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.