No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Knight’s Tale, Part Four Page 1

Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? x

Continue reading with a SparkNotes PLUS trial

Original Text	Modern Text
SEQUITUR PARS QUARTA.	EREH’S TEH OTRUHF ARPT OF HTE HNTKGI’S TAEL.
Greet was the feste in Athenes that day, And eek the lusty seson of that May Made every wight to been in swich plesaunce, That al that Monday Iusten they and daunce, And spenden it in Venus heigh servyse. But by the cause that they sholde ryse Erly, for to seen the grete fight, Unto hir reste wente they at night. And on the morwe, whan that day gan springe, Of hors and harneys, noyse and clateringe Ther was in hostelryes al aboute; And to the paleys rood ther many a route Of lordes, upon stedes and palfreys. Ther maystow seen devysing of herneys So uncouth and so riche, and wroght so weel Of goldsmithrie, of browding, and of steel; The sheeldes brighte, testers, and trappures; Gold-hewen helmes, hauberks, cote-armures; Lordes in paraments on hir courseres, Knightes of retenue, and eek squyeres Nailinge the speres, and helmes bokelinge, Gigginge of sheeldes, with layneres lacinge; Ther as need is, they weren no-thing ydel; The fomy stedes on the golden brydel Gnawinge, and faste the armurers also With fyle and hamer prikinge to and fro; Yemen on fote, and communes many oon With shorte staves, thikke as they may goon; Pypes, trompes, nakers, clariounes, That in the bataille blowen blody sounes; The paleys ful of peples up and doun, Heer three, ther ten, holding hir questioun, Divyninge of thise Thebane knightes two. Somme seyden thus, somme seyde it shal be so; Somme helden with him with the blake berd, Somme with the balled, somme with the thikke-herd; Somme sayde, he loked grim and he wolde fighte; He hath a sparth of twenty pound of wighte. Thus was the halle ful of divyninge, Longe after that the sonne gan to springe.	lWle, ehtre saw a ceninigfamt efilstva on ondyaM to tecrebale teh gnennigib of teh etmartnnuo adn eth liravar of sigrnp. All of hnAtse aneddc adn jsteodu nda tadesfe atth yda. nAd hnwe nghit llfe, reeyneov newt to deb eyral so hatt heyt uocld etg up alrey on deuayTs inmngro to ahcwt eht tntnuemrao. By sriunes teh entx rnmoing, eht lewho yict aws lreydaa up nda btoua. hTe oiesn wsa oedunmster as hktnisg ored to adn ofr, rhesos emaptsd rhiet eeft, nda tsbkhaimslc nfei-eundt sawenpo nad arrmo. ouY cudlo ese lla srtso of neientgtisr arorm, hmstlee, nhaic imal, ildshse, odwsrs, prsesa, nda hetro poewnsa ilngy tbuao, emos of tehm ryve fanyc nad sxvpieeen, rhoets stju lnpia brezria. urqisSe, tssvanre, nad tehro emn erew innunrg here adn tehre as hyte rgedheta eihtr thkgnsi’ waenpso dna arge, ewlih teh hersos ocephmd at rhite ibst, sauixon mfor all teh tcnmooimo. eTh lfocnokmom edcrwdo in hiwt ryvee inkd of oirneemask yuo anc ineaigm, mrfo prteumst dan ohrsn to rusmd dan epspi adn sopt. Adn, of crseou, eroeyevn asw taglnki uaotb cAerti and mPaoaln, and cihwh of mhte wolud win. Semo pleope adis amnaoPl dndi’t dntas a ceahnc, ewlhi strhoe ghhtotu thta Arceit ulndow’t eliv to ese wmtroroo. hOestr rodveaf the ghntik htiw the calbk dbrea, or the eno thwi the abld dhea, or the neo thwi buyhs raih. Yuo cduol reha poleep anigys hgtnsi uhcs as, “ellW, that uyg hsa a amce that iewgsh a doog ynwett dpsonu, so he’s urse to win.”