Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

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284 MIXSTllELSY OF
" come as fast as the wyntle, or faster.'—
' Hast thou than
" winges ?' quod the knyght. ' Nay, truely,' quotl he. ' How
" canst thou than flye so fast ?' quod the knyght. ' Ye have
" nothing to do to knowe that/ quod Orthone. ' No ?' quod
" the knyght, ' I would gladly se thee, to know what forme
" thou art of.' ' Well,' quod Orthone, ye have nothing to do
" to knowe : it sufficeth you to here me, and to shewe you ti-
*' dynges.' ' In faythe,' quod the knyght, ' I wolde love thee
" moche better an I rayght se thee ones.'—
' Well,' quod Or-
" thone, 'sir, sithe you have sogret desyre to se me, the first
" thynge that ye se to-morrowe, when ye ryse out of your
" bedde, the same shaU be I.'—' That is sufficient,' quod the
" lorde. ' Go thy way; I gyve thee leave to departe for this
" nyght.' And the next mornynge the lord rose, and the ladye
" his wyfe was so afrayd, that she durst not ryse, but fayned
" herself sicke, and sayd she wolde not ryse. Her husband
" wolde have had her to have rysen.
' Sir,' quod she, ' than
" I shall se Orthone, and I wolde not se him by my gode
" wille.'— 'Well,' quod the knyght, ' I wolde gladly se hym.'
" And so he arose, layre and easily, out of his bedde, and sat
" down on his bedde-syde, wenying to have seue Orthone in
" his own proper fonn ; but he sawe nothynge wherbye he
" myghte saye, ' Lo, yonder is Orthone.' So that day past, and
" the next night came, and when the knyght was in his bedde,
" Orthone came, and began to speke, as he was accustomed.
" ' Go thy waye,' quod the knyght, ' thou arte but a Iyer ; thou
" promysest that I shuld have sene the, and it was not so.'
" ' No ?' quod he, ' and I shewed myself to the.'—' That is not
" so,' quod the lord. / Why,' quod Orthone, ' whan ye rose out
" of your bedde, saw ye nothynge ?' Than the Lorde studyed
" a lytell, and advysed himself well. ' Yes, truely,' quod the
" knyght, ' now I remember me, as I sate on my bedde-syde,
" thynking on thee, I sawe two strawes upon the pavement,
" tumblynge one upon another.'—' That same was I,' quod Or-
" thonc, 'into that fourme I dydputtemyself as than.'— 'Tliat
" is not enough to me,' quod the lord ; 'I pray thee puttc thy-
" selfe into some other fourme, that I may better se and knowe
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