28-29
The Canterbury Tales 28-29 · Room for everyone28-29Room for everyone
The inn is roomy and the guests are well looked after.
· · ·
The1
the
chambres2
roomschambers
and3
and
the4
the
stables5
stables
weren6
were
wyde7
spacious
, And8
and
wel11
well
we9
we
weren10
were
esed12
looked aftereased
atte13
in the
beste14
best way
. the rooms and the stables were spacious, and we were well looked after in the best way.
the rooms and the stables were spacious, and we were well looked after in the best way.
Interpretation
The rooms and the stables were spacious, and we were made comfortable in the best way.
Esed atte beste is, in Skeat’s words, “accommodated or entertained in the best manner.” Esed is “eased,” put at ease, and he notes that easement still survived as a legal word for an accommodation. Atte is “at the,” run together as it was spoken; English place-names and surnames like Atwood and Attenborough keep the same joining.
Stables matter as much as bedrooms. These are riders, and a good inn on the Canterbury road had to take the horses too.
30-34
The Canterbury Tales 30-34 · One of their company30-34One of their company
By sunset the narrator knows everyone and has joined the group, which plans to set off early.
· · ·
and in short, when the sun had gone to rest, so I had spoken with every one of them that I was one of their company at once, and we made an agreement to rise early to take our road to where I tell you of.