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The Nun's Priest and His Tale

The Nun's Priest and His Tale

Character Background Essay Author:
"Another Nonne with hire hadde she,
That was hir chapeleyne, and preestes thre." (163-164).

The Nun's Priest's Tale is one of the most commonly retold tales from the Canterbury Tales as a whole.  This animal fable describes the adventures of Chanticleer, a proud rooster, who has a very dramatic nightmare foretelling his own demise.  The next day, a fox approaches him and asks Chanticleer to sing for him, appealing to his vanity.  When Chanticleer stretches forth to sing, the fox grabs him by the neck and dashes away, throwing the farm into an uproar as the rest of the farm's inhabitants chase after the fox.  Chanticleer, in turn, suggests that the fox might turn and proclaim his victory.  When the fox opens his mouth to speak, Chanticleer flies into a nearby tree; the fox tries to lure him back down, but Chanticleer refuses to be swindled again.
Bibliography

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1987.