The Legend of Good Women/The Legend of Thisbe

by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Legend of Thisbe of Babylon

	At Babiloine whylom fil it thus,
	The whiche toun the queen Semiramus
	Leet dichen al about, and walles make
	Ful hye, of harde tyles wel y-bake.
710	Ther weren dwellinge in this noble toun
	Two lordes, which that were of greet renoun,
	And woneden so nigh, upon a grene,
	That ther nas but a stoon-wal hem bitwene,
	As ofte in grete tounes is the wone.
	And sooth to seyn, that o man hadde a sone,
	Of al that londe oon of the lustieste.
	That other hadde a doghter, the faireste,
	That estward in the world was tho dwellinge.
	The name of everich gan to other springe
720	By wommen, that were neighebores aboute.
	For in that contree yit, withouten doute,
	Maidens been y-kept, for Ielosye,
	Ful streite, lest they diden som folye.
	This yonge man was cleped Piramus,
	And Tisbe hight the maid, Naso seith thus;
	And thus by report was hir name y-shove
	That, as they wexe in age, wex hir love;
	And certein, as by reson of hir age,
	Ther mighte have been bitwix hem mariage,
730	But that hir fadres nolde hit nat assente;
	And bothe in love y-lyke sore they brente,
	That noon of alle hir frendes mighte hit lette
	But prively somtyme yit they mette
	By sleighte, and speken som of hir desyr;
	As, wry the gleed, and hotter is the fyr;
	Forbede a love, and it is ten so wood.
	This wal, which that bitwix hem bothe stood,
	Was cloven a-two, right fro the toppe adoun.
	Of olde tyme of his fundacioun;
740	But yit this clifte was so narwe and lyte,
	It as nat sene, dere y-nogh a myte.
	But what is that, that love can nat espye?
	Ye lovers two, if that I shal nat lye,
	Ye founden first this litel narwe clifte;
	And, with a soun as softe as any shrifte,
	They lete hir wordes through the clifte pace,
	And tolden, whyl that they stode in the place,
	Al hir compleynt of love, and al hir wo,
	At every tyme whan they dorste so.
750	Upon that o syde of the wal stood he,
	And on that other syde stood Tisbe,
	The swote soun of other receyve,
	And thus hir wardeins wolde they deceyve.
	And every day this wal they wolde threte,
	And wisshe to god, that it were doun y-bete.
	Thus wolde they seyn -- "allas! Thou wikked wal,
	Through thyn envye thou us lettest al!
	Why nilt thou cleve, or fallen al a-two?
	Or, at the leste, but thou woldest so,
760	Yit woldestow but ones lete us mete,
	Or ones that we mighte kissen swete,
	Than were we covered of our cares colde.
	But natheles, yit be we to thee holde
	In as muche as thou suffrest for to goon
	Our wordes through thy lyme and eek thy stoon.
	Yit oghte we with thee ben wel apayd."
	And whan thise ydel wordes weren sayd,
	The colde wal they wolden kisse of stoon,
	And take hir leve, and forth they wolden goon.
770	And this was gladly in the even-tyde
	Or wonder erly, lest men hit espyde;
	And longe tyme they wroghte in this manere
	Til on a day, whan Phebus gan to clere,
	Aurora with the stremes of hir hete
	Had dryed up the dew of herbes were;
	Unto this clifte, as it was wont to be,
	Com Pyramus, and after com Tisbe,
	And plighten trouthe fully in hir fey
	That ilke same night to stele awey,
780	And to begyle hir wardiens everichoon,
	And forth out of the citee for to goon;
	And, for the feldes been so brode and wyde,
	For to mete in o place at o tyde,
	They sette mark hir meting sholde be
	Ther king Ninus was graven, under a tree;
	For olde payens that ydoles heried
	Useden tho in feldes to ben beried.
	And faste by this grave was a welle.
	And, shortly of this tale for to telle,
790	This covenant was affermed wonder faste;
	And longe hem thoughte that the sonne laste,
	That hit nere goon under the see adoun.
	This Tisbe hath so greet affeccioun
	And so greet lyking Piramus to see,
	That, whan she seigh her tyme mighte be,
	At night she stal awey ful prively
	With her face y-wimpled subtiny;
	For alle her frendes -- for to save her trouthe --
	She hath for-sake; allas! and that is routhe
800	That ever woman wolde be so trewe
	To trusten man, but she the bet him knewe!
	And to the tree she goth a ful good pas,
	For love made her so hardy in this cas;
	And by the welle adoun she gan her dresse.
	Allas! than comth a wilde leonesse
	Out of the wode, withouten more areste,
	With blody mouthe, of strangling of a beste,
	To drinken of the welle, ther as she sat;
	And, whan that Tisbe had espyed that,
810	She rist her up, with a ful drery herte,
	And in a cave with dredful foot she sterte,
	For by the mone she seigh hit wel with-alle.
	And, as she ran, her wimpel leet she falle,
	And took noon heed, so sore she was a-whaped.
	And eek so glad of that she was escaped;
	And thus she sit, and darketh wonder stille.
	Whan that this leonesse hath dronke her fille,
	Aboute the welle gan she for to winde,
	And right anoon the wimpel gan she finde,
820	And with her blody mouth hit al to-rente.
	Whan this was doon, no lenger she ne stente,
	But to the wode her wey than hath she nome.
	And, at the laste, this Piramus is come,
	But al to longe, allas! at hoom was he.
	The mone shoon, men mighte wel y-see,
	And in his weye, as that he com ful faste,
	His eyen to the grounde adoun he caste,
	And in the sonde, as he beheld adoun,
	He seigh the steppes brode of a leoun,
830	And in his herte he sodeinly agroos,
	And pale he wex, therwith his heer aroos,
	And neer he com, and fond the wimpel torn.
	"Allas!" quode he, "the day that I was born!
	This o night wol us lovers bothe slee!
	How sholde I axen mercy of Tisbe
	Whan I am he that have yow slain, allas!
	My bidding hath yow slain, as in this cas.
	Allas! to bidde a woman goon by nighte
	In place ther as peril fallen mighte,
840	And I so slow! allas, I ne hadde be
	Here in this place a furlong-wey or ye!
	Now what leoun that be in this foreste,
	My body mote he renden, or what beste
	That wilde is, gnawen mote he now myn herte!"
	And with that worde he to the wimpel sterte,
	And kiste hit ofte, and weep on hit ful sore,
	And seide, "wimpel, allas! ther nis no more
	But thou shalt fele as wel the blood of me
	As thou hast felt the bleding of Tisbe!"
850	And with that worde he smoot him to the herte.
	The blood out of the wounde as brode sterte
	As water, whan the conduit broken is.
	Now Tisbe, which that wiste nat of this,
	But sitting in her drede, she thoghte thus,
	"If hit so falle that my Piramus
	Be comen hider, and may me nat y-finde,
	He may me holden fals and eek unkinde."
	And out she comth, and after him gan espyen
	Bothe with her herte and with her yen,
860	And thoghte, "I wol him tellen of my drede
	Bothe of the leonesse and al my dede."
	And at the laste her love than hath she founde
	Beting with his heles on the grounde,
	Al blody, and therwith-al a-bak she sterte,
	And lyke the wawes quappe gan her herte,
	And pale as box she wex, and in a throwe
	Avysed her, and gan him wel to knowe,
	That hit was Piramus, her herte dere.
	Who coude wryte whiche a deedly chere
870	Hath Tisbe now, and how her heer she rente,
	And how she gan her-selve to turmente,
	And how she lyth and swowneth on the grounde,
	And how she weep of teres ful his wounde,
	How medeleth she his blood with her compleynte,
	And with his blood her-selven gan she peynte;
	How clippeth she the dede cors, allas?
	How doth this woful Tisbe in this cas!
	How kisseth she his frosty mouth so cold!
	"Who hath doon this, and who hath been so bold
880	To sleen my leef? O spek, my Piramus!
	I am thy Tisbe, that thee calleth thus!"
	And therwith-al she lifteth up his heed.
	This woful man, that was nat fully deed,
	Whan that he herde the name of Tisbe cryen,
	On her he caste his hevy deedly yen
	And doun again, and yeldeth up the gost.
	Tisbe rist up, withouten noise or bost,
	And seigh her wimpel and his empty shethe,
	And eek his swerd, that him hath doon to dethe;
890	Than spak she thus: "my woful hand," quod she,
	"Is strong y-nogh in swiche a werk to me;
	For love shal yive me strengthe and hardinesse
	To make my wounde large y-nogh, I gesse.
	I wol thee folwen deed, and I wol be
	Felawe and cause eek of thy deeth," quod she.
	"And thogh that nothing save the deeth only
	Mighte thee fro me departe trewely,
	Thou shalt no more departe now fro me
	Than fro the deeth, for I wol go with thee!
900	"And now, ye wrecched Ielous fadres oure,
	We, that weren whylom children youre,
	We prayen yow, withouten more envye,
	That in o grave y-fere we moten lye,
	Sin love hath brought us to this pitous ende!
	And rightwis god to every lover sende,
	That loveth trewely, more prosperitee
	Than ever hadde Piramus and Tisbe!
	And lat no gentil woman her assure
	To putten her in swiche an aventure.
910	But god forbede but a woman can
	Been as trewe and loving as a man!
	And, for my part, I shal anoon it kythe!"
	And, with that worde, his swerd she took as swythe,
	That warm was of her loves blood and hoot,
	And to the herte she her-selven smoot.
	And thus ar Tisbe and Piramus ago.
	Of trewe men I finde but fewe mo
	In alle my bokes, save this Piramus,
	And therfor have I spoken of him thus.
920	For hit is deyntee to us men to finde
	A man that can in love be trewe and kinde.
	Heer may ye seen, what lover so he be,
	A woman dar and can as wel as he.
	Explicit Legenda Tisbe.