But at the same time he realises that poverty has its rights. The earlier version of the Prologue to the _Legend of Good Women_ contains much excellent advice to King Richard:--
For he that king or lord is naturel, Him oghte nat be tiraunt or cruel, As is a fermour,[201] to doon the harm he can. He moste thinke hit is his lige man, And that him oweth, of verray duetee Shewen his peple pleyn benignitie And wel to here hir excusatiouns, And hir compleyntes and peticiouns....
The _Lenvoy_ which ends the balade of _Lak of Stedfastnesse_ holds up a noble ideal of kingship:--
O prince, desyre to be honourable, Cherish thy folk and hate extorcioun! Suffre no thing, that may be reprevable To thyn estat, doon in thy regioun. Shew forth thy swerd of castigacioun, Dred God, do law, love trouthe and worthinesse, And wed thy folk agein to stedfastnesse.
And in the _Persones Tale_ the duties of the rich towards the poor are set forth in considerable detail. Superfluity of clothing and absurdly slashed and ornamented garments are to be avoided because "the more that clooth is wasted, the more it costeth to the peple for the scantnesse; and forther-over, if so be that they wolde yeven such pounsoned and dagged[202] clothing to the povre folk, it is nat convenient to were for hir estaat, ne suffisant to bete hir necessitee, to kepe hem fro the distemperance of the firmament." Lords are bidden to take no pride in their position, and do no wrong to those dependent on them: "I rede thee, certes, that thou, lord, werke in swiche wyse with thy cherles, that they rather love thee than drede. I woot wel ther is degree above degree, as reson is; and skile it is that men do hir devoir ther-as is due; but certes, extorciouns and despit of youre underlinges is dampnable." Chaucer's inborn sense of justice will not allow him to condone oppression, and his speculative and inquiring mind is fully conscious of the artificiality of rank. From the Parson we might expect a homily on the fact that "we ben alle of o fader and of o moder; and alle we been of o nature roten and corrupt, both riche and povre," but it is more surprising to find the Wife of Bath holding forth in the same strain. Her tale describes the bitter feeling of Florent when he finds himself bound to a wife old, ugly, and of base degree. The bride answers with a disquisition on true nobility:--