The Canterbury Tales [386]
And sung full low and softely Three songes in their harmony, *Unletted of* every wight; *unhindered by* Till at the last an aged knight, Which seem'd a man in greate thought, Like as he set all thing at nought, With visage and eyes all forwept,* *steeped in tears And pale, as a man long unslept, By the hearses as he stood, With hasty handling of his hood Unto a prince that by him past, Made the bird somewhat aghast.* *frightened Wherefore he rose and left his song, And departed from us among, And spread his winges for to pass By the place where he enter'd was. And in his haste, shortly to tell, Him hurt, that backward down he fell, From a window richly paint, With lives of many a divers saint, And beat his winges and bled fast, And of the hurt thus died and past; And lay there well an hour and more Till, at the last, of birds a score Came and assembled at the place Where the window broken was, And made such waimentatioun,* *lamentation That pity was to hear the soun', And the warbles of their throats, And the complaint of their notes, Which from joy clean was reversed. And of them one the glass soon pierced, And in his beak, of colours nine, An herb he brought, flow'rless, all green, Full of smalle leaves, and plain,* *smooth Swart,* and long, with many a vein. *black And where his fellow lay thus dead, This herb he down laid by his head, And dressed* it full softely, *arranged And hung his head, and stood thereby. Which herb, in less than half an hour, Gan over all knit,* and after flow'r *bud Full out; and waxed ripe the seed; And, right as one another feed Would, in his beak he took the grain, And in his fellow's beak certain It put, and thus within the third* *i.e. third hour after it Upstood and pruned him the bird, had died Which dead had been in all our sight; And both together forth their flight Took, singing, from us, and their leave; Was none disturb them would nor grieve. And, when they parted were and gone, Th' abbess the seedes soon each one Gathered had, and in her hand The herb she took, well avisand* *considering <12> The leaf, the seed, the stalk, the flow'r, And said it had a good savour, And was no common herb to find, And well approv'd of *uncouth kind,* *strange nature* And more than other virtuous; Whoso might it have for to use In his need, flower, leaf, or grain, Of his heal might be certain. [She] laid it down upon the hearse Where lay the queen; and gan rehearse Each one to other what they had seen. And, *taling thus,* the seed wax'd green, *as they gossiped* And on the dry hearse gan to spring, -- Which me thought was a wondrous thing, -- And, after that, flow'r and new seed; Of which the people all took heed, And said it was some great miracle, Or medicine fine more than treacle; <12> And were well done there to assay If it might ease, in any way, The corpses, which with torchelight They waked had there all that night. Soon did the lordes there consent, And all the people thereto content, With easy words and little fare;* *ado, trouble And made the queene's visage bare, Which showed was to all about, Wherefore in swoon fell all the rout,* *company, crowd And were so sorry, most and least, That long of weeping they not ceas'd; For of their lord the remembrance Unto them was such displeasance.* *cause of grief That for to live they called pain, So were they very true and plain. And after this the good abbess Of the grains gan choose and dress* *prepare Three, with her fingers clean and smale,* *small And in the queenes mouth, by tale, One after other, full easily She put, and eke full cunningly.* *skilfully Which showed some such