The Canterbury Tales The Summoner’s Tale - End

 

The Summoner’s Tale

The Summoner is deeply offended by the Friar’s tell and immediately rises to return the favor. He first mentions a joke about how a man, who recently arrived in Hell, could not find any of the Friars and learned that all of them had been banished in the Devil’s asshole. He then begins telling his tale and centers it around a greedy Friar, who goes around asking for donations. It so happens that the Friar ends up at a sick man’s house, where he is received by his wife. The Friar tries to convince her of all the benefits that donations to the Friar will have on her husband’s health. The sick man speaks to the Friar himself and explains that he had grown sick despite giving several Friar donations. The Friar explains that he should have shown belief and merely donated to one friar, and so asks him to donate all of his charity to him. The sick man wishes to teach the Friar a lesson so he asks the Friar to promise him that he would share the donation equally amongst the Friars of his convent. The Friar agrees, and the sick man farts in the Friar’s extended hand. 

The Friar goes to the lord of the manor for justice, but the lord is more focused on devising the right method to evenly share the fart that the Friar had been given as a donation.

The Clerk’s Tale

The host turns to speak to the clerk who has been rather quiet throughout the journey and asks him to tell a tale, but asks him to choose one that is moral. The clerk begins his story, which focuses on the marriage of a nobleman, Walter, with a peasant woman of excellent disposition. He places a singular condition on the woman, Griselda, that she must swear to be obedient to him in all matters. Walter and Griselda have a lovely marriage and they soon welcome a baby daughter into their home. Walter becomes concerned about Griselda’s loyalty to him and so devises a plan of action. Reminding Griselda of her vow, he has a servant take the daughter away from her, and secretly sends her to be raised at his sister’s house. To Walter’s surprise, Griselda’s behavior towards him does not alter, and he repeats this procedure with their son when she gives birth to a boy later onwards. Griselda continues to remain devoted to her husband, and so Walter devises a final test for his wife twelve years after the first test that he had put her through. He tells her that he will be divorcing her and marrying a younger woman, and Griselda leaves the house without complaint.

He invites her back to decorate the house for his marriage, and she gives him one last piece of advice before leaving his life. She advises him to be kinder to his next wife, for she may not be as used to suffering as Griselda had been. Walter finally reveals that he had killed neither of their children and that he had never intended to divorce her. They live out the rest of their lives in bliss. The Clerk clarifies that the moral of the story is not to say that all wives should be like Griselda, but rather that everyone should embrace life as Griselda had done.

The Merchant’s Tale

The Merchant’s story is also about matrimony, but his view of women is quite negative. He begins the discussion by talking about all the times that he has been betrayed by women and then launches into his story about an old Knight called January who decides to get married. January carefully considers what kind of wife he would like and makes a careful selection from among the maidens of his town. He finally chooses to marry a young beautiful woman called May. On the night of their wedding, one of the squires from January's house, Damien, falls in love with May. He decides to confess his true feelings for her through a letter, and the two of them begin a secret affair by means of secret correspondence. January often retreats to a walled garden, whose key he keeps on his person at all times, with May. Misfortune soon strikes January as he suddenly loses the light of his eyes. The suspicious January becomes more possessive of May and keeps her by his side at all times. However, unbeknownst to January, Damien is often present with May and January when they are spending time together.

May takes January’s key to the walled garden and creates an impression so that Damien can create a duplicate key. Damien then goes to the garden before January and May are supposed to come together and hides in the tree branches of a pear tree that May point out to him when she arrives with January. Pluto and Prosperina observe the trio from the heavens, and Pluto wishes to restore January’s eyesight to teach the adulterers a lesson. Prosperina is irritated at this proposal and doesn’t wish for women to get such a reputation. May climbs into the pear tree with the blind January’s help and goes right into Damien’s arms. Pluto restores January’s vision, and he observes Damien making love to his wife. He shouts at her, but May claims that she had restored January’s vision by wrestling with another man in the tree. January refuses to believe her at first, but May grows angry at him and berates him for not being grateful. She reminds him that it is difficult to distinguish shapes when we first open our eyes, and so convinces him that she had just been wrestling with Damien.

The Squire’s Tale

The host then invites the squire to tell a tale about love since he must be an expert in the matter. The squire begins sharing a story about a great king called Cambuskan, who hosts a great feast. One of the guests at the dinner is Gawain, a knight of the round table, and he brings the king many wondrous gifts, including a great horse made of brass, a mirror that shows the viewer if their lover is being unfaithful, and a ring that allows the wearer to understand the language of birds and animals. Gawain bestows the last of these two gifts on Cambuskan’s daughter Candace. The next day, she goes out for a walk and comes across a crying peregrine falcon, who is pulling out all her feathers. Candace helps the bird by treating its wounds and finds out that the falcon was heartbroken because her lover had left her for another bird. Before the squire can continue, his tale is interrupted by the Franklin.

The Franklin’s Tale

The Franklin praises the squire, and at the host’s insistence launches into his tale. He tells them about the story of a noble knight called Arveragus, who marries a virtuous woman called Dorigen. Their marital bliss is interrupted by war, and Arveragus is forced to leave his wife behind. She remains faithful to him even as she is sought out by suitors, but one of these suitors is particularly insistent, his name is Aurelius. To put him off, Dorigen tells him that she would only be with him if he were to remove all the stones from the coast, an impossible proposition. Arvergaus soon returns from war, and he is reunited with Dorigen, but Aurelius continues to pine over his love. His brother introduces him to a magician who claims to have the power to make all the stones disappear for a short while. The man agrees to perform this feat for Aurelius for a small fortune. The deed is performed, and Aurelius shows this to Dorigen. She informs her husband about the word that she had given to Aurelius, and he asks her to keep her word. Dorigen goes to Aurelius and gives herself to him after telling him about her husband’s consent. Aurelius allows her to return to her husband a faithful woman, and the magician forgives Aurelius the fee.

The Second Nun’s Tale

The second Nun shares the life of St. Cecilia. Cecilia, a Christian, marries a pagan man called Valerian. She asks him to convert to Christianity by being baptized by Pope. Valerian remains unconvinced until he is visited in his dreams by an angel, and then he goes to the Pope for his baptism. Upon his return to Cecilia, they are both visited by an angel who presents them with laurels of flowers. Valerian prays for his brother to find Christianity, and after his brother smells the heavenly aroma of the flowers, he also converts to Christianity. The three of them then set about traveling and converting pagans as they come across them during their voyages. They attract the ire of a pagan king, who asks them to stop under threat of death. Cecilia refuses to be halted by his threats even when her husband and his brother are killed by the king’s men. The king then attempts to have Cecilia burned and then beheaded, but they are unable to kill her. Cecilia continues to convert pagans for three whole days even after she is nearly decapitated.

The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale

The company of pilgrims is joined briefly by a Canon and his Yeoman. The Yeoman immediately begins to regale the company with tales of the Canon’s powers, which makes the canon uncomfortable and he leaves the company. The Yeoman then launches into a tale about a scheming Canon, who claims to have the secrets of the Philosopher’s Stone. He explains how the alchemist had fooled an honest man into believing that he had the power to create silver and gold out of trash. The canon then charges the honest man a sizeable amount of gold coins for a fake Philosopher’s stone.

The Manciple’s Tale

The Manciple is invited to tell a tale, and he shares a Pourquoi story about the origins of the crow. He begins his story by talking about Phoebus, the Greek god of the sun, who was one of the most handsome creatures to walk the earth. Phoebus married a beautiful woman, but she became unfaithful to him, and this fact was observed by the white crow that they had as a pet. The white crow decides to inform Phoebus about his wife’s infidelity, and this causes Phoebus to kill his wife. Phoebus regrets his actions and curses the crow to always have black feathers and an ugly croak.

The Parson’s Tale

The host then comes to the Parson and asks him to close the journey with his tale. The Parson refuses to share a tale but rather asks permission to present a sermon. All of the pilgrims assent gladly, and the Parson begins. He talks to them about the seven sins, and how they can be overcome through virtue, and proper contrition in front of God. His ultimate message to the pilgrims is that although all human beings are guilty of sin, God loves us and wishes to forgive us because he truly loves us.

Chaucer’s Retraction

Chaucer ends The Canterbury Tales by asking for forgiveness for all the lecherous and sinful tales that he has written and asks the reader to pray for him. He makes a list of the tales that he is written and ends the volume. 

Analysis

In these final stories of The Tale Canterbury, the Parson’s tale is the second last section of the book. The fictional Parson’s tale is not merely for the benefit of the characters but also for the reader and the author. The Parson’s sermon highlights the fact that the previous tales have established, that humans are at their essence susceptible to sins, and the only means to overcome these sins is to find grace in God’s forgiveness. The sermon seems to have a deep effect on the author, as the Parson’s tale is followed by Chaucer’s retractions in which he presents his contrition and seeks salvation in God’s forgiveness.