Later, May leads January to the pear tree and, pretending she has an insatiable lust for a pear, tells her husband to bend over and let her stand on his back. She “went up into the tree, and Damian / Pulled up her smock at once and in he thrust” (“Damian / Gan pullen up the smok, an in he throng”). At this moment, while the couple isare in amorous bliss, January’s sight is miraculously restored. He looks up and sees the young couple “swyving” (having sex), and he bellows with rage, “He swyved thee, I saugh it with myne yen” (“He screwed you, I saw it with my own eyes”). Thanks to Proserpina, however, May gives a credible excuse: January’s sight is faulty — the same as awakening from a deep sleep when the eyes are not yet accustomed to the bright light and seeing strange things dimly. She then jumps down from the tree, and January clasps her in a fond embrace.
When the Merchant ends his tale, the Host says he wants to be preserved from women like May, but his wife does have a babbling, shrewish tongue and many more vices. He bitterly regrets that he is tied to her for life but hopes no one will mention it because women have ways of finding out.
