Page:Tales from Chaucer.djvu/106

 which he would upon occasion artfully lend to his lord in his necessities, and thus confer an easy obligation out of his own superfluity. In his youth he had learned a handicraft, and was a good carpenter and wheelwright. Our Reeve rode a well-conditioned dapple-grey stallion, that he used to call Scot. He wore a long surtout of light blue, and a rusty sword at his side. I heard that the town of Baldswell in Norfolk was his birthplace. His dress was tucked up all round like a friar's, and he always kept in the rear of our company.

There was a with us, whose face was like one of the fiery cherubim; for it was studded with red hot carbuncles. He had small puckered eyes, scurfy brows, and a black scanty beard. The children were frightened at the sight of him. No lotion or ointment could rid his cheeks of those filthy knobs and excrescences. His favourite food and beverage were garlic, leeks, and onions, and the strongest bodied red wine: then would he shout and rave like a madman, speaking nothing but Latin—he had caught up a few terms out of some law decree; and no wonder, for he heard