TR2.1226 Shĕ shétte ĭt, ánd tŏ Pándăre ín găn góon,
TR2.1227 Thĕr ás hĕ sát ănd lóked ĭntó thĕ strétĕ,
TR2.1228 Ănd dówn shĕ sétte hĭre bý hy̆m ón ă stóon
TR2.1229 Ŏf jáspre, ŭpón ă quýsshy̆n góld-y̆bétĕ,
TR2.1230 Ănd séyde, “Ăs wísly̆ hélp mĕ Gód thĕ grétĕ,
TR2.1231 Ĭ néverĕ dídĕ thíng wĭth mórĕ péynĕ
TR2.1232 Thăn wrítĕn thís, tŏ whích yĕ mé cŏnstréynĕ,”

Line Information

• Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
• English translations (Windeatt: 1998): She shut it, and went in to Pandarus, where he sat looking into the street, and she sat down beside him upon a gold-embroidered cushion on a stone seat made of jasper, and said: ‘May the great God surely help me, I never did anything with more difficult than write this, which you forced me to,’
• Japanese translations (Sasamoto: 2012): 彼女は手紙を閉じ、パンダルスのところへ行くと、パンダルスは座って通りを見つめていた。彼女は彼の傍らにある碧玉の石の椅子の金糸で刺繍されたクッションの上に腰掛けて、言った。「偉大なる神様に誓って、叔父様がわたしに無理やりさせた、この手紙を書くこと以上に苦しい日に遭ったことは、わたし、今までありませんでしたわ。」
• Chinese translations (Fang: 1956): 她把信折起走过来，彭大瑞正在看街，她挨近坐在铺着锦绣垫子的碧石凳上，说道，“上天助我，任何事都没有写这封信难，这是你要我做的，”一面把信交给他。

Word Information

• Etymology: gold + bete
• Addresser: Narrative
• Addressee: N/A
• Adjectives with which juxtaposed: N/A
• Counterpart in its source (Fil): N/A
• Noun(s) (NPs) modified: pillow (quysshyn: cushion)
• Attributive/ Predicative: predicative

Information in Previous Studies

• OED: (Quoted) † gold-beat adj. Obsolete decorated or adorned with beaten gold; = gold-beaten adj. (s.v. gold, n.1 and adj.)
• MED: (Quoted) 3. (e) ~ beten, ornamented with gold; of armor, a chariot, sculpture:?inlaid with gold, ?gilded; of silk: embroidered or interwoven with gold thread; of a cushion:?embroidered with gold thread, ?covered with cloth of gold; (s.v. gōld, n.)

• Commented in other previous works:
• Windeatt (2003: 101): gold-ybete: embroidered with gold
• Fisher (1989: 438): quysshon gold-ybete: cushion gold-embroidered
• Benson (1987: 506): gold-ybete: embroidered with gold
• Davis et al. (1979): Not quoted
• Donaldson (1975: 792): gold-ybete: gold-embroidered
• Baugh (1963: 117): gold-ybete: embroidered or interwoven with gold threads

Possible Definitions

gold-embroidered

Comments from the Editor

With the exception of the first line, this stanza is not found in Fil. By describing the cushion, Chaucer notes that Criseyde’s palace is well-decorated.