Introduction to the Man of Law: The Host, looking at the sun's position, says it's ten in the morning. He is worried the pilgrims are losing time, but says to continue the game of story-telling. The Host asks the Man of Law to tell a story. The Man of Law says that he knows no adequate tale that Chaucer (the narrator) has not already told. The Man of Law goes on to list Chaucer's works, and praises his writing. The Man of Law decides to tell a story in verse.
Man of Law's Tale: He begins to tell a romance story about a Christian princess named Custance who is betrothed to the Syrian Sultan on the condition that he convert to Christianity. The Sultan's mother comes up with a plan to prevent this and has Custance taken away to float at sea. Her journey continues after she is shipwrecked on the Northumberland coast. This is a pagan country where the King, Alla, eventually turned to Christianity. Alla's mother intercepts and forges a letter between the couple, which results in Custance being exiled. Custance must go to sea again and is found by a Senator of Rome. The Senator takes Custance, along with the baby she has had, back to Italy, where she works as a household servant. King Alla, who is distraught by Custance's departure, goes to Rome, and finds Custance. In the end, they return to his land. Alla dies a year later, and the baby boy is the new king.
The Wife of Bath's Prologue: The Wife of Bath proposes to speak of marriage, saying that she is an expert on this subject because she's been married five times. Her speech turns into a defense of the married lifestyle. It takes the Pardoner to interrupt to get the Wife of Bath back to her story. She talks about how she controlled her last five husbands. She got everything she wanted from them by accusing them of cheating, misogyny, and treating her poorly. She ends her prologue by talking about her last two marriages. Her fourth husband cheated on her, and she made him think she was cheating on him. Her fifth husband was the one she liked the most. She had already made him promise to marry her before her fourth husband was even dead. When they were married, the Wife of Bath became angry with her fifth husband for reading. She threw some of his pages into the fire and then he hit her. She hit him back, giving her a leg up in the relationship. The Friar interrupts saying she is talking too much. The Summoner, who doesn't like the Friar, tells him to stop being rude. They both say they will tell tales that insults one another's careers when it's their turn. The Host says be quiet, it's the Wife's turn to tell her story.
The Wife of Bath's Tale: In the time of King Arthur, a young knight rapes a maiden he sees walking from the river. For his offense, Queen Guinevere (Author's wife) and her ladies say that his punishment is to find out within one year what women desire most, or else he'll be decapitated. The knight leaves for his quest to find the answer, but he can't find two women who agree on what they most desire. After a year, the knight returns to the court, not knowing the answer to the question. On the way, he comes across a ring of 24 fairy ladies dancing. The fairies disappear and are replaced by an old lady. The lady tells the knight that she will answer his question if he gives her what she desires most. The knight, obviously, agrees. The lady tells the knight what women desire most: to control their husbands and lovers. The queen and all the ladies say this is correct. The old lady now says she wants to marry the knight. The knight is none too happy about this because the lady is old and ugly, but the queen says he must. They get married, but the knight doesn't want to consummate their marriage. The woman asks what's wrong, and he replies that she's so old, ugly, and of low-class that he doesn't want her. The old lady then says that he has two choices: he can either have her old and ugly, but good and faithful, or he can have her young and beautiful, but with no guarantee of other good qualities. He tells her to make the choice. The old lady sees that he has let her take control, so she tells him the she will be young and beautiful, as well as faithful and good. They live happily ever after. The Wife of Bath concludes her story with a curse on husbands who won't be controlled by their wives.
The Friar's Prologue: The narrator tells us that the Friar is always glaring at the Summoner. The Friar tells the Wife of Bath that she has told a great tale, and commends her for talking about subjects that are debated in Universities. The Friar says he's going to tell a tale about a summoner. The Friar depicts a summoner as someone who mills around, calling people before the court for adultery, and eventually gets beaten in every town. The Hose tells the Friar that a man of his social class should be polite. The Friar begins to tell his tale, leaving the Summoner alone. The Summoner tells the Host that the Friar can say whatever he wants because when it's his turn to tell the tale, he will have a better story than the Friar. Speaking facetiously, the Summoner says he will tell a story that exalts the Friar. The Host calls for peace, and asks the Friar to start his tale.
The Friar's Tale: The Friar tells a story about an archdeacon who went against the Church's laws against sex, lustfulness, and witchcraft. The archdeacon had a summoner who was talented at discovering lechers (someone who is lascivious), even though he wasn't very moral. Friars are out of the jurisdiction of the summoners, and the Summoner disagrees with the Friar. The Host lets the Friar continue, who starts to insult summoners again. The summoner in the Friar's tale would only summon those who had enough money to pay the fee to the church. The summoner would take half of what the person paid. He was a thief and enlisted the help of prostitutes who would tell the summoner their customers to keep themselves safe, and they offered sexual services. One day, the summoner was traveling to summon an old widow, he met a yeoman on the way, dressed in a green jacket. The yeoman was polite to the summoner. The two travelled together, and the summoner asked the yeoman where he lived, planning to steal his gold and silver. The summer asked the yeoman how he makes money, and the yeoman confessed to being a thief; the summoner says he does the same thing. The two chat about their evilness, then the yeoman says he's from hell (i.e. the devil). The summoner asks the yeoman why he's on earth, and he replies that he comes to earth whenever he wants, and that sometimes devils are used by God. The devil says that the summoner will meet him again one day and have better evidence of hell than Dante or Virgil (allusion!). The summoner says they should travel on their way together and help one another. The summoner says they should visit the widow he was supposed to go to. On their arrival, the summoner says that she must appear before the archdeacon on the penalty of excommunication, but she claims she is sick and can't travel. She asks if she can pay the summoner to represent her to the archdeacon. He says he'll do it, but for a price. The price is too high for the widow because she feels she hasn't done anything wrong. The summoner demands her new pan, saying that he paid her fine for making her husband a cuckold (someone who has been cheated on by his/her spouse, usually men cheated on by their wives). She yells at the summoner, saying that she gives his body to the devil. The devil hears this and takes him to hell, where, the Friar says, the summoner belongs.
The Summoner's Prologue: As you might imagine, the Summoner is none too happy hearing the Friar's tale. He tells everyone that he has one desire: to tell his story. The Summoner says that friars and devils are never apart. The Summoner tells a story-within-a-story about a friar. The story starts with a friar who has a dream that an angel guides him through hell. The friar notices that there are no friars in hell. He asks the angel why. The angel says there are actually millions of friars in hell, and takes him to Satan. This part is gross, so be prepared. The angel asks Satan to life his tail, and in his anus, there are friars, swarming like bees. The friar wakes up with fear. The Summoner ends his mini-story and begins his actual one.
The Summoner's Tale: A friar goes to preach and ask for money in a place called Holderness. In his sermons, he beseeches for money for the church. The Friar interrupts, calling the Summoner a liar, but the Host tells everyone to be quiet and for the Summoner to continue. This friar goes from house to house, until he came to the household of Thomas, a townsman who usually gave money to the friar, but he was sick. The friar tells Thomas of his sermon, saying how he glossed the Bible, and demanded Thomas's wife to make him a meal. She tells the friar their child died a little over two weeks ago. The friar says the child died and entered Heaven. He says that fellow friars had seen the same thing. The friar says that among the entire clergy, friars are closest to God. He tells Thomas he remains sick because he doesn't give enough to the Church. Thomas mentions that he actually has paid a lot of money to various friars. The friar is perturbed that Thomas is giving money to other friars, too. He proceeds to lecture Thomas. Thomas gets annoyed by the hypocrisy of the friar when the friar asks for money to build a cloister. He tells the friar he has a gift for him but he is sitting on it, and that the friar must promise to split it equally between the friars. The friar agrees and gropes behind Thomas's back to find the gift, but Thomas farts. The friar gets angry. He promises to repay Thomas for this, but the servants push the friar out of the house. Enthralled, the friar finds the lord of the village and tells him of the incident, wondering how he's supposed to divide a fart amongst friars. The lord's squire devises a plan so all the friars can smell a fart. And, thankfully, that's the end.
The Clerk's Prologue: The Host says that the Clerk has been very quiet. He tells the Clerk to be happier, and tell them a cheerful tale, something about adventures. The Clerk should speak in layman's terms so the entire group can understand. The Clerk says that he will tell a tale that he learned from a clerk in Padua called Francis Petrarch. The Clerk tells the group that Petrarch wrote wonderful poetry about Italy, but he died too early. He begins his tale.
The Clerk's Tale: The tale is about a marquis of Saluzzo in Piedmont in Italy named Walter. Walter is a bachelor, who is asked by his people to marry so he can have an heir. He decides he will marry a peasant named Griselda. Griselda is poor. She has had a life of manual labor, and promises to honor Walter's wishes in all things. Griselda and Walter have a daughter, and Walter plans to test Griselda's loyalty. He has an officer take the baby, pretending it will be killed, but he actually takes it to Bologna. Griselda, having promised Walter to always obey him, only asks that the baby be buried properly. When Griselda has a son, Walter does the same thing. Finally, he has one last test. He has an annulment forged so he can leave Griselda. He tells her he plans to remarry. As part of the rouse, he has Griselda prepare the wedding for his new wife. Meanwhile, he has brought the children back. He tells Griselda of the tests, and introduces her children to her. They live happily ever after.
The Merchant's Prologue: The Merchant says that everyone who has a wife, endures a lot of crying and sadness. The Merchant says his wife could outmatch Satan if she were married to him. The Clerk's story about Griselda makes him think about the difference between Griselda and his own wife. He says that if he could do it over, he wouldn't marry. The Host says that he has been married for only two months. The Merchant says that he's about to tell a really sad story about how terrible his wife is.
The Merchant's Tale: Januarie, an old knight, decides that he wants to marry, mostly because he can have sex whenever he wants and to make an heir. He talks to his two brothers, one says he doesn't really care while the other opposes the idea. Januaries marries May, a young girl who isn't even 20, mostly because he desires her. He chooses her almost out of the blue. It isn't said why May accepts the marriage, but she probably did it to make herself better socially and for the money, since Januarie is rich. A squire of Januarie's, Damyan, falls in love with May. He writes a letter professing his love for her. He says it was Venus's fault he fell for her. May feels the same way about Damyan and plans to have sex with him. Januarie makes a walled garden, where he has sex with May. He is immediately struck blind, probably because of his vanity, lust, and immorality. One day, Januarie and May go into the garden, while Damnyan has snuck into the garden as well. May, implying she's pregnany, asks for a pear, and Januarie, who is blind and old, can't reach the fruit. He allows May to climb onto his back. Guess who's in the tree? Damyan. They have sex. Pluto and Proserpina are watching the adultery. Pluto says women are immortal. He will give Januarie his sight back. Proserpina will give May the ability to talk her way out of the dilemma. Januarie gets his eyesight back and sees May and Damyan having sex. May talks her way out of it, saying his eyesight isn't fully back to normal. The tale ends abruptly. Januarie and May live happily ever after, although ending ambiguously, suggesting that May will continue to cheat on Januarie.
The Merchant's Epilogue: The Host is disgusted with May. He says that women are always lying and deceitful. The Hot says he has a poor wife who has many faults. He isn't very happy being married to her.
The Squire's Introduction: The Host asks the Squire to tell a story about love, because he thinks the Squire certainly knows about love. The Squire answers that he doesn't know much about love, but he will tell a romance story because he doesn't want to go against the Host's wishes.
The Squire's Tale: Genghis Khan rules with two sons, Algarsyf and Cambalo, and a daughter, Canace. At the twentieth anniversary of his reign, he has a celebration. A strange knight comes with gifts, which include a brass horse with the power of teleportation, a mirror which can reveal the minds of the king's friends and enemies, a ring with will give the wearer an understanding of birds, a sword that deals wounds only it can heal. That's the first part of the story. The second starts with Canace and the ring. She goes on a walk the next morning and sees a falcon who seems upset. The falcon tells Canace that she has been left by her lover, a male hawk, for a kite. The second part of the story ends with a promise of a story involving Genghis Khan's sons and the quest of Cambalo to win Canace as his wife. The tale ends here with the Franklin interrupting.
The Franklin's Interruption: The Franklin interrupts the Squire, commenting that he has spoken very well considering he is so young. He says that no one in the group could match the Squire in eloquence. The Franklin wants his own son to be as great as the Squire. Instead, his son gambles and spends all his money. The Host reminds the Franklin to tell them a tale.
The Franklin's Tale: Arveragus, a successful nobleman and knight, wants a wife. He marries a young lady named Dorigen. The two promise they will always respect one another. A little after the wedding, Arveragus leaves for England for two years. Dorigen cries while her husband is gone. She sits on the shore, anxious about her husband's safety. One day, Dorigen agrees to join some friends on a picnic where there is a dance. At the dance, a handsome and rich man, Aurelius, tells Dorigen he has loved her for two years. Dorigen denies him. He's so depressed that, half jokingly, says she will agree to his love if he moves all the rocks from the coast of Brittany. This task is impossible, and Aurelius goes home depressed. He's so distraught that he is sick for two years. Finally, his brother, who has been caring for him, comes up with a way to solve the problem. He remembers a student who claimed to have been able to read magic. Aurelius goes to the student and promises to pay him 1,000 pounds if his magic can clear the rocks away. The student agrees, and clears the rocks. Aurelius reminds Dorigen of her promise. Dorigen contemplates suicide. Arvergas returns home to find Dorigen in a bit of a pickle. Arvergas says that Dorigen must keep her promise, although it pains him. Aurelius learns of Arvergas's noble sacrifice, and sends Dorigen back to Arvergas. Aurelius gets all his gold, but realizes he can only pay half of what he owes to the student. The student hears of Dorigen's relief to be back to her husband and cancels Aurelius' debt.
Okay, that's it for today, I think. Tomorrow, we'll start off with the Pardoner, who is a real treat. Happy reading!
Cassy
