Page:The Canterbury Tales and Faerie Queene.djvu/177

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THE MONK'S TALE.
163
And as he lay a-dylng in a trance, And wistë verily that dead was he, Of honesty yet had he remembránce.
Lucan, to thee this story I recommend, And to Sueton', and Valerie also, That of this story writë word and end;[1]How that to these great conquerórës twoFortune was first a friend, and since[2] a foe. No mannë trust upon her favour long, But have her in await[3] for evermo'; Witness on all these conquerórës strong.
The richë Crœsus, whilom king of Lyde,— Of which Crœsus Cyrus him sorë drad,[4]— Yet was he caught amiddës all his pride. And to be burnt men to the fire him lad;[5]But such a rain down from the welkin shad,[6]That slew the fire, and made him to escape: But to beware no gracë yet he had, Till fortune on the gallows made him gape.
When he escaped was, he could not stint[7]For to begin a newë war again; He weened well, for[8] that Fortúne him sent Such hap, that he escaped through the rain. That of his foes he mightë not be slain. And eke a sweven[9] on a night he mette,[10]Of which he was so proud, and eke so fain,[11] That he in vengeance all his heartë set.
Upon a tree he was set, as he thought, Wliere Jupiter him wash'd, both back and side. And Phoebus eke a fair towél him brought To dry him with; and therefore wax'd his pride. And to his daughter that stood him beside, Which he knew in high science to abound, He bade her tell him what it signified; And she his dream began right thus expound.
"The tree," quoth she, "the gallows is to mean. And Jupiter betokens snow and rain. And Phoebus, with his towel clear and clean. Those be the sunnë's streames,[12] sooth to sayn; Thou shalt y-hanged be, father, certáin; Rain shall thee wash, and sunne shall thee dry." Thus warned him full plat and eke full plain His daughter, which that called was Phaníe.
And hanged was Croesus the proud{{subst:e}} king; His royal throng might him not avail. Tragédy is none other manner thing. Nor can in singing crien nor bewail. But for that Fortune all day will assail With unware stroke the regnës[13] that be proud: For when men trustë her, then will she fail, And cover her bright facë with a cloud.
O noble, worthy Pedeo,[14] glory of Spain, Whom Fortune held so high in majesty. Well oughtë men thy piteous death complain. Out of thy land thy brother made thee flee. And after, at a siege, by subtlety. Thou wert betray'd, and led unto his tent. Where as he with his owen hand slew thee. Succeeding in thy regns and in thy rent.[15]
The field of snow, with th' eagle of black therein. Caught with the lion, red-colour'd as the glede,[16] He brew'd this cursedness,[17] and all this sin; The wicked nest was worker of this deed; Not Charlës' Oliver,[18] that took aye heed Of truth and honour, but of Armorike Ganilion Oliver, cormpt for meed, Broughtë this worthy king'in such a brike.[19]
O worthy Peteo, King of Cypre,[20] also, That Alisandre won by high mast'ry, Full many a heathen wroughtest thou full woe. Of which thine owen lieges had envý; And, for no thing but for thy chivalry. They in thy bed have slain thee by the morrow; Thus can Fortune her wheel govérn and gie,[21]And out of joy bringë men into sorrow.
Of Milan greatë Barnabo Visoount, God of delight, and scourge of Lombardy, Why should I not thine infortúne account,[22]Know not. </ref>Since in estate thou clomben wert so high? Thy brother'a son, that was thy double allý, For he thy nephew was and son-in-law. Within his prison madë thee to die, But why, nor how, n'ot[23] I that thou were slaw."[24]
  1. ↑ Apparently a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon phrase, "ord and end," meaning the whole, the beginning and the end.
  2. ↑ Afterwards.
  3. ↑ Brer be watchful against her.
  4. ↑ At the opening of the story of Croesus, Chaucer has copied from his own translation of Boethius; but the story is mainly taken from the "Romance of the Rose."
  5. ↑ Led.
  6. ↑ Shed, poured.
  7. ↑ Refrain.
  8. ↑ Because.
  9. ↑ Dream.
  10. ↑ Dreamed.
  11. ↑ Glad.
  12. ↑ Bays.
  13. ↑ Kingdoms. "This reflection," says Tyrwhitt, " seems to have been suggested by one which follows soon after the mention of Cr{{subst:oe}}sus in the passage just cited from Boethius. 'What other thing bewail the cryings of tragedies but only the deeds of fortune, that with an awkward stroke overturueth the realms of great nobley?'" — In some manuscripts, the four "tragedies" that follow are placed between those of Zenobia and Nero; but although the general reflection with which the "tragedy" of Crcesus closes might most appropriately wind up the whole series, the general chronological arrangement which is observed in the other cases, recommends the order followed in the text. Besides, since, like several other Tales, the Monk's tragedies were cut short by the impatience of the auditors, it is more natural that the Tale should close abruptly, than by such a rhetorical finish as these lines afford.
  14. ↑ Pedro the Cruel, King of Aragon, against whom his brother Henry rebelled. He was by false pretences inveigled into his brother's tent, and treacherously slain. Mr Wright has remarked that "the cause of Pedro, though he was no better than a cruel and reckless tyrant, was popular in England from the very circumstance that Prince Edward (the Black Prince) had embarked in it."
  15. ↑ Thy kingdom and revenues.
  16. ↑ Burning coal.
  17. ↑ Wickedness, villainy.
  18. ↑ Not the Oliver of Charlemagne— but a traitorous Oliver of Armorica, corrupted by a; bribe. Ganilion was the betrayer of the Christian army at Boncesvalles (see note 29, p. 141); and his name appears to have been for a long time used in France to denote a traitor. Duguesclin, who betrayed Pedro into his brother's tent, seems to be intended by the term "Ganilion Oliver," but if so, Chaucer has mistaken his name, which was Bertrand—perhaps confounding him, as Tyrwhitt suggests, with Oliver de Clisson, another illustrious Breton of those times, who was also Constable of France, after Duguesclin. The arms of the latter are supposed to be described a little above. lit
  19. ↑ Breach, ruin
  20. ↑ Pierre de Lusignan, Bang of Cyprus, who captured Alexandria in 1365 (see note 14, p. 17). He was assassinated in 1369.
  21. ↑ Guide.
  22. ↑ Beckon.
  23. ↑ Reckon
  24. ↑ Bernabo Tiscosti, Duke of Milan, was deposed and
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