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Mum and the Sothsegger is an anonymous fifteenth century alliterative English poem, written during the "Alliterative Revival." It is ostensibly an example of medieval debate poetry between the principles of the oppressive figure of ''Mum'' ("Silence", as in "to keep mum") and the unruly, wild ''Sothsegger'' ("Truth-Speaker", cognate with the modern word "soothsayer"). ==Content== Beneath the surface of the debate form, the content is primarily that of a medieval satire, meditating on statecraft and attacking state institutions that oppress and exploit the poor. Indeed, this attack on the rich and defence of the poor is a theme found throughout the poem, a typical line being: :"''Look ye reeche not of the riche and rewe on the poure / That for faute of your fees fallen in thaire pleyntes''" (ll. 19-20).〔''Richard the Redeless and Mum and the Sothsegger'', ed. James M. Dean, (Kalamazoo: TEAMS, 2000), p.83.〕 The narrator travels to individual groups to debate the true nature of "Mum" and the "Sothsegger," but instead finds only ignorance (a side-effect of "Mum's" qualities), and discovers that "Mum's" pervasive influence lies at the heart of corruption within the King's advisers, nobles, scholars (clerks), priests, archbishops, friars, mayors, and city councillors. In its latter stages the poem also includes an extended dream vision (ll. 871-1287), where the idealised Sothsegger king is presented as a beekeeper, exterminating unproductive drones who are intent on stealing the honey created by the other worker bees. This leads the narrator to then debate on medieval dream theory and the value of dreams. The poem then ends with the narrator consulting a variety of texts and stories, including a collection of "pryvé poyse" (l. 1344) detailing political abuses, a story of Genghis Khan (from the ''Travels'' of John Mandeville), a "raggeman rolle" (l. 1565) supposedly composed by The Devil, and a prophecy of Merlin. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mum and the Sothsegger」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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