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Canterbury Tales Quotes

The sergeantz of the toun of Rome hem soghte,
And hem biforn Almache, the prefect, broghte,
Which hem apposed, and knew al hire entente,
And to the ymage of Juppiter hem sente,
And seyde, "Whoso wol nat sacrifise,
Swape of his heed; this my sentence heer."

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. The sergeants of the town of Rome seek Valerian and his brother Tiburtius and bring them before the prefect Almachius. He has them sent to the image of Jupiter and commands those who will not sacrifice there to be beheaded.

Whan Maximus had herd the seintes loore,
He gat hym of the tormentoures leve,
And ladde hem to his hous withoute moore,
And with hir prechyng, er that it were eve,
They gonnen fro the tormentours to reve,
And fro Maxime, and fro his folk echone,
The false feith, to trowe in God allone.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. When Maximus, one of prefect Almachius’s officers, hears the Christian teachings of Valerian and his brother Tiburtius, he gets permission from the executioners to lead them to his house. There the preaching of the brothers results in the executioners, Maximus and his people renouncing their false faith and converting to Christianity.

Ye han for sothe ydoon a greet bataille,
Youre cours is doon, youre feith han ye conserved.
Gooth to the corone of lif that may nat faille;
The rightful Juge, which that ye han served,
Shal yeve it yow, as ye han it deserved.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Before their execution Cecilia has words of comfort for her husband Valerian and his brother Tiburtius. She says that they have fought the good fight and have kept their Christian faith. They go to God, the rightful judge whom they have served, and he will grant them eternal life, she assures them.

They nolde encense ne sacrifise right noght,
But on hir knees they setten hem adoun
With humble herte and sad devocioun,
And losten bothe hir hevedes in the place.
Hir soules wenten to the Kyng of grace.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. When Valerian and Tiburtius are brought before the idol of Jupitor they refuse the prefect Almachius’s order to worship it with incense or sacrifice. The brothers simply kneel down with humble heart and Christian devotion and are martyred by beheading. Their souls join with God in heaven.

This Maximus, that saugh this thyng bityde,
With pitous teeris tolde it anonright,
That he hir soules saugh to hevene glyde
With aungels ful of cleernesse and of light,
And with his word converted many a wight;
For which Almachius dide hym so bete
With whippe of leed til he his lif gan lete.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Maximus told how he saw the souls of the martyred Valerian and Tiburtius ascent to heaven. Many people were converted to Christianity by his words. But the prefect Almachius had him beaten to death with whips tipped with lead, so Maximus became a martyr also.

"Youre myght," quod she, "ful litel is to dreede,
For every mortal mannes power nys
But lyk a bladdre ful of wynd, ywys.
For with a nedles poynt, whan it is blowe,
May al the boost of it be leyd ful lowe."

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. When Cecilia is brought before the prefect Almachius she is unafraid and defiantly refuses to acknowledge men’s earthly authority. When he asks her does she not take heed of his power, she replies that his might is very little to fear. Every mortal man’s power is nothing but only like a bladder full of wind, she says using a simile. For with a needle’s point, when it is blown up, all the arrogance of it comes down.

"Yowre princes erren, as youre nobleye dooth,"
Quod tho Cecile, "and with a wood sentence
Ye make us gilty, and it is nat sooth.
For ye, that knowen wel oure innocence,
For as muche as we doon a reverence
To Crist, and for we bere a Cristen name,
Ye putte on us a cryme and eek a blame.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Not mincing her words, Cecilia launches into a trenchant attack on the justice of Almachius and his princes in making it a crime for people to be Christians. She brands it crazy and tells him that he is in error to make Christians guilty, when he knows they are innocent.

Almache answerde, "Chees oon of thise two:
Do sacrifice, or Cristendom reneye,
That thou mowe now escapen by that weye."
At which the hooly blisful faire mayde
Gan for to laughe, and to the juge sayde:
"O juge, confus in thy nycetee,
Woltow that I reneye innocence,
To make me a wikked wight?" quod shee.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. When Almachius delivers an ultimatum to Cecilia to do sacrifice to the Roman gods or renounce Christianity to escape judgment and execution, the holy Cecilia laughs. O judge confused in your folly, she responds, do you want me to renounce innocence and make myself a wicked person?

And if thou drede nat a sooth to heere,
Thanne wol I shewe al openly, by right,
That thou hast maad a ful gret lesyng heere.
Thou seyst thy princes han thee yeven myght
Bothe for to sleen and for to quyken a wight;
Thou, that ne mayst but oonly lyf bireve,
Thou hast noon oother power ne no leve.
But thou mayst seyn thy princes han thee maked
Ministre of deeth; for if thou speke of mo,
Thou lyest, for thy power is ful naked.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Cecilia is dismissive of Almachius’s authority and claim to have been granted the power to slay and give life to a person. She brands him a liar. He can only take away life, she tells him, so he can say that his princes have made him Minister of death. If he speaks of more power, then he lies for his power is limited.

"Do wey thy booldnesse," seyde Almachius tho,
"And sacrifice to oure goddes er thou go!
I recche nat what wrong that thou me profre,
For I kan suffre it as a philosophre;
But thilke wronges may I nat endure
That thou spekest of oure goddes heere." quod he.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Almachius makes one last effort to get Cecilia to sacrifice to the Roman gods and avoid the execution. Totally not getting the point of her her spiritual faith, he tells her to do away with her boldness. He doesn’t care about what wrongs she expresses to him personally, but he cannot allow her to speak against his gods, he says.

Ther lakketh no thyng to thyne outter yen
That thou n’ art blynd; for thyng that we seen alle
That it is stoon – that men may wel espyen –
That ilke stoon a god thow wolt it calle.
I rede thee, lat thyn hand upon it falle
And taste it wel, and stoon thou shalt it fynde,
Syn that thou seest nat with thyne eyen blynde.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Cecilia tells Almachius that he is blind and says that his gods are mere stone. He will discover that for himself if he reaches out his hand and touches and tastes them, since he cannot see with his blind eyes.

It is a shame that the peple shal
So scorne thee and laughe at thy folye,
For communly men woot it wel overal
That myghty God is in his hevenes hye;
And thise ymages, wel thou mayst espye,
To thee ne to hemself mowen noght profite,
For in effect they been nat worth a myte.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. In her final words of defiance to Almachius, the Cecilia predicts that people will scorn the Roman prefect and laugh at his folly (wasn’t she right, don’t we now scorn the man who ordered the death of the virgin martyr?). For people everywhere know that mighty God is in his high heaven and Almachius’s pagan idols can do him no profit and are not worth a penny, she tells him.

Thre strokes in the nekke he smoot hire tho,
The tormentour, but for no maner chaunce
He myghte noght smyte al hir nekke atwo;
And for ther was that tyme an ordinaunce
That no man sholde doon man swich penaunce
The ferthe strook to smyten, softe or soore,
This tormentour ne dorste do namoore,
But half deed, with hir nekke ycorven there,
He lefte hir lye, and on his wey he went.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. When Cecilia survives scalding hot water in a cauldron, Almachius sends his executioner to slay her in the bath. But three strokes in the neck fail to decapitate her and an ordinance does not allow the executioner administer a fourth. So he leaves her lie there half dead with her neck cut and goes on his way.

For in a bath they gonne hire faste shetten,
And nyght and day greet fyr they under betten.
The longe nyght, and eek a day also,
For al the fyr and eek the bathes heete
She sat al coold and feelede no wo.
It made hire nat a drope for to sweete.
But in that bath hir lyf she moste lete,
For he Almachius, with ful wikke entente,
To sleen hire in the bath his sonde sente.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Second Nun’s Tale. Enraged by Cecilia’s boldness and resolute Christian faith, Almachius sentences her to be boiled to death in a bath at her house. Day and night a great fire is lit under the cauldron, but she remains unharmed and stays cold, not even sweating one drop. But in that cauldron she is destined to die, for Almachius "with wicked intent" sends his executioner to slay the saintly Cecilia in the bath.

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.

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.
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