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"The Miller's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer (ribald humour) 10, 10, 10
"The Miller's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer (John Dark Repost). The version of this story posted to a.s.s.m. is the Middle English version, which is difficult for many readers to decipher. A Modern English version can be found at gopher://gopher.vt.edu:10010/02/63/24. If you want a slightly more attractive modern version with the prologue attached, try commentary with a link to the Middle English version, try discussion of the story, see what the gang at Harvard Yard has to say at Here's an excerpt from the Study Guide for this story for EH 220 Great Books Syllabus at Auburn University: 1. How are the husband and wife incompatible? 2. Where does Nicholas live? What's his major at school? 3. How does Absolom try to impress Alison? 4. What does Nicholas tell John will happen on Monday night? 5. What advice does Nicholas give John to save himself and his wife? 6. What kind of a kiss does Absolom get from Alison? 7. What happens with John at the end? 8. Describe how Alison's relationship with her husband, with Nicholas, and with Absolom is perverted. Can you imagine what kinds of question this professor would ask about the typical a.s.s.* story? "Of what did the naughty nekkid cheerleaders have buckets?" Incidentally, I think nekkid is a viable Middle English word. As the above study questions suggest, this is not a deep story. Here's the skinny on the Miller's Tale: The old carpenter with a young wife named Alison has taken in as a lodger a poor scholar named Nicholas, who gets the hots for milady. She's game; and so she says that if Nicholas can find a way to keep her husband in the dark, she'll do the wild thing with him. The scholar concocts a complex plan involving feigned sickness and an allegedly upcoming post-biblical deluge, the upshot of which is that the husband finds himself sleeping in a bathtub on the roof while Nicholas and the wife are doing the Posterpedic polka in the carpenter's own bed. Meanwhile, another suitor named Absolom has been smitten by milady and is wooing her with song outside the bedroom window, while she and Nick are sharing a ride in a fur-lined canoe. When Abe begs for a kiss, Allie sticks her ass out the window; and the swain reveals himself to be uninterested in anal amour. Thus miffed, the secondary suitor goes off to get a hot poker and then summons his beloved again. This time it is Nick's ass that emerges from the window. When Nick farts in Abe's face, the latter sticks the poker up the former's ass. When Nick shouts for water, the old guy on the roof thinks the deluge has begun. Then – No, I may have told you too much already. Believe it or not, there's a moral to this story. In all honesty, I've posted in CR jokes that are funnier than this story. But you have to remember that this is a classic tale that regaled people back in the 14th century. This is part of the Culture of the English-speaking world. Shakespeare read and laughed at this story in the barley fields of Stratford on Avon. Winston Churchill read it at his mother's knee. Even Teddy Kennedy probably had someone read it to him. This is the sort of story that bridges the gap between Albert Einstein and Beavis and Butthead. It's a very good story! Ratings for "The Miller's Tale" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 |