The Best of the Worlds Classics, Restricted to prose. | Page 6

As it is writun in Ysaie, the prophete, Lo! I send myn angel bifore thi
face, that schal make thi weye redy before thee.
3. The voyce of oon cryinge in desert. Make ye redy the weye of the
Lord, make ye his pathis rihtful.
4. Jhon was in desert baptisynge, and prechinge the baptym of
penaunce, into remiscioun of synnes.
5. And alle men of Jerusalem wenten out to him, and al the cuntree of
Judee; and weren baptisid of him in the flood of Jordan, knowlechinge
her synnes.
6. And John was clothid with heeris of camelis, and a girdil of skyn
abowte his leendis; and he eet locusts, and hony of the wode, and
prechide, seyinge:
7. A strengere than I schal come aftir me, of whom I knelinge am not
worthi for to vndo, or vnbynde, the thwong of his schoon.
8. I have baptisid you in water; forsothe he shal baptise you in the Holy
Goost.
9. And it is don in thoo dayes, Jhesus came fro Nazareth of Galilee, and
was baptisid of Joon in Jordan.
10. And anoon he styinge vp of the water, sayth heuenes openyd, and
the Holy Goost cummynge doun as a culuere, and dwellynge in hym.
11. And a voys is maad fro heuenes, thou art my sone loued, in thee I
haue plesid.
12. And anon the Spirit puttide hym in to desert.
13. And he was in desert fourty dayes and fourty nightis, and was
temptid of Sathanas, and was with beestis and angelis mynstriden to
hym.

14. Forsothe aftir that Joon was taken, Jhesus came in to Galilee,
prechinge the gospel of the kyngdam of God,
15. And seiynge, For tyme is fulfillid, and the kyngdam of God shal
come niy; forthinke yee, or do yee penaunce, and bileue yee to the
gospel.
16. And he passynge bisidis the see of Galilee, say Symont, and
Andrew, his brother, sendynge nettis into the see; sothely thei weren
fishers.
17. And Jhesus seide to hem, Come yee after me; I shal make you to be
maad fishers of men.
18. And anoon the nettis forsaken, thei sueden hym.
19. And he gon forth thennes a litil, say James of Zebede, and Joon, his
brother, and hem in the boot makynge nettis.
20. And anoon he clepide him; and Zebede, her fadir, left in the boot
with hirid seruantis, their sueden hym.
21. And thei wenten forth in to Cafarnaum, and anoon in the sabotis he
gon yn into the synagoge, taughte them.
22. And thei wondreden on his techynge; sothely he was techynge hem,
as hauynge power, and not as scribis.
23. And in the synagoge of hem was a man in an vnclene spirit, and he
cried,
24. Seyinge, What to vs and to thee, thou Jhesu of Nazareth? haste thou
cummen bifore the tyme for to destroie vs? Y woot thot thou art the
holy of God.
25. And Jhesus thretenyde to hym, seyinge, Wexe dowmb, and go out
of the man.
26. And the vnclene goost debrekynge hym, and cryinge with grete

vois, wente awey fro hym.
27. And alle men wondriden, so that thei soughten togidre among hem,
seyinge, What is this thinge? what is this newe techyng? for in power
he comaundith to vnclene spirits, and thei obeyen to hym.
28. And the tale, or tything, of hym wente forth anoon in to al the
cuntree of Galilee.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 15: Part of Chapter I of the Gospel of St. Mark, as translated
by Wyclif. It will be noted that Wyclif's orthography is irregular, the
same word being often spelled differently on the same page. This
selection is printed in the original as a specimen of the English of
Wyclif's time.]

GEOFFREY CHAUCER
Born about 1340, died in 1400; son of a London vintner; taken prisoner
in Brittany in 1359 while serving with the king's army; sent to Italy on
a royal embassy in 1374 and again in 1378; besides the "Canterbury
Tales," wrote many books; a large number once attributed to him are
now considered spurious.

OF ACQUIRING AND USING RICHES[16]
When Prudence had heard her husband avaunt himself of his riches and
of his money, disparaging the power of his adversaries, she spake and
said in this wise: Certes, dear sir, I grant you that ye are rich and
mighty, and that riches are good to 'em that have well obtained 'em, and
that well can use 'em; for, just as the body of a man may not live
without soul, no more may it live without temporal goods, and by
riches may a man get him great friends; and therefore saith Pamphilus:
If a neatherd's daughter be rich, she may chose of a thousand men

which she will take to her