The Miller 's Tale - wikipedia The Miller 's Tale For the 1996 rock album, see The Miller 's Tale : A Tom Verlaine Anthology. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2015 ) Illustration of Robin the Miller, from The Miller 's Tale, playing a bagpipe `` The Miller 's Tale '' ( Middle English : The Milleres Tale ) is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales ( 1380s -- 1390s ), told by the drunken miller Robin to `` quite '' ( requite ) `` The Knight 's Tale ''. The Miller 's Prologue is the first `` quite '' that occurs in the tales ( to `` quite '' someone is to repay them for a service, the service here being the telling of stories ). Contents 1 Prologue 2 Synopsis 3 Arts and culture 4 Analysis 5 Parody 6 Continuations 7 Use in other media 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Prologue The general prologue to The Canterbury Tales describes the Miller, Robin, as a stout and evil churl fond of wrestling. In the Miller 's Prologue, the pilgrims have just heard and enjoyed `` The Knight 's Tale '', a classical story of courtly love, and the host asks the Monk to `` quite '' ( `` follow '' or `` repay '' ) with a tale of his own. However, the Miller insists on going next. He claims that his tale is `` noble '', but reminds the other pilgrims that he is quite drunk and can not be held accountable for what he says. He explains that his story is about a carpenter and his wife, and how a clerk `` hath set the wrightes cappe '' ( that is, fooled the carpenter ). Osewold the Reeve, who had originally been a carpenter himself, protests that the tale will insult carpenters and wives, but the Miller carries on anyway. `` The Miller 's Tale '' begins the trend in which succeeding tellers `` quite '' the previous one with their story. In a way the Miller requites the `` Knight 's Tale '', and is himself directly requited with `` The Reeve 's Tale '', in which the Reeve follows Robin 's insulting story about a carpenter with his own tale disparaging a miller. Synopsis Door with Cat Hole ( carved oak, Late Medieval period, 1450 -- 1500, France, Walters Art Museum ) This door, carved with a linen-fold decoration, was probably a back or interior door of a middle - class home. It is remarkable for its cat hole. Few doors with cat holes have survived from this early period, but the 14th - century English writer Geoffrey Chaucer described one in the `` Miller 's Tale '' from his Canterbury Tales. In the narrative, a servant whose knocks go unanswered, uses the hole to peek in : `` An hole he foond, ful lowe upon a bord / Ther as the cat was wont in for to crepe, / And at the hole he looked in ful depe, / And at the last he hadde of hym a sighte. '' `` The Miller 's Tale '' is the story of a carpenter, his lovely wife, and two clerks ( students ) who are eager to sleep with her. The carpenter, John, lives in Oxford with his much younger wife, Alisoun, who is a local beauty. To make extra money, John rents out a room in his house to a clever scholar named Nicholas, who has taken a liking to Alisoun. Another scholar in the town, Absolon the parish clerk, also has his eye on Alisoun. The action begins when John makes a day trip to a nearby town. While he is gone, Nicholas convinces Alisoun to have sex with him, and their affair begins. Shortly afterward, Alisoun goes to church, where Absolon sees her and immediately falls in love. He tries to woo Alisoun by singing love songs under her window during the full moon and seeks her attention by taking a part in a local play. Alisoun rebuffs all his efforts, however, because she 's already involved with Nicholas. Nicholas, meanwhile, longs to spend a whole night in Alisoun 's arms rather than just the few moments they get together during John 's absences. With Alisoun, he hatches a scheme that will enable him to do this. He convinces John that God is about to send a great flood like the one he sent in Noah 's time. He says that God told him they could save themselves by hanging three large tubs from the ceiling to sleep in. Once the waters rose, they would cut the ropes and float away. John believes him and duly climbs into his tub. He thinks Nicholas and Alisoun are doing the same, but in fact, they are spending the night together in John 's bed. That same night, Absolon comes and begs Alisoun to kiss him. At first she refuses him, but she finally agrees. Instead of presenting her lips to Absolon 's, though, she sticks her backside out the bedroom 's `` shot - window '' ( privy vent ), and Absolon kisses her `` ers '' in the dark. Angry at being fooled, Absolon gets a red - hot coulter from the smith with which he intends to burn Alisoun. When he returns, though, Nicholas sticks his backside out to get in on the joke and farts in Absolon 's face. Absolon thrusts the coulter `` amidst the ers '' of Nicholas who cries out for `` Water ! '' to assuage the pain. The screams wake John, who thinks the flood is upon them and cuts the rope attaching him to the ceiling. He crashes to the floor, and the townspeople, hearing the noise, rush to the scene. Upon hearing Nicholas ' and Alisoun 's version of events, they laugh at poor John and consider him mad. Arts and culture Geoffrey Chaucer wrote during the reign of Richard II, who very much appreciated the arts and culture of the time. We see this in The Miller 's Tale when Chaucer describes what is in Nicholas ' bedroom. His Almageste and books grere and smale, His astrelabie longynge for his art, Hise augrym stones layen faire apart On shelves couched at his beddes heed '' Nicholas is described not by his valor in battle or honour in the court. Instead, his many skills are described at great length, including the fact that he is studying one of the many scholarly arts that were popular at that time. Chaucer then goes on to describe what Nicholas is wearing and his skills as a musician. His presse ycovered with a faldyng reed, And al above ther lay a gay sautrie On which he made a nyghtes melodie So swetely that al the chambre song, And Angelus ad virginem he song, And after that he song The Kynges Noote ; Full often blessed was his myrie throte ! Again Nicholas is shown not as a brave knight but as a talented musician. He is shown to be very cultured as well as studied. Chaucer shows that Nicholas was skilled in the art of music, as he knew these certain songs which might have been quite popular at the time. What Nicholas wears could also be here to show that Nicholas wore clothes befitting his social class status. This focus on what a person could wear based on status was also important to Richard II. Analysis The tale appears to combine the motifs of two separate fabliaux, the ' second flood ' and ' misdirected kiss ', both of which appear in continental European literature of the period. Its bawdiness serves not only to introduce the Reeve 's tale, but the general sequence of low comedy which terminates in the unfinished Cook 's tale. This Absolom, that jolly was and gay, Gooth with a sencer ( censer ) on the haliday, Sensynge the wyves of the parisshe faste ; And many a lovely look on hem he caste, And namely on this carpenteris wyf. ( 3339 ) Alisoun, however, does not return Absolom 's affections, although she readily takes his gifts. A third theme, that of knowledge and science, appears in several marginal comments. Nicholas is an avid astrologer ( as Chaucer himself was ), equipped with, `` His Almageste, and bookes grete and smale, / His astrelabie, longynge for his art... '' John the carpenter represents unintellectual laymen ; John tells Nicholas : Men sholde nat knowe of goddes pryvetee ( God 's private affairs ). Ye, blessed be alwey a lewed ( unlearned ) man That noght but oonly his bileve kan ! ( who knows nothing except the Creed ) ( 3454 ) He also recounts a story ( sometimes told of Thales ) of an astrologer who falls into a pit while studying the stars. The issue of whether learned or unlearned faith is better is also relevant to The Prioress 's Tale and The Parson 's Tale. Parody The tale is replete with word - puns. Much is made of variations on `` priv - '' implying both secret things and private parts. Nicholas fondles Alisoun 's `` queynte '', a noun, while Absolom is described after his humiliation as having his ardour `` yqueynt '' or quenched. The Miller 's name is intended as a pun on the phrase `` rob ' em ''. As told in the Reeve 's Tale the Miller is a not just a bully but a thief of grain he is supposed to grind for his customers. Continuations The 15th - century Tale of Beryn depicts the Miller trying and failing to explain the stained glass windows of Canterbury cathedral. Chaucer refers to the Distichs of Cato with this passage : `` He knew nat Catoun, for his wit was rude. '' The Distichs of Cato was one of the most common textbooks in schools throughout medieval Europe, and was familiar to almost anyone with a basic education in Latin. The painting Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Breugel the Elder illustrates many of the themes in this story including a shot - window in use, a man with his backside on fire, a falling through a basket from a roof, pious hypocrisy, and cuckolding. Use in other media In an episode of the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory, Amy told a portion of the Miller 's Tale ( recited in the original Middle English ) when Bernadette dared her to tell a dirty story. According to Amy, it was the dirtiest story she knew. See also Chaucer 's special manuscript words Angelus ad virginem `` A Whiter Shade of Pale '', song that alludes to this story References Jump up ^ Geoffrey Chaucer, `` General Prologue '', lines 547 -- 568. Jump up ^ Geoffrey Chaucer, `` The Miller 's Tale '', lines 3109 -- 3186. Jump up ^ Lambdin, Laura C. ( 1999 ). Chaucer 's Pilgrims : An Historical Guide to the Pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 276, 296. ISBN 0 - 275 - 96629 - 1. Retrieved 17 September 2010. Jump up ^ Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales : the Miller 's Tale ( 100 -- 103 ). Jump up ^ Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales : the Miller 's Tale ( 104 -- 110 ). Jump up ^ `` The Big Bang Theory '', Season 4, Episode 8, `` The 21 Second Excitation ''. First aired November 11, 2010. External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : The Canterbury Tales / The Miller 's Prologue and Tale Wikibooks has more on the topic of : The Miller 's Tale Read `` The Miller 's Tale '' with interlinear translation, from a Harvard University website The Canterbury Tales ( based on British Library copies of William Caxton 's editions ), via a De Montfort University website A study guide for The Miller 's Prologue and Tale from a UK teacher 's personal website Modern Translation of the Miller 's Tale and Other Resources at eChaucer `` The Millers 's Tale '' -- a plain - English retelling for non-scholars. Geoffrey Chaucer Works The Canterbury Tales General Prologue The Knight 's Tale The Miller 's Tale The Reeve 's Tale The Cook 's Tale The Man of Law 's Tale The Wife of Bath 's Tale The Friar 's Tale The Summoner 's Tale The Clerk 's Tale The Merchant 's Tale The Squire 's Tale The Franklin 's Tale The Physician 's Tale The Pardoner 's Tale The Shipman 's Tale The Prioress 's Tale Sir Thopas The Tale of Melibee The Monk 's Tale The Nun 's Priest 's Tale The Second Nun 's Tale The Canon 's Yeoman 's Tale The Manciple 's Tale The Parson 's Tale Chaucer 's Retraction Other works The Romaunt of the Rose The Book of the Duchess The House of Fame Anelida and Arcite The Parliament of Fowls Boece Troilus and Criseyde The Legend of Good Women A Treatise on the Astrolabe Spurious The Cuckoo and the Nightingale The Complaint of the Black Knight The Floure and the Leafe Pierce the Ploughman 's Crede Jack Upland Tales The Tale of Gamelyn Prologue and Tale of Beryn The Plowman 's Tale The Pilgrim 's Tale Language and Texts Rhyme royal Heroic couplet English words first attested in Chaucer MSS Tradition Order of The Canterbury Tales Hengwrt Chaucer Ellesmere Chaucer Harley MS. 7334 Adam Pinkhurst Scribe D Related Chaucer 's influence on fifteenth - century Scottish literature Influence of Italian humanism on Chaucer Philippa Roet ( wife ) Katherine Swynford ( wife 's sister ) Thomas Chaucer ( son ) Alice de la Pole ( granddaughter ) Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales Order of The Canterbury Tales General Prologue The Knight 's Tale The Miller 's Tale The Reeve 's Tale The Cook 's Tale The Man of Law 's Tale The Wife of Bath 's Tale The Friar 's Tale The Summoner 's Tale The Clerk 's Tale The Merchant 's Tale The Squire 's Tale The Franklin 's Tale The Physician 's Tale The Pardoner 's Tale The Shipman 's Tale The Prioress 's Tale Sir Thopas The Tale of Melibee The Monk 's Tale The Nun 's Priest 's Tale The Second Nun 's Tale The Canon 's Yeoman 's Tale The Manciple 's Tale The Parson 's Tale Addenda The Plowman 's Tale The Tale of Gamelyn Siege of Thebes Prologue and Tale of Beryn Films The Canterbury Tales ( 1972 ) Stage The Two Noble Kinsmen ( 1634 play ) The Canterbury Pilgrims ( 1917 opera ) Canterbury Tales ( 1964 musical ) Television Trinity Tales ( 1975 ) The Canterbury Tales ( 2003 ) Literature The Canterbury Puzzles A Commentary on the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales Single tale derivations The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle Chanticleer and the Fox The Book of the Dun Cow Palamon and Arcite God Spede the Plough `` The Pilgrim 's Tale '' Related Chaucer 's Retraction Ellesmere Chaucer Hengwrt Chaucer Descriptive Catalogue `` Have a nice day '' Words first used in Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Miller%27s_Tale&oldid=800474677 '' Categories : The Canterbury Tales Fabliaux Fictional millers Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2015 All articles needing additional references EngvarB from September 2013 Use dmy dates from September 2013 Articles containing Middle English - language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Español Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 13 September 2017, at 19 : 42. 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Question: big bang theory amy tells a dirty story
Answer: the Miller's Tale