The Shipman’ s Tale

THE SHIPMAN

°  A large and tough man.

°  Great with ships, but poor at riding horses

°  There once was a rich merchant from St. Denys, who had a beautiful wife.

°  They had a lovely home and often had guests over. One frequent guest was Sir John, a monk.

°  The merchant and the monk were very close and vowed to always act as brothers.

°  The monks stayed over for a visit one day and run into the merchant’ s wife in the garden.

°  She looked upset and admitted to him she was neglected in her marriage.

°  She begged him to loan her money to buy clothes, which her husband will not allow her to.

°  He agreed to give her the money, kissed her, and confessed   his love for her.

°  At night, the monk asked his merchant friend for a loan to buy cattle.

°  The merchant happily gave him the money, and left for Bruges.

°  The monk returned to the merchant’ s home and gave the merchant’s wife the money she asked for; she agreed to spend the night with him.

°  Sometime later the merchant stops by the monk’ s abbey.

°  The monk told him that he has repaid the loan to the merchant’s wife.

°  The merchant returned home, and his wife confessed she spent it on clothes. She promised to repay him in bed.

°  He forgave her.