A wif? A! Seinte Marie, benedicite!
How might a man have any adversite
That hath a wif? certes I cannot seye.
The blisse the which that is betwix hem tweye
Ther may no tonge telle or hertě thinke.

If he be poure, she helpeth him to swinke;
She kepeth his goods, and wasteth never a del;
All that hire husbond doth, hire liketh wel:
She saith not ones, Nay, whan he saith, Ye:
Do this, saith he; Al redy, sire, saith she.
O blissful ordre, o wedlok precious!
Thou art so mery and eke so vertuous,
And so commended and approved eke,
That every man that holt him worth a leke,
Upon his barě knees ought, all his lif,
Thanken his God that him hath sent a wif,
Or elles pray to God him for to send

A wif to last unto his livěs end ;
For than his lif is set in sikerness,

He may not be deceived, as I gesse,

A wife? Why, bless my soul, how can a man have any adversity that has a wife? Answer me that. Tongue cannot tell, nor heart think, of the felicity there is between a man and his wife. If he is poor, she helps him to work. She takes care of his money for him, and never wastes anything. She never says "yes," when he says "no." "Do this," says he. "Directly," says she. O blessed institution! O precious wedlock! thou art so joyous, and at the same time so virtuous, and so recommended to us all, and so approved by us all, that every man who is worth a farthing should go down on his bare knees, every day of his existence, and thank Heaven for having sent him a wife; or if he hasn't got one, he ought to pray for one, and beg that she may last him to his life's end; for his life, in that case, is set in security. Nothing can deceive him.

So that he werche after his wivěs rede ;
Than may he boldly beren up his hede,
They ben so trewe, and therwithal so wise;
For which, if thou wilt werchen as the wise,
Do alway so as women wol thee rede.

GALLANTRY OF TRANSLATION.

*

In the fable of the Cock and the Fox, the Cock, who has been alarmed by a dream, and consulting about it with his wife Dame Partlet, quotes a Latin sentence which tells us, that " woman is man's confusion," but he contrives at once to retain the satire, and make the lady feel grateful for it, by the following exquisite version :—

But let us speke of mirthe, and stinte all this.
Madàmě Pertelot, so have I blis,

Of o thing God hath sent me large grace:

For whan I see the beautee of your face,

He has only to act by his wife's advice, and he may hold up his head with the best. A wife is so true,-so wise. Oh! ever while you live, take your wife's advice, if you would be thought a wise man.

But let us speak of mirth, and put an end to all this. Madame Partlet, as I hope to be saved, Heaven has shown me special favour in one respect; for when I behold the beauty of your face, you are

1

Ye ben so scarlet red about your eyen,

It maketh all my dredě for to dien ;
For, al so sicker as IN PRINCIPIO,
MULIER EST HOMINIS CONFUSIO.
Madame, the sentence of this Latine is,

Woman is manněs joye and mannés blis.1

“Woman is manněs joy and mannĕs bliss."—Or as the same words would have been written at a later day :

Woman is man his joy and man his bliss.

The Latin quotation is from the writings of a Dominican friar, Vincent de Beauvais. Sir Walter Scott was much taken with this wicked jest of Chanticleer's. "The Cock's polite version," says he, "is very ludicrous." (Edition of Dryden, vol. xi. p. 340.) Dryden's translation of the passage is

very inferior to the original:

"Madam, the meaning of this Latin is,

That woman is to man his sovereign bliss."

The conventional phrase "sovereign bliss," is nothing compared with the grave repetition and enforcement of the insult in Chaucer :

Woman is manněs joy and mannės bliss.

so scarlet red about the eyes, it is impossible for me to dread anything.

There is an old and a true saying, the same now as it was in the beginning of the world, and that is, Mulier est hominis confusio. Madam, the meaning of this Latin is,-Woman is man's joy and man's bliss.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE FAIRIES.

In oldě dayes of the King Artòur,

Of which that Bretons speken gret honour,
All was this lond fulfilled of Faerie ;
The Elf quene with hire joly compagnie
Danced ful oft in many a greně mede;
This was the old opinion, as I rede;
I speke of many hundred yeres ago,
But now can no man see non elves mo;
For now the grete charitee and prayĕres
Of limitoures and other holy freres,
That serchen every land and every streme,
As thikke as motes in the sonne beme,
Blissing halles, chambres, kichenĕs, and boures,
Citees and burghes, castles highe and toures,
Thropes and berněs, shepěněs and dairies,
This maketh that ther ben no Faeries:
For ther as wont to walken was an elf,
Ther walketh now the limitour himself

In the old days of King Arthur, which the Bretons hold in such high estimation, this land was all full of fairies. The Elf-Queen, with her merry attendants, was always dancing about the green meads. Such at least was the opinion a long time ago,-many hundred years. Nowadays we see them no longer; for the charity and piety of the begging friars, and others of their holy brethren, who make search everywhere by land and water, as thick as the motes in the sun - beams, blessing our halls, chambers, kitchens, bowers, cities, boroughs, towers, castles, villages, barns, dairies, and sheep-folds, have caused the fairies to vanish; for where the fairy used to be, there is now the friar himself. You are sure to meet

In undermeles and in morwĕninges,

And sayth his matines and his holy thinges
As he goth in his limitatioun.

Women may now go safely up and down;
In every bush, and under every tree,

Ther is non other Incubus but he.1

1 "Ther is non other incubus but he."-The incubus was the successor of the ancient Faun; and, though a mischievous spirit, was supposed to be sometimes in love. Hence a twofold satire in the allusion.

him before breakfast and dinner, saying his matins and holy things, and going about with his wallet. Women may now go up and down in safety; for though they may see things in the bushes and under

the trees, it's only the friar. There is no other incubus but he.