For myself, conversation with the shepherd was a great pleasure, and the sight of his well-tended flock was both a boon and a refreshment. To make the acquaintance of such a man is a privilege, because through all his intercourse there gleams, not merely shrewdness and mother-wit, but honesty, tolerance, and consideration for others. After chatting with my shepherd friend, certain lines from the Romaunt of the Rose, learnt in the days long ago when memorizing gave no trouble, spin through the brain with a persistence which will not be denied. The passage expresses one’s feelings so exactly that I give it entire:
“But whoso is vertuous,
And in his port nought outrageous,
Whan sic oon thou seest thee biforn,
Though he be not gentil born,
Thou mayst wel seyn, this is a soth,
That he is gentil, because he doth
As longeth to a gentilman.”