And then came Covetise; can I him no descrive,
So hungerly and hollow, so sternëly he looked,
He was bittle-browed and baberlipped also;
With two bleared eyen as a blindë hag,
And as a leathern pursë lolled his cheekës,
Well sider than his chin they shivered for cold:
And as a bondman of his bacon his beard was bidrauled,
With a hood on his head, and a lousy hat above.
And in a tawny tabard,[1] of twelve winter age,
Allë torn and baudy, and full of lice creeping;
But that if a louse could have leapen the better,
She had not walked on the welt, so was it threadbare.
'I have been Covetise,' quoth this caitiff,
'For sometime I served Symmë at style,
And was his prentice plight, his profit to wait.
First I learned to lie, a leef other twain
Wickedly to weigh, was my first lesson:
To Wye and to Winchester I went to the fair
With many manner merchandise, as my master me hight.--
Then drave I me among drapers my donet[2] to learn.
To draw the lyfer along, the longer it seemed
Among the rich rays,' &c.
[1] 'Tabard:' a coat.
[2] 'Donet:' lesson.