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The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Canterbury Tales Yeoman Quotes

Til that we come to Caunterbury toun,
He koude al clene turnen up-so-doun,
And pave it al of silver and of gold.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. When the Host asks the Canon’s Yeoman if he could tell the pilgrims a merry tale, the Yeoman sings the praises of his employer, saying he could pave the road to Canterbury with silver and gold. This suggests that the Canon is planning some kind of fraud on the pilgrims.

To muchel folk we doon illusioun, And borwe gold, be it a pound or two - Geoffrey Chaucer

To muchel folk we doon illusioun,
And borwe gold, be it a pound or two.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. The Canon is a false alchemist, working with his servant the Yeoman. They specialize in doing illusion and taking money from people, the Yeoman confesses.

Or ten, or twelve, or manye sommes mo,
And make hem wenen, at the leeste weye,
That of a pound we koude make tweye.
Yet is it fals, but ay we han good hope
It for to doon, and after it we grope.
But that science is so fer us biforn,
We mowen nat, although we hadden it sworn,
It overtake, it slit awey so faste.
It wole us maken beggers atte laste.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. The Yeoman confesses that he is on the road to beggary from his master the Canon’s failed attempts at alchemy – turning base metals into gold through a chemical process. They take money from people, making them believe they can turn one pound into two. Yet it is false, the Yeoman says, for that science is so far ahead of them.

The guilty think all talk is of themselves - The Yeoman in The Canterbury Tales

He that gilty is
Demeth alle thyng be spoke of hym, ywis.
Modern English:
The guilty think all talk is of themselves.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. Cato the Elder originally coined this phrase. The passage refers to people with a guilty conscience, who think that people are talking about them and their deeds and they fear they will be exposed. Cato’s original saying was: "The conspirator believes that everything spoken refers to himself."

Thou sclaundrest me heere in this compaignye,
And eek discoverest that thou sholdest hyde.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. The Canon tells the Yeoman to shut up, that he is slandering him to the pilgrims and revealing the hidden secrets of his alchemy.

"In feith," quod he, "namoore I do but lyte."

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. This is the Yeoman’s reply, when the Host tells him not to worry about the Canon’s anger at him and to tell his story. The Yeoman replies that he cares little.

I wol nat spare.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue. After the Canon flees away in shame, his Yeoman vows to tell all.

Lat every man be war by me for evere!
What maner man that casteth hym therto,
If he continue, I holde his thrift ydo.
For so helpe me God, therby shal he nat wynne,
But empte his purs, and make his wittes thynne.
And whan he thurgh his madnesse and folye
Hath lost his owene good thurgh jupartye,
Thanne he exciteth oother folk therto,
To lesen hir good as he hymself hath do.
For unto shrewes joye it is and ese
To have hir felawes in peyne and disese.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale. The Yeoman warns the pilgrims against the false magic of alchemy. From his own experience he says that it will empty a person’s purse and make their wits thin. And when through madness and folly they have lost their possessions, they will incite other folk to lose theirs. To scoundrels it is joy and ease to have their fellows in pain and hardship.

But al thyng which that shineth as the gold
Nis nat gold, as that I have herd told.
Modern English:
However, all that glitters is not gold,
And that’s the truth as we’re so often told.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale. The Yeoman refers to the dubious practice of alchemy, but also the trickery and deceptions people sometimes practice.

Trouthe is a thyng that I wol evere kepe.
Unto that day in which that I shal crepe
Into my grave, and ellis God forbede.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale. Truth is a thing that I will always keep until the day I creep into my grave, and God forbid otherwise, the crooked Canon of the tale says.