No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue General Prologue Page 12

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A good WYF was ther of bisyde But she was som-del deef, and that was scathe. Of clooth-making she hadde swiche an haunt, She passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt. In al the parisshe wyf ne was ther noon That to the offring bifore hir sholde goon; And if ther dide, certeyn, so wrooth was she, That she was out of alle charitee. Hir coverchiefs ful fyne were of ground; I dorste swere they weyeden ten pound That on a Sonday were upon hir heed. Hir hosen weren of fyn scarlet reed, Ful streite y-teyd, and shoos ful moiste and newe. Bold was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe. She was a worthy womman al hir lyve, Housbondes at chirche-dore she hadde fyve, Withouten other companye in youthe; But therof nedeth nat to speke as nouthe. And thryes hadde she been at Ierusalem; She hadde passed many a straunge streem; At Rome she hadde been, and at Boloigne, In Galice at seint Iame, and at Coloigne. She coude muche of wandring by the weye. Gat-tothed was she, soothly for to seye. Upon an amblere esily she sat, Y-wimpled wel, and on hir heed an hat As brood as is a bokeler or a targe; A foot-mantel aboute hir hipes large, And on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe. In felawschip wel coude she laughe and carpe. Of remedyes of love she knew per-chaunce, For she coude of that art the olde daunce.

There was a WIFE from the city of BATH, England. She had a striking, noble face that had a reddish tint to it, though, sorry to say, she had a gap in her front teeth and was a little bit deaf. She wore a hat that was as wide as a shield, sharp spurs, and a pleated cloak over her legs to keep the mud off her dress. She also wore tightly laced red stockings and comfortable new shoes, and her kerchiefs were made of high-quality fabric. In fact, the ones she wore on her head every Sunday were so nice they must have weighed ten pounds. She was so good at weaving cloth that she was even better than the famous weavers from the cities of Ypres and Ghent in Belgium. She’d lived an honorable life and had married five times, not counting her other boyfriends she’d had when she was young—though there’s no need to talk about that now. She was the kind of woman who always wanted to be the first wife at church to make a donation to help the poor but would get angry and keep her money if any woman made a donation before she did. She rode her horse well and knew a lot about traveling because she’d been to so many foreign places. She’d been to Jerusalem three times, for example. She’d also been on religious pilgrimages to the cities of Rome and Bologne in Italy, to the shrine of St. James in Spain, and to Cologne, France. She was a good conversationalist and liked to laugh and gossip with the others. She could tell lots of stories, especially romantic ones, because she was an old pro when it came to love.

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