Beranger of the Long Arse - Guerin

I have told so many tales and fabliaux
Which I have found, old and new,
That I have not finished for the past two years;
By the faith that I owe Saint John
I don't believe that I will compose another,
Except this -- of Bèrenger of the Long Arse.
You have never heard it before,
And, upon my soul, I shall tell it now;
I don't intend to be slow nor long.
Hear what Guèrin would relate
Of what happened in Lombardy
(Where people are not very brave),
Of a knight who had taken as a wife,
As I have heard, a noble lady,
Daughter of a rich nobleman,
Whereas he was the son of a churl,
Of a rich and prosperous usurer
Who had plenty of wine and grain;
Sheep and cattle and coins
He had by bushels and barrels;
And the nobleman owed him
So much that he could not pay,
And so he gave his daughter to the usurer's son.
Thus good heritage is abased,
And noblemen and counts
All decline and come to shame.
Those who marry beneath themselves for money
Ought to be ashamed of it,
And great harm they have from it.
Evil and lowborn knights
And cowards issue from such folk,
Who covet gold and silver
More than doing chivalrous deeds.
Thus does nobility perish.

( But to return to that which I began... )