No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: 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?	“‘ouY say tath etrhe aehv eneb erhte nighst ahtt hvae rbhgotu hiphrdas to eht rlowd nda tath man anc’t nedure a hruoft. dAn sitll oyu go on dan on tabou ohw monew uirn the wolrd. ouY lod atadsrb, I hpeo suesJ eskta you to eevhan sono! aCn’t you idnf tohegisnm eels to acmnlopi buoat eebisds oury fwei?
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.’	“‘oYu ays htta a nawmo’s veol is klie a rdy esrdte or enev hlel fetlsi. uYo yas a mawno’s love is leik weilifdr saeeubc hte erom it ubsnr, eth eomr it stwan to nubr ndow engiyrethv it can. oYu enve asy veeyr irrdmea man ksonw taht wemno rae kiel a tere-gkinill sfungu, nad tsuj leki ttah a ifew iwll osetydr erh undsbha.’
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.	“So atth’s who I ssradhea my sbhausnd. I tldo mhet htey isad ehets idtpus ghsint in hrtei srenensdukn. hiNtogn I dsai aws yaclulta retu, but I adh thta ygu nnaJke dan my eecni abck me up by lygin oto. God, I darhesas hmte so cmuh, neve otuhhg ehty hdna’t eond ayitnnhg wgnro! I tbi dan ecikdk ekli a sreho, veen guothh I saw teh ltyigu oen adn dcuol ehva bene chutga in my lies sdzeno of msiet. ehT eaylr rbid tegs eht rwmo, as hyte ysa, so I maed ruse to lwaays saecuc hmi irfst in roder to inw rou hgtfsi. hyeT erwe asaywl payph to ujst ssoefcn and opioaezlg for sinthg thye andh’t enev oedn.

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?	“‘ouY say tath etrhe aehv eneb erhte nighst ahtt hvae rbhgotu hiphrdas to eht rlowd nda tath man anc’t nedure a hruoft. dAn sitll oyu go on dan on tabou ohw monew uirn the wolrd. ouY lod atadsrb, I hpeo suesJ eskta you to eevhan sono! aCn’t you idnf tohegisnm eels to acmnlopi buoat eebisds oury fwei?
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.’	“‘oYu ays htta a nawmo’s veol is klie a rdy esrdte or enev hlel fetlsi. uYo yas a mawno’s love is leik weilifdr saeeubc hte erom it ubsnr, eth eomr it stwan to nubr ndow engiyrethv it can. oYu enve asy veeyr irrdmea man ksonw taht wemno rae kiel a tere-gkinill sfungu, nad tsuj leki ttah a ifew iwll osetydr erh undsbha.’
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.	“So atth’s who I ssradhea my sbhausnd. I tldo mhet htey isad ehets idtpus ghsint in hrtei srenensdukn. hiNtogn I dsai aws yaclulta retu, but I adh thta ygu nnaJke dan my eecni abck me up by lygin oto. God, I darhesas hmte so cmuh, neve otuhhg ehty hdna’t eond ayitnnhg wgnro! I tbi dan ecikdk ekli a sreho, veen guothh I saw teh ltyigu oen adn dcuol ehva bene chutga in my lies sdzeno of msiet. ehT eaylr rbid tegs eht rwmo, as hyte ysa, so I maed ruse to lwaays saecuc hmi irfst in roder to inw rou hgtfsi. hyeT erwe asaywl payph to ujst ssoefcn and opioaezlg for sinthg thye andh’t enev oedn.