No Fear Literature: The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Tale The Wife of Bath’s Tale Page 6

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Original Text	Modern Text
‘Plighte me thy trouthe, heer in myn hand,’ quod she, ‘The nexte thing that I requere thee, Thou shalt it do, if it lye in thy might; And I wol telle it yow er it be night.’ ‘Have heer my trouthe,’ quod the knight, ‘I grante.’	‘Plighte me thy trouthe, heer in myn hand,’ quod she, ‘The nexte thing that I requere thee, Thou shalt it do, if it lye in thy might; And I wol telle it yow er it be night.’ ‘Have heer my trouthe,’ quod the knight, ‘I grante.’
‘Thanne,’ quod she, ‘I dar me wel avante, Thy lyf is sauf, for I wol stonde therby, Upon my lyf, the queen wol seye as I. Lat see which is the proudeste of hem alle, That wereth on a coverchief or a calle, That dar seye nay, of that I shal thee teche; Lat us go forth with-outen lenger speche.’ Tho rouned she a pistel in his ere, And bad him to be glad, and have no fere.	‘Thanne,’ quod she, ‘I dar me wel avante, Thy lyf is sauf, for I wol stonde therby, Upon my lyf, the queen wol seye as I. Lat see which is the proudeste of hem alle, That wereth on a coverchief or a calle, That dar seye nay, of that I shal thee teche; Lat us go forth with-outen lenger speche.’ Tho rouned she a pistel in his ere, And bad him to be glad, and have no fere.
Whan they be comen to the court, this knight Seyde, ‘he had holde his day, as he hadde hight, And redy was his answere,’ as he sayde. Ful many a noble wyf, and many a mayde, And many a widwe, for that they ben wyse, The quene hir-self sittinge as a Iustyse, Assembled been, his answere for to here; And afterward this knight was bode appere.	Whan they be comen to the court, this knight Seyde, ‘he had holde his day, as he hadde hight, And redy was his answere,’ as he sayde. Ful many a noble wyf, and many a mayde, And many a widwe, for that they ben wyse, The quene hir-self sittinge as a Iustyse, Assembled been, his answere for to here; And afterward this knight was bode appere.
To every wight comanded was silence, And that the knight sholde telle in audience, What thing that worldly wommen loven best. This knight ne stood nat stille as doth a best, But to his questioun anon answerde With manly voys, that al the court it herde:	To every wight comanded was silence, And that the knight sholde telle in audience, What thing that worldly wommen loven best. This knight ne stood nat stille as doth a best, But to his questioun anon answerde With manly voys, that al the court it herde:

Original Text	Modern Text
‘Plighte me thy trouthe, heer in myn hand,’ quod she, ‘The nexte thing that I requere thee, Thou shalt it do, if it lye in thy might; And I wol telle it yow er it be night.’ ‘Have heer my trouthe,’ quod the knight, ‘I grante.’	‘Plighte me thy trouthe, heer in myn hand,’ quod she, ‘The nexte thing that I requere thee, Thou shalt it do, if it lye in thy might; And I wol telle it yow er it be night.’ ‘Have heer my trouthe,’ quod the knight, ‘I grante.’
‘Thanne,’ quod she, ‘I dar me wel avante, Thy lyf is sauf, for I wol stonde therby, Upon my lyf, the queen wol seye as I. Lat see which is the proudeste of hem alle, That wereth on a coverchief or a calle, That dar seye nay, of that I shal thee teche; Lat us go forth with-outen lenger speche.’ Tho rouned she a pistel in his ere, And bad him to be glad, and have no fere.	‘Thanne,’ quod she, ‘I dar me wel avante, Thy lyf is sauf, for I wol stonde therby, Upon my lyf, the queen wol seye as I. Lat see which is the proudeste of hem alle, That wereth on a coverchief or a calle, That dar seye nay, of that I shal thee teche; Lat us go forth with-outen lenger speche.’ Tho rouned she a pistel in his ere, And bad him to be glad, and have no fere.
Whan they be comen to the court, this knight Seyde, ‘he had holde his day, as he hadde hight, And redy was his answere,’ as he sayde. Ful many a noble wyf, and many a mayde, And many a widwe, for that they ben wyse, The quene hir-self sittinge as a Iustyse, Assembled been, his answere for to here; And afterward this knight was bode appere.	Whan they be comen to the court, this knight Seyde, ‘he had holde his day, as he hadde hight, And redy was his answere,’ as he sayde. Ful many a noble wyf, and many a mayde, And many a widwe, for that they ben wyse, The quene hir-self sittinge as a Iustyse, Assembled been, his answere for to here; And afterward this knight was bode appere.
To every wight comanded was silence, And that the knight sholde telle in audience, What thing that worldly wommen loven best. This knight ne stood nat stille as doth a best, But to his questioun anon answerde With manly voys, that al the court it herde:	To every wight comanded was silence, And that the knight sholde telle in audience, What thing that worldly wommen loven best. This knight ne stood nat stille as doth a best, But to his questioun anon answerde With manly voys, that al the court it herde: