40

'Thanne may nat richesses [maken] that a man nis nedy, ne that

he be suffisaunt to him-self; and that was it that they [bi-highten],

as it semeth. And eek certes I trowe, that this be gretly to

considere, that moneye ne hath nat in his owne kinde that it

ne may ben bi-nomen of hem that han it, maugre hem?'

45

'I bi-knowe it wel,' quod I.

'Why sholdest thou nat bi-knowen it,' quod she, 'whan every

day the strenger folk bi-nemen it fro the febler, maugre hem?