15

'Wherof I served?' oon of hem asked me;

I sayde ayein, as it fel in my thought,

'To walke about the mase, in certayntè,

As a woman that [of] nothing rought.'

He asked me ayein—'whom that I sought,

20

And of my colour why I was so pale?'

'Forsothe,' quod I, 'and therby lyth a tale.'

'That must me wite,' quod he, 'and that anon;