16920

Telle me the name of thilke privee fton.

And Plato answerd unto him anon;
Take the fton that Titanos men name.

Which is that? quod he. Magnetia is the fame,
Saide Plato. Ye, Sire, and is it thus?

This is ignotum per ignotius.

What is magnetia, good Sire, I pray?

It is a water that is made, I fay,

Of the elementes foure, quod Plato.

Tell me the rote, good Sire, quod he tho,
Of that water, if that it be your will.

Nay, nay, quod Plato, certain that I n'ill:
The philofophres were fworne everich on
That they ne fhuld discover it unto non,
Ne in no book it write in no manere,
For unto God it is fo lefe and dere

16925

16930

16935

That he wol not that it discovered be

But wher it liketh to his deitee

Man for to enfpire, and eke for to defende
Whom that him liketh; lo, this is the ende.

Than thus conclude I; fin that God of heven 16940 Ne wol not that the philofophres neven

—which I thould have preferred to the common reading if I had found it in any copy of better authority.----The book alluded to is printed in the Theatrum Chemicum, vol. v. p. 219, under this title, Senioris Zadith fil. Hamuelis tabula Chymica. 'The ftory which follows of Plato and his diciple is there told, [p. 249,] with fome variations, of Salomon; "Dixit Salomon "rex, Recipe lapiden qui dicitur Thitarios-Dixit fapiens, "Aligna mihi illum. Dixit, eft corpus magnesie---Dixit, quid "eft magnesia? Refpondit, magnesia et aqua, compfita," c

How that a man shal come unto this fton,
rede as for the best to let it gon;
For who so maketh God his adversary,
As for to werken any thing in contrary
Of his will, certes never shal he thrive,
Though that he multiply terme of his live.
And ther a point, for ended is my Tale.
God fend every good man bote of his bale!

16945

16949

THE MANCIPLES PROLOGUE. WETE ETE ye not wher ftondeth a litel toun Which that ycleped is Bob-up-and-doun, Under the Blee in Canterbury way? Ther gan our Hofle to jape and to play, And fayde; Sires, what? Dun is in the mire; Is ther no man for praiere ne for hire That wol awaken our felaw behind?

16955

A thefe him might ful lightly rob and bind:
See how he nappeth, fee, for cockes bones,

As he wold fallen from his hors atones.
Is that a coke of London, with mefchance?
Do him come forth, he knoweth his penance,

16960

. 16961. Do bim come fortb] So mí. Ask. 1, 2, and some others. The common reading is-Do him comfort. The alteration is material, not only as it gives a clearer sense, but as it intimates to us that the narrator of a Tale was made to come out of the crowd, and to take his place within hearing of the Hoft during his narration. Agreeably to this notion when the Hoft calls upon Chaucer [ver. 13628,] he fays,

Approche nere, and loke up merily.

Now ware you, Sires, and let this man have place.

It was neceffary that the Hofte, who was to be juge and repor

For he fhal tell a Tale by my fey,

Although it be not worth a botel hey.

Awake, thou coke, quod he; God yeve thee forwe,
What aileth thee to flepen by the mor we? 16965
Hast thou had fleen al night, or art thou dronke?
Or haft thou with fom quene al night yfwonke
So that thou mayst not holden up thin hed?
This coke, that was ful pale and nothing red,
Sayd to our Hofte; So God my foule bleffe, 16970
As ther is falle on me fwiche hevineffe,

N'ot I nat why, that me were lever to slepe
Than the best gallon wine that is in Chepe.

Wel, quod the Manciple, if it may don efe
To thee, Sire Coke, and to no wight difplefe 16975
Which that here rideth in this compagnie,

And that our Hofte wol of his curtefie,

I wol as now excufe thee of thy Tale,
For in good faith thy visage is ful pale:
Thin eyen dafen, fothly as me thinketh,
And wel I wot thy breth ful foure stinketh,
That fheweth wel thou art not wel difpofed :
Of me certain thou shalt not ben yglofed.

16980

tour of the Tales, [ver. 816,] fhould hear them all diftinctly; the others might hear as much as they could or as they chofe of them. It would have required the lungs of a Stentor to speak audibly to a company of thirty people trotting on together in a road of the 14th century.

V. 16965. to plepen by the morwe] This must be underflood generally for the daytime, as it was then afternoon. It has been obferved in the Difcourfe, c. §. 13, that in this epifode of the Coke no notice is taken of his having told a Tale before.

ee how he galpeth, lo, this dronken wight,

As though he wold us fwalow anon right! 16985
Hold clofe thy mouth, man, by thy father kin;
The devil of helle fet his foot therin,

Thy curfed breth enfecten wol us alle:
Fy, ftinking fwine! fy, foul mote thee befalle!
A! taketh heed, Sires, of this lufty man.
Now, fwete Sire! wol ye juft at the fan?
Therto me thinketh ye be wel yfhape:
I trow that ye have dronken win of ape,

16990

V. 16991. wol ye juft at the fan] Some mff. read-an. The fenfe of both words is the fame. The thing meant is the quintaine, which is called a fan or van, from its turning round like a weathercock. See Du Cange, in v. Vana, Meneftrier fur les tournois, as quoted by Menage, Di&t. Etymol. in v. Quintaine, and Kennet's Paroch. Antiq.

. 16993. win of ape] This is the reading of mff. HA. D. E. and ed. Ca. 1, and I believe the true one. The explanation in the Gloff. of this and the preceding passage from Mr. Speght is too ridiculous to be repeated. Win of ape I understand to mean the fame as vin de finge in the old Calendrier des Bergiers, fign, Lii. b. The author is treating of phifiognomy, and in his defcription of the four temperaments he mentions, among other circumftances, the different effects of wine upon them. The cholerick, he fays, "A vin de Lyon; ceft a dire, quant a bien "beau veult tanfer noysfer et battre"-The fanguine, “ A vin "de Singe; quant a plus beu tant eft plus joyeux.” "In the fame manner the phlegmatick is faid to have vin de mouton, and the melancholiek vin de porceau.-I find the fame four animals applied to illuftrate the effects of wine in a little rabbinical tradition, which I thall transcribe here from Fabric. Cod. Pfeudepig. V. T. vol. i. p. 275.; " Vineas plantanti Noacho Satanam *fe junxiffe memorant, qui, dum Noa vites plantaret, macta"verit apud illas ovem, leonem, fimiam et fuem : quod princi51 pio potûs vini homo fit inftar ovis, vinum sumptum efficiat "ex homine leonem, largius hauftum mutet eum in faltante

And that is whan men playen with a straw.

And with this fpeche the coke waxed all wraw, And on the Manciple he gan nod fast

17000

16996 For lacke of fpeche, and doun his hors him cast, Wher as he lay til that men him up toke : This was a faire chivachee of a coke: Alas that he ne had hold him by his ladel! And er that he agen were in the fadel Ther was gret fhoving bothe to and fro To lift him up, and mochel care and wo, So unweldy was this fely palled goft; And to the Manciple than spake our Hoft. Because that drinke hath domination falvation

Upon this man, by my

I trow he lewedly wol tell his Tale;

For were it win or old or moisty ale

17005

That he hath dronke he fpeketh in his nofe, 17010
And fneseth fast, and eke he hath the pofe;
He alfo hath to don more than ynough
To kepe him on his capel out of the flough,
And if he falle from of his capel eftfone
Than fhul we alle have ynough to done
In lifting up his hevy dronken cors.
Tell on thy Tale, of him make I no force.

17015

"fimiam, ad ebrietatem infufum transformet illum in pollu"tam et proftratam fuem." See also Gefa Romanorum, c. 159, where a ftory of the fame purport is quoted from Jofephus, “ In "libro de cafu rerum naturalium."

v. 16999. a faire chivachee] A fair expedition. See the n. en ver. 85. The common editt. read—chevifance,