Chaucer’s major works include The Book of the Duchess, Parlement of Foules, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, etc. In 1387, he began his most famous work, The Canterbury Tales, in which a diverse group of people recount stories to pass the time on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, and the pilgrims represent a wide cross section of 14th-century English life. The unfinished work with about 17,000 lines is one of the most brilliant works in all literature. Chaucer was a master storyteller and craftsman, but because of a change in the language after 1400, his metrical technique was not fully appreciated until the 18th century. Only inScotlandin the 15th and 16th century did his imitators understand his versification.

Here the first 162 lines of The Canterbury Tales (Margaret Ferguson, ed. The Norton Anthology of Poetry.London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1996.) are selected and translated by Zhang Guangkui.

喬叟的主要作品有《公爵夫人書》、《百鳥議會》、《貞女傳奇》、《特洛伊斯與克麗西達》等。1387年，他開始創作著名的《坎特伯雷故事集》，書中講述的是不同的人來講述不同的故事以消磨去坎特伯雷朝聖途中的時光。故事中，朝聖者分別代表著14世紀英國不同階層和人群的生活。這部沒有寫完的作品約17000行，是世界文學的傑出作品。喬叟是位故事家，更是位語言家，但是，由於1400年後英語語言的變化，他的作詩手法直到18世紀才被充分認識，而在蘇格蘭也是到15、16世紀他的後繼者們才理解了他的作詩法。

此處選譯《坎特伯雷故事集》(Margaret Ferguson, ed. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1996.)前162行， 由張廣奎教授翻譯。

TheCanterburyTales

The General Prologue

Geoffrey Chaucer

Whan that April with his showres soote

The droughte of March hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veine in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flowr;

Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heeth

The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne

Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,

And smale fowles maken melodye

That sleepen al the night with open ye—

So priketh hem Nature in hir corages—

Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,

And palmeres for to seeken straunge strondes

To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes;

And specially from every shires ende

Of Engelond toCanterburythey wende,

The hooly blisful martyr for to seeke,

That hem hath holpen whan that they were seke.

Bifee that in that seson on a day,

In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay,

Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage

ToCanterburywith ful devout corage,

At night was come into that hostelrye

Wel nine and twenty in a compaignye,

Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle

In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle

That towardCanterburywolden ride.

The chambres and the stables weren wide,

And wel we weren esed at the beste.

And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste,

So hadde I spoken with hem everichoon

That I was of hir felaweshipe anoon,

And made forward erly for to rise,

To take oure way ther as I you devise.

 But nathelees, whil I have time and space,

Er that I ferther in this tale pace,

Me thinketh it accordant to resoun

To telle you al the condicioun

Of eech of hem, so as it seemed me,

And whiche they were, and of what degree,

And eek in what array that they were inne:

And at a knight thanne wol I first biginne.

A knight ther was, and that a worthy man,

That fro the time that he first bigan

To riden out, he loved chivalrye,

Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye.

Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,

And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,

As wel in Cristendom as in hethenesse,

And evere honoured for his worthinesse.

At Alisaundre he was whan it was wonne;

Ful ofte time he hadde the boord bigonne

Aboven alle nacions in Pruce;

In Lettou had he reised, and in Ruce,

No Cristen man so ofte of his degree;

In Gernade at the sege eek hadde he be

Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye.

At Lyeis was he, and at Satalye,

Whan they were wonne; and in the Grete See

At many a noble arivee hadde he be.

At mortal batailes hadde he been fifteene,

And foughten for oure faith at Tramissene

In listes thries, and ay slain his fo.

This ilke worthy knight hadde been also

Somtime with the lord of Palatye

Again another hethen in Turkye;

And everemore he hadde a soverein pris.

And though that he were worthy, he waswis,

And of his port as meeke as is a maide.

He nevere yit no vilainye ne saide

In al his lif unto no manere wight:

He was a verray, parfit, gentil knight.

But for to tellen you of his array,

His hors were goode, but he was nat gay.

Of fustian he wered a gipoun

Al bismotered with his haubergeoun,

For he was late come from his viage,

And wente for to doon his pilgrimage.

With him ther was his sone, a yong Squier,

A lovere and a lusty bacheler,

With lokkes crulle as they were laid in presse.

Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.

Of his stature he was of evene lengthe,

And wonderly delivere, and of greet strengthe.

And he hadde been som time in chivachye

In Flandres, inArtois, and Picardye,

And born him wel as of so litel space,

In hope to stonden in his lady grace.

Embrouded was he as it were a mede,

Al ful of fresshe flowres, white and rede;

Singing he was, or floiting, al the day:

He was as fressh as is the month of May.

Short was his gowne, with sleeves longe and wide.

Wel coude he sitte on hors, and faire ride;

He coude songes make, and wel endite,

Juste and eek daunce, and wel portraye and write.

So hote he loved that by nightertale.

He slepte namore than dooth a nightingale.

Curteis he was, lowely, and servisable,

And carf biforn his fader at the table.

A Yeman hadde he and servants namo

At that time, for him liste ride so;

And he was clad in cote and hood of greene.

A sheef of pecok arwes, bright andkeene,

Under his belt he bar ful thriftily;

Wel coude he dresse his takel yemanly:

His arwes drouped nought with fetheres lowe.

And in his hand he bar a mighty bowe.

A not-heed hadde he with a brown visage.

Of wodecraft wel coude he al the usage.

Upon his arm he bar a gay bracer,

And by his side a swerd and a bokeler,

And on that other side a gay daggere,

Harneised wel and sharp as point of spere;

A Cristophre on hisbrestof silver sheene;

An horn he bar, the baudrik was of greene.

A forster was he soothly, as I gesse.

Ther was also a Nonne, a Prioresse,

That of hir smiling was ful simple and coy.

Hir gretteste ooth was but by Sainte Loy!

And she was cleped Madame Eglantine.

Ful wel she soong the service divine,

Entuned in hir nose ful semely,

And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,

After the scole ofStratfordat the Bowe—

For Frenssh of Paris was to hire unknowe.

At mete wel ytaught was she withalle:

She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle,

Ne wette hir fingres in hir sauce deepe;

Wel coude she carye a morsel and wel keepe

That no drope ne fille upon hirebrest.

In curteisye was set ful muchel hir lest.

Hir over-lippe wiped she so clene

That in hir coppe ther was no ferthing seene

Of grece, whan she dronken hadde hir draughte;

Ful semely after hir mete she raughte.

And sikerly she was of greet disport,

And ful plesant, and amiable of port,

And pained hire to countrefete cheere

Of court, and to been statlich of manere,

And to been holden digne of reverence.

But, for to speken of hire conscience,

She was so charitable and so pitous

She wolde weepe if that she saw a mous

Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde.

Of smale houndes hadde she that she fedde

With rosted flessh, or milk and wastelbreed.

But sore wepte she if oon of hem were deed,

Or if men smoot it with a yerde smerte;

And al was conscience and tendre herte.

Ful semely hir wimpel pinched was,

Hir nose tretis, hir yen greye as glas,     

Hir mouth ful smal, and therto softe and reed,

But sikerly she hadde a fair forheed:

It was almost a spanne brood, I trowe,

For hardily, she was nat undergrowe.

Ful fetis was hir cloke, as I was war;

Of smal coral aboute hir arm she bar

A paire of bedes, gauded al with greene,

And theron heeng a brooch of gold ful sheene,

On which ther was first writen a crowned A,

And after, Amor Vincit Omnia.

……                        

Translation：

坎特伯雷故事集

總序

傑弗雷·喬叟

三月天旱根裂隙，

四月甘霖甜依依。

千草萬木競沐浴，

百花即開於露雨。

芬芳西風勁吹拂，

吹綠荒原與林穀；

嫩秧青；晨陽旭，

白羊星座半已去；

鳥兒歌喉美清脆，

誰願入眠誰願睡？

造物撩撥春心弦—

子民渴求朝聖緣。

香客朝拜異濱海，

雲遊遠處聖靈台。

英土八方眾戶出，

坎特伯雷迎眾徒，

朝拜扶弱救世神，

緬懷大德殉道人。

索思沃克一時間，

投宿塔巴德旅館。

翌日啟程為朝聖，

坎特伯雷去虔誠。

黃昏賓客二十九，

到此旅館宿一宿；

賓客四面不期遇，

香客聖緣而騎聚，

坎特伯雷之聖事。

客房馬廄倍舒適，

殷勤款待已至極。

不覺夕陽已西下，

侃侃娓娓道佳話，

眾人與我似一家。

相約明晨踏聖程，

且聽我把故事哼。

眼前還有些時間，

敍事之前容我談，

愚見此事也必要，

人物分別來介紹。

且說于我初印象，

屬哪位？做何行？

舉止容貌與衣著，

聽我先把騎士說。

騎士品德奇高尚，

從軍即馳於疆場，

騎士氣概相傳頌，

禮譽操行氣豪雄。

戎馬效君全心系，

踏至疆土無能比；

轉戰基督與異邦，

功勳卓著美名揚。

戰亞曆山德利亞，

普魯士功宴美嘉，

于眾族騎士淩駕；

俄羅斯拉脫維亞，

同仁無不歎羞愧。

格蘭納達城敵潰，

阿爾及西勒遠征，

貝爾馬里、阿亞

斯、薩塔利功偉，

地中海亦功磊磊。

浴血奮戰十五役，

特拉米森衛信仰，

三次點將弑敵將。

英雄美名如既往，

曾伺帕拉西亞君，

討伐突厥野蠻人：

占盡君王之榮譽。

功顯赫，不癡愚，

溫柔順從似處女。

彬彬有禮不膝屈，

一生同視不同人。

堪稱騎士美萬分。

且來道說其裝飾，

坐騎帥，衣樸實，

鎧甲底襯粗布衣，

磨損褪色多斑跡。

僕僕風塵戰場歸，

朝拜聖旅再啟隨。

騎士之子隨左右，

綠林好漢也俊秀。

發曲鬈，如燙卷；

人青健，約廿年。

身材中等不高挑，

敏捷剛健又氣豪。

阿圖瓦、皮卡第、

弗蘭德斯曾騎至。

出身好，表現佳，

恭候淑女垂愛他。

衣著俏，似草地，

風姿如花鮮豔麗。

早晨曲，晚笛樂，

終日快樂似五月。

袖闊長，袍精短，

善騎馬，英姿展。

能曲詞，才橫溢，

文武雙全少匹敵。

徹夜不眠伴激情，

侃談故事如夜鶯。

謙有禮，倍多才，

為父切肉又上菜。

勇士隨從其前後，

自願陪同來伺候；

隨從綠帽配綠衣，

孔雀箭束寒栗栗，

牢牢系在其腰間；

（箭矢修整無淩亂，

翎羽順直又順從），

強勁彎弓在手中。

面如銅，發齊短，

林中狩獵是好漢。

臂束護腕頗俊美，

盾牌寶劍此邊配，

另側短劍耀光閃，

利劍入鞘如矛尖；

聖像胸前閃光彩。

號角吊於綠肩帶，

好林倌，名不虛。

修道院長一修女，

明媚誠摯又忸怩。

誓言唯從“聖羅伊”，

“薔薇女士”為芳名。

頌歌唱詩受好評，

鼻音吟詠韻味濃。

法文流利又淙淙，

斯特拉福倫敦腔，

巴黎法文她不詳。

餐桌禮儀懂不少，

飯粒從不口中掉；

沾取醬汁手不濕，

盤中用餐很在意，

星點不會落胸襟 。

快樂謙恭又熱情。

朱唇擦拭淨又純，

口杯不見點點葷；

酒畢起身步緩緩，

取食典雅而款款。

性格活潑樂呵呵，

友善可愛也溫和。

力造謙和及威嚴，

風度翩翩舉止端，

榮獲美名和敬奉。

心地善良人人敬。

寬厚仁慈又憐憫，

鼠落陷阱也傷心，

流血死亡尤其悲。

其家小狗親自喂，

牛奶烤肉白麵包。

若有以棒把狗敲，

或是愛犬若離世，

必然心碎傷不止。

頭巾褶飾很得體，

鼻俏眼藍似玻璃。

櫻桃小口殷紅柔，

額眉清秀無紋皺，

天庭飽滿貴人相；

窈窕恰好無需妝。

披風簡潔但雅致，

珊瑚念珠飾手臂，

珠珠華麗綠瑩瑩；

金質飾針亮晶晶，

“A”字王冕鏤其上，

“愛無不勝”于下方。

……        

                               （張廣奎 譯）