35-38
The Canterbury Tales 35-38 · Before the tale goes further35-38Before the tale goes further
The narrator pauses the story to explain his plan: first he will describe each pilgrim.
· · ·
But1
But
natheles2
nevertheless
, whyl3
while
I4
I
have5
have
tyme6
time
and7
and
space8
roomopportunity
, Er9
before
that10
(that)
I11
I
ferther13
further
in14
in
this15
this
tale16
tale
pace12
gopass
, Me17
to me
thinketh18
it seems
it19
it
acordaunt20
in keepingaccordant
to21
tóó
with
resoun22
reason
, To23
tóó
to
telle24
tell
yow25
you
al26
all
the27
the
condicioun28
circumstancescondition
But nevertheless, while I have time and room, before I go further in this tale, it seems to me it is in keeping with reason to tell you all the circumstances
But nevertheless, while I have time and room, before I go further in this tale, it seems to me it is in keeping with reason to tell you all the circumstances
Interpretation
But nevertheless, while I have time and room, before I go any further in this tale, it seems to me only reasonable to tell you all about the circumstances
“Me thinketh” is the ancestor of the old-fashioned “methinks.” Skeat explains that me is the dative, “to me,” before an impersonal verb meaning “to seem,” and that “if you please” is built the same way: “if it please you.” Natheles is “nevertheless,” in Skeat’s words “lit. ‘no the less’”
The sentence goes on into the next lines. What follows from line 43 to line 714 is the plan announced here: a portrait of each pilgrim, one after another, before any tale is told.
39-42
The Canterbury Tales 39-42 · Who they were, and first a knight39-42Who they were, and first a knight
He promises a portrait of every pilgrim, and begins with the Knight.
· · ·
of each of them, as it seemed to me, and what sort they were, and of what rank, and also what clothes they were in: and then I will begin first with a knight.