*believe me* For gentle mercy *oweth to passen right*.” *ought to be rightly Then said he thus to Palamon the knight; directed* “I trow there needeth little sermoning To make you assente to this thing. Come near, and take your lady by the hand.” Betwixte them was made anon the band, That hight matrimony or marriage, By all the counsel of the baronage. And thus with alle bliss and melody Hath Palamon y-wedded Emily. And God, that all this wide world hath wrought, Send him his love, that hath it dearly bought. For now is Palamon in all his weal, Living in bliss, in riches, and in heal*. *health And Emily him loves so tenderly, And he her serveth all so gentilly, That never was there worde them between Of jealousy, nor of none other teen*. *cause of anger Thus endeth Palamon and Emily And God save all this faire company. Notes to The Knight’s Tale. 1. For the plan and principal incidents of the “Knight’s Tale,” Chaucer was indebted to Boccaccio, who had himself borrowed from some prior poet, chronicler, or romancer. Boccaccio speaks of the story as “very ancient;” and, though that may not be proof of its antiquity, it certainly shows that he took it from an earlier writer. The “Tale” is more or less a paraphrase of Boccaccio’s “Theseida;” but in some points the copy has a distinct dramatic superiority over the original. The “Theseida” contained ten thousand lines; Chaucer has condensed it into less than one-fourth of the number. The “Knight’s Tale” is supposed to have been at first composed as a separate work; it is undetermined whether Chaucer took it direct from the Italian of Boccaccio, or from a French translation. 2. Highte: was called; from the Anglo-Saxon “hatan”, to bid or call; German, “Heissen”, “heisst”. 3. Feminie: The “Royaume des Femmes” — kingdom of the Amazons. Gower, in the “Confessio Amantis,” styles Penthesilea the “Queen of Feminie.” 4. Wonnen: Won, conquered; German “gewonnen.” 5. Ear: To plough; Latin, “arare.” “I have abundant matter for discourse.” The first, and half of the second, of Boccaccio’s twelve books are disposed of in the few lines foregoing. 6. Waimenting: bewailing; German, “wehklagen” 7. Starf: died; German, “sterben,” “starb”. 8. The Minotaur: The monster, half-man and half-bull, which yearly devoured a tribute of fourteen Athenian youths and maidens, until it was slain by Theseus. 9. Pillers: pillagers, strippers; French, “pilleurs.” 10. The donjon was originally the central tower or “keep” of feudal castles; it was employed to detain prisoners of importance. Hence the modern meaning of the word dungeon. 11. Saturn, in the old astrology, was a most unpropitious star to be born under.