The Canterbury Tales
On a spring day in April--sometime in the waning years of the  14th century--29 travelers set out for Canterbury on a pilgrimage to  the shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett. Among them is a knight, a monk, a  prioress, a plowman, a miller, a merchant, a clerk, and an oft-widowed  wife from Bath. Travel is arduous and wearing; to maintain their  spirits, this band of pilgrims entertains each other with a series of  tall tales that span the spectrum of literary genres. Five hundred  years later, people are still reading Geoffrey Chaucer'sCanterbury  Tales. If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of the Franklin,  the Pardoner, or the Squire because you never learned Middle English,  take heart: this edition of theTaleshas been translated into  modern idiom.From the heroic romance of "The Knight's Tale" to the low  farce embodied in the stories of the Miller, the Reeve, and the  Merchant, Chaucer treated such universal subjects as love, sex, and  death in poetry that is simultaneously witty, insightful, and poignant.The Canterbury Talesis a grand tour of 14th-century English  mores and morals--one that modern-day readers will enjoy.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.