The
Nun’s Priest’s Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue
Fragment
7, lines 2768–3446
Summary:
The Prologue of the Nun’s Priest
After the Monk has told his
tale, the Knight pleads that no more tragedies be told. He asks that someone
tell a tale that is the opposite of tragedy, one that narrates the extreme good
fortune of someone previously brought low. The Host picks the Nun’s Priest, the
priest traveling with the Prioress and her nun, and demands that he tell a tale
that will gladden the hearts of the company members. The Nun’s Priest readily
agrees, and begins his tale.
Summary:
The Tale of the Nun’s Priest
A poor, elderly widow lives
a simple life in a cottage with her two daughters. Her few possessions include
three sows, three cows, a sheep, and some chickens. One chicken, her rooster,
is named Chanticleer, which in French means “sings clearly.” True to his name,
Chanticleer’s “cock-a-doodle-doo” makes him the master of all roosters. He
crows the hour more accurately than any church clock. His crest is redder than
fine coral, his beak is black as jet, his nails whiter than lilies, and his
feathers shine like burnished gold. Understandably, such an attractive cock
would have to be the Don Juan of the barnyard. Chanticleer has many hen-wives,
but he loves most truly a hen named Pertelote. She is as lovely as Chanticleer
is magnificent.
As Chanticleer, Pertelote,
and all of Chanticleer’s ancillary hen-wives are roosting one night,
Chanticleer has a terrible nightmare about an orange houndlike beast who
threatens to kill him while he is in the yard. Fearless Pertelote berates him
for letting a dream get the better of him. She believes the dream to be the
result of some physical malady, and she promises him that she will find some
purgative herbs. She urges him once more not to dread something as fleeting and
illusory as a dream. In order to convince her that his dream was important, he
tells the stories of men who dreamed of murder and then discovered it. His
point in telling these stories is to prove to Pertelote that “Mordre will out”
(3052)—murder will reveal itself—even and especially in dreams. Chanticleer
cites textual examples of famous dream interpretations to further support his
thesis that dreams are portentous. He then praises Pertelote’s beauty and
grace, and the aroused hero and heroine make love in barnyard fashion: “He
fethered Pertelote twenty tyme, / And trad hire eke as ofte, er it was pryme
[he clasped Pertelote with his wings twenty times, and copulated with her as
often, before it was 6 A.M.” (3177–3178).
One day in May, Chanticleer
has just declared his perfect happiness when a wave of sadness passes over him.
That very night, a hungry fox stalks Chanticleer and his wives, watching their
every move. The next day, Chanticleer notices the fox while watching a
butterfly, and the fox confronts him with dissimulating courtesy, telling the
rooster not to be afraid. Chanticleer relishes the fox’s flattery of his
singing. He beats his wings with pride, stands on his toes, stretches his neck,
closes his eyes, and crows loudly. The fox reaches out and grabs Chanticleer by
the throat, and then slinks away with him back toward the woods. No one is
around to witness what has happened. Once Pertelote finds out what has
happened, she burns her feathers with grief, and a great wail arises from the
henhouse.
The widow and her daughters
hear the screeching and spy the fox running away with the rooster. The dogs
follow, and pretty soon the whole barnyard joins in the hullabaloo. Chanticleer
very cleverly suggests that the fox turn and boast to his pursuers. The fox
opens his mouth to do so, and Chanticleer flies out of the fox’s mouth and into
a high tree. The fox tries to flatter the bird into coming down, but
Chanticleer has learned his lesson. He tells the fox that flattery will work
for him no more. The moral of the story, concludes the Nun’s Priest, is never
to trust a flatterer.
Summary:
The Epilogue to the Nun’s Priest’s Tale
The Host tells the Nun’s
Priest that he would have been an excellent rooster—for if he has as much
courage as he has strength, he would need hens. The Host points out the Nun’s
Priest’s strong muscles, his great neck, and his large breast, and compares him
to a sparrow-hawk. He merrily wishes the Nun’s Priest good luck.
Social Plugin