This freshë May, when she these wordës heard, Benignëly to January answér’d; But first and forward she began to weep: “I have,” quoth she, “a soulë for to keep As well as ye, and also mine honoúr, And of my wifehood thilkë tender flow’r Which that I have assured in your hond, When that the priest to you my body bond: Wherefore I will answer in this mannére, With leave of you mine owen lord so dear. I pray to God, that never dawn the day That I ne sterve, 2957 as foul as woman may, If e’er I do unto my kin that shame, Or ellës I impairë so my name, That I be false; and if I do that lack, Do 2958 strippë me, and put me in a sack, And in the nextë river do 2959 me drench: 2960