|
Oyes, if that any knave here |
|
Be willing to appear |
|
For weather foul or clear, |
1060 |
Come in before this flock, |
|
And, be he whole or sickly, |
|
Come show his mind quickly, |
|
And if his tale be not likely |
|
Ye shall lick my tail in the nock. |
|
|
1065 |
All this time, I perceive, is spent in waste |
|
To wait for more suitors, I see none make hast. |
|
Wherefore I will show the god all this process, |
|
And be delivered of my simple office. |
|
[To Jupiter] Now lord, according to your commandment, |
1070 |
Attending suitors I have been diligent. |
|
And, at beginning as your will was I should, |
|
I come now at end to show what each man would. |
|
The first suitor before your self did appear, |
|
A gentleman desiring weather clear, |
1075 |
Cloudy nor misty nor no wind to blow, |
|
For hurt in his hunting. And then, as ye know, |
|
The merchant sued, for all of that kind, |
|
For weather clear and measurable wind, |
|
As they may best bear their sails to make speed. |
1080 |
And straight after this there came to me, indeed, |
|
Another man, who named him self a ranger, |
|
And said all of his craft be far brought in danger |
|
For lack of living, which chiefly is wind fall. |
|
But he plainly saith there bloweth no wind at all, |
1085 |
Wherefore he desireth for increase of their fleeces, |
|
Extreme rage of wind, trees to tear in pieces. |
|
Then came a water miller, and he cried out |
|
For water, and said the wind was so stout |
|
The rain could not fall, wherefore he made request |
1090 |
For plenty of rain to set the wind at rest. |
|
And then, sir, there came a windmiller in, |
|
Who said for the rain he could no wind win. |
|
The water he wish to be banished all, |
|
Beseeching Your Grace of wind continual. |
1095 |
Then came there another that would banish all this: |
|
A goodly dame, an idle thing, iwis. |
|
Wind, rain, nor frost, nor sunshine would she have, |
|
But fair close weather, her beauty to save. |
|
Then came there another that liveth by laundry, |
1100 |
Who must have weather hot and clear, her clothes to dry. |
|
Then came there a boy for frost and snow continual, |
|
Snow to make snowballs, and frost for his pitfall, |
|
For which, God wote, he sueth full greedily! |
|
Your first man would have weather clear and not windy; |
1105 |
The second the same, save cools to blow meanly; |
|
The third desired storms and wind most extremely; |
|
The fourth all in water, and would have no wind; |
|
The fifth no water, but all wind to grind; |
|
The sixth would have none of all these, nor no bright sun; |
1110 |
The seventh extremely the hot sun would have won; |
|
The eighth and the last, for frost and snow he prayed. |
|
Byr lady, we shall take shame, I am afraid! |
|
Who marketh in what manner this sort is led |
|
May think it impossible all to be sped. |
1115 |
This number is small: there lacketh twain of ten, |
|
And yet, by the Mass, among ten thousand men, |
|
No one thing could stand more wide from the tother. |
|
Not one of their suits agreed with another. |
|
I promise you here is a shrewd piece of work! |
1120 |
This gear will try whether ye be a clerk. |
|
If ye trust to me, it is a great folly, |
|
For it passeth my brains, by God’s body! |
|
|
|
Jupiter |
|
Son, thou hast been diligent and done so well, |
|
That thy labour is right much thankworthy. |
1125 |
But be thou sure we need no whit thy counsel, |
|
For in our self we have foreseen remedy, |
|
Which thou shalt see. But first, depart hence quickly |
|
To the Gentleman and all other suitors here, |
|
And command them all before us to appear. |
|
|
|
Merry Report |
1130 |
That shall be no longer in doing |
|
Then I am in coming and going. |
|
|
|
Merry Report goes out. |
|
|
|
Jupiter |
|
Such debate as from above ye have heard, |
|
Such debate beneath among yourselves ye see |
|
As long as heads from temperance be deferred, |
1135 |
So long the bodies in distemperance be. |
|
This perceive ye all, but none can help save we. |
|
But as we there have made peace concordantly, |
|
So will we here now give you remedy. |
|
|