The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer by Geoffrey Chaucer

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STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER cohesive, even developmental, pattern in Chaucer's works. Like the Rob­ ertsonian who everywhere finds Christian charity, she finds dark secrets everywhere hidden. Chance's erudition and impressive scholarship are clearly apparent in this work (103 pages of notes and reference material) and they help her to raise some intriguing possibilities, but her arguments do not demonstrate that Chaucer's command of the mythographers was as deep as hers or that his secrets were as deep as the ones she finds. MARK ALLEN University of Texas at San Antonio GEOFFREY CHAUCER. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Trans. Ronald L. Ecker and Eugene J. Crook. Palatka, Fla.: Hodge and Brad­ dock, 1993. Pp. x, 578. $17.95 paper. In the world of publishing, I believe, a law states that the value of the interior of a book is inversely proportional to the claims on the exterior. This book makes a lot of claims on the cover. The front cover of this book is proudly emblazoned with the phrase "The first complete new translation in over half a century," and the back cover repeats that information, adding that this new translation includes a faithful rendering" of Middle English original prose and poetry into Modern English, "line numbers found in Robinson" and other editions of the original text, and "a glossary of people, places, and terms." Between the covers, however, the book does not quite deliver so much. It is a translation, and it does have a glossary and line numbers. But the quality is quite another matter. Let me just say as briefly as possible, few Chaucerians are going to be at all interested in this book. First of all, the supporting apparatus is very weak; it is brief and, at times, incorrect. Aside from a table of contents and a two-page preface, which is mostly an introduction to the translators, the glossary is really the only apparatus, and it is not much more helpful than a dictionary. Throughout its five pages, there are disbursed 121 entries that are brief glosses of foreign language terms and phrases and proper nouns, some of which are accurate enough but not helpful for interpretation. For "Inn of Court," the gloss is "a law school." This seems a bit incomplete. For "Zeph­ yrus," likewise, "Greek god of the west wind"; this is accurate but does not really help much for understanding the connection to fertility in the open198 REVIEWS ing lines of The General Prologue. Finally, the gloss for Saint Augustine, "Christian philosopher (354-430 BC)," is a howler-something we expect to find in humorous collections of student exam answers. As to the translation, most of it is serviceable enough. There is a clarity that shapes the lines, rough hewn though they be. For a brief sample, here are the opening lines: When April's gentle rains have pierced the drought Of March right to the root, and bathed each sprout Through every vein with liquid of such power It brings for the engendering of the flower. (lines 1-4) While "gentle rains" and "engendering of the flower" may be as good as one can get, must we endure "sprout"? There is something in me that just does not want any sprouts with my Chaucer. Also, the meter makes for a bit of a bumpy ride: The droughte of March hath perced to the roote Of March right to the root, and bathed each sprout. The translation goes pretty much this way throughout the entire book. Some of the rhymes are impressive, catchy even, and some are silly. Here are a few from The Pardoner's Tale: For my concern is only with collection And not with any sin that needs correction. "For which the end is death. Their god's the belly." 0 gut, 0 bag, 0 belly foul and smelly. (lines 403-4, 533-34) The first couplet seems to me to capture the essence of the line well enough, although Chaucer's verb "to winne" instead of collection resonates much more ironically due to the context of the Pardoner's role in life and on the pilgrimage, but collection is not bad for a...