"wayted many a constellacioun, Er he had doon this operacioun;"[175] that is, he waited carefully for the moment when the stars would be in the most propitious position, so that his undertaking would have the greatest possible chance of success. Pandarus goes to his niece Criseyde to plead for Troilus at a time when the moon is favorably situated in the heavens: "And gan to calle, and dresse him up to ryse, Remembringe him his erand was to done From Troilus, and eek his greet empryse; And caste and knew in good plyt was the mone-- To doon viage, and took his wey ful sone Un-to his neces paleys ther bi-syde."[176] The kind of fatalism that Chaucer's characters, as a rule, represent is well illustrated in the story of Palamon and Arcite, told by the Knight in the _Canterbury Tales_. These two young nobles of Thebes, cousins by relationship, are captured by Theseus, king of Athens, and imprisoned in the tower of his palace. From the window of the tower Palamon espies the king's beautiful sister Emelye walking in the garden and instantly falls in love. Arcite, seeing his cousin's sudden pallor and hearing his exclamation which, Chaucer says, sounded "As though he stongen were un-to the herte."[177] thinks that Palamon is complaining because of his imprisonment and urges him to bear in patience the decree of the heavens: "'For Goddes love, tak al in pacience Our prisoun, for it may non other be; Fortune hath yeven us this adversitee. Som wikke aspect or disposicioun Of Saturne, by sum constellacioun, Hath yeven us this, al-though we hadde it sworn; So stood the heven whan that we were born; We moste endure it; this is the short and pleyn.'"[178] This is the doctrine of Necessity, and it suggests the Stoic virtue of submission to fate; yet Arcite's attitude toword his misfortune is not truly stoic, for there is none of that joy in submission here that the Stoic felt in surrendering himself to the will of the powers above. Arcite would resist fate if he could. Palamon explains the cause of his woe and when Arcite looks out and sees Emelye he too falls a victim to love. Then Palamon knits his brows in righteous indignation. Did he not love the beautiful lady first and trust his secret to his cousin and sworn brother? And was it not Arcite's duty and solemn pledge to help and not hinder him in his love? Arcite's defence shows that the fatalism that dominates his thought is a fatalism that excuses him for doing as he pleases: Love knows no law, but is a law unto itself. Therefore he must needs love Emelye. "Wostow nat wel the olde clerkes sawe, That 'who shal yeve a lover any lawe?' Love is a gretter lawe, by my pan, Than may be yeve to any erthly man. And therefore positif lawe and swich decree Is broke al-day for love, in ech degree. A man moot nedes love, maugree his heed."[179]