1342-1400
GEOFFREY CHAUCER, The Merchant’s Tale, 2225-2233
Testo e traduzione tratta da:
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/mert-par.htm
[…]
And so bifel, that brighte morwe-tyde
And it so befell, that bright morning-tide
That in that gardyn, in the ferther syde,
That in that garden, in the further side,
Pluto, that is kyng of Fayerye,
Pluto, that is king of Fairyland,
And many a lady in his compaignye,
And many a lady in his company,
Folwynge his wyf, the queene Proserpyna,
Following his wife, the queen Proserpine,
Which that he ravysshed out of [Ethna]
Whom he kidnapped out of Etna
Whil that she gadered floures in the mede –
While she gathered flowers in the mead –
In Claudyan ye may the stories rede,
In Claudian you can read the stories,
How in his grisely carte he hire fette –
How in his grisly chariot he fetched her –
[…]