	‘Now, sire,’ quod she, ‘I coude amende al this, If that me liste, er it were dayes three, So wel ye mighte here yow unto me.
But for ye speken of swich gentillesse As is descended out of old richesse, That therfore sholden ye be gentil men, Swich arrogance is nat worth an hen. Loke who that is most vertuous alway, Privee and apert, and most entendeth ay To do the gentil dedes that he can, And tak him for the grettest gentil man. Crist wol, we clayme of him our gentillesse, Nat of our eldres for hir old richesse. For thogh they yeve us al hir heritage, For which we clayme to been of heigh parage, Yet may they nat biquethe, for no-thing, To noon of us hir vertuous living, That made hem gentil men y-called be; And bad us folwen hem in swich degree.	But for ye speken of swich gentillesse As is descended out of old richesse, That therfore sholden ye be gentil men, Swich arrogance is nat worth an hen. Loke who that is most vertuous alway, Privee and apert, and most entendeth ay To do the gentil dedes that he can, And tak him for the grettest gentil man. Crist wol, we clayme of him our gentillesse, Nat of our eldres for hir old richesse. For thogh they yeve us al hir heritage, For which we clayme to been of heigh parage, Yet may they nat biquethe, for no-thing, To noon of us hir vertuous living, That made hem gentil men y-called be; And bad us folwen hem in swich degree.

Original Text	Modern Text
‘Amended?’ quod this knight, ‘allas! nay, nay! It wol nat been amended never mo! Thou art so loothly, and so old also, And ther-to comen of so lowe a kinde, That litel wonder is, thogh I walwe and winde. So wolde God myn herte wolde breste!’	‘Amended?’ quod this knight, ‘allas! nay, nay! It wol nat been amended never mo! Thou art so loothly, and so old also, And ther-to comen of so lowe a kinde, That litel wonder is, thogh I walwe and winde. So wolde God myn herte wolde breste!’
‘Is this,’ quod she, ‘the cause of your unreste?’	‘Is this,’ quod she, ‘the cause of your unreste?’
‘Ye, certainly,’ quod he, ‘no wonder is.’	‘Ye, certainly,’ quod he, ‘no wonder is.’
‘Now, sire,’ quod she, ‘I coude amende al this, If that me liste, er it were dayes three, So wel ye mighte here yow unto me.	‘Now, sire,’ quod she, ‘I coude amende al this, If that me liste, er it were dayes three, So wel ye mighte here yow unto me.
But for ye speken of swich gentillesse As is descended out of old richesse, That therfore sholden ye be gentil men, Swich arrogance is nat worth an hen. Loke who that is most vertuous alway, Privee and apert, and most entendeth ay To do the gentil dedes that he can, And tak him for the grettest gentil man. Crist wol, we clayme of him our gentillesse, Nat of our eldres for hir old richesse. For thogh they yeve us al hir heritage, For which we clayme to been of heigh parage, Yet may they nat biquethe, for no-thing, To noon of us hir vertuous living, That made hem gentil men y-called be; And bad us folwen hem in swich degree.	But for ye speken of swich gentillesse As is descended out of old richesse, That therfore sholden ye be gentil men, Swich arrogance is nat worth an hen. Loke who that is most vertuous alway, Privee and apert, and most entendeth ay To do the gentil dedes that he can, And tak him for the grettest gentil man. Crist wol, we clayme of him our gentillesse, Nat of our eldres for hir old richesse. For thogh they yeve us al hir heritage, For which we clayme to been of heigh parage, Yet may they nat biquethe, for no-thing, To noon of us hir vertuous living, That made hem gentil men y-called be; And bad us folwen hem in swich degree.