Class Notes for Dec 16

Today and yesterday, Mr. Laz presented the miller and the manciple.

The Miller
General Prologue- The miller is a vile and gross person. He’s described as being a brawny wrestler (a sport for the uncivilized in the middle ages). He has a large red nose (a sign that he drinks a lot) and a hairy mole. He wears a blue coat and likes music. Millers are constantly in competition with reeves, and this miller takes a shot at the reeve in his tale.

Tale- John is an older carpenter (the reeve on the pilgrimage used to be a carpenter) is married to Alysoun who is young and beautiful. John knows Alysoun is young and could cheat on him, so he is very cautious to leave her alone. Alysoun has a lover named Nicholas, who lives in a room in John and Alysoun’s house. John trusts Nicholas because Nicholas is a scholar at a school of law. Nicholas and Alysoun want time alone so Nicholas comes up with a plan. He pretends that he is sick, and when John comes to see what is wrong, Nicholas pretends to have a vision where he sees the world ended by flood. He also says the three of them (John, Nicholas and Alysoun) can be saved. He says the only way to survive the flood would be to tie three barrels to the roof of the house and when Nicholas has another vision they will go to the roof, cut the ropes holding the tubs up, and float in the barrels to ride out the flood. One night, Nicholas pretends to have another vision, and he, Alysoun and John all go to the top of the roof. They sit in the tubs until Alysoun and Nicholas hear John snoring. They go back into the house and have sex with John on the roof.
Absolon is a clerk who is in love with Alysoun. That night (it is pitch black, so nobody can see what’s going on), he knocks on the window and asks Alysoun for a kiss. Alysoun sticks her butt out of the window and Absolon kisses it. Alysoun thought it was very funny and went to tell Nicholas. Absolon was very angry at what happened, so he went to a blacksmith’s shop, grabbed a poker and heated it up. He then went back to Alysoun’s house and asked for another kiss. Nicholas wanted to be part of the joke, so he stuck his butt out and farted on Absolon’s face, blinding him. Absolon then stabbed Nicholas with the hot poker. Nicholas shouted water (he wanted water to stop the burning) and John (still asleep on the rooftop) thought it was the start of the flood so he cut the ropes holding the tub to the roof, making him fall to the ground, breaking his arm. All the villagers came out because of all that noise, and John told them all about the flood, and was humiliated. All of the characters were hurt in the end except Alysoun.

Analysis- This tale was very well told, even though the character telling it was supposed to be stupid and drunk. The miller pretends to be less intelligent than he really is to be deceptive towards people.

The Manciple
Prologue-The manciple is a purchaser of food for a school for lawyers. He is a member of the middle class. He is described as being fiercely intelligent, but he is corrupt. He gets to the markets early, and buys the worst of the food, and sells it to the school for much more than it is worth. He is surrounded by scholars, but he can not read, and he never asked to learn. He thinks the only way for him to get by in life is by cheating people.
The host asks the cook (who is openly drunk) to tell a tale. The manciple insults the cook, who insults him back, but then falls off his horse.

Tale-Pheobus is a very good man who is like a god and a mortal combined. He has a wife that he loves very much, and a white crow that can talk and sing. Pheobus is worried that his wife will cheat on him, because he is a very jealous person. Pheobus leaves town, and his wife sends for her lover. He comes and has sex with Pheobus' wife while the crow is in the room. Pheobus returns after everything happened, and his crow tells him what his wife did. Pheobus kills his wife and then gets really sad. He blames the bird for telling him, saying he would have been happier not knowing, and then curses the bird so all of his offspring will have black feathers and not be able to talk or sing.

Analysis-The moral of the story is to not be eager to be the bearer of bad news. This story shows the power of rash anger, and it tells the story of how crows are black and can not sing.

-Paul Derickson