{"id":14706,"date":"2021-11-02T18:58:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T18:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/?page_id=14706"},"modified":"2022-12-03T22:12:09","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T22:12:09","slug":"contes-de-canterburry-le-frere-068","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/tales-of-canterburry-le-frere-068\/","title":{"rendered":"Canterburry Tales: The Brother"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"14706\" class=\"elementor elementor-14706\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-014b1a6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"014b1a6\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2e998e6\" data-id=\"2e998e6\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f7f74df elementor-align-justify elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"f7f74df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Breton mythology<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1724eb1\" data-id=\"1724eb1\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4448fb9 elementor-align-justify elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"4448fb9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Les_Contes_de_Canterbury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Wiki<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4a7daf9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4a7daf9\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cd1bc76\" data-id=\"cd1bc76\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4dfb6f2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4dfb6f2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Geoffrey Chaucer is an English writer and poet who was born in London in the 1340s and died in 1400 in that same city. His most famous work is <i>Canterbury Tales<\/i>. The <i>Canterbury Tales<\/i> are, with <i>Sire Gauvain and the Green Knight<\/i> (from an anonymous person) and <i>Peter the Plowman<\/i> (by William Langland), the very first great works of English literature. Here is the first tale: the brother.<\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9347 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/cropped-AlphaOmega-e1602613368367.png\" alt=\"canterbury tales the brother\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" title=\"\"><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3663ddd elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3663ddd\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bd3bb86\" data-id=\"bd3bb86\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-79bf5a1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"79bf5a1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseprofile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/tales-of-canterburry-le-frere-068\/#Contes-de-Canterburry-Le-conte-du-frere\" >Canterburry Tales: The Brother&#039;s Tale<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Contes-de-Canterburry-Le-conte-du-frere\"><\/span>Canterburry Tales: The Brother&#039;s Tale<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7a51adf elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7a51adf\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0987190\" data-id=\"0987190\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a576a3e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a576a3e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><span class=\"sc\">The Brother&#039;s Prologue<\/span>.<\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>The worthy &quot;Limiter&quot;, the noble brother,<br \/>always made a scowl<br \/>to the sower, but out of decency<br \/>so far he had not addressed any discourteous words to her.<br \/>But at the end he said to the Woman:<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1270<\/span> \u201cLady (he said), Heaven gives you a good life!<br \/>on my salvation! you touched here<br \/>a very difficult point of doctrine;<br \/>you have said many excellent things, I affirm it;<br \/>but, ma&#039;am, here as we ride on the road<br \/>it befits us to have only happy quotes,<br \/>and in the name of God to leave the texts<br \/>to preachers and clerical schools as well.<br \/>But, if this company likes it,<br \/>I will tell you a happy tale of a sower.<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\"><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1280<\/span>Pardieu, you may well know by this name<\/span><br \/>that of a sower one cannot say anything good;<br \/>I beg you all not to take anything wrong.<br \/>A sower is a man who runs here and there,<br \/>citing people for fornication,<br \/>and beaten at the end of each village. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">Our host then said: \u201cAh! sir you should be honest<\/span><br \/>and courteous, as befits your condition;<br \/>in this company we do not want to have a debate.<br \/>Tell your tale and let the sower. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1290<\/span> &quot; Oh ! (said the sower), tell me<br \/>what will please him; when will my turn come,<br \/>by God! I will pay it to the last farthing.<br \/>I will tell him what a great honor it is<br \/>to be a limiter on cajoling speeches<br \/>and tell him what his job is, believe me! &quot;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>Our host replied, &quot;Peace, enough on that,&quot;<br \/>and after this he said to the Brother,<br \/>&quot; Let&#039;s go ! tell your tale, my good dear master. &quot;<\/p><\/div><div><i>Here ends the Brother&#039;s Prologue.<\/i><\/div><div>\u2042<\/div><div><i>Here begins the tale of the Brother<\/i><sup id=\"cite_ref-1\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>Once lived in my country,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1300<\/span> an archdeacon, a noble dignitary.<br \/>who valiantly executed<br \/>in punishment of fornication,<br \/>witchcraft and also pimping,<br \/>defamation and adultery,<br \/>thefts from church<sup id=\"cite_ref-2\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, and in matters of wills,<br \/>of neglected contracts and sacraments,<br \/>and also for many other kind of crime<br \/>that it is not necessary to repeat at this time,<br \/>and for wear and for simony too.<br \/>But of course he punished especially the bawards;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1310<\/span> they had to shout out loud, if they were caught.<br \/>And payers of small tithes were harshly reprimanded;<br \/>if some priest complained about them,<br \/>they could not get away with a simple pecuniary penalty.<br \/>For small tithes and for small offerings<br \/>he made people cry out pitifully.<br \/>For before the bishop took them with his stick,<br \/>they were registered on the <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/book-libraries\/\">books<\/a> of the archdeacon.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>So did he have in his jurisdiction<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1320<\/span> power to inflict correction on them.<br \/>He had a sower on hand,<br \/>there was no more subtle fellow in England,<br \/>for skillfully he had his spies,<br \/>who informed him of what could benefit him.<br \/>He knew how to spare a debauchery or two<br \/>to tell him twenty-four others.<br \/>&#039;Cause when this sower here goes crazy like a hare<sup id=\"cite_ref-3\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>I will say bluntly all his wickedness;<br \/>for we are not subject to his jurisdiction;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1330<\/span> they have no authority over us,<br \/>nor will they ever have one in their entire life.<br \/><br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cBy Saint-Pierre! it&#039;s just like the women of the executioners<sup id=\"cite_ref-4\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<\/span><br \/>(said the sower), which are also beyond my remit! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot; Peace ! at the bad hour and the bad luck,<\/span><br \/>(thus spoke our host), and let him tell his tale.<br \/>So tell, even when the sower cries out,<br \/>spare nothing, my good dear master. &quot;<br \/><br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">This disloyal thief, this sower (says the Brother),<\/span><br \/>always had equally well-trained mackerel in hand<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1340<\/span> that falcons of England obeying the lure,<br \/>who told him all the secrets they knew,<br \/>for their knowledge did not date from yesterday.<br \/>They were his agents in hiding;<br \/>he derived great profit from this;<br \/>his master did not always know his earnings.<br \/>Without a quote, if he was dealing with an ignorant,<br \/>he understood to call her on pain of excommunication;<br \/>and they were too happy to fill his purse,<br \/>and to do it well in taverns.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1350<\/span> And just as Judas had his little purse<sup id=\"cite_ref-5\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/>and was a thief, even thief was he;<br \/>his master received only half of his due.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>He was, if I have to give him his praise,<br \/>a thief and also a sower and a pimp.<br \/>He also had daughters in his service,<br \/>who, whether it was sir<sup id=\"cite_ref-6\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> Robert or Messire Hugues,<br \/>or Jeannot or Raoul, or whoever it might be,<br \/>who slept with them, they whispered it to him;<br \/>so he and the girl agreed.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1360<\/span> And he brought a fake quote<br \/>and both called them before the chapter,<br \/>and pillaged the man and let the girl go.<br \/>Then he would say: &quot;Friend, I will, for the love of you,<br \/>erase it from our <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/book-libraries\/\">book<\/a> black ;<br \/>don&#039;t worry at all about this affair;<br \/>I am your friend in all things where I can serve you. &quot;<br \/>Of course he knew more rogue tricks<br \/>that we could not bring back in two years.<br \/>For in this world there is no dog following the hunter&#039;s bow,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1370<\/span> who knows how to distinguish a wounded deer from another who is not,<br \/>better than this sower recognized a concealed bawdy<br \/>or an adulterer or a lover.<br \/>And since it was the main part of his income,<br \/>he therefore employed all his diligence in it.<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">And it happened that one fine day,<\/span><br \/>this sower, always in search of his prey,<br \/>went on horseback to quote a widow, an old woman as dry as rebec<sup id=\"cite_ref-7\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>claiming a lawsuit because he wanted to extract money.<br \/>And it turned out that he saw in front of him on horseback<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1380<\/span> a yeoman<sup id=\"cite_ref-8\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> bravely adorned, on the edge of a wood.<br \/>He had a bright, sharp bow and features;<br \/>he wore a short green coat;<br \/>a hat on the head with black fringes.<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cSir (said the sower), hello! be well met! &quot;<\/span><\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>\u00a0\u201cWelcome to you (said the other), and to all good companions!<br \/>Where are you going, riding under this green grove?<br \/>(says the yeoman). Are you going far today? &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">Our sower replied that no:<\/span><br \/>&quot;Here very near (he said), I intend<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1390<\/span> to go to collect a sum of money<br \/>which belongs and reverts to my lord. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;So are you a bailiff<sup id=\"cite_ref-9\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0? &quot; &quot; Yes ! He said.<\/span><br \/>He did not dare, because of disgrace and shame,<br \/>to say that he was a sower, so ugly is the name.<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cDepardieu! (said the yeoman), dear brother,<\/span><br \/>you are bailiff and so am I.<br \/>I am a foreigner in this country;<br \/>let us know, please,<br \/>and let&#039;s be brothers too, if you don&#039;t mind.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1400<\/span> I have gold and silver in my safe;<br \/>if you happen to come to our province,<br \/>everything will be yours and well at your service! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cThank you very much (said our sower), on my faith! &quot;<\/span><br \/>Clapping each other&#039;s hand, they promise<br \/>to be sworn brothers all their lives.<br \/>Quoting pleasantly they go their way.<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">Our sower who was also full of babble<\/span><br \/>that full of cruelty are the laner falcons<sup id=\"cite_ref-10\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>and always curious about all things:<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1410<\/span> \u201cBrother (he said), where is your home,<br \/>if some other day I went to see you? &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">The yeoman answered him softly:<\/span><br \/>&quot;Brother (he said), far north<sup id=\"cite_ref-11\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/>and I hope to see you there one day.<br \/>Before we go our separate ways I&#039;ll point it out to you so well<br \/>that you cannot fail to find my home. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;Now here, brother (said our sower), I beg you,<\/span><br \/>teach me as we go,<br \/>since you are bailiff like me,<br \/>some subtle trick, and tell me in all sincerity<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1420<\/span> how I can gain the most in my office;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>no reserve neither out of conscience nor out of fear of sin,<br \/>but as a brother tell me how you go about it. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;Now, on my faith, dear brother (he said),<\/span><br \/>I will certainly tell you the whole truth;<br \/>my wages are very thin and very small.<br \/>My lord is hard on me and stingy,<br \/>and my work is very painful;<br \/>also I live with extortions,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1430<\/span> because on my faith I take whatever they want to give me;<br \/>no matter how, by fraud or by violence,<br \/>from one year to the next I earn my living.<br \/>I cannot say more frankly. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cOres certainly (said the sower), so I do;<\/span><br \/>I don&#039;t hesitate to grab hold of me, God knows,<br \/>only what is too heavy or too hot to hold<sup id=\"cite_ref-12\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/>What I can take in secret and without saying a word,<br \/>I do not care of my conscience;<br \/>were it not for what I extort, I could not live,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1440<\/span> and about these tricks I do not want to confess.<br \/>I know neither pity nor conscience;<br \/>I curse the fathers confessors, all as long as they are.<br \/>Our meeting is happy, by God and by Saint Jacques!<br \/>But, dear brother, tell me your name. &quot;<br \/>So spoke our sower and yet<br \/>the yeoman to smile a little.<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cBrother (he said), do you want me to tell you?<\/span><br \/>I am a devil, my stay is in hell.<br \/>And I go here on horseback in search of my gain,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1450<\/span> trying to find out if I will be given something.<br \/>My earning is the source of all my income.<br \/>See ! you ride with the same desire,<br \/>to gain profit: it doesn&#039;t matter to you in what way;<br \/>and I too, because I would ride fine right now<br \/>to the end of the world to find prey. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cAh! (says our sower), <i>blessed<\/i>, What do you say ?<\/span><br \/>I thought you were a yeoman really.<br \/>Like me, you have a human form;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>do you have a definite figure<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1460<\/span> in hell, where is your condition to live? &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cNo, of course (he said), there we don&#039;t have any;<\/span><br \/>but, when we want, we can take one,<br \/>or make you believe that we are made<br \/>sometimes like men, sometimes like monkeys;<br \/>or else in the form of an angel I can ride or walk.<br \/>It is no wonder if it is so;<br \/>a lousy juggler can cheat on you,<br \/>and pardieu, I know more tricks than he does. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot; Why ! (says our sower), are you going on foot or on horseback?<\/span><br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1470<\/span> in various forms and not always the same? &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;Is that (he said), we shape ourselves<\/span><br \/>which is most suitable for seizing our prey. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;Why are you going to all this trouble?&quot; &quot;<\/span><br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;For many reasons, dear sermon,<\/span><br \/>(says the demon), but there is time for everything.<br \/>The day is short and it&#039;s gone prime<sup id=\"cite_ref-13\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>and I haven&#039;t won anything today.<br \/>I want to apply myself to win, if I can,<br \/>and not start revealing our tricks.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1480<\/span> Cause, my brother, your mind is way too poor<br \/>to understand, even if I would have told you.<br \/>But since you ask why we work,<br \/>is that sometimes we serve as instruments to God<sup id=\"cite_ref-14\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>and means to carry out his commands,<br \/>when it pleases him, on his creatures,<br \/>by various arts and under various figures.<br \/>Without him we certainly have no power,<br \/>if it suits him to oppose us.<br \/>And sometimes on our prayer he leaves us leisure<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1490<\/span> to harm only the body and not the soul;<br \/>witness Job, whom we made suffer.<br \/>And sometimes we have power over each other,<br \/>that is, on the soul as well as on the body.<br \/>And sometimes we are allowed to go and try<br \/>a man and torment his soul,<br \/>and not his body, and all is for the best.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>When he resists our temptation,<br \/>he secures his salvation;<br \/>although it was not our intention<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1500<\/span> that he was saved, and that we wanted to take him away.<br \/>And sometimes we are human servants,<br \/>as for Archbishop Saint Dunstan;<br \/>and I was also a servant of the apostles. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;But tell me (said the sower), without lying,<\/span><br \/>do you make new bodies like this every time<br \/>composed of elements? The demon replied, &quot;No;<br \/>sometimes we are vain forms, and sometimes we get up<br \/>in dead bodies, in very different ways,<br \/>and also speak reasonably and justly and well<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1510<\/span> that Samuel spoke to the pythoness<sup id=\"cite_ref-15\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/>And yet some claim it wasn&#039;t him;<br \/>he doesn&#039;t care about your theology.<br \/>But I&#039;m warning you about one thing, I&#039;m not kidding,<br \/>you will know in any case how we are formed;<br \/>you will come after this life, my dear brother,<br \/>where you don&#039;t need to learn from me.<br \/>Because you will be able by your own experience<br \/>to be a lecturer in the pulpit and deal with this subject<br \/>better than Virgil, while he was alive,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1520<\/span> or that Dante too; but we are riding fast.<br \/>Because I want to stay in your company<br \/>until the moment you leave me. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cNo (said our sower), this will not happen;<\/span><br \/>i am yeoman<sup id=\"cite_ref-16\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, it is well known far around;<br \/>I will certainly keep my word in this matter.<br \/>For are you the devil Satanas himself,<br \/>I will keep my word to my brother,<br \/>as i swore, and we swore to each other<br \/>to be loyal brothers in this matter;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1530<\/span> and together we go to our benefit.<br \/>You will take your part, whatever we want to give you,<br \/>and I mine; thus we will earn our living.<br \/>And if one of us has more than the other has,<br \/>let him be loyal and share with his brother. &quot;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;I want it (said the devil), on my faith!&quot; &quot;<\/span><br \/>And with this word they continue their journey.<br \/>And right at the entrance to the end of town<br \/>to which our sower intended to go,<br \/>they saw a wagon loaded with hay,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1540<\/span> that a carter was driving on the road.<br \/>This path was hollow, so the cart was stopped.<br \/>The carter banged and shouted like a madman:<br \/>\u201cHue Badger! hue the Escot! Are you afraid of stones?<br \/>The devil (he says), takes you body and bones,<br \/>without leaving part of the foals that you were,<br \/>so much and so much with you have I known miseries!<br \/>The devil takes everything, and horses and wagon and hay! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">Our sower said: &quot;Here we are going to laugh&quot;;<\/span><br \/>and approached the demon as if nothing had happened,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1550<\/span> very secretly, and whispered in his ear:<br \/>\u201cListen, my brother, listen, on your faith;<br \/>can&#039;t you hear what the carter says<br \/>Happen quickly, because he gave you everything<br \/>and hay and wagon and his three horses with. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cNenni (said the demon), God knows not;<\/span><br \/>it is not what he thinks, you can be sure;<br \/>ask him yourself, if you don&#039;t believe me,<br \/>or wait a bit and you&#039;ll see. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">The carter strokes his horses on the rump<\/span><br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1560<\/span> and they begin to pull and stretch forward:<br \/>&quot; Go now ! (he said), Jesus Christ bless you,<br \/>and all his creatures, great and small!<br \/>It&#039;s well shot, my good gray, my boy!<br \/>May God save you and Mr. Saint Eloi<sup id=\"cite_ref-17\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0!<br \/>Here is my cart out of the quagmire, of course! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cHey! brother (said the demon), what was I telling you?<\/span><br \/>Here you can see, my dear beloved brother,<br \/>that the fellow spoke one way, but he thought another.<br \/>Let\u2019s keep going our way;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1570<\/span> I have no driving rights to collect here<sup id=\"cite_ref-18\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>. &quot;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>When they got a little out of town,<br \/>the sower whispered to his brother:<br \/>\u201cBrother (he said), here lives an old woman, as dry as rebec<sup id=\"cite_ref-19\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>who would almost prefer to have his neck cut off<br \/>than give a penny of his property.<br \/>I want to have twelve double floors<sup id=\"cite_ref-20\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, should she go mad,<br \/>or I will quote it in front of our officiality,<br \/>although of course I do not know that she is at fault.<br \/>And since you can&#039;t in this country<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1580<\/span> provide you with your sustenance, here take an example from me. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">Our sower knocked on the widow&#039;s door.<\/span><br \/>&quot;Come out (he said), old witch!&quot;<br \/>I guarantee that you have some brother or priest in your house! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;Who knocks (said the widow), <i>blessed<\/i>\u00a0!<\/span><br \/>God save you, sir, what is there for your service? &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cI have here (he said), an appearance warrant;<\/span><br \/>under pain of excommunication, take care to find yourself<br \/>tomorrow at the knees of the archdeacon,<br \/>to answer the court on certain things. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1590<\/span> &quot; Oh ! Lord (she cried), Jesus Christ, King of kings,<br \/>come to my aid, also true that I can not go there.<br \/>I have been sick and have been for a long time.<br \/>I cannot go so far, on foot or on horseback,<br \/>I won&#039;t die, my side hurts so much.<br \/>May I not ask for a brief, Messire Semoneur,<br \/>and answer there by my attorney<br \/>to such and such thing as one wants to impute to me? &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Come on (said our sower), pay me on time, let&#039;s see,<br \/>twelve double soles, and I&#039;ll hold you off.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1600<\/span> I will have little profit on this;<br \/>my master has the profit and not me.<br \/>Hurry, let me go right away;<br \/>give me twelve big cents, I can&#039;t stop. &quot;<br \/>&quot;Twelve big sous (she said), that Madame Sainte Marie<br \/>get me out of pain and sin,<br \/>as true as, when it would be to acquire the whole world,<br \/>I don&#039;t have twelve big sous in my possession.<br \/>You know very well that I am poor and old;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>show yourself charitable to me, poor puny. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\"><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1610<\/span> &quot;No, of course (he said), the ugly devil take me,<\/span><br \/>if I hold it off with you, do you have to die! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cAlas! (she says) God knows I didn&#039;t do anything. &quot;<\/span><br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">&quot;Pay me (he said), or, by the gentle Saint Anne,<\/span><br \/>I will take your new pan<br \/>for the sum that you owe me for a long time,<br \/>from the time when you made your cuckold husband,<br \/>and where I paid your fine to my officiality. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cYou are lying (she said) on my salvation!<\/span><br \/>I have never been until today, widow or married,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1620<\/span> cited at your court, in all my life;<br \/>I have never been that honest about my body.<br \/>To the ugly black devil horrible to watch<br \/>I give you and my pan with! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">And when the devil heard him do this curse<\/span><br \/>on his knees he spoke this way:<br \/>&quot;Now that, Amable, my very dear mother,<br \/>is it your desire for good you say? &quot;<br \/>&quot;The devil (she said), takes him alive,<br \/>and pan and all, unless he repents! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1630<\/span> &quot;No, old mare, that&#039;s not my design,<br \/>(says our sower), to repent,<br \/>for everything I&#039;ve ever had from you;<br \/>I would take your shirt and all your clothes! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">\u201cNow, brother (said the devil), do not be angry;<\/span><br \/>your body and this pan are mine by right.<br \/>Tonight you will come with me to hell<br \/>where you will know of our secret affairs<br \/>more than a master of theology knows. &quot;<br \/>And with that word this ugly devil grabs him;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1640<\/span> body and soul with the devil he went<br \/>to the place where the sowers have their heritage.<br \/>And God who made men in his own image,<br \/>keep us and save us all as long as we are,<br \/>and please let this sower here become honest!<br \/><span class=\"mw-poem-indented\">My masters, I could have told you (continued the brother),<\/span><br \/>if this sower here left me the leisure,<br \/>according to the authority of Christ and of Paul and of John,<br \/>and many of our other doctors,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>such sorrows that your hearts would quiver, -<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1650<\/span> though no man&#039;s tongue can tell,<br \/>when I talk about it for a thousand winters,<br \/>the sorrows of this cursed abode of hell.<br \/>But to save us from this cursed place<br \/>watch well and pray to Jesus only by his grace<br \/>he protects us, I beg him, from the tempter Satanas.<br \/>Listen to this word and be on your guard:<br \/>the lion always stands in the way<sup id=\"cite_ref-21\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/>to kill the innocent, if he can.<br \/>Always lay your hearts out to resist<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1660<\/span> to the enemy who would like to reduce us to servitude and slavery.<br \/>He will not be able to tempt you beyond your strength<sup id=\"cite_ref-22\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0;<br \/>for Christ will be your champion and knight.<br \/>And pray that these sowers repent<br \/>of their misdeeds before the devil takes them away.<br \/><br \/><\/p><div><i>Here ends the Brother&#039;s tale.<\/i><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breton Mythology Wiki Geoffrey Chaucer is an English writer and poet born in London in the 1340s and died\u2026 <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":96,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14706","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25253,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14706\/revisions\/25253"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}