Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/464

And yet he loveth none at all,
But where as ever his chanc-e fall.
⁠And nath-e-less to say a sooth
The cause why that he so doth,
Is for to steal a heart or two,
Out of the church ere that he go.
And as I said it here above,
All is that sacrilege of love,
For well may be that he stealeth away.
That he never after yield may^[1].
⁠"Tell me for this, my son, anon,
Hast thou done sacrilege, or none^[2],
As I have said in this mannèr?"
⁠"My father, as of this matter,
I will you tellen readily
What I have done; but tru-e-ly
I may excus-e mine intent
That I never yet to church went
In such mannér as ye me shrive^[3],
For no woman that is alive.
The cause why I have it laft^[4],
May be, for^[5] I unto that craft,
Am nothing able for to steal,
Though there be women not so fele^[6].

1. Restore again.
2. Not.
3. Confess to me.
4. Left.
5. Because.
6. Never so many.