{"id":14759,"date":"2021-11-02T19:52:35","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T19:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/?page_id=14759"},"modified":"2022-12-03T22:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T22:12:10","slug":"le-valet-du-chanoine-6","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/the-valet-of-the-canon-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Canterburry Tales: The Canon&#039;s Servant"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"14759\" class=\"elementor elementor-14759\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f35bd28 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f35bd28\" 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-401b291\" data-id=\"401b291\" 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-9c0a66c elementor-align-justify elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"9c0a66c\" 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-857e2af\" data-id=\"857e2af\" 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-8dd2889 elementor-align-justify elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"8dd2889\" 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-50a3288 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"50a3288\" 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-7c61ae3\" data-id=\"7c61ae3\" 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-ead4ea4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ead4ea4\" 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 canon&#039;s valet.<\/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 canon&#039;s servant\" 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-8f69b56 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"8f69b56\" 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-852e34f\" data-id=\"852e34f\" 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-38aa265 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"38aa265\" 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\/the-valet-of-the-canon-6\/#Contes-de-Canterburry-Le-conte-du-valet-du-chanoine\" >Canterburry Tales: The Tale of the Canon&#039;s Servant<\/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-valet-du-chanoine\"><\/span>Canterburry Tales: The Tale of the Canon&#039;s Servant<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-2b55747 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2b55747\" 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-232c0cb\" data-id=\"232c0cb\" 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-379ac14 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"379ac14\" 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\">Prologue to the Conte du Valet du Chanoine<\/span>.<\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>When the life of Saint Cecilia was over,<br \/>before we had really ridden five miles,<br \/>in Boghton-sous-Blee caught up with us<br \/>a man who was dressed in black clothes,<br \/>and below wore a white surplice.<br \/>Her haquenea which was all dapple gray<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">560<\/span> so sweated that it was wonderful to see;<br \/>one would have said he had rammed three miles in a row.<br \/>The horse that his valet rode<br \/>so sweated that he could hardly go.<br \/>The foam rose high around the chest;<br \/>the man was speckled with foam, he looked like a magpie.<br \/>On his croupier he had a double satchel,<br \/>he seemed to be carrying very little baggage.<br \/>The worthy man wore a light summer coat,<br \/>and i started to wonder apart from me<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">570<\/span> what it was, when finally I grabbed<br \/>that his coat was sewn to the hood,<br \/>in witness whereof, when I had reflected well,<br \/>I thought it was some canon.<br \/>His hat hung from his back with a ribbon,<br \/>for he had walked more than at a trot and at a walk;<br \/>he hadn&#039;t stopped ramming as if he were mad.<br \/>Under his hood he had a burdock leaf<br \/>against sweat, and to keep your boss warm.<br \/>But it was great joy to see him sweat!<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">580<\/span> His forehead was dripping like a still,<br \/>which would be filled with plantain and parietary.<br \/>And when he had arrived, he began by exclaiming:<br \/>\u201cGod keep (he said) this happy company!<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>I stung firm (he said), because of you,<br \/>because I really wanted to catch up with you,<br \/>to ride in such cheerful company! &quot;<br \/>His valet too was full of courtesy<br \/>and said: &quot;Messires, when this morning<br \/>from your inn I saw you leave,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">590<\/span> I have warned my master and lord here,<br \/>who is eager to travel with you<br \/>for his deportment, because he likes to ramble. &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Friend, for this advice, God give you good luck!&quot;<br \/>(said our host at the time), because certainly it would seem<br \/>let your master be a learned man, and I readily believe it;<br \/>he is very jovial too, I would bet.<br \/>Will he be able to tell a happy tale or two,<br \/>which he can rejoice in this company? &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Who, sir? My lord ? Yes, yes, without lying,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">600<\/span> he knows some joyful and pleasant ones too,<br \/>much more than enough; moreover, sir, believe me,<br \/>if you knew him as well as I do,<br \/>you would admire as well and skillfully<br \/>he knows how to work, and that in various ways.<br \/>Many great companies have taken hold of him,<br \/>which would be hard for anyone from here<br \/>to be brought to a successful conclusion, if they did not learn from him.<br \/>He may simply walk among you,<br \/>if you knew it, you would benefit from it;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">610<\/span> you wouldn&#039;t want to lose his knowledge<br \/>for good sum, I would dare to risk it<br \/>everything I have in my possession.<br \/>He is a man of great judgment,<br \/>I warn you, he&#039;s an amazing man! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Let&#039;s see (said our host), please tell me,<br \/>is he a clerk or not? Tell us what it is! &quot;<br \/>- &quot; Yes Da ! he is much better than a clerk, of course,<br \/>(said the valet), and to make it short,<br \/>host, I want to show you some of his skills.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">620<\/span> My lord, I say, possesses such subtlety<br \/>(but all his art cannot know it from me,<br \/>although I help a little with his work)<br \/>that all the ground on which we walk<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>from here to the city of Canterbury,<br \/>he could turn it right upside down,<br \/>and pave it entirely with silver and gold. &quot;<br \/>And when this servant had spoken thus<br \/>to our host: &quot;\u00a0<i>Benedicite<\/i> (said this one),<br \/>one thing is astonishing to me,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">630<\/span> since your lord is so prudent,<br \/>by virtue of which people owe him reverence,<br \/>why does he care so little about his dignity?<br \/>Its especially not worth a farthing<br \/>indeed, for him, on my life!<br \/>it&#039;s all dirty and torn too.<br \/>Why is your master so messy, please<br \/>when he could buy better clothes,<br \/>if its power matches your speech?<br \/>Tell me that; say it, I beg you \u201d.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">640<\/span> - &quot; Why ? (says the valet) why? do you ask me ;<br \/>God keep me, it&#039;s because he will never succeed!<br \/>(But I don&#039;t want to confess out loud what I&#039;m saying,<br \/>also keep the good secret, please).<br \/>He is too learned, my faith, I believe it;<br \/>what is in excess does not turn<br \/>good, say the clerics; it is a vice.<br \/>That&#039;s how I take him ignorant and foolish,<br \/>because when a man has too great a mind,<br \/>often times it happens in misuse;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">650<\/span> so for my lord, which causes me great mourning.<br \/>God corrects evil! I cannot say more. &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Don&#039;t worry about that, good valet (said our host);<br \/>since you know the talents of your master,<br \/>tell us how he does it, I beg you with all my heart,<br \/>since he is so clever and so clever.<br \/>Now, where do you live, if that can be said? &quot;<br \/>- &quot;In the suburbs of a city (he said),<br \/>carpets in recesses and dead ends,<br \/>where brigands and thieves, of course,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">660<\/span> have their secret and fearful residence,<br \/>like people who dare not betray their presence;<br \/>this is how we live, if it is necessary to speak the truth. &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Now that (said our host), allow one more word:<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>why are your face so discolored? &quot;<br \/>- &quot;By Saint-Pierre (he said), the devil takes the job!&quot;<br \/>I&#039;m so used to blowing fire,<br \/>that my color has changed, I think;<br \/>I&#039;m not in the habit of eyeing a mirror,<br \/>but to toil hard to learn to multiply<sup id=\"cite_ref-2\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">670<\/span> We blind ourselves to always watching the fire,<br \/>and despite everything we miss our goal,<br \/>because our conclusion always escapes us!<br \/>We are deluding many people,<br \/>we borrow gold, i.e. <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/book-libraries\/\">book<\/a> or two,<br \/>either ten or twelve, and many larger sums,<br \/>and we make them believe, at the very least,<br \/>how many pound we can make two!<br \/>This is wrong though, but still we are hopeful<br \/>to get there, and we&#039;re groping about it.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">680<\/span> But this science is so far ahead of us<br \/>that we cannot, despite all our oaths,<br \/>catch up with her, so quickly she flees from us.<br \/>She&#039;ll make us beggars in the end! &quot;<br \/>While this valet was chatting like that,<br \/>the canon approached and heard everything<br \/>what the valet said, because the suspicion<br \/>the words of the people always made this canon.<br \/>Because, said Cato<sup id=\"cite_ref-3\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, the one who is guilty<br \/>thinks every word has to do with him, really.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">690<\/span> That&#039;s why he came so close<br \/>of his valet to listen to all his speech.<br \/>And then he spoke to his valet thus:<br \/>&quot;Hold your tongue and don&#039;t say another word,<br \/>because if you continue, dearly you will pay it;<br \/>you slander me here in this company,<br \/>and you also discover what you should be hiding. &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Go (said our host), continue, whatever happens,<br \/>and do not worry about all his threats! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;My faith (he said), I don&#039;t care much about it anymore&quot;.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">700<\/span> And when this canon saw that it would not be so,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>but that his valet wanted to tell his secrets,<br \/>he fled from grief and evil shame.<br \/>\u201cAh! (said the valet), we&#039;re going to have a little fun;<br \/>all I know, I will say it immediately.<br \/>Since he&#039;s gone, the evil devil kill him!<br \/>because no longer want to meet him,<br \/>neither for sol nor for pound, I promise you!<br \/>The one who first attracted me to such a game,<br \/>before his death let him be ashamed and sorrowful!<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">710<\/span> because, on my faith! it is very serious for me;<br \/>I can feel it, whatever anyone can tell me.<br \/>And yet, despite all my pain and sorrow,<br \/>despite all my pain, my toil and my miseries,<br \/>I have never been able to detach myself from it in any way!<br \/>Now would to God that my mind was enough<br \/>to tell you all about this art!<br \/>But in any case I will tell you part of it;<br \/>since my master is gone I spare nothing;<br \/>everything I know I want to declare.<\/p><\/div><div>Here ends the prologue to the Conte du Valet du Chanoine.<\/div><div>\u2042<\/div><div><span class=\"sc\">Tale of the canon&#039;s servant<\/span><sup id=\"cite_ref-4\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<\/div><div>Here the Valet du Chanoine begins his tale.<\/div><div>Prima Pars.<\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">720<\/span> With this canon I lived for seven years,<br \/>but in his science I am no more advanced.<br \/>Everything I had I lost like this,<br \/>and, God knows, many more with me.<br \/>While I used to be fresh and cheerful<br \/>in my clothes and all my equipment,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>now I am wearing breeches on my head;<br \/>and while my complexion was fresh and rosy,<br \/>to-day it is pale and the color of lead.<br \/>Whoever uses it thus, dearly will atone it.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">730<\/span> And for all my labor, here I am redone:<br \/>see what profit we find in &quot;multiplying&quot;!<br \/>This elusive science has made me so naked,<br \/>that I no longer have any property, wherever I turn;<br \/>and if am i in so much debt over there<br \/>for the gold that I borrowed, really,<br \/>that with all my life I will not be able to acquit myself.<br \/>May every man be warned by my example forever!<br \/>Whoever indulges in this game,<br \/>if he continues, I hold his lost fortune.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">740<\/span> As true as God help me, instead of winning<br \/>he will empty his purse and exhaust his spirits.<br \/>And when, by his madness and his foolishness,<br \/>he will have lost his property when he is gone<sup id=\"cite_ref-5\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>then he will push other people<br \/>to lose their property as he did his.<br \/>Because for the poor devils it is joy and drunk<br \/>to see their fellows in pain and suffering,<br \/>as one day I learned it from a clerk.<br \/>But no matter what, let&#039;s talk about our work.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">750<\/span> When we are at the place where we have to exercise<br \/>our elite profession, we seem wonderfully wise,<br \/>so much we use learned and curious words.<br \/>I blow the fire until my heart breaks.<br \/>Why tell you here all the proportions<br \/>of all the things we work with,<br \/>like five or six ounces, maybe well,<br \/>money, or some other quantity;<br \/>and why bother to recite the names to you<br \/>orpiment, burnt bones, iron scales,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">760<\/span> which are finely ground into powder?<br \/>nor how everything is put in an earthenware pot,<br \/>with salt in it, and pepper<sup id=\"cite_ref-6\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> too,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>before these powders that I just said,<br \/>the whole well covered with a glass slide,<br \/>and many other things that were there?<br \/>nor that the jar and the glass are sealed with putty<br \/>so that nothing air passes outside?<br \/>I will not speak of moderate fire, and of living too,<br \/>that we did, neither worry and pain<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">770<\/span> that we take to sublimate<sup id=\"cite_ref-7\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> our materials,<br \/>and to amalgamate, to calcine<br \/>quicksilver, which we call raw Mercury!<br \/>Despite all our tricks we cannot succeed.<br \/>Our orpiment and Mercury sublimated,<br \/>our litharge also crushed on porphyry,<br \/>of all these materials a precise number of ounces, -<br \/>it is useless, our labor is in vain.<br \/>Neither does the ascension of our spirits<sup id=\"cite_ref-8\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>nor the materials that remain at the bottom,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">780<\/span> cannot benefit our work in any way.<br \/>For all our toil and work is lost;<br \/>and all the expense, by all the devils!<br \/>that we had risked, lost too.<br \/>There are also many other things,<br \/>which belong to our profession;<br \/>yet cannot recite them in order,<br \/>for what I am an ignorant man;<br \/>I will say them as they come to mind,<br \/>although they cannot be sorted by species:<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">790<\/span> thus the armoniacal bowl, the green of <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/mythes-et-legendes-grecques-1664\/\">Greece<\/a><sup id=\"cite_ref-9\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> and borax,<br \/>and various vessels made of earth and glass,<br \/>our urines, our descensories<sup id=\"cite_ref-10\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>flasks, crucibles, sublimators,<br \/>cucurbits<sup id=\"cite_ref-11\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> and stills too,<br \/>and so many others that would be expensive at the price of a leek.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>No need to recite them all:<br \/>blushing waters and gall nuts,<br \/>arsenic, sulfur and armonia salt;<br \/>and herbs too, I could name a lot:<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">800<\/span> aigheritage, valerian and lunar,<br \/>and many others too, if I wanted to delay.<br \/>Shall I say our lamps burning day and night,<br \/>to bring our art to fruition, if we can?<br \/>And our furnaces too, for calcination,<br \/>and for the albification of the liquid,<br \/>undissolved plaster, lime and egg mucus,<br \/>various powders, ash, manure, urine, clay,<br \/>waxed sachets, saltpetre, vitriol,<br \/>and various fires, of wood and charcoal;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">810<\/span> salt of tartar, alkali, prepared salt,<br \/>combusted and coagulated materials,<br \/>clay with horse or human hair, and oil<br \/>tortre, alum, glass, yeast, must, argoil<sup id=\"cite_ref-12\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>the resalgar, and the imbibition of our materials;<br \/>and also the incorporation of our materials;<br \/>and citrination<sup id=\"cite_ref-13\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> of our money,<br \/>our cementation, our fermentation,<br \/>our test tubes, ingots, and what else do I know?<br \/>I will tell you, as I also learned,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">820<\/span> the four spirits and the seven bodies,<br \/>in order, as I often hear my master call them.<br \/>The first spirit is called quicksilver.<br \/>the second orpiment, the third, for sure,<br \/>armonia salt, sulfur the fourth.<br \/>The seven bodies, listen, here they are now:<br \/>Sol is gold, and silver we call it Luna;<br \/>we call Mars iron, quicksilver Mercury.<br \/>Saturnus is lead, Jupiter is tin,<br \/>and Venus the copper, by the race of my father!<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">830<\/span> This damn job, whoever wants to do it,<br \/>he will not have any good that can be sufficient for him;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>because all the good he spends on it,<br \/>he will lose it, of this I have no doubt,<br \/>Whoever wants to expose his foolishness,<br \/>may he come and learn to multiply;<br \/>and every man who has something in his chest,<br \/>that he appears and becomes a philosopher.<br \/>Maybe this science is easy to learn?<br \/>No, no, God knows, whether he was a monk or a brother,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">840<\/span> priest or canon, or any other man,<br \/>when he would stay night and day bent over his book,<br \/>to learn this stupid and foolish science,<br \/>all would be in vain, and pardieu! even more !<br \/>To teach an ignorant one this subtlety,<br \/>fi! do not speak to me about it, the thing is impossible;<br \/>whether he knows the art of reading or not,<br \/>in fact for him it will be the same;<br \/>because both<sup id=\"cite_ref-14\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, by my salvation!<br \/>result in multiplication,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">850<\/span> also good when they have finished everything;<br \/>that is, they both fail.<br \/>Yet I forgot to mention you<br \/>corrosive water and filings,<br \/>and the mollification of bodies,<br \/>and also of their induration,<br \/>oils, ablutions and fusible metal:<br \/>to say everything we would spend the biggest book<br \/>which is nowhere; also it will be better<br \/>may I rest from all these names.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">860<\/span> Because I think I have taught you enough<br \/>to evoke a demon, however surly he was!<br \/>Ah! no, let&#039;s leave that! The Philosopher&#039;s Stone<br \/>that elixir we name, we all seek it ardently,<br \/>for if we held it, then we would be safe;<br \/>but, to the God of heaven, I confess it,<br \/>despite all our art, when we have done everything,<br \/>and all our address, no one wants to come to us.<br \/>She made us spend our strength well,<br \/>which makes us almost mad with grief,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">870<\/span> was not the good hope that creeps into our hearts,<br \/>always assuming, although we are suffering hard,<br \/>that we will be relieved by her later,<br \/>hope and supposition which are sharp and strong;<br \/>I warn you, it will always be to find.<br \/>This future time caused people to go their separate ways,<br \/>in confidence, of everything they had.<br \/>However in this art they cannot calm down,<br \/>for he has bitter sweetness to them;<br \/>so it seems, because if they had only one sheet<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">880<\/span> to wrap yourself in it during the night,<br \/>and that a back cover to walk in the day,<br \/>they would sell them to spend them on this mystery;<br \/>They do not know how to stop, that there is nothing left.<br \/>And always, wherever they go,<br \/>one can recognize them by their smell of sulfur;<br \/>for everything in the world, they stink like the goat!<br \/>their ram smell is so hot<br \/>than a man who would be a mile away,<br \/>by their smell, believe me, would be infected;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">890<\/span> so therefore, you see, by their smell and their threadbare garment,<br \/>we can, if we want, recognize our people.<br \/>And if we want to ask them in the private<br \/>why they are dressed so miserably,<br \/>immediately they will whisper in your ear<br \/>and will tell you that, if they were known,<br \/>they would be killed because of their science;<br \/>this is how these people betray innocence!<br \/>Let\u2019s leave that; I come to my story:<br \/>So before the pot is set on fire,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">900<\/span> with a certain amount of metals,<br \/>my master tempers them, and none other than him,<br \/>- now that he&#039;s gone, I can say it boldly -<br \/>because, as they say, he knows how to cleverly do;<br \/>in any case, I know very well that he has such a reputation;<br \/>often times, however, he is at fault;<br \/>or do you know how? many times it happens<br \/>let our pot break! Goodbye ! everything is gone!<br \/>These metals have such great violence<br \/>that our walls cannot resist them,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>unless they are built of stone and lime;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">910<\/span> so they break through and go through the wall,<br \/>and some are sinking into the earth,<br \/>\u2014 thus we have sometimes lost many <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/book-libraries\/\">books<\/a> \u2014<br \/>and some spread all over the floor,<br \/>some jump to the roof; without doubt,<br \/>although the devil does not show himself to us,<br \/>I think he is with us, that bad one!<br \/>In hell where he is master and lord,<br \/>there is no more pain, nor resentment, nor anger.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">920<\/span> When our pot is broken like I said<br \/>everyone grumbles and is poorly paid.<br \/>One said it was because of the fire;<br \/>the other says no, that it depends on the blower,<br \/>(and then I was afraid, because it was my office).<br \/>\u201cFi! (says the third), you are ignorant and foolish;<br \/>he<sup id=\"cite_ref-15\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> was not soaked as it should be! &quot;<br \/>\u201cNo (said the fourth), shut up and listen to me;<br \/>is that our fire was not made of beech,<br \/>that is the reason, the only one, on my crowns! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">930<\/span> I could not say what was the cause,<br \/>but I know there is a great debate between us.<br \/>&quot; Let&#039;s go ! (said my master), there is nothing more to do,<br \/>henceforth I will guard myself against these dangers;<br \/>I&#039;m sure the pot was cracked.<br \/>Either way, don&#039;t be dumbfounded;<br \/>as is customary, let the floor be swept immediately;<br \/>get your heart back, be happy and happy! &quot;<br \/>All the debris is swept up, put in a heap;<br \/>on the floor we throw a canvas,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">940<\/span> and all the debris, put in a sieve,<br \/>are sorted and passed over and over again.<br \/>&quot;Pardieu! (says one), a bit of our metal<br \/>is still there, if we don&#039;t have everything!<br \/>Although the deal failed this time,<br \/>another time she can succeed,<br \/>we must venture our assets;<br \/>a merchant would not know, pardieu! always stay,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>Believe me, in its prosperity;<br \/>sometimes his property is drowned in the sea,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">950<\/span> and sometimes it arrives except as far as the earth! &quot;<br \/>- &quot; Peace ! (said my master), next time I will do my best<br \/>to put our art in a better position;<br \/>if I do not do it, my sires, the blame is mine;<br \/>there was a fault at some point, I know that. &quot;<br \/>Another said: &quot;The fire was too hot&quot;;<br \/>but, hot or cold, I dare say this,<br \/>that we always end up wrong.<br \/>We miss what we wanted to get,<br \/>and in our madness always delirious.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">960<\/span> And when we find ourselves together reunited<br \/>each of us seems a Solomon!<br \/>But all that shines like gold<br \/>is not gold, as I have heard it said;<br \/>nor any apple that is beautiful to the eyes<br \/>is not good, whatever people are shouting and shouting!<br \/>Just the same, see, among us;<br \/>the one who seems wisest, by Jesus!<br \/>is the most stupid, when one comes to the test;<br \/>and whoever appears the most loyal is a thief;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">970<\/span> you will know it before I leave you,<br \/>when I have told my story to the end.<\/p><\/div><div><i>Explicit prima pars.<\/i><\/div><div><i>Et sequitur pars secunda.<\/i><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>There is a canon in religion<br \/>among us, who would infect a whole city,<br \/>was she as tall as Nineveh was,<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/trojan-mythology\/\">Troy<\/a>, Rome, Alexandria and three others.<br \/>Its tricks and its infinite falsehood,<br \/>no man could, I believe, describe them,<br \/>even so he would live a thousand years.<br \/>In all this world of deception he has no equal,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">980<\/span> because in his terms he twists so well<br \/>and said his words so devious,<br \/>when he has to converse with anyone,<br \/>that he will make him straight up foolish,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>unless he is, like himself, a devil.<br \/>He has cheated a lot of people so far,<br \/>and he will continue, if he can live some time longer;<br \/>and yet we do many miles, on horseback and on foot,<br \/>to look for him and to get to know him,<br \/>not knowing his deceptive conduct.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">990<\/span> And please give me audience,<br \/>I will say it here in front of you all,<br \/>But, venerable and pious canons,<br \/>do not think that I slander your house,<br \/>although my story is about a canon.<br \/>In all order, of course! there is a rascal;<br \/>and God keep a whole company<br \/>pay for the foolishness of an individual!<br \/>It is not my intention to slander you,<br \/>I would just like to correct what is at fault.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1000<\/span> This tale was not told just for you,<br \/>but for others too; you know well<br \/>that among the twelve apostles of Christ<br \/>there was no traitor except Judas;<br \/>so why would we blame everyone else<br \/>who were innocent? I say the same about you.<br \/>Except however this, if you want to listen to me,<br \/>that if any Judas lives in your convent,<br \/>remove it in time, I advise you,<br \/>whether shame or loss is to be feared.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1010<\/span> And don&#039;t be unhappy, please,<br \/>but in this matter listen to what I am going to say.<br \/><br \/>In London was a priest, an annual<sup id=\"cite_ref-16\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>who had lived there for many years,<br \/>who was so helpful and so pleasant<br \/>to the woman with whom he was boarding,<br \/>that she didn&#039;t want to suffer that he paid nothing<br \/>neither for the table nor for the clothing, so brave he made himself;<br \/>and for the pocket money he had enough.<br \/>Let\u2019s leave that; I will now continue,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1020<\/span> and tell my story of the canon,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>which brought this priest to ruin.<br \/>This deceitful canon came one fine day<br \/>in the room where the priest slept,<br \/>begging him to lend him certain sum<br \/>gold, promising that he would pay it.<br \/>&quot;Lend me a mark (he said), just three days,<br \/>and on the day I will pay it back to you,<br \/>and if you find me deceptive,<br \/>another time will have me hanged by the neck! &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1030<\/span> The priest gave him a mark<sup id=\"cite_ref-17\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, and that immediately;<br \/>our canon repeatedly says thank you,<br \/>then took his leave and went on his way,<br \/>and the third day brought back his money,<br \/>returned to the priest the gold he had received,<br \/>with which the latter was strangely happy and content.<br \/>&quot;Of course (he said), he doesn&#039;t bother me at all<br \/>to lend someone a noble<sup id=\"cite_ref-18\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, or two, or three,<br \/>or anything in my possession,<br \/>when he is so loyal<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1040<\/span> that he would not want to miss at the deadline:<br \/>to such and such a man will I not be able to say no? &quot;<br \/>- \u201cWhat (said the canon), could I be disloyal?<br \/>Hey ! that would be a whole new thing!<br \/>Loyalty is something that will always keep<br \/>until the day I come down<br \/>inside my grave, God forbid it be otherwise!<br \/>believe this no less sure than your Creed.<br \/>Thank God, this be said at the right time,<br \/>no man has ever had to complain<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1050<\/span> for gold or for silver that he would have lent me,<br \/>and never in my heart meditated deceit.<br \/>Now this, sir (he said), between us now,<br \/>since you were so generous to me<br \/>and marked me with such great kindness,<br \/>to recognize your kindness a little,<br \/>I will show you, and, please learn,<br \/>I will clearly teach you the way<br \/>whose philosophy I work<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>Pay attention, you will see with your own eyes<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1060<\/span> that I will do a masterstroke before leaving \u201d.<br \/>- &quot;Yes d\u00e0 (said the priest), yes d\u00e0, sir, really?&quot;<br \/>Sainte Marie ! I beg you with all my heart! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;At your orders, sir, in all truth,<br \/>(said the canon,) or if not, God forbid! &quot;<br \/>See how this thief knew how to offer his service!<br \/>Is it true that a service offered<br \/>stinks<sup id=\"cite_ref-19\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, as the old sages attest;<br \/>and this soon will i prove it<br \/>with this canon, root of all treachery,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1070<\/span> who always takes pleasure and contentment<br \/>- so the diabolical thoughts imprint in his heart! -<br \/>to harm the people of Christ;<br \/>God protect us from his deceptive feint!<br \/>No one knew which priest was dealing with,<br \/>and he felt nothing of the evil coming to him.<br \/>Ah! poor priest! Ah! poor innocent!<br \/>By lust soon you will be deceived!<br \/>O priest deprived of grace! very blind is your thought,<br \/>you don&#039;t tell him about the deception<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1080<\/span> that this fox has fashioned for you!<br \/>Its subtle tricks, you cannot avoid them.<br \/>Also to come to our conclusion,<br \/>as much to say to your confusion,<br \/>unhappy! immediately I will hurry<br \/>to tell your foolishness and your madness,<br \/>like the deceit of the other miserable man,<br \/>at least as far as my knowledge extends.<br \/>This canon is my master, what do you think?<br \/>Sire host, verily, by the queen of heaven,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1090<\/span> it is another canon, and not him,<br \/>which has a hundred times more subtlety!<br \/>He betrayed people time and time again!<br \/>To tell rhyme his deceit, that exasperates me;<br \/>every time I speak of his deceit.<br \/>I feel my cheeks redden with shame for him;<br \/>at least they start to burn,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>because of redness I do not have any, very well know it,<br \/>in my face; because the various fumes<br \/>of these metals, which you have heard me name,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1100<\/span> consumed and destroyed my redness.<br \/>But beware of the malignancy of this canon!<br \/>&quot;Monsieur (he said to the priest), send your valet to find<br \/>quicksilver, that we have it soon;<br \/>and let him bring two or three ounces of it;<br \/>and when he comes back you will immediately see<br \/>an amazing thing that you have never seen before! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Sir (said the priest), it will be done, on my faith!&quot; &quot;<br \/>He told his servant to find it for him,<br \/>who was quite ready at his command;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1110<\/span> he left and returned without delay<br \/>with that quicksilver, to tell the truth,<br \/>and carried the three ounces to the canon,<br \/>and he stretched them out well,<br \/>and begged the servant to bring him coals,<br \/>so that he could set to work immediately.<br \/>Immediately the coals were brought to him,<br \/>and our canon pulling a crucible<br \/>from his chest, showed it to the priest<br \/>&quot;This instrument, (he said to her), that you see,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1120<\/span> take it in your hand and put it yourself<br \/>an ounce of this quicksilver; and begins like this,<br \/>in the name of Christ, to become a philosopher.<br \/>There is very little that I would like to offer<br \/>to show them so much of my science.<br \/>Because here you will see from experience<br \/>that I&#039;m going to mortify<sup id=\"cite_ref-20\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> this quicksilver,<br \/>right away in your eyes without lying,<br \/>and make such good and good money<br \/>that there is some in my purse or yours,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1130<\/span> or elsewhere, and make it malleable;<br \/>if not, hold me wrong and unworthy<br \/>never to appear in company!<br \/>I have a powder here which cost me dearly;<br \/>she will make everything succeed, being the cause<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>of all my art, which I will show you.<br \/>Remove the valet and let him stay outside,<br \/>and close the door, while we&#039;ll be after<br \/>our secret, that no one spies on us,<br \/>while we will work in philosophy. &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1140<\/span> Everything he commanded was in fact accomplished,<br \/>the servant went out straight away,<br \/>his master immediately closed the door,<br \/>and they set to work without delay.<br \/>Our priest, by order of the accursed canon,<br \/>the thing was set on fire immediately,<br \/>blew out the fire, and stirred very loudly;<br \/>our canon in the crucible threw<br \/>a powder - don&#039;t know what it was<br \/>made, with glass or lime,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1150<\/span> or besides something that was not worth a fly -<br \/>to dazzle this priest; and begged him to hurry<br \/>to place the coals on top<br \/>of the crucible: &quot;Because as proof that I love you,<br \/>(said the canon), these are your two hands<br \/>who will accomplish everything that will be done here \u201d.<br \/>&quot;Big thank you&quot; (said the priest) and he was very happy,<br \/>and put down the coals, as the other had said.<br \/>Now, while he was busy, this devilish wretch,<br \/>that deceitful canon, may the evil devil prevail!<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1160<\/span> from her bosom drew a beech charcoal,<br \/>where very subtly a hole was drilled,<br \/>in which we had put silver filings<br \/>an ounce, then plugged the hole without fail<br \/>with wax, to keep the filings there.<br \/>And understand that this deceptive device<br \/>was not made there, but was made in advance;<br \/>and I will say other things too,<br \/>but later, that with him he had brought.<br \/>Before coming there he was planning to play it,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1170<\/span> and so he did before they were separated;<br \/>before he had flayed it he had no rest.<br \/>It annoys me when I talk about him;<br \/>for his deceit I would like to avenge myself,<br \/>if I only knew how; but it is here and there,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>he is so mobile that he remains nowhere.<br \/>Now, beware, for the love of God, sirs!<br \/>So he takes this coal, which I mentioned above,<br \/>and in his hand carries it secretly.<br \/>And while the priest actively disposed<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1180<\/span> the coals, as I have already said,<br \/>&quot;You are doing it badly, friend,&quot; (said the canon):<br \/>this is not placed as it should be;<br \/>but I will soon have everything sorted out (he told her).<br \/>Now let me get involved for just a moment,<br \/>for I pity you, by Saint Giles!<br \/>You are all heated up, I can see how you are sweating,<br \/>take this handkerchief from me and wipe away this dampness! &quot;<br \/>And as the priest wiped his face,<br \/>our canon took his charcoal (may the devil take it!)<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1190<\/span> and put it on, on the middle<br \/>from the crucible, and then blew vigorously,<br \/>as long as the coals began to burn very hard.<br \/>&quot;Now give us a drink (said the canon then),<br \/>everything will be fine in a moment, I guarantee it;<br \/>let&#039;s sit down and celebrate. &quot;<br \/>And when the canon&#039;s beech charcoal<br \/>was burned, all the filings through the hole<br \/>in the crucible immediately spread;<br \/>and it had to be so, necessarily,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1200<\/span> since it was placed so right above;<br \/>but from that the priest, alas! didn&#039;t know anything.<br \/>He believed all coals to be equally good,<br \/>for he suspected nothing of cunning.<br \/>And when our alchemist sees his time;<br \/>\u201cRise up, sire priest (he said), and stay near me;<br \/>and as I know you don&#039;t have any ingot<sup id=\"cite_ref-21\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>go outside and bring us a piece of lime;<br \/>because I will make one of the same shape<br \/>what is an ingot, if I may have the chance.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1210<\/span> And also bring with you a bowl or a saucepan<br \/>filled with water, and then you will see<br \/>how our business will turn out and be successful.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>And yet, so that you don&#039;t have any suspicion,<br \/>no bad thought of me in your absence,<br \/>I don&#039;t want to stay out of your presence,<br \/>but go with you, and come back with you. &quot;<br \/>The bedroom door, to make it short,<br \/>they opened and closed, and went their way.<br \/>And with them they took the key,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1220<\/span> and they returned without any delay.<br \/>What is the use of delaying the whole holy day?<br \/>He took the lime and kneaded it into shape<br \/>of ingot, as I will tell you.<br \/>So I said he took up his own sleeve<br \/>a silver blade (could it end badly!)<br \/>which was little more than an ounce of weight,<br \/>and now watch out for his damn cunning.<br \/>He kneads his ingot the length and breadth<br \/>of this blade, without the slightest doubt,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1230<\/span> so subtly that the priest did not notice it,<br \/>and in his sleeve he hid it again;<br \/>and then removed its matter from the fire,<br \/>and put it in the ingot with a joyful air,<br \/>then in the vase of water he threw it<br \/>when it pleased him, and said to the priest then:<br \/>\u201cLook at what there is, put your hand in it and seek;<br \/>you will find money there, I hope;<br \/>What ! hell, is that something else? ...<br \/>Silver leaf is money, of course &#039;<sup id=\"cite_ref-22\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1240<\/span> The other put his hand in it and drew a blade<br \/>beautiful money, and happy in all his veins<br \/>was he when he saw that it was so.<br \/>\u201cThe blessing of God, and of his mother too,<br \/>and of all the saints, be with you, sire canon!<br \/>(said this priest) and with me their curse,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>if, when you have agreed to teach me<br \/>this noble science and this subtlety,<br \/>I am not yours with all my power now! &quot;<br \/>Said the canon: &quot;Still do I want to try<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1250<\/span> a second time, so that you take care<br \/>and become an expert in this, and as needed<br \/>another day you can try in my absence<br \/>this discipline and this secret science.<br \/>Let&#039;s take another ounce (he said then),<br \/>quicksilver, and, without further ado,<br \/>do with her what you did before<br \/>with the other, which is now money. &quot;<br \/>Our priest applies as much as he can<br \/>to do as the canon (accursed man)!<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1260<\/span> commanded him, and strongly he blows the fire<br \/>to achieve the goal of his desire.<br \/>Meanwhile our canon<br \/>was ready to deceive the priest again,<br \/>and, as a countenance, in his hand he carried<br \/>a hollow stick (be careful and beware!)<br \/>at the end of which an ounce, no more,<br \/>silver filings were placed, as before<br \/>in its charcoal, all stuffed with wax<br \/>to keep all the filings inside.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1270<\/span> And while the priest was at his business,<br \/>the canon with his staff began to talk to him<br \/>soon again, and inside threw his powder<br \/>like before (the devil out of his skin<br \/>the skin, I pray to God! for his deceit,<br \/>for deceitful he was always of thought and action),<br \/>and above the crucible, by means of this stick<br \/>who was prepared with this disloyal arrangement that I said,<br \/>he stirred the coals, until it melted<br \/>fire wax, like any man,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1280<\/span> Unless you&#039;re a fool, knows it&#039;s got to happen,<br \/>and all that was in the staff went out,<br \/>and in the crucible fell vilely.<br \/>Now good gentlemen what better than good<sup id=\"cite_ref-23\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> ?<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>When this priest was thus played again,<br \/>assuming, to tell the truth, only loyalty,<br \/>he was so happy that I couldn&#039;t express<br \/>in no way his joy and his contentment;<br \/>and to the canon he immediately offered himself<br \/>body and goods: &quot;Yes (said the canon at the time),<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1290<\/span> however poor I am, you will find me clever;<br \/>I am warning you that there is still something left.<br \/>Is there any copper here? (He says).<br \/>&quot;Yes (said the other), I think there is.&quot;<br \/>- &quot;Otherwise, go buy me some, and that immediately;<br \/>now, good sire, go your way and hurry. &quot;<br \/>He went his way, came back with the copper,<br \/>and our canon in his hand took it,<br \/>and of copper it only took the weight of an ounce.<br \/>Far too simple is my tongue to proclaim,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1300<\/span> in servant of my mind, duplicity<br \/>of this canon, root of all wickedness.<br \/>To those who did not know him he seemed amiable,<br \/>but in heart and thought he was a devil.<br \/>It tires me to talk about his deceit,<br \/>and nevertheless I want to tell it,<br \/>so that people may be warned,<br \/>and for no other reason, indeed.<br \/>He placed his ounce of copper in the crucible,<br \/>and immediately he set it on the fire,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1310<\/span> and threw the powder into it, begging the priest to blow,<br \/>and in his work to stoop very low,<br \/>as he had already done - and it was all just a trick;<br \/>just as he wanted, he led the other by the nose;<br \/>then he threw the material into the ingot,<br \/>and finally put it in the pan<br \/>of water, then plunged his hand into it,<br \/>and up his sleeve (as before<br \/>you heard me say) he had a silver blade.<br \/>He pulled her stealthily, the wretched rascal,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1320<\/span> - without the priest realizing his deceptive cunning -<br \/>at the bottom of the saucepan he placed it,<br \/>in the water he rummaged in all directions,<br \/>and very discreetly also he resumed<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>the copper blade, unbeknownst to the priest,<br \/>and hid it; then he took him by his coat on his chest,<br \/>and spoke to him, and said to him jokingly:<br \/>&quot;Stoop down, by God you are to blame,<br \/>help me now, as I did earlier for you;<br \/>plunge your hand there, see what is there \u201d.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1330<\/span> Our priest immediately drew out this silver blade,<br \/>and then said the canon: &quot;Come on<br \/>with these three blades that we made,<br \/>to some goldsmith, to find out if they are worth anything<br \/>Because, by my faith, I would not, for my coat,<br \/>that they were good and good money,<br \/>and it will be proven on the spot. &quot;<br \/>So with the goldsmith with these three blades<br \/>they went and put these blades to the test,<br \/>fire and hammer; no one could deny<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1340<\/span> that they were not as they should be.<br \/>Who was ever more delighted than this foolish priest?<br \/>Never was a bird more joyful to see the day again,<br \/>nor nightingale, in the season of May,<br \/>nobody was more happy to chirp,<br \/>nor lady showed a better heart to sing rounds,<br \/>or to talk about love and femininity,<br \/>nor knight armed to do brilliant action<br \/>for the good graces of his beloved lady,<br \/>that this priest was not happy to learn this sad knowledge;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1350<\/span> and to the canon thus he spoke and said:<br \/>&quot;For the love of God, who for all of us died,<br \/>and as much as I can deserve from you,<br \/>what will this recipe cost? tell me ! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;By Notre-Dame (said the canon), she is dear,<br \/>well warn you, because, except me and a beggar brother,<br \/>in England none can do it. &quot;<br \/>- &quot; No matter ! (he said) Let&#039;s see, for God&#039;s sake,<br \/>what do i have to pay you? Tell me, please. &quot;<br \/>- &quot;Certainly (he said), it is very expensive, I tell you:<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1360<\/span> sir, in one word, if you want to have it,<br \/>you have to pay forty pounds<sup id=\"cite_ref-24\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, on my salvation!<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>and was it the friendship you showed me<br \/>before, you would certainly pay more \u201d.<br \/>Our priest immediately the sum of forty pounds<br \/>go and seek nobles, and bring them all<br \/>to this canon for the said recipe:<br \/>(his whole operation was just fraud and deception!)<br \/>&quot;Sir priest (he said), I am worried about having no loss<br \/>of my knowledge, because I would like to keep it hidden;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1370<\/span> and if you love me, keep it a secret;<br \/>because if people knew all my subtlety,<br \/>by God they would hate it so much<br \/>from me, because of my philosophy,<br \/>that they would kill me, there would be no other way out! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;God forbid!&quot; (said the priest), what do you say?<br \/>I&#039;d rather spend all the good<br \/>that I have (if not, that I go crazy!)<br \/>rather than seeing you fall into such misfortune! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;For your good will, I wish you all the best of luck,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1380<\/span> sir (says the canon); farewell and thank you very much! &quot;<br \/>He went his way; the priest never saw him again<br \/>never since that day; and when the latter took notice,<br \/>at the time he wanted, to try<br \/>of the recipe, farewell! nothing worked!<br \/>And here is how he was fooled and duped!<br \/>This is how this canon knew how to get in<br \/>to lead people to their destruction.<br \/>Consider, gentlemen, how, under any condition,<br \/>there is a quarrel between men and gold<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1390<\/span> so much so that it is hardly the same<sup id=\"cite_ref-25\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/>Multiplication has fooled so many people<br \/>that I believe she is, in good faith,<br \/>the biggest reason for this gold scarcity.<br \/>Philosophers speak so mistily<br \/>in this mystery, that no one can hear anything there,<br \/>despite all the spirit we have today.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>They can chatter like jays,<br \/>and put in their big words their pleasure and their pain;<br \/>but for their goal, they will never reach it.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1400<\/span> We will learn very easily, if we have something,<br \/>to multiply\u2026 and to lose all its good.<br \/>See! this pretty game gives so much to gain<br \/>that he will turn a man&#039;s gaiety into sorrow,<br \/>and will also empty large and heavy purses,<br \/>by giving people the curses<br \/>of those who have lent their property for this purpose.<br \/>O fi! what a shame ! Those who were scalded<br \/>alas! can&#039;t they escape the heat of the fire?<br \/>You who use it, I advise you to stop,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1410<\/span> fear of losing everything; better late than never.<br \/>Never succeed is too late.<br \/>When you would always seek, never would find it;<br \/>you are as adventurous as blind bayard<sup id=\"cite_ref-26\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>who goes at random without considering any danger;<br \/>he is also bold to run against a stone<br \/>than to miss on the road.<br \/>So it goes, one more blow, of you who multiply.<br \/>That if your eyes can&#039;t see well,<br \/>keep your mind not losing sight.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1420<\/span> Because so big that you opened and widened your eyes,<br \/>you will not earn a teston at this profession,<br \/>but you will lose whatever you can catch and grab.<br \/>Spread the fire, lest it burn too hard;<br \/>I mean, don&#039;t get involved in this art anymore,<br \/>otherwise, your savings will be lost.<br \/>And now I will tell you here<br \/>what the philosophers say on the matter.<br \/>See! what does Arnould say about the New Town<sup id=\"cite_ref-27\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>as is mentioned in his <i>Rosary<\/i>\u00a0?<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1430<\/span> he says straight, and I&#039;m not lying,<br \/>that no man can mortify Mercury,<br \/>if not with the help of his brother;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>how does the one who first says this thing,<br \/>of the philosophers was the father, Hermes<sup id=\"cite_ref-28\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0;<br \/>he says how the dragon, no doubt,<br \/>don&#039;t die, unless he&#039;s killed<br \/>with the help of his brother; and here is what it comes to say:<br \/>by the dragon, it is Mercury and no other<br \/>which he understood, and by his brother the sulfur,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1440<\/span> which originate from Sol and Luna.<br \/>\u201cAlso (he said), beware of my words:<br \/>that no one occupies himself in researching this art,<br \/>unless philosophers can<br \/>understand intention and language,<br \/>and if he does, he&#039;s a foolish man;<br \/>because this science and this art, he said,<br \/>is that of the secret of secrets<sup id=\"cite_ref-29\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>, by god! &quot;<br \/>He was also a disciple of Plato<br \/>who once said to his master,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1450<\/span> like his book <i>Senior<\/i><sup id=\"cite_ref-30\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> will prove it,<br \/>and his request was, in good truth:<br \/>&quot;Tell me the name of the secret stone?&quot; &quot;<br \/>And Plato immediately answered him:<br \/>\u201cTake the stone we call Titanos. &quot;<br \/>- &quot; What is it ? He said. &quot;It&#039;s Magnesia&quot;,<br \/>says Plato. &quot;Yes da, sir, is that so?&quot;<br \/>It is to explain <i>ignotum per ignotius<\/i><sup id=\"cite_ref-31\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/>What is Magnesia, good sir, please? &quot;<br \/>- &quot;It is water that is made, I tell you,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1460<\/span> of the four elements, \u201dsays Plato.<br \/>When the other said to him: &quot;Tell me the root<br \/>of that water, if it&#039;s your pleasure. &quot;<br \/>- &quot;No, no (said Plato), I will do nothing, of course,<br \/>the philosophers have sworn each and every one<br \/>that they would not discover it to anyone,<br \/>and that they would never write it in any book;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>because to Christ she is so precious and so dear<br \/>that he does not want it to be discovered,<br \/>except where it pleases His Divinity<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1470<\/span> to inspire man, as well as to protect him<sup id=\"cite_ref-32\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/>when it pleases him; and there is the last word. &quot;<br \/>And I conclude thus: since God in Heaven<br \/>does not want philosophers to mention<br \/>how we can get this stone,<br \/>I wish it was better to leave it there.<br \/>Because whoever makes himself an adversary<br \/>by trying to operate something to the contrary<br \/>at his will, of course, he will never succeed,<br \/>when he would multiply all his life.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">1480<\/span> Here let&#039;s have a point; my story is over;<br \/>May God relieve every honest man from his evil! Amen.<br \/><br \/><\/p><div><i>Here ends the Conte du Valet du Chanoine.<\/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-14759","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14759","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=14759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25260,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14759\/revisions\/25260"}],"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=14759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}