No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Knight’s Tale The Knight’s Tale, Part One Page 11

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Original Text	Modern Text
Greet was the stryf and long bitwixe hem tweye, If that I hadde leyser for to seye; But to theffect. It happed on a day, (To telle it yow as shortly as I may) A worthy duk that highte Perotheus, That felawe was unto duk Theseus Sin thilke day that they were children lyte, Was come to Athenes, his felawe to visyte, And for to pleye, as he was wont to do, For in this world he loved no man so: And he loved him as tendrely ageyn. So wel they loved, as olde bokes seyn, That whan that oon was deed, sothly to telle, His felawe wente and soghte him doun in helle; But of that story list me nat to wryte.	Greet was the stryf and long bitwixe hem tweye, If that I hadde leyser for to seye; But to theffect. It happed on a day, (To telle it yow as shortly as I may) A worthy duk that highte Perotheus, That felawe was unto duk Theseus Sin thilke day that they were children lyte, Was come to Athenes, his felawe to visyte, And for to pleye, as he was wont to do, For in this world he loved no man so: And he loved him as tendrely ageyn. So wel they loved, as olde bokes seyn, That whan that oon was deed, sothly to telle, His felawe wente and soghte him doun in helle; But of that story list me nat to wryte.
Duk Perotheus loved wel Arcite, And hadde him knowe at Thebes yeer by yere; And fynally, at requeste and preyere Of Perotheus, with-oute any raunsoun, Duk Theseus him leet out of prisoun, Freely to goon, wher that him liste over-al, In swich a gyse, as I you tellen shal.	Duk Perotheus loved wel Arcite, And hadde him knowe at Thebes yeer by yere; And fynally, at requeste and preyere Of Perotheus, with-oute any raunsoun, Duk Theseus him leet out of prisoun, Freely to goon, wher that him liste over-al, In swich a gyse, as I you tellen shal.
This was the forward, pleynly for tendyte, Bitwixen Theseus and him Arcite: That if so were, that Arcite were y-founde Ever in his lyf, by day or night or stounde In any contree of this Theseus, And he were caught, it was acorded thus, That with a swerd he sholde lese his heed; Ther nas non other remedye ne reed, But taketh his leve, and homward he him spedde; Let him be war, his nekke lyth to wedde!	This was the forward, pleynly for tendyte, Bitwixen Theseus and him Arcite: That if so were, that Arcite were y-founde Ever in his lyf, by day or night or stounde In any contree of this Theseus, And he were caught, it was acorded thus, That with a swerd he sholde lese his heed; Ther nas non other remedye ne reed, But taketh his leve, and homward he him spedde; Let him be war, his nekke lyth to wedde!

Original Text	Modern Text
Greet was the stryf and long bitwixe hem tweye, If that I hadde leyser for to seye; But to theffect. It happed on a day, (To telle it yow as shortly as I may) A worthy duk that highte Perotheus, That felawe was unto duk Theseus Sin thilke day that they were children lyte, Was come to Athenes, his felawe to visyte, And for to pleye, as he was wont to do, For in this world he loved no man so: And he loved him as tendrely ageyn. So wel they loved, as olde bokes seyn, That whan that oon was deed, sothly to telle, His felawe wente and soghte him doun in helle; But of that story list me nat to wryte.	Greet was the stryf and long bitwixe hem tweye, If that I hadde leyser for to seye; But to theffect. It happed on a day, (To telle it yow as shortly as I may) A worthy duk that highte Perotheus, That felawe was unto duk Theseus Sin thilke day that they were children lyte, Was come to Athenes, his felawe to visyte, And for to pleye, as he was wont to do, For in this world he loved no man so: And he loved him as tendrely ageyn. So wel they loved, as olde bokes seyn, That whan that oon was deed, sothly to telle, His felawe wente and soghte him doun in helle; But of that story list me nat to wryte.
Duk Perotheus loved wel Arcite, And hadde him knowe at Thebes yeer by yere; And fynally, at requeste and preyere Of Perotheus, with-oute any raunsoun, Duk Theseus him leet out of prisoun, Freely to goon, wher that him liste over-al, In swich a gyse, as I you tellen shal.	Duk Perotheus loved wel Arcite, And hadde him knowe at Thebes yeer by yere; And fynally, at requeste and preyere Of Perotheus, with-oute any raunsoun, Duk Theseus him leet out of prisoun, Freely to goon, wher that him liste over-al, In swich a gyse, as I you tellen shal.
This was the forward, pleynly for tendyte, Bitwixen Theseus and him Arcite: That if so were, that Arcite were y-founde Ever in his lyf, by day or night or stounde In any contree of this Theseus, And he were caught, it was acorded thus, That with a swerd he sholde lese his heed; Ther nas non other remedye ne reed, But taketh his leve, and homward he him spedde; Let him be war, his nekke lyth to wedde!	This was the forward, pleynly for tendyte, Bitwixen Theseus and him Arcite: That if so were, that Arcite were y-founde Ever in his lyf, by day or night or stounde In any contree of this Theseus, And he were caught, it was acorded thus, That with a swerd he sholde lese his heed; Ther nas non other remedye ne reed, But taketh his leve, and homward he him spedde; Let him be war, his nekke lyth to wedde!