Nowher so bisy a man as he there nas,
And yet he semed bisier than he was.
Modern English:
Though there was nowhere one so busy as he,
He was less busy than he seemed to be.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. Though a busy man, the Man of Law always makes himself out to be busier than he is. Chaucer seems to doubt that the Man of Law really works as hard as he suggests, so perhaps he is trying to make himself sound important.