fe.[88]
The tanner would fain have been away,
For he weened he had been a thief.

Who art thou, he said, thou fine fellow,
Of thee I am in great fear,
For the clothes thou wearest upon thy back,
Might beseem a lord to wear.

I never stole them, quoth our king,
I tell you, sir, by the rood,
Then thou playest, as many an unthrift doth
And standest in midst of thy good.[89]

What tidings hear you, said the king,
As you ride far and near?
I hear no tidings, sir, by the mass,
But that cow-hides are dear.

Cow-hides! cow-hides! what things are those?
I marvel what they be!
What art thou a fool? the tanner replied;
I carry one under me.

What craftsman art thou? said the king,
I pray thee tell me true.
I am a barker,[90] sir, by my trade;
Now tell me what art thou?

I am a poor courtier, sir, quoth he,
That am forth of service worn;
And fain I would thy prentice be,
Thy cunning for to learn.

Marry heaven forfend, the tanner replied,
That thou my prentice were:
Thou wouldst spend more good than I should win
By forty shilling a year.

Yet one thing would I, said our king,
If thou wilt not seem strange:
Though my horse be better than thy mare,
Yet with thee I fain would change.

Why if with me thou fain wilt change,
As change full well may we,
By the faith of my body, thou proud fellow,
I will have some boot of thee.

That were against reason, said the king,
I swear, so mote I thee:[91]
My horse is better than thy mare,
And that thou well mayst see.

Yea, sir, but Brock is gentle and mild,
And softly she will fare:
Thy horse is unruly and wild, I wiss;
Aye skipping here and there.

What boot wilt thou have? our king replied,
Now tell me in this stound.
No pence, nor half-pence, by my faith,
But a noble in gold so round.

Here's twenty groats of white money,
Sith thou will have it of me.
I would have sworn now, quoth the tanner,
Thou hadst not had one penny.

But since we two have made a change,
A change we must abide,
Although thou hast gotten Brock my mare,
Thou gettest not my cow-hide.

I will not have it, said the king,
I swear, so mote I thee;
Thy foul cow-hide I would not bear,
If