Go with me down to Drayton Basset,
No dainties we will spare;
All day shalt thou eat and drink of the best,
And I will pay thy fare.
Gramercy for nothing, the tanner replied,
Thou payest no fare of mine:
I trow I've more nobles in my purse,
Than thou hast pence in thine.
God give thee joy of them, said the king,
And send them well to priefe.[88]
The tanner would fain have been away,
For he weened he had been a thief.
Who art thou, he said, thou fine fellòw,
Of thee I am in great fear,
For the clothes thou wearest upon thy back,
Might beseem a lord to wear.
I never stole them, quoth our king,
I tell you, sir, by the rood,
Then thou playest, as many an unthrift doth
And standest in midst of thy good.[89]
What tidings hear you, said the king,
As you ride far and near?
I hear no tidings, sir, by the mass,
But that cow-hides are dear.
Cow-hides! cow-hides! what things are those?
I marvel what they be!
What art thou a fool? the tanner replied;
I carry one under me.
What craftsman art thou? said the king,
I pray thee tell me true.
I am a barker,[90] sir, by my trade;
Now tell me what art thou?
I am a poor courtier, sir, quoth he,
That am forth of service worn;
And fain I would thy prentice be,
Thy cunning for to learn.
Marry heaven forfend, the tanner replied,
That thou my prentice were:
Thou wouldst spend more good than I should win
By forty shilling a year.