Chaucer & 'Nem

Note: Some of the lines below are vulgar and though they are from the text, they are not recommended for the faint at heart or young children.

Here are lines 503-516 first in Middle English and second in modern English.

For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,

No wonder is a lewed man to ruste.

And sham it is, if a preest take keep,

A shiten shephered and a clene sheep.

Wel oughte a preest ensample for to yive

By his clennesse how that his sheep sholde live.

He sette nought his benefice to hire

And leet his sheep encombred in the mire

And ran to London, unto Sainte Poules,

To seeken him a chaunterye for soules,

Or with a bretherhede to been withholde,

But dwelte at hoom and kepte wel his folde,

So that the wolf ne made it nought miscarye:

He was a shepherede and nought a mercenarye.

In Modern English:

For if a priest is foul, on whom we trust,

No wonder it is an uneducated man to rust.

And shame it is, if a priest is concerned,

A shit-covered shepherd and a clean sheep.

Well, if a priest ought to be an example of how to live

By his cleanliness is how his sheep should live. In other words,

The priest does not rent out his parish to another to earn a more profitable position saying masses for the dead at charities of St. Paul’s in London or serve as chaplain for the wealthy.

Instead, he remains at home and keeps well into his fold

So that the wolf would not enter and cause miscarriage.

Therefore, he was a shepherd, not a mercenary.