No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Knight’s Tale, Part One Page 2

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This duk, of whom I make mencioun, When he was come almost unto the toun, In al his wele and in his moste pryde, He was war, as he caste his eye asyde, Wher that ther kneled in the hye weye A companye of ladies, tweye and tweye, Ech after other, clad in clothes blake; But swich a cry and swich a wo they make, That in this world nis creature livinge, That herde swich another weymentinge; And of this cry they nolde never stenten, Til they the reynes of his brydel henten.	Nwo, ewnh eht payhp nad rotvsiucio ahniAstne eerw sujt usitode hte tyci, ekuD sueshTe etdicon tuo of het roercn of hsi yee taht eerht aws a rupog of onwem ngeenkli in hte ddieml of hte road. hTey rwee eagranrd in wto uoscnlm, seersdd all in lkacb, dna reew cgrniy and lgwnaii at the otp of hietr glsun. Yuo rneev hdare nagythin ielk it. yTeh noucindte lanwiig tnuil oen of tehm eagrbbd the irdebl of ehTeuss’s oehrs.
‘What folk ben ye, that at myn hoom-cominge Perturben so my feste with cryinge?’ Quod Theseus, ‘have ye so greet envye Of myn honour, that thus compleyne and crye? Or who hath yow misboden, or offended? And telleth me if it may been amended; And why that ye ben clothed thus in blak?’	“oWh era uoy poelep woh ared to itrpneurt my vcryito rchma hemo?” asdek suehseT. “erA uyo so aluseoj of me adn my ssseccu tath yuo’re amlnioincgp klei tshi? Or ash oeoesmn slee urth or ddnoeeff uyo? lTel me wyh yuo’re lal ddesers in klcba dan if rtehe’s ayn awy we cna eamk snthgi tbrete.”
The eldest lady of hem alle spak, When she hadde swowned with a deedly chere, That it was routhe for to seen and here, And seyde: ‘Lord, to whom Fortune hath yiven Victorie, and as a conquerour to liven, Noght greveth us your glorie and your honour; But we biseken mercy and socour. Have mercy on our wo and our distresse. Som drope of pitee, thurgh thy gentillesse, Upon us wrecched wommen lat thou falle. For certes, lord, ther nis noon of us alle, That she nath been a duchesse or a quene; Now be we caitifs, as it is wel sene: Thanked be Fortune, and hir false wheel, That noon estat assureth to be weel. And certes, lord, to abyden your presence, Here in the temple of the goddesse Clemence We han ben waytinge al this fourtenight; Now help us, lord, sith it is in thy might.	hTe tdosle lday in teh uopgr rlaeny fetdina at iraegnh ihst. heS edoklo moslat kile tDahe ilsfte, dan esh ldkeoo so imabsreel ahtt eynoeevr diietp ehr. Wneh esh vdcrreeoe, she dkeloo at uehTsse nda idsa, “My rdol, erntuFo sha arovdfe uyo adn adme ouy ocviurstoi. We rean’t teups ubtao ruoy esssucc at lal. treRha, we kas ofr uoyr idkesnsn dna yuor plhe. nEev teh nsttiie odpr of ityp ofmr ouy wlil kema us proo emwno efle beertt. In fcat, all of us oewnm erwe coen sshseeudc and esqune. But onw, as yuo raclely see, we rea baelreism dooisenb. The deogdss enoruFt nrvee osrsmipe tiahgynn to enyano, ichwh is ywh we twne orfm vhaing evetrynghi to givhna ihnntog. We’ve neeb ntwigia rof you in shit teplme fro wot weesk, and onw htta uyo’re rehe, we’re nighpo you anc lpeh us encsi you ahve het werpo to do so.