firstë shrew; “And I shall tell to thee in wordës few What we shall do, and bring it well about.” “I grantë,” quoth the other, “out of doubt, That by my truth I will thee not bewray.” “Now,” quoth the first, “thou know’st well we be tway, And two of us shall stronger be than one. Look, when that he is set, thou right anon Arise, as though thou wouldest with him play; And I shall rive him through the sidës tway, While that thou strugglest with him as in game; And with thy dagger look thou do the same. And then shall all this gold departed be, My dearë friend, betwixtë thee and me: Then may we both our lustës all fulfil, And play at dice right at our owen will.” And thus accorded be these shrewës tway To slay the third, as ye have heard me say.
The youngest, which that wentë to the town, Full oft in heart he rolled up and down The beauty of these florins new and bright. “O Lord!” quoth he, “if so were that I might Have all this treasure to myself alone, There is no man that lives under the throne Of God, that shouldë have so merry as I.” And at the last the fiend our enemy Put in his thought, that he should poison buy, With which he mightë slay his fellows twy. For why, the fiend found him in such livíng, That he had