ipraythatnoneofyoube*evilpaid;**dissatisfied
asompnourisarunnerupanddown
withmandements*forfornicatioun,*mandates,sumnses*
andisy-beatateverytownesend。"
thenspakeourhost;"ah,sir,yeshouldbehend**civil,gentle
andcourteous,asamanofyourestate;
inpanywewillhavenodebate:
tel露syourtale,andletthesompnourbe。"
"nay,"quoththesompnour,"lethimsaybyme
whatsohimlist;whenitestomylot,
bygod,ishallhimquiten*everygroat!*payhiff
ishallhimtellewhatagreathonour
itistobeaflatteringlimitou
andhisofficeishallhimtelly-wis"
ourhostanswered,"peace,noreofthis。"
andafterwardhesaiduntothefrere,
"tellforthyourtale,mineowenmasterdear。"
onthetaleofthefriar,andthatofthesompnourwhichfollows,tyrwhitthasremarkedthatthey"arewellengrafteduponthatofthewifeofbath。theill-huurwhichshowsitselfbetweenthesetwocharactersisquitenatural,asnotwoprofessionsatthattimewereatreconstantvariance。theregularclergy,andparticularlythemendicantfriars,lesiasticaljurisdiction,exceptthatofthepope,whichmadethemexceedinglyobnoxioustothebishopsandofcoursetoalltheinferiorofficersofthenationalhierarchy。"bothtales,whatevertheirorigin,arebittersatiresonthegreedandworldlinessoftheromishclergy。