But by the ford left all his merriment.
This is the tale of midday chaffering:
How Charon took, and Gurney lost the thing:
How Ferryman gave it for his youngest daughter
To a tall lad who saved her out of the water—
(Being old and mean, had none of his own to give,
So passed on Tammas’, glad to see her live):
How the young farmer paid his quarter’s rent
With that one coin, when all else was spent,
And how Squire kept it for some goldless debt ...