Short Story Review Chaucer The Canterbury Tales The Manciples Tale

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Pologue The Pilgrims are slowed down by a drunken cook, who is in danger of falling from his horse, as he is half asleep. The Host tries to get him to tell the next story, but is too inebriated to even begin, so the Host offers the story telling opportunity to the Manciple. (Someone responsible for controlling food stores). The Cook is quite indignant at the way the Manciple takes over his spot, but the Manciple offers him more alcohol, and the Cook quickly loses interest in events, so the Manciple is free to tell his story. The Tale – Phoebus, master archer, singer, musician, and all round hero, is renowned for the part he played in the death and destruction of a monstrous python.snake Phoebus now keeps a white crow (raven), which he has taught to speak fluently. This is a tale told of a time when crows had voices as beautiful as that of the nightingale. Phoebus is very possessively jealous of his wife, but she manages to have an affair in his absence anyway. Unfortunately, she has not banked on the crow being prepared to tell Phoebus all about this on his return home. Phoebus, enraged, kills his wife, and then he becomes resentful of the crow for bringing him the news of her infidelity. He not only kills his own crow, and casts it into Hell, but also curses the bird in general that it will lose its ability to sing beautifully, and that its feathers will turn black so that it becomes nothing but a shrill voiced harbinger of storms and impending doom. The fable becomes a warning against any who would ruin a relationship by divulging knowledge of indiscretions. The gossip is sure to be as despised as those whose secrets he reveals. Arthur Chappell