Tales of Canterbury

the Tales of Canterbury ( The Canterbury Bruise in English) is a series of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the 14th century. The text is written in Middle English, in Towards for the major part. The tales are integrated in a history “tallies” and known as by a group of pilgrims travelling of Southwark to Canterbury to visit the sanctuary of Thomas Becket in the Cathédrale of Canterbury.

Introduction

There exist several old manuscripts of the tales dating from the 15th century. Two the best, Hengwrt and Ellesmere, presents some differences as for the number of worms of connection between the tales and with the order in which they are presented. The tales were classified according to their references to the places and dates of the pilgrimage. The manuscript Ellesmere, more richly illustrated, is regarded as most complete and the least hypothetical. It is at the base of the translation presented here.

It was said that Chaucer had been sometimes satisfied to translate or adapt Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meung or Décaméron of its contemporaries Boccace in this case. It is to go a little quickly because, if the topics are often very close, it is that they were “in the air of time” and it is to despize particular talent of Chaucer to adapt the screen of an account to make its thing of it, a re-creation, with its own style and its personal vision of the company of its time.

“ What imports is not the innovation of the intrigue but the tone, the setting in prospect ” will say André Crepin in the introduction to his new translation.

Chaucer at that time enriches the idea by the continuation of tales, current, while placing it within the framework of the pilgrimage. That allows him, by the diversity of the successive storytellers, and thus of the treated topics, to address itself to different audiences. As it further will be seen, he advises with the reader, if it does not like such tale, to turn the page and to choose another of them. It is the Landlord who will make the connection, calling on then to the other, calming the spirits, putting an end to the quarrels. The author keeps his direction spiritual with the pilgrimage while showing his characters, the pilgrims, in their human dimension and quite terrestrial, each one different, sometimes antagonists, but all plain with the same aim, the sanctuary of Thomas Becket. By the progression of the account, the sequence of the various tales, one can say that there is an analogy between the course of the pilgrimage told and the Christian vision of the walk of humanity towards the Heavenly Jerusalem.

There is a large variety of kinds represented in the Tales: Romance of knighthood, Fairy tale, lay Breton, French tale in verse, animalist Fable, mythological tale, New, life of saint, Allegory…

Argument

About thirty pilgrims of various origins gathers in an inn, leaving for Canterbury to collect itself on the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket.

Prolog

The account starts with a prolog which presents a gallery of portraits of the pilgrims. Departure the day before, the Landlord, who will belong to the troop, proposes that: Each one of you to curtail the route
Will say while overlapping two histoires
Initially with the outward journey towards Cantorbéry
Then with the return it will say two others of them,
Of adventures which occurred formerly.

The first to speak will be the Knight.

The Tale of the Knight

Two noble knights who swore fidelity, Palamon and Arcite, were made prisoner by Thésée, king d' Athènes, at the time of the head office of Thèbes. Of their prison, they see Emilie, sister of Thésée, to walk in its garden and fall both madly in love from there. Consequently they are rival. Arcite will be finally released following the intervention of one of his/her friends provided that it never returns to Athens.

Arcite does not resist, and returns to Athens to see Emilie. Palamon escapes in same time and the two former friends meet and fight for their beautiful. Thésée occurs and decides that a tournament will take place, the winner will marry Emilie. Before the combat, Palamon will beseech Venus to grant the victory, and thus Emilie to him, in the temple that Thésée has just made build on the place of the tournament. One saw in the temple of Vénus
Described on the walls of sad spectacles:
frozen insomnia and sighs,
sanglotés wishes, lamentations,
arrows of fire of the extreme desires,
All evils that Amour inflicts ici-bas.
the oaths which one makes of always aimer.
Hope and Joie, Desire, Temerity,
Youth and Beauté, Richness and Pleasure,
Magic and Violence, Lie and Flattery,
Money, Concern, and finally Jalousie
Bearing on the head the gold garland jaune
And a cuckoo sitting on its hand;
Musical instruments, rounds and dances,
Of the spirit, environment, and others modes
Of the love that I would need détailler
…
the Venus statue, superb to see,
represented It naked, floating on the mer
…
Upright in front of it, his/her Cupid son,
Two wings attached to its épaules
And eyes bandaged as with the habitude.
It held an arc and fine arrows.

Arcite will request Mars while Emilie collects herself with the temple of Diane. The tournament does not see a winner to decide between them. March, Venus and Saturne intervene each one in its direction. At the end of the combat, Arcite dies, under its crushed horse that Saturn frightened.

After years of an inconsolable mourning, Thésée concludes: That which is with the skies is cause première
Creates the world the binder by the amour
Great consequences, vertiginous plan!
…
This Prince and Créateur
fixed our sad ici-bas
…
To protest, to revolt is absurde
When the Master is that which all gouverne.
… Palamon will thus marry Emilie.

The man is in the hand of his Creator and, though it makes, its destiny is traced.

Prolog of the Tale of the Miller

Then the Tale comes from the Miller, who is drunk and cuts the word to the Landlord who invited the Monk to connect by another history. The tale of the Miller is preceded by a prolog in which Chaucer is excused to have to repeat the shocking remarks which have held summers:

It costs some to me owe the reproduire
… I owe redire
entirety of the tales whatever they are,
to remain veracious on all the points.
If thus one hardly likes to hear this tale,
That the page is turned and chooses another of them:
One will find sufficient history,
Of all sizes, renting the courtesy,
Or the virtue and the sainteté.
do not blame me if you choose mal.
the Miller is a lout, it is obvious,
the Manager also, others still,
And their tales are thus stories paillardes.
With you to judge some without me to hold rigueur
Nor to take with serious what is only one play.

The Tale of the Miller

It is the history grivoise of a rich person carpenter, landlord of boarders who will be made berner by one of his tenants.

the carpenter came just from épouser
a girl whom he loved more than his vie.
It was a youth of eighteen printemps.
Jealous , it held it under key, out of cage,
Because it was sharp and young, and him, old:
It thus feared to become cuckold.

Nicolas, young boarder, “ poor student in faculty of letters ”, makes him believe that a new Flood could not delay. By friendship for its landlord he promises to save it, like his wife: that it brings three bins to be kneaded, enough large to contain them each one with provisions and to float like a boat. When the " déluge" is announced by Nicolas, each one goes up in its vessel, and, the once deadened carpenter, the beautiful one and Nicolas Without more words they gain the lit
What usually occupies our carpenter.

Comes then a pleasant episode where Absalon, another sighing of beautiful Lison, is made ridicule then draws revenge from it. And everyone laughed at this histoire.
the woman of the carpenter was made jump,
Misleading the vigilance of the jealous husband;
Absalon embraced to him the eye of in bas
And Nicolas have tail on fire.

The Tale of the Manager

The Manager enters then in scene. Former carpenter, it is ulcerated by the account of the Miller, and proposes the history of a miller “ crafty one trafficker in grain and flour ” named Simonnet the Nasty piece of work.

This tale makes during with that of the Miller, the argument in is rather close: a rich person miller, cheater, married and father of a very pretty girl and a newborn, try to swindle two young clerks come to make grind corn of their close abbey.

Following a series of tricks and misunderstandings of the two parts: Here is pink our miller fiérot,
Which, far from being paid, for the ground grain,
had to pay all it fine souper
Of Alain and Jean, who have it well rossé.
His wife is jumped, and her daughter aussi.
Here what it costs a miller tricheur.
For this reason the proverb tells truth:
badly acquired Bien does not profit jamais.
misleading will see itself misled. On this occasion, Chaucer refers to the various dialects of use in England with the Middle Ages. The two clerks express themselves in English of North, their area of origin.

The Tale of the Cook

Tell very short, an about sixty worms, a little more than one hundred if one counts the prolog, which describes the vexations of a merchant who has as a Pierrot apprentice the Seducer. It did not have in London null apprenti
there Also skilful with launching a pair of dés
That skilful Pierrot; it dépensait
Without counting, far from the glances indiscrets
Its owner realized of it, in its accounts,
Plus once it found its case empty.

Then the Tale will come from the Lawyer, preceded by a long prolog during which Chaucer puts in the mouth of the Lawyer some notes of autodérision. I am unable of trousser a conte
Such Chaucer which, in spite of its ignorances
Into metric and erudite rhymes,
composed some, in English whom he knows,
It is already a long time, like one sait.
If it did not tell this history, friend,
In this book, it is in that one.

The Tale of the Lawyer

Edifying history of more than 1.000 worms, exemplary life of Constancy, girl of the Emperor of Rome, which knew many misfortunes before returning in its birthplace. It has the beauty, but not pride,
Youth without childishness nor sottise
And the virtue guides all its conduite.
humility overcame the égoïsme.
It is mirror of any courtesy,
Its heart, the resting place of holiness,
Its hand, its deputy very charitable. Syrian merchants heard of its virtues at the time of their stay in Rome and, of return to the country, the praises with their Sultan sing some so much and so that this one … had nothing any more but only one thought:
to like It love throughout its life. The Sultan thus calls his advisers to consider the possibility of a marriage with Constance. But they then transfers a major hurdle,
Difficult to deny, let us acknowledge it:
such differences separated the mœurs
Of each of both that they deduced some:
" No Christian prince will not want accepter
For his/her daughter a marriage according to the loi
So soft of Mahomet our prophète." The Sultan answers that he does not want to in no case to lose Constance and, through various embassies, negotiations and interventions, he is agreed that he will marry it after being himself converted, him, his barons and his vassal.

Promised thus Rome in large procession leaves, accompanied knights and prelates, on the way for Syria. The mother of the sultan, furious of sound Apostasie organizes the massacre of all the converts, her son including, as well as Christians. None could escape the massacre.
One removed Constance, with the step of race,
One put it in a boat without rudder,
By shouting good wind to him and to make voile
Far from Syria and course on Italie.
…
Of the years and the days the pauvrette derived,
Crossed the Greek seas until the détroit
Of Morocco, with the liking of its destinée.
…
It rained with God to show his puissance
By saving it for our teaching. Finally the vessel fails close to a castle “ far in Northumbrie ”. It there is collected and conceals its identity. There are almost no Christians in these places, driven out which they were Vaincus by the pagan ones which came by mer
Or of the interior to settle in north. A gotten rid of applicant is avenged by it making show of a crime that it made itself. Only, éperdue, out of foreign ground, it does not find anybody to defend it when in the presence of king Allé it is shown murder. It calls some with God and the king, moved, makes seek Bible so that the indicter swears on the Gospels that it is well the culprit. He swears, and collapses “ a such stone ” whereas a voice resounds saying You calumniated the innocente
Girl of Holy Church in the presence of Très-Haut
Here is your control, I retain my anger. In front of this miracle, the king and many his subjects convert with the great displeasure of the queen mother. After which Jesus, in his mercy,
the FIT to marry by Gone, in large pump,
Our holy daughter, if radiant and if belle.
Ainsi Christ made Constancy a reine.
…
They eat and drink, dance, sing and amusent
Gains their layer, desired, deserved,
Because a wife has beautiful being very holy,
It must support patiently, the nuit
the needs which make the plaisir
Of that which passed the ring to him to the finger,
It must put a little on side its vertu
For the moment - not of another solution. Constancy is pregnant and the king leaves for Scotland “ to face the enemy. ” His/her son is born, a messenger is sent for informing some but the mother of the king changes the letter for another which announces the birth of a démoniaque creature. The king is overpowered but accepts the test that God sends to him and recommends in his answer that one takes well care of the mother and the child. With the return of the messenger the queen mother exchanges the missives again, ordering this faith that Constance is immediately banished. Everyone cried, the young people and the old men,
With the receipt of this letter maudite.
Constancy, the face of a paleness mortal,
Left, the fourth day, towards its boat,
It accommodated without least the révolte
will of Christ. She knelt:
“Lord, blessed either what you us envoies.
That which took to me under its protection
When I was wrongfully shown, here,
Will be able to protect me elsewhere, at sea,
Against any evil, physics or moral.
mysterious Power, but always activates,
In him I have confidence, in his beloved mother:
They are my wherry veils and rudder. ” Accompanied by a crowd in tears Constance takes along her son and takes again the sea, its boat “ all charged with vivres, in great abundance for its long voyage. ” the king returns from war and learns what occurred, the plot is discovered, his/her mother is condemned to death, because such is its justice. It is inconsolable and cries his wife and her son. During this time, Constancy Carried by the floods, in prey with sorrow,
Five long years, subjected to the liking of Christ,
Before its boat did not approach ground. It again fails close to a castle the pagan ones. One night the seneshal tries has just and violated it. It struggles and with the assistance of the Blessed Virgin defends themselves so that the malicious tomb over edge and drowns. Ainsi Christ kept pure Constance. The boat takes again the sea again and derives in all directions Until the mother of Christ, blessed is it!
Made in kind, in its infinite kindness,
What ended all the misfortune of Constancy. During all this time the emperor of Rome learned the massacre which has occurred in Syria and sends a senator with his army to it to draw revenge from it. They burned, massacred, ravagèrent
Of the days and the days then, here we are,
Decided to be gone back some to Rome. On the road of the return, they cross the vessel of Constancy which derives and collect it. She does not say anything on itself and, arrived at Rome, the senator entrusts them, she and his son, with his wife. The woman of the senator, who is however his aunt, does not recognize it. Time passes, the son grows, Constance is spread in good works.

In Northumbrie, inconsolable king Allé decides to leave in pilgrimage to Rome for expier his sins, the death of Constancy and his son. It is thus, after coincidences quite as extraordinary as Constance and his/her son, king Allé and the Emperor will find himself joined together, will recognize himself. All carried out a life of large vertu
And of holy works. They were not left plus
Until death the séparât.
Good-bye! Here my account terminé.
That Jesus-Christ, who can make succéder
the joy with sorrow, has us in his grâce
And protects us, we all which are here!

The Tale of the Middle-class woman of Bath

In this tale, Chaucer puts in scene a widow who married with 5 recoveries since the 12 years age and claims, strong of this experiment, capacity speech in all full knowledge of the facts of the marriage. In a very long prolog of almost 700 worms, it evokes its successive marriages and, using many biblical references, argues on the virginity (which are not essential to be a virtuous woman) and the marriage, essential to obey the command God said to us “Grows and multiplies”,
Noble word and easy with comprendre.
God added that my husband devait
To leave father and mother to stick to me,
Without never speaking about the number of marriages,
Neither of bigamy nor of octogamie.
Then to see infamy why there?
…
virginity is the state parfait
Where the devotion inspires the abstinence.
Christ, however source of perfection,
did not order with a whole chacun
to sell its goods with the profit of the pauvres
In order to It follow and to imitate,
But with these only which aim at the perfection:
I humbly acknowledge to be pas.
about it I want to devote the flower of my âge
With works of flesh, the fruits of the mariage.
…
I do not have anything against virginity:
the virgins are wheat breads pure,
the bread of barley it is us the married women,
… It extends then on the genitals whose function is double: the useful one and the pleasant one, and on the relationship between the husband and his wife, man and woman. The Middle-class woman of Bath is managing woman who can be made respect and obtain what she wants of her husband.

She tells then what he occurred of each one of his marriages, described its life with each husband successively. The three first were rich and old, the fourth a fast liver, who had a mistress, to also returned it the currency of its coin him and made it its life a hell. The fifth, " a clerk of Oxford, married by love and not for the money " , beat it and read to him multiple examples of the duplicity of the women drawn from the many works of its library. Which could imagine, concevoir
sorrow that it caused me, the pain?
When I understood that it would pass the nuit
to read extracts of cursed sound livre
… follows a violent argument, delivers torn, exchanged blows, which ends in a reconciliation and peace in the household.

The majority of the prolog are also an argumentation on the superiority of the experiment compared to the authority of the texts, and its tale can be seen as a refutation in the way in which the women were qualified by the authors (male) of the time. Chaucer approaches here the speech of Christine de Pisan.

The Middle-class woman then starts her tale, which proceeds At time formerly when this king Arthur
reigned That the Breton ones celebrate with éloges
All this country was filled of fées.
…
I speak about there are hundreds of années
Because now the elves disappeared,
Now it is the zeal and the prières
Of the frêres collectors and others religieux
Excavating the country, the least courses of eau
Many like dust in spoke of sun,
Blessing the rooms, the rooms, the kitchens,
cities and boroughs, castles and keeps,
Villages and barns, cattle sheds, dairies:
Aussi the fairies are flee.

The history comes then from a young knight of the continuation of the king, who, one day, ghost alone of hunting It saw a girl walking in front of lui
And at once, in spite of its resistance,
It took to him of force its virginity.

The knight then is condemned to died by the king, but the queen and other ladies of the court beseech her grace, so well That this one left him the vie.
It gave the knight to the reine
So that with its liking it saves it or destroys it After a time of reflection, the queen makes it come to it and this speech holds to him: I grant the safe life to you if you me dis
what the women wish by - above - tout.
Pay attention: the block is not loin.
If you cannot answer me immediately,
I want to grant the permission
well to you to leave one year and a day chercher
an adequate answer to this question
… The knight thus leaves to research the answer, but nowhere the same thing does not find “ two creatures to answer”. One speaks about money, others of prestige, of love, attentions and attentions or to be free to act with its own way.

Randomly of its search, he sees one day a group of ladies dancing with borders of a wood. He approaches some, but all disappear except an old woman, sitted in grass. He tells him his history and raises his question, promising a reward if it can come to him to assistance. - Promise to me, hand in the hand, took again it
to grant to me, except impossible obstacle,
the first thing that I will ask you to for the knight promises and the old woman murmurs her message with the ear to him then they leave both to carry the answer to the queen. Many noble wife and many young person fille
And many widow, known for their wisdom,
Surrounded the queen sitting like juge
Assemblies to hear the réponse.
there …
Gracious suzerain, says it, in general
the women wish the capacity without division,
And on their husband and their amant
Of which they await perfect obéissance.
Such is your desire, and maintenant
Kill me: I am at your mercy. All then to approve the answer of the knight and to say that it deserved to be saved. The old woman at this time rises and beseeches the queen. That this court returns justice to him: it gave the answer to the knight against his promise to grant the first thing to him that it would ask him. Ici thus I request from you, lord chevalier
Says it, to take to me for legitimate wife,
Because, you know it, I saved you the vie.
If I lie, thus swear it on your honor!
- What a misfortune! the chevalier.
answered Such was my promise, I it reconnais.
For the love of the sky, requires another thing,
Take all my goods in ransom of my body. the old woman refuses any bargaining, for nothing in the world it will not give up being his wife. Nothing made there. In conclusion it vit
Condamné and constrained with the épouser.
Qu' it takes along the old woman and whom it makes the love! Sad weddings that those which are held then, without joy nor festival, at dawn, in secrecy. What a misfortune to have this feeling reluctant woman!
Le knight had misery in the middle
Quand one led them to the bridal bed. The knight pushes back his wife and cannot be solved to make love with it, it is dreadful and old and basic extraction. She then criticizes her notion of the nobility which, resulting from distances ancestors, is not worth anything if she is not accompanied by a noble control in all circumstances. That which draws pride from its noblesse
Because it is wire of high a lignée
And that its ancestors had noble vertu
But which for its part does not do anything noble
And does not follow the example of the died ancestor,
That one, even duke or count, is not noble.
Which acts badly is not that dirty a manant. the old woman insists on the nobility which is acquired by a virtuous and exemplary life, making reference to Sénèque, Boèce and Juvénal, saying that its poverty, its ugliness and its age will be “ good guards of chastity. ” the knight reflects, sighs, and decides: Lady of my heart, marries cherished,
I subject myself to your wise gouverne.
…
- Have I thus on you all to be able, says it,
Since with my liking I choose and decide?
- Yes, my wife, say it, it is my solution.
- Embrace, are not to me more fâchés
…
Raise the curtain, see what it is. ”
When the knight saw his clean yeux
That it was so beautiful, and so young person aussi
Fou of joy it tightened it in the arms.
Its heart swam in greatest happiness. La Bourgeoise of Bath concludes then: I let them here live a whole life
Of perfect happiness. That Jesus gives us to
flexible, young, active husbands with the bed,
And the grace to be able to overbid.
Wants Jesus, as, to shorten the life
rebellious husbands with the reign of their wife
As for the grumpy, slow old men with the expenditure,
As God quickly makes them catch the plague.

The Tale of the Brother

A monk speaks then and announces: …
And if our company is of accord
I will make you laugh with a huissier.
Eh pardi! laughs that with the name you doutez
That one could not say good of a huisser. The Hotel one intervenes, fearing a quarrel within the company, but the Usher reassures it, promising to answer … but when my tour
comes I will return to him the currency of his pièce
I will say to him, good god! which large honneur
is to be brother and to make licks

And the monk then tells the history of an usher, extremely skilful man and crafty one working for the account of an archdeacon, who diverted with his profit the half of the perceived fines and terrorized which it could for extorting to him as much as possible. He had degraded himself with prostitutes so that they denounce their customers to him whom he could then continue for adultery It was, if I must trace his praise,
a robber, usher of course and maquereau.
It had also girls with her pay.
…
Adultery or in love clandestin
It was there most clearly of its ressources
And it concentrated its energy there.

Party one day to assign an old poor woman, it meets in way another traveller who is presented in the form of a Baillif, and fraternizes with him. They walk on in concert, swear eternal friendship and are told how each one they misuse their position to grow rich. - Eh well, known as the usher, it is similar for moi
God is pilot for me, I take all that comes,
Except if it is too heavy or if it is brûlant.
what I can rafler in great secrecy,
I do not have scruple of the prendre.
…
But, beloved brother, thus tell me your nom.
the usher had not finished yet that the yeoman outlined a sourire.
" Does brother, say, want you that I say it to you?
I am a demon and I live Enfer.
Ici I try to find my harvest,
I.e. what one will want to me well donner.
This profit is, in fact, all my wages

to be followed (see discussion).

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