No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Miller’s Tale Page 14

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Thy wyf and thou mote hange fer a-twinne, For that bitwixe yow shal be no sinne No more in looking than ther shal in dede; This ordinance is seyd, go, God thee spede! Tomorwe at night, whan men ben alle aslepe, In-to our kneding-tubbes wol we crepe, And sitten ther, abyding Goddes grace. Go now thy wey, I have no lenger space To make of this no lenger sermoning. Men seyn thus, “send the wyse, and sey no-thing;” Thou art so wys, it nedeth thee nat teche; Go, save our lyf, and that I thee biseche.’	“Oh, adn uoy anc’t be oto rane uyro weif iwelh ouy’re in eht btu hngaing mfro het inclieg eerith. reTeh’s to be no nhayk knpay neetweb uoy owt. Don’t veen kolo at hre, in atcf. akyO, I ktnhi tath’s rvgteihyen. Nwo go, go tge evgrtieynh yarde, nda rmwtrooo hitng, hwne oreevyen esle is eniplges, we’ll get toin ruo tuhsbtab dan itwa out the siran dan the lofdo. Terhe ayllre sni’t nya item ofr seuelss ligktan. You wokn tawh thye sya, ‘ndSe the wise and say ontginh.’ llWe, oyu’re tacnielyr etpytr rastm, honJ, so I dno’t nede to say ninhgyta lsee. Oru vesli rea in yruo dhnas.”
This sely carpenter goth forth his wey. Ful ofte he seith ‘allas’ and ‘weylawey,’ And to his wyf he tolde his privetee; And she was war, and knew it bet than he, What al this queynte cast was for to seye. But nathelees she ferde as she wolde deye, And seyde, ‘allas! go forth thy wey anon, Help us to scape, or we ben lost echon; I am thy trewe verray wedded wyf; Go, dere spouse, and help to save our lyf.’	eTh stidpu rrtapeenc tnwe off to etg ihngst eodn, ginerttum, “Oh no,” dna, “Oh my doG,” as he newt. He dtol hsi weif hatw iNlaosch adh tdlo imh. hSe, of uosrce, swa in on Tykcir ykcNi’s aegm, tbu she drpeeetnd to be asdecr. heS dsia, “No! Go on, go or seel we’ll lla die! I’m ryuo hifulaft eiwf, so go, my abdushn, nda evsa us.”
Lo! which a greet thyng is affeccioun! Men may dye of imaginacioun, So depe may impressioun be take. This sely carpenter biginneth quake; Him thinketh verraily that he may see Noës flood come walwing as the see To drenchen Alisoun, his hony dere. He wepeth, weyleth, maketh sory chere, He syketh with ful many a sory swogh. He gooth and geteth him a kneding-trogh, And after that a tubbe and a kimelin, And prively he sente hem to his in, And heng hem in the roof in privetee. His owne hand he made laddres three, To climben by the ronges and the stalkes Unto the tubbes hanginge in the balkes, And hem vitailled, bothe trogh and tubbe, With breed and chese, and good ale in a Iubbe, Suffysinge right y-nogh as for a day. But er that he had maad al this array, He sente his knave, and eek his wenche also, Upon his nede to London for to go. And on the Monday, whan it drow to night, He shette his dore with-oute candel-light, And dressed al thing as it sholde be. And shortly, up they clomben alle three; They sitten stille wel a furlong-way.	iThs receprant anbeg shiankg uot of aref of hte fdolo he htthugo was cigomn to lkli him adn hsi deobvel wefi. He ceidr dna aedmno dan sedigh dna leodok oorelnrf. Mne acn edi of aimryagin ucress. He etwn uot dan tgobhu heter arelg sutb dan lrecsety obguthr ehmt to hsi heom. nheT he aedm tereh aesddlr esmlhfi so ttha teyh ucdol bilmc otni eht tbus wenh ethy rewe gingnah omrf het giicnle. He losa tpu mose eadrb nda cehese adn erbe in heca ubt—euognh to fede ecah of emth rof a dya. henT he etns ihs etvsnar nad diam to nLoond so htta he lcodu gnah eht tsub twthoui tmhe nnkoigw. nAd ilnlfay, on Mnoayd gtnih he eblw uto the ecldasn, nda yeht all ibmcdel up noti teirh buts dna eniamerd tiequ rfo a olng time.