The
Miller’s Prologue and Tale
Fragment
1, lines 3109–3854
Summary
The pilgrims applaud the
Knight’s Tale, and the pleased Host asks the Monk to match it. Before the Monk
can utter a word, however, the Miller interrupts. Drunk and belligerent, he
promises that he has a “noble” tale that will repay the Knight’s (3126). The
Host tries to persuade the Miller to let some “bettre” man tell the next tale
(3130). When the Miller threatens to leave, however, the Host acquiesces. After
the Miller reminds everyone that he is drunk and therefore shouldn’t be held
accountable for anything he says, he introduces his tale as a legend and a life
of a carpenter and of his wife, and of how a clerk made a fool of the
carpenter, which everyone understands to mean that the clerk slept with the
carpenter’s wife (3141–3143). The Reeve shouts out his immediate objection to
such ridicule, but the Miller insists on proceeding with his tale. He points
out that he is married himself, but doesn’t worry whether some other man is
sleeping with his wife, because it is none of his business. The narrator
apologizes to us in advance for the tale’s bawdiness, and warns that those who
are easily offended should skip to another tale.
The Miller begins his
story: there was once an Oxford student named Nicholas, who studied astrology
and was well acquainted with the art of love. Nicholas boarded with a wealthy
but ignorant old carpenter named John, who was jealous and highly possessive of
his sexy eighteen-year-old wife, Alisoun. One day, the carpenter leaves, and
Nicholas and Alisoun begin flirting. Nicholas grabs Alisoun, and she threatens
to cry for help. He then begins to cry, and after a few sweet words, she agrees
to sleep with him when it is safe to do so. She is worried that John will find
out, but Nicholas is confident he can outwit the carpenter.
Nicholas is not alone in
desiring Alisoun. A merry, vain parish clerk named Absolon also fancies
Alisoun. He serenades her every night, buys her gifts, and gives her money, but
to no avail—Alisoun loves Nicholas. Nicholas devises a plan that will allow him
and Alisoun to spend an entire night together. He has Alisoun tell John that
Nicholas is ill. John sends a servant to check on his boarder, who arrives to
find Nicholas immobile, staring at the ceiling. When the servant reports back
to John, John is not surprised, saying that madness is what one gets for
inquiring into “Goddes pryvetee,” which is what he believes Nicholas’s
astronomy studies amount to. Nevertheless, he feels sorry for the student and
goes to check on him.
Nicholas tells John he has
had a vision from God and offers to tell John about it. He explains that he has
foreseen a terrible event. The next Monday, waters twice as great as Noah’s
flood will cover the land, exterminating all life. The carpenter believes him
and fears for his wife, just what Nicholas had hoped would occur. Nicholas
instructs John to fasten three tubs, each loaded with provisions and an ax, to
the roof of the barn. On Monday night, they will sleep in the tubs, so that
when the flood comes, they can release the tubs, hack through the roof, and
float until the water subsides. Nicholas also warns John that it is God’s
commandment that they may do nothing but pray once they are in the tubs—no one
is to speak a word.
Monday night arrives, and
Nicholas, John, and Alisoun ascend by ladder into the hanging tubs. As soon as
the carpenter begins to snore, Nicholas and Alisoun climb down, run back to the
house, and sleep together in the carpenter’s bed. In the early dawn, Absolon
passes by. Hoping to stop in for a kiss, or perhaps more, from Alisoun, Absalon
sidles up to the window and calls to her. She harshly replies that she loves
another. Absolon persists, and Alisoun offers him one quick kiss in the dark.
Absolon leaps forward
eagerly, offering a lingering kiss. But it is not her lips he finds at the
window, but her “naked ers [arse]” (3734). She and Nicholas collapse with
laughter, while Absolon blindly tries to wipe his mouth. Determined to avenge
Alisoun’s prank, Absolon hurries back into town to the blacksmith and obtains a
red-hot iron poker. He returns with it to the window and knocks again, asking
for a kiss and promising Alisoun a golden ring. This time, Nicholas, having
gotten up to relieve himself anyway, sticks his rear out the window and farts
thunderously in Absolon’s face. Absolon brands Nicholas’s buttocks with the
poker. Nicholas leaps up and cries out, “Help! Water! Water!” (3815). John,
still hanging from the roof, wakes up and assumes Nicholas’s cries mean that
the flood has come. He grabs the ax, cuts free the tub, and comes crashing to
the ground, breaking his arm. The noise and commotion attract many of the
townspeople. The carpenter tells the story of the predicted flood, but Nicholas
and Alisoun pretend ignorance, telling everyone that the carpenter is mad. The
townspeople laugh that all have received their dues, and the Miller merrily
asks that God save the company.
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