Seide this Mariner, 'as wel as ever I can':
12
And right anon his tale he bigan.
1. Now] Sl. How. 2. H. L. J. om. the. 4. Roy. B. H. told; rest tolde (!). 5. of] H. of his; I. his. 6. good] Sl. H. M. goode; B. right goode. 7. B. riatoures; H. M. R. Sl. riatours; L. ryotours; Pt. retourues (!). 8. Roy. H. M. R. B. L. hertly; I. nowe hertely; Sl. om. Pt. preye; rest pray (prey). 9. Pt. Roy. R. I. good; rest gode (goode). 12. And] R. om.
As to these lines, I will merely make the following remarks. Line 1 is too short by a whole foot; and so is l. 5. Lines 8 and 11 are somewhat too long. Line 4 will scan well, if we substitute told-e for told, as some of the MSS. do; but, unfortunately, told-e is here an impossible form. Line 3 is imitated from A 3115; and l. 10 from B 1019. In l. 7, we must suppress of, in order to make the line run well; only this destroys the sense. It is not easy to imitate Chaucer's language for twelve lines together, especially when sense has to be regarded. Moreover, the way in which l. 7 is made to depend on l. 6 is extremely awkward.
In the true Prologue, the Shipman gives due notice that he is going to tell a 'merry,' i.e. a licentious story; which he proceeds to do.
§ 40. The Shipmannes Tale. A similar Tale occurs in Boccaccio's Decamerone, Day 8, Nov. 1. The scene is laid in Milan; the husband is a rich merchant named Guasparruol Cagastraccio; and his wife's name is Ambruogia. The gallant is Gulfardo, a German, and not a priest. The sum borrowed is 200 florins; which Gulfardo restores to the wife in the presence of a witness, so that she is obliged to admit its repayment. The place to which the merchant goes, on a business errand, is Genoa.
It is not at all likely that Chaucer took this from the Decamerone, which he seems never to have read. He probably found it in some French fabliau, and treated the story, as usual, so as to make it all his own. In B 1404, we find the French phrase 'Qui la?' The scene is laid near Paris, and France is specially mentioned in B 1306, 1341, 1384. The merchant's business calls him away to Bruges (1448).
There is a curious difficulty in the opening lines of this Tale. The use of the words us (B 1202, 1209), we (1204), and our (1208), certainly shew that, in the first instance, this Tale was meant to be told by a woman; and, obviously, by the Wyf of Bathe in particular (cf. D 337-356). When Chaucer changed his mind, he forgot to make here the necessary corrections.
'The same fable ... is repeated by La Fontaine (Contes, ii. 9), in his usual forcible and witty way; but neither Boccaccio nor La Fontaine can vie with Chaucer's art.'—Ten Brink.