No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale Prologue to the Wife of Bath’s Tale Page 13

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Original Text	Modern Text
Thou seydest eek, that ther ben thinges three, The whiche thinges troublen al this erthe, And that no wight ne may endure the ferthe; O leve sir shrewe, Iesu shorte thy lyf! Yet prechestow, and seyst, an hateful wyf Y-rekened is for oon of thise meschances. Been ther none othere maner resemblances That ye may lykne your parables to, But-if a sely wyf be oon of tho?	Thou seydest eek, that ther ben thinges three, The whiche thinges troublen al this erthe, And that no wight ne may endure the ferthe; O leve sir shrewe, Iesu shorte thy lyf! Yet prechestow, and seyst, an hateful wyf Y-rekened is for oon of thise meschances. Been ther none othere maner resemblances That ye may lykne your parables to, But-if a sely wyf be oon of tho?
Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle, To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle. Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr; The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr To consume every thing that brent wol be. Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree, Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde; This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.’	Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle, To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle. Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr; The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr To consume every thing that brent wol be. Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree, Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde; This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.’
Lordinges, right thus, as ye have understonde, Bar I stifly myne olde housbondes on honde, That thus they seyden in hir dronkenesse; And al was fals, but that I took witnesse On Ianekin and on my nece also. O lord, the peyne I dide hem and the wo, Ful giltelees, by Goddes swete pyne! For as an hors I coude byte and whyne. I coude pleyne, thogh I were in the gilt, Or elles often tyme hadde I ben spilt. Who-so that first to mille comth, first grint; I pleyned first, so was our werre y-stint. They were ful glad to excusen hem ful blyve Of thing of which they never agilte hir lyve.	Lordinges, right thus, as ye have understonde, Bar I stifly myne olde housbondes on honde, That thus they seyden in hir dronkenesse; And al was fals, but that I took witnesse On Ianekin and on my nece also. O lord, the peyne I dide hem and the wo, Ful giltelees, by Goddes swete pyne! For as an hors I coude byte and whyne. I coude pleyne, thogh I were in the gilt, Or elles often tyme hadde I ben spilt. Who-so that first to mille comth, first grint; I pleyned first, so was our werre y-stint. They were ful glad to excusen hem ful blyve Of thing of which they never agilte hir lyve.

Original Text	Modern Text
Thou seydest eek, that ther ben thinges three, The whiche thinges troublen al this erthe, And that no wight ne may endure the ferthe; O leve sir shrewe, Iesu shorte thy lyf! Yet prechestow, and seyst, an hateful wyf Y-rekened is for oon of thise meschances. Been ther none othere maner resemblances That ye may lykne your parables to, But-if a sely wyf be oon of tho?	Thou seydest eek, that ther ben thinges three, The whiche thinges troublen al this erthe, And that no wight ne may endure the ferthe; O leve sir shrewe, Iesu shorte thy lyf! Yet prechestow, and seyst, an hateful wyf Y-rekened is for oon of thise meschances. Been ther none othere maner resemblances That ye may lykne your parables to, But-if a sely wyf be oon of tho?
Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle, To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle. Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr; The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr To consume every thing that brent wol be. Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree, Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde; This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.’	Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle, To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle. Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr; The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyr To consume every thing that brent wol be. Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree, Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde; This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.’
Lordinges, right thus, as ye have understonde, Bar I stifly myne olde housbondes on honde, That thus they seyden in hir dronkenesse; And al was fals, but that I took witnesse On Ianekin and on my nece also. O lord, the peyne I dide hem and the wo, Ful giltelees, by Goddes swete pyne! For as an hors I coude byte and whyne. I coude pleyne, thogh I were in the gilt, Or elles often tyme hadde I ben spilt. Who-so that first to mille comth, first grint; I pleyned first, so was our werre y-stint. They were ful glad to excusen hem ful blyve Of thing of which they never agilte hir lyve.	Lordinges, right thus, as ye have understonde, Bar I stifly myne olde housbondes on honde, That thus they seyden in hir dronkenesse; And al was fals, but that I took witnesse On Ianekin and on my nece also. O lord, the peyne I dide hem and the wo, Ful giltelees, by Goddes swete pyne! For as an hors I coude byte and whyne. I coude pleyne, thogh I were in the gilt, Or elles often tyme hadde I ben spilt. Who-so that first to mille comth, first grint; I pleyned first, so was our werre y-stint. They were ful glad to excusen hem ful blyve Of thing of which they never agilte hir lyve.