Note 237:A — Chapter VII
Reading edition
"By thys tale ye may se that the olde prouerbe ys trew that yt is as gret pyte to se a woman wepe as a gose to go barefoote."—"Mery Tayls," c. 1525. Puttenham, in "The Arte of English Poesie," 1589, gives a rather different rendering, a satire on feminine gush and misplaced sympathy, "By the common prouerbe a woman will weepe for pitie to see a gosling goe barefoote."