Glosses for quiz #3 of the Shipman's Tale (Lines VII.304-434)
Compare your translations with the glossed text:
306 He let his lyf, and there I lete hym dwelle.
let his lyf: leads (let = ledeth) his life, conducts himself
309 With crowne and berd al fressh and newe yshave.
crowne: head
316 Have hire in his armes bolt upright;
bolt upright: flat on one's back
326 To Seint-Denys he gan for to repaire,
repaire: go, return
328 And telleth hire that chaffare is so deere
chaffare: merchandise
329 That nedes moste he make a chevyssaunce,
chevyssaunce: loan
330 For he was bounden in a reconyssaunce
reconyssaunce: formal pledge
331 To paye twenty thousand sheeld anon.
sheeld: unit ofexchange
334 A certeyn frankes; and somme with him he ladde.
a certeyn: a certain number of
336 For greet chiertee and greet affeccioun,
chiertee: fondness
341 As freendes doon whan they been met yfeere.
yfeere: together
343 And he hym tolde agayn, ful specially,
ful specially: in great detail
344 How he hadde wel yboght and graciously,
graciously: successfully
350 That ye in heele ar comen hom agayn.
beele: good health
354 Lente me gold; and as I kan and may,
kan and may: know how and can
359 By certeyn tokenes that I kan hire telle.
tokenes: confirmatory details, proofs
366 Creanced hath, and payd eek in Parys
creaunced: obtained credit
367 To certeyn Lumbardes, redy in hir hond,
Lumbardes: Lombard bankers redy in hir hond: promptly and in cash
369 And hoom he gooth, murie as a papejay,
papejay: parrot
371 That nedes moste he wynne in that viage
viage: undertaking
372 A thousand frankes aboven al his costage.
aboven: in addition to costage: expense
379 And up he gooth and maketh it ful tough.
maketh it ful tough: is unrelenting in his demands
381 And wantownly agayn with hym she pleyde
wantownly agayn: wantonly in return
386 That ye han maad a manere straungenesse
straungenesse: estrangement
390 By redy token; and heeld hym yvele apayed,
By redy token: in cash (by clear evidence) heeld hym yvele repayed: he considered himself ill-used
405 What! Yvel thedam on his monkes snowte!
yvel thedam: bad luck
408 To doon therwith myn honour and my prow,
prow: profit, benefit
409 For cosynage, and eek for beele cheere
cosynage: kinship beele cheere: good cheer, hospitality
411 But sith I se I stonde in this disjoynt,
disjoynt: difficulty
413 Ye han mo slakkere dettours than am I!
slakkere: slower (to repay) dettours: debtors
416 I am youre wyf; score it upon my taille,
score it upon my taille: mark it on my tally, charge it to my account; see n.
423 Ye shal my joly body have to wedde;
to wedde: as a pledge
431 But, by thy lyf, ne be namoore so large.
large: free-spending
434 Taillynge ynough unto oure lyves ende. Amen
taillynge: credit
How did you do? It is not necessary to get every line right to do well; some of the words in any passage from Chaucer are likely to be quite rare even in his own usage. Likewise, you need not supply exactly the same translation as that in the gloss; a number of different words can be used to translate almost any one of these glosses. If in doubt consult the glossary in The Canterbury Tales Complete and look at the notes on pages 435-37.
In you did well (got the great majority right), congratulations! If not, you should go back and read carefully through this part of the Shipman's Tale, paying close attention to meaning and availing yourself of the page glosses, the explanatory notes, and the glossary.