A Modern Translation
Adam my scribe, if it should ever happen that you write my Boece* or Troilus* in some new way, may you have scales and scabs under your long locks, unless you copy in true fashion in accord with my lines. So often I must revise your work and correct it and erase it and scrape it; and all is on account of your negligence and haste.
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1 Boece. Chaucer’s translation of The Consolation of Philosophy by the late Roman philosopher Boethius (Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius; c. 480 – 524 AD).
2 Troilus. Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, his epic tale of two star-crossed Trojan lovers in the age of the Trojan War.
Translated and Edited by Gerard NeCastro
© Copyright, 2007, All Rights Reserved
Citation. Chaucer, Geoffrey. Chaucer’s Words unto Adam, His Own Scribe. NeCastro, Gerard, ed. and trans. eChaucer: https://www.echaucer.com. [Site Visit Date.]
