袋鼠小说

THE MAN OF LAWS TALE（第4页）

orelseoftyriusapollonius，

howthatthecursedkingantiochus

berefthisdaughterofhermaidenhead;

thatissohorribleataletoread，

whenheherthrewuponthepavement。

andthereforehe，*offullavisement*，*deliberately，advisedly*

wouldneverwriteinnoneofhisserns

ofsuc混♂kind*abominations;*unnatural

noriwillnonerehearse，ifthatimay。

butofmytalehowshallidothisday?

mewerelothtobelikenddoubteless

tomuses，thatmencallpierides

（metarphoseos

wotwhatimean），

butnathelessireckenotabean，

thoughieafterhimwithhawebake*;*lout

ispeakinprose，andlethimrhymesmake。"

andwiththatword，hewithasobercheer

beganhistale，andsaidasyeshallhear。

plight:pulled;thewordisanobsoletepasttensefrom"p露ck。"

norethanwillmalkinsmaidenhead:aproverbialsaying;which，however，hadobtainedfreshpointfromthereevestale，towhichthehostdoubtlessrefers。

depardieuxjeoasente:"bygod，iagree"。itischaracteristicthatthesomewhatpompoussergeantoflawshouldcouchhisassentinthesemi-barbarousfrench，thenfamiliarinlawprocedure。

ceyxandalcyon:chaucertreatsoftheseintheintroductiontothepoemcalled"thebookoftheduchess。"itrelatestothedeathofblanche，wifeofjohnofgaunt，dukeoflancaster，thepoetspatron，andafterwardshisconnexionbymarriage。

thesainteslegendofcupid:nowcalled"thelegendofgoodwomen"。thenamesofeightladiesmentionedherearenotinthe"legend"asithasedowntous;whilethoseoftwoladiesinthe"legend"—cleopatraandphilomela—areheromitted。

notthemuses，whohadtheirsurnamefromtheplacenearuntolympuswherethethraciansfirstworshippedthem;buttheninedaughtersofpierus，kingofmacedonia，whomhecalledtheninemuses，andwho，beingconqueredinacontestwiththegenuinesisterhood，werechangedintobirds。

metarphoseos:ovids。

hawebake:hawbuck，countrylout;thenproverbialphrase，"toputarogueaboveagentleman，"maythrowlightonthereadinghere，whichisdifficult。