No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale Prologue to the Wife of Bath’s Tale Page 18

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Original Text	Modern Text
And so bifel that ones, in a Lente, (So often tymes I to my gossib wente, For ever yet I lovede to be gay, And for to walke, in March, Averille, and May, Fro hous to hous, to here sondry talis), That Iankin clerk, and my gossib dame Alis, And I my-self, in-to the feldes wente. Myn housbond was at London al that Lente; I hadde the bettre leyser for to pleye, And for to see, and eek for to be seye Of lusty folk; what wiste I wher my grace Was shapen for to be, or in what place? Therefore I made my visitaciouns, To vigilies and to processiouns, To preching eek and to thise pilgrimages, To pleyes of miracles and mariages, And wered upon my gaye scarlet gytes. Thise wormes, ne thise motthes, ne thise mytes, Upon my peril, frete hem never a deel; And wostow why? for they were used weel.	And so bifel that ones, in a Lente, (So often tymes I to my gossib wente, For ever yet I lovede to be gay, And for to walke, in March, Averille, and May, Fro hous to hous, to here sondry talis), That Iankin clerk, and my gossib dame Alis, And I my-self, in-to the feldes wente. Myn housbond was at London al that Lente; I hadde the bettre leyser for to pleye, And for to see, and eek for to be seye Of lusty folk; what wiste I wher my grace Was shapen for to be, or in what place? Therefore I made my visitaciouns, To vigilies and to processiouns, To preching eek and to thise pilgrimages, To pleyes of miracles and mariages, And wered upon my gaye scarlet gytes. Thise wormes, ne thise motthes, ne thise mytes, Upon my peril, frete hem never a deel; And wostow why? for they were used weel.
Now wol I tellen forth what happed me. I seye, that in the feeldes walked we, Til trewely we hadde swich daliance, This clerk and I, that of my purveyance I spak to him, and seyde him, how that he, If I were widwe, sholde wedde me. For certeinly, I sey for no bobance, Yet was I never with-outen purveyance Of mariage, nof othere thinges eek. I holde a mouses herte nat worth a leek, That hath but oon hole for to sterte to, And if that faille, thanne is al y-do.	Now wol I tellen forth what happed me. I seye, that in the feeldes walked we, Til trewely we hadde swich daliance, This clerk and I, that of my purveyance I spak to him, and seyde him, how that he, If I were widwe, sholde wedde me. For certeinly, I sey for no bobance, Yet was I never with-outen purveyance Of mariage, nof othere thinges eek. I holde a mouses herte nat worth a leek, That hath but oon hole for to sterte to, And if that faille, thanne is al y-do.

Original Text	Modern Text
And so bifel that ones, in a Lente, (So often tymes I to my gossib wente, For ever yet I lovede to be gay, And for to walke, in March, Averille, and May, Fro hous to hous, to here sondry talis), That Iankin clerk, and my gossib dame Alis, And I my-self, in-to the feldes wente. Myn housbond was at London al that Lente; I hadde the bettre leyser for to pleye, And for to see, and eek for to be seye Of lusty folk; what wiste I wher my grace Was shapen for to be, or in what place? Therefore I made my visitaciouns, To vigilies and to processiouns, To preching eek and to thise pilgrimages, To pleyes of miracles and mariages, And wered upon my gaye scarlet gytes. Thise wormes, ne thise motthes, ne thise mytes, Upon my peril, frete hem never a deel; And wostow why? for they were used weel.	And so bifel that ones, in a Lente, (So often tymes I to my gossib wente, For ever yet I lovede to be gay, And for to walke, in March, Averille, and May, Fro hous to hous, to here sondry talis), That Iankin clerk, and my gossib dame Alis, And I my-self, in-to the feldes wente. Myn housbond was at London al that Lente; I hadde the bettre leyser for to pleye, And for to see, and eek for to be seye Of lusty folk; what wiste I wher my grace Was shapen for to be, or in what place? Therefore I made my visitaciouns, To vigilies and to processiouns, To preching eek and to thise pilgrimages, To pleyes of miracles and mariages, And wered upon my gaye scarlet gytes. Thise wormes, ne thise motthes, ne thise mytes, Upon my peril, frete hem never a deel; And wostow why? for they were used weel.
Now wol I tellen forth what happed me. I seye, that in the feeldes walked we, Til trewely we hadde swich daliance, This clerk and I, that of my purveyance I spak to him, and seyde him, how that he, If I were widwe, sholde wedde me. For certeinly, I sey for no bobance, Yet was I never with-outen purveyance Of mariage, nof othere thinges eek. I holde a mouses herte nat worth a leek, That hath but oon hole for to sterte to, And if that faille, thanne is al y-do.	Now wol I tellen forth what happed me. I seye, that in the feeldes walked we, Til trewely we hadde swich daliance, This clerk and I, that of my purveyance I spak to him, and seyde him, how that he, If I were widwe, sholde wedde me. For certeinly, I sey for no bobance, Yet was I never with-outen purveyance Of mariage, nof othere thinges eek. I holde a mouses herte nat worth a leek, That hath but oon hole for to sterte to, And if that faille, thanne is al y-do.