{"id":14768,"date":"2021-11-02T19:59:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T19:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/?page_id=14768"},"modified":"2022-12-03T22:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T22:12:10","slug":"contes-de-canterburry-le-manciple-8","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/tales-of-canterburry-le-manciple-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Canterburry Tales: The Manciple"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"14768\" class=\"elementor elementor-14768\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7eff3ea elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"7eff3ea\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8d74fc4\" data-id=\"8d74fc4\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6cc4e4e elementor-align-justify elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"6cc4e4e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Breton mythology<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9fa8404\" data-id=\"9fa8404\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6fab6ed elementor-align-justify elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"6fab6ed\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Les_Contes_de_Canterbury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Wiki<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-682dbc3 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"682dbc3\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6957662\" data-id=\"6957662\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f48b4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9f48b4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Geoffrey Chaucer is an English writer and poet who was born in London in the 1340s and died in 1400 in that same city. His most famous work is <i>Canterbury Tales<\/i>. The <i>Canterbury Tales<\/i> are, with <i>Sire Gauvain and the Green Knight<\/i> (from an anonymous person) and <i>Peter the Plowman<\/i> (by William Langland), the very first great works of English literature. Here is the first tale: the manciple.<\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-9347 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/cropped-AlphaOmega-e1602613368367.png\" alt=\"canterbury tales the manciple\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" title=\"\"><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-60b7ec9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"60b7ec9\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1b4041b\" data-id=\"1b4041b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e95b7d4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e95b7d4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseprofile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/breton-mythology\/tales-of-canterburry-le-manciple-8\/#Contes-de-Canterburry-Le-conte-du-manciple\" >Canterburry Tales: The Tale of the Manciple<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Contes-de-Canterburry-Le-conte-du-manciple\"><\/span>Canterburry Tales: The Tale of the Manciple<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-eebfd3d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"eebfd3d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-62e343a\" data-id=\"62e343a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-be6a7c6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"be6a7c6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><p><span class=\"sc\">Prologue to the Manciple.<\/span><\/p><i>Here follows the prologue to the Conte du Manciple.<\/i><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>Don&#039;t you know where a small village is<br \/>called Bob-up-and-down<sup id=\"cite_ref-2\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>under Blean Forest, on the Canterbury Road.<br \/>There our host began to joke and taunt<br \/>and said: \u201cMesseigneurs, what is this! the grison is bogged down<sup id=\"cite_ref-3\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0!<br \/>Is there no one who, for gold or for prayer,<br \/>does not want to wake up our companion, the straggler over there?<br \/>A thief could easily rob him and bind him,<br \/>see how he dozes! see, palsambleu<sup id=\"cite_ref-4\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">10<\/span> if he is not going to fall from his horse immediately.<br \/>Is this a cook from London, the plague of him?<br \/>let him be brought here, he knows his penance,<br \/>because he must tell us a tale, on my faith<sup id=\"cite_ref-5\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0!<br \/>even if his tale would not be worth a haystack!<br \/>Wake up, cook (he cried), may God distress you!<br \/>What harm have you taken that you sleep in the morning?<br \/>Have you had fleas all night, or are you drunk,<br \/>where did you work some bitch all night long,<br \/>that you can&#039;t hold your head high? &quot;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">20<\/span> The cook who was quite pale and not at all red,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>said to our host: &quot;God bless me,<br \/>I feel such heaviness all over my body,<br \/>I don&#039;t know why, that I would like to sleep better<br \/>than drinking the best gallon<sup id=\"cite_ref-6\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup> of wine from all over Cheapside \u201d.<br \/>- &quot;Well (cried the manciple), if that is agreeable to you<br \/>to you, sir cook, without displeasing any person<br \/>who rides here in this company,<br \/>and if our host is willing, in his courtesy,<br \/>I will excuse you for the moment for telling your tale;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">30<\/span> because, in good faith, your face is very pale,<br \/>your eyes are also blurred, it seems to me,<br \/>and I&#039;m sure your breath stinks of sour,<br \/>which shows that you are not in good condition.<br \/>It is not me, of course, who will flatter you.<br \/>Look at him yawn there, the drunkard;<br \/>doesn&#039;t it look like he wants to swallow us all of a sudden?<br \/>Close your mouth, friend, by the race of your father!<br \/>May the hell devil set foot in it!<br \/>Your damn breath will poison us all.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">40<\/span> Fi, the stinking swine, fi, shame be upon you!<br \/>Hey! take care, gentlemen, of that fellow.<br \/>Now that, my sweet lord, do you want to run the quintan<sup id=\"cite_ref-7\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0?<br \/>For this game I think you are ready!<br \/>I think you drank monkey wine<sup id=\"cite_ref-8\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>and it is then that the men have fun with a straw. &quot;<br \/>At this speech the cook became angry and furious,<br \/>and against the manciple he shook his heavy head,<br \/>unable to speak, and threw himself down from his horse,<br \/>and he remained on the ground, until they lifted him up;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">50<\/span> it was a beautiful cook&#039;s ride!<br \/>Alas! what hadn&#039;t he been holding on to his pot spoon<sup id=\"cite_ref-9\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0!<br \/>And before he was in the saddle again,<br \/>it took a big push here and there<br \/>to lift it up, and much care and pain,<br \/>this poor pale ghost was so unwieldy.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>And our host then addressed the manciple:<br \/>&quot;Since the drink has subdued this man<br \/>to his dominion, over my salvation,<br \/>I think he would misrepresent his tale.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">60<\/span> Because, whether it&#039;s wine, or old or cold beer<br \/>that he has drunk, he speaks with his nose,<br \/>and sniffles loudly, and finally he has a cold in his head.<br \/>He also has more than he can do<br \/>to keep him and his horse out of the quagmire;<br \/>and if he falls from his horse a little while ago,<br \/>then we will have enough to do<br \/>lifting his heavy drunken body.<br \/>Tell us your tale, I don&#039;t care about him.<br \/>But nevertheless, manciple, on my faith, you are very reckless<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">70<\/span> to blame him openly for his vice,<br \/>another day he may by adventure<br \/>claim you and make you come back to the lure<sup id=\"cite_ref-10\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0;<br \/>I mean he&#039;ll talk about little things,<br \/>that, for example, he will peel your accounts,<br \/>which would not be honest, if it came to verification. &quot;<br \/>- Oh ! (cried the manciple), that would be a great misfortune!<br \/>He could easily lure me into the trap.<br \/>I would like to pay the price of the mare even better<br \/>let him go up, than engage in this struggle with him;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">80<\/span> I don&#039;t want to irritate him, true as God helps me!<br \/>What I said, I said for a laugh;<br \/>and do you know one thing? I have here in a gourd<br \/>a sip of wine, yes da, and of a famous vintage,<br \/>right away you&#039;ll see a good joke.<br \/>This cook will have a drink, if I can;<br \/>on pain of death, he won&#039;t say no to me! &quot;<br \/>And certainly, if it is necessary to say what happened,<br \/>in this vessel the cook aims firmly, alas!<br \/>what need did he have? He had drunk enough already<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">90<\/span> And when he had blown that horn,<br \/>he brought the gourd back to the manciple;<br \/>and the cook was wonderfully happy with this beverage,<br \/>and thanked him in such a way that he could.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>So our host laughed out loud, how wonderful it was,<br \/>and said: &quot;I see it well, it is necessary,<br \/>wherever we go, to take a good drink with us;<br \/>because it will turn resentment and displeasure<br \/>in good harmony and affection, and will appease more than one insult.<br \/>O Bacchus, blessed be your name,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">100<\/span> you who can thus change serious things in the game!<br \/>Honor and thanks be to your divinity!<br \/>On this subject, you will not tell me more.<br \/>Tell us your tale, manciple, please! &quot;<br \/>&quot; That is ! sir; or (said the other), listen to what I have to say \u201d.<\/p><\/div><div><i>So ends the prologue to Le Manciple.<\/i><\/div><div>\u2042<\/div><div><span class=\"sc\">Tale of the Manciple.<\/span><\/div><div><i>Here begins the Tale of the Manciple on the Raven<\/i><sup id=\"cite_ref-11\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>When Phebus dwelt here on this earth,<br \/>like the old <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/book-libraries\/\">books<\/a> mention it,<br \/>he was the most successful bachelor<sup id=\"cite_ref-12\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/>from all over the world, and also the best archer.<br \/>He killed Python the snake, while the latter<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">110<\/span> slept stretched out in full sun some day;<br \/>and many other noble feats<br \/>he accomplishes with his bow, as we can read in the books.<br \/>He knew how to play any musical instrument,<br \/>and sing, that it was a melody<br \/>to hear the sound of his clear voice.<br \/>Certainly the king of <a href=\"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wind-pelasges-mythology\/\">Thebes<\/a>, Amphion,<br \/>who by his song enveloped this city,<br \/>never knew how to sing half as well as him.<br \/>Moreover, he was the man of the most beautiful appearance<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">120<\/span> which is or has been since the beginning of the world.<br \/>What need is there to describe his features?<br \/>for in this world no living being has been so beautiful.<br \/>He was with that confit in nobility,<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>in honor and in perfect merit.<br \/>Our Ph\u00e9bus who was the flower of the bachelors,<br \/>in generosity as well as in chivalry,<br \/>for his entertainment, also as a sign of his victory<br \/>on Python, as the story goes,<br \/>had become accustomed to carrying a bow in his hand.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">130<\/span> Now this Phebus had a crow in his house<sup id=\"cite_ref-13\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>that in a cage he had been caring for more than a day,<br \/>and he had trained him to speak, as one trains a jay.<br \/>White was that crow, like a snow-white swan,<br \/>and he knew how to counterfeit the words of every man,<br \/>when he reported a story.<br \/>With that, in the whole world no nightingale<br \/>could not, within a hundred thousand times,<br \/>sing in such a wonderfully pleasant and beautiful voice,<br \/>Now our Ph\u00e9bus had his wife in his house<sup id=\"cite_ref-14\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">140<\/span> that he loved above his life,<br \/>and night and day were diligent<br \/>to please him and pay him homage,<br \/>apart from that, if I have to tell the truth,<br \/>that he was jealous and would have liked to keep her close,<br \/>for it was odious to him to be duped;<br \/>and it is the feeling of every man in this condition;<br \/>but it is in vain, for the precautions are of no effect.<br \/>An honest woman, who is pure in fact and in intention<sup id=\"cite_ref-15\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>should not be kept under surveillance, to be sure;<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">150<\/span> and, in truth, it is useless labor<br \/>to watch a libertine, because that cannot be.<br \/>I hold that this is real madness<br \/>- to waste his time watching women;<br \/>thus wrote it the clerics of old in their life.<br \/>But now about, as I started it.<br \/>The noble Phebus does all he can<br \/>to please him, supposing by such pleasures,<br \/>and because of his bravery and conduct,<br \/>that no one else would replace him in the graces of his wife;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">160<\/span> but, God is my witness, he is not in the power of man<sup id=\"cite_ref-16\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/>to master the instinct whose nature<br \/>naturally gifted a creature.<br \/>Take a bird and put it in a cage<br \/>and use all your effort and care<br \/>to feed him tenderly with food and drink,<br \/>of all the sweets you can think of,<br \/>and keep it as neat as you can;<br \/>her golden cage may be beautiful,<br \/>this bird will prefer twenty thousand times better<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">170<\/span> go to a forest that will be wild and cold<br \/>to eat worms and other vile food.<br \/>Cause this bird will always apply<br \/>to escape from his cage, if he can;<br \/>it is his freedom that this bird always desires.<br \/>Take a cat, feed the good with milk<br \/>and tender flesh, and make it a layer of silk;<br \/>if he sees a mouse pass by the wall,<br \/>immediately he leaves milk, flesh and everything there,<br \/>and all the sweets that are in the house,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">180<\/span> such an appetite he has to devour a mouse.<br \/>See, it is here that desire exercises its domination,<br \/>and that appetite drives out wisdom.<br \/>A wolf also has the nature of a villain;<br \/>the coarsest wolf she can find,<br \/>or of the worst reputation, is the one she will take,<br \/>at the time when she will desire a companion.<br \/>All these examples I cite for husbands<br \/>who are unfaithful and not for women.<br \/>Because men always have a carnal appetite<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">190<\/span> to have enjoyment of vile creatures,<br \/>rather than their wives, however beautiful they may be,<br \/>or so faithful or so easygoing.<br \/>The flesh loves novelty so much (badly for it!)<br \/>that we cannot find pleasure in anything<br \/>which tends ever so slightly towards virtue.<br \/>Ph\u00e9bus, who did not think of any fraud,<br \/>was deceived in spite of all his fine merits;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>because below him she had another,<br \/>man of little reputation,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">200<\/span> unworthy in comparison with Phebus.<br \/>The damage is only the greater; such a thing often happens,<br \/>from which are born many evils and miseries.<br \/>So it happened, during the absence of Phebus,<br \/>that his wife should send for her good friend early<sup id=\"cite_ref-17\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0;<br \/>his good friend? of course, the term is not courteous,<br \/>forgive me, I beg you.<br \/>The wise Plato said, as you can read,<br \/>that the word must necessarily fit the fact;<br \/>if we want to tell one thing properly,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">210<\/span> the word must be the cousin of the act<sup id=\"cite_ref-18\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/>I&#039;m an outspoken man, I say it bluntly,<br \/>there is no real difference<br \/>between a woman who is of high lineage,<br \/>if she is crazy about her body,<br \/>and a poor girl; no other than this<br \/>- if it happens that they both misbehave -<br \/>namely that the noble woman, of high status,<br \/>will be called his lady by the lover;<br \/>and because the other is a poor woman,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">220<\/span> she will be called his bitch or his good friend.<br \/>And, God is my witness, my dear brother<sup id=\"cite_ref-19\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>let men put one as low as the other lies.<br \/>Likewise, between an untitled tyrant<br \/>and a robber or a highway robber,<br \/>I also assert that there is no difference.<br \/>This truth was told to Alexander<sup id=\"cite_ref-20\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0:<br \/>that because the tyrant has greater power<br \/>to kill with one blow by the force of his army,<br \/>and burn houses and hearths, and make desert everywhere,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">230<\/span> that is why he is called captain;<br \/>and because the brigand only has a small band<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>and cannot do as much harm as he,<br \/>nor reduce a country to such a degree of misery,<br \/>men call him brigand or thief.<br \/>But, as I am a man ill versed in the texts,<br \/>I will not cite any supporting text for you;<br \/>I come back to my tale, as I started it.<br \/>When the wife of Phebus had sent for her good friend,<br \/>they immediately indulged in their joking madness.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">240<\/span> The white crow that was still hanging in its cage,<br \/>saw their work and did not say a word.<br \/>And when Phebus the lord returned,<br \/>the crow sang: \u201cHello! Cuckoo ! Cuckoo ! &quot;<br \/>&quot;What, the bird (said Ph\u00e9bus), what song do you sing to us?&quot;<br \/>Haven&#039;t you used to singing so happily<br \/>that for my heart it was a pleasure<br \/>to hear your voice? Alas, what a song is yours! &quot;<br \/>- &quot;By God (said the other), I do not sing out of tune;<br \/>Phebus (he said), despite your merit,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">250<\/span> despite all your beauty and nobility,<br \/>despite all your songs and all your music,<br \/>despite all your attentions, your eye has a blindfold<br \/>what a man of low reputation has given you,<br \/>which is not worth close to you, if we compare it,<br \/>not the price of a gnat; I answer for my life!<br \/>because on your bed I saw him caress your wife. &quot;<br \/>What do you want more ? the crow soon told him,<br \/>with certain signs and frank words,<br \/>how his wife got his deduction,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">260<\/span> inflicting great shame and disgrace upon him;<br \/>and repeated to him that he had seen the thing with his eyes.<br \/>Ph\u00e9bus turned away quickly,<br \/>it seemed to him that his heart of pain was bursting in two;<br \/>he bent his bow, placed an arrow on it,<br \/>and in his anger when he killed his wife.<br \/>This is the event, there is nothing more to say<sup id=\"cite_ref-21\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0;<br \/>in his pain he broke his musical instruments,<br \/>and harp and lute and rebec and psaltery,<br \/>and finally he broke his arrows and his bow.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">270<\/span> And after that he spoke thus to the crow:<br \/>&quot;Traitor (he cried), with the tongue of a scorpion<sup id=\"cite_ref-22\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>,<br \/>it was you who reduced me to despair!<br \/>Alas! why was i born? what am I not dead?<br \/>O darling woman, o jewel of delight,<br \/>you who were so devoted to me and with that so faithful,<br \/>here you are lying dead now, your face discolored,<br \/>quite innocent, I would dare to take an oath, in truth.<br \/>O hasty hand that made such a dark mistake;<br \/>O disturbed mind, O thoughtless anger,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">280<\/span> who in his blindness strikes the innocent!<br \/>O distrust, full of false suspicions,<br \/>where was your sense and wisdom?<br \/>O men, all beware of haste;<br \/>do not believe anything without assured testimonies;<br \/>don&#039;t knock too early, before you know why,<br \/>and think well and wisely,<br \/>before performing an execution,<br \/>in your anger, on a suspicion.<br \/>Alas! a thousand people were, by too quick anger<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">290<\/span> Forever destroyed, and fell into the quagmire.<br \/>Alas! of grief I want to kill myself! &quot;<br \/>And turning to the crow: &quot;O treacherous thief (he said),<br \/>I want to pay you on the hour for your lying tale!<br \/>you used to sing like a nightingale;<br \/>now, treacherous thief, you will lose your voice,<br \/>and also your white feathers to the last,<br \/>and you will never speak again in all your life.<br \/>This is how one should take revenge on a traitor;<br \/>you and your brood will be eternally black,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">300<\/span> and you will never hear sweet songs,<br \/>but you will cry ceaselessly to announce storm and rain,<br \/>as a testimony that it is because of you that my wife is killed. &quot;<br \/>And on the crow he rushed, and that without delay,<br \/>and plucked his white feathers to the last,<br \/>and made him black and deprived him of all his singing<br \/>and also of his word and threw him out the door<br \/>to the devil, to whom I leave it;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>and it is for this reason that all crows are black.<br \/>Messeigneurs, by this example, I beg you,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">310<\/span> be warned, and pay attention to what I say:<br \/>never tell any man in your life<br \/>how another dressed his wife;<br \/>he will hate you mortally, for sure.<br \/>Dom Solomon, as wise clerks report,<br \/>teach the man to hold his tongue well<sup id=\"cite_ref-23\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0;<br \/>but, as I have already said, I do not know the texts.<br \/>But nevertheless that&#039;s how my mother taught me<sup id=\"cite_ref-24\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\u00a0:<br \/>\u201cMy son, think of the crow, in the name of God;<br \/>my son, keep your tongue well and you will keep your friend.<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">320<\/span> A wicked tongue is worse than a demon;<br \/>My son, men can exorcise a demon.<br \/>My son, God in his infinite goodness,<br \/>surrounded your tongue with a wall of teeth and also of lips,<br \/>so that the man would think about what he was going to say.<br \/>My son, very often, for having spoken too much,<br \/>more than one man got lost, as the clerics teach,<br \/>but for short words spoken with thought<br \/>no one comes to harm, generally speaking.<br \/>My son, you must moderate your language<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">330<\/span> at all times, except when you are trying<br \/>to speak of God, in worship and prayer.<br \/>The premium virtue, son, if you want to learn it,<br \/>it is to moderate and retain your tongue well; -<br \/>this is how children learn when they are young. -<br \/>My son, with an abundance of ill-advised words<br \/>where fewer words would have been enough,<br \/>there is an abundance of evils, as I have been told and taught.<br \/>In abundant talk, sin is not lacking.<br \/>Do you know what a rushed tongue is for?<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">340<\/span> Just like a sword cuts and slices<br \/>one arm in two, dear son, all the same<br \/>a tongue cuts friendship in two.<br \/>A gossip is abominable before God;<\/p><\/div><div class=\"poem\"><p>read Solomon, so wise and so worthy of honor;<br \/>read David in his psalms, read Seneca.<br \/>My son ; do not speak, but nod.<br \/>Pretend that you are deaf, if you can hear<br \/>a talkative talker about a perilous subject.<br \/>The Flemish says, and learn this, please,<br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">350<\/span> that short chatter brings long peace<sup id=\"cite_ref-25\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<br \/>My son, if you haven&#039;t said a single bad word,<br \/>you will not need to fear betrayal;<br \/>but the one who spoke badly, I dare say it,<br \/>he cannot recall his word at all.<br \/>Thing which is said, is said; and she flies away,<br \/>although we repent of it, or that we have pleasure or pain.<br \/>We are the slave of the one to whom we say<br \/>a story, which we now regret.<br \/>My son, beware and don&#039;t be the first author<sup id=\"cite_ref-26\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><br \/><span class=\"OptionText\" title=\"Numbered verses\">360<\/span> news, whether true or false.<br \/>Wherever you go, among the great or the humble,<br \/>hold your tongue well and think of the crow. &quot;<br \/><br \/><\/p><div><i>Here ends the tale of the Manciple on the Raven<\/i><sup id=\"cite_ref-27\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>.<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breton Mythology Wiki Geoffrey Chaucer is an English writer and poet born in London in the 1340s and died\u2026 <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":96,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14768","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25261,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14768\/revisions\/25261"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mythslegendes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}