Those callow knyghtes went running up and down
With "Look out! Halt! Halt! here! 'Ware the rear!
Go whistle, you, and I will watch him here!"
But briefly, it wasn't until night
They could not, though they put forth all their might,
That horse to catch, he always ran so fast,
Till in a ditch they trapped him at the last.

Weary and wet, as beast is in the rain,
Came John and with him Alain.
"Alas," said John, "the day that I was born!
Now are we bound toward mockery and scorn.
Our gere is stolen, folk will call us fools,
The fellawes at the schools,
And specially this Simpkin. What a day!"
Thus John complained as he went on his way
Toward the Whit House, with the donkey once more bound.
Simpkin sitting by the fire they found,
For it was night, and farther could they go not;
But, for the love of God, they him besought
For shelter and for supper, for their penny.

       Simpkin said to them: "If there be any,
Such as it is, that you shall have your part.
My house is small, but you have learned your art;
You can, by metaphysics, make a place
In twenty feet of space.
Let us see now if this place will suffice,
Or make more room by some device."