Summary: the Miller’s Tale and Prologue

THE PROLOGUE

After the Knight told his story, the Miller has taken the attention of the others, interrupting the Monk. He was drunk, so the Host tried to convince the Miller to go away, but he began to introduce his tale: the story was about a carpenter and his wife, and how a clerk made a fool of the carpenter. 

THE TALE

John was a wealthy, but ignorant carpenter and he was married with Alisoun, a beautiful eighteen-years-old woman. John was very jealous of Alisoun. They boarded with a clerk, his name was Nicholas, he studied astrology in Oxford. One day John leaves Nicholas and Alisoun alone and they begin flirting each other. After a little time Alisoun accept to sleep with him when it will be safe and Nicholas has a plan for it. But he is not the only one who desire Alisoun: there is also Absolon, another clerk that court Alisoun with gifts and serenades.

The two lovers follow the plan: Alisoun tells John that Nicholas is ill. The carpenter goes see how Nicholas is and he find him immobile, stairing at the ceiling. Then Nicholas tells John he has had a vision of God: he foreseen a flood, like Noah’s, that will destroy the entire land on Monday. John believes the clerk and he fears for his wife. Nicholas gives the carpenter specific instructions: on Monday night they will sleep in tubs loaded correctly, so when the flood arrives they can float over the water.

Monday night arrives and they stay in the tubs. John begins to snore, so Alisoun and Nicholas climb down the tubs and go to sleep in the carpenter’s bed. Then Absolon arrives, hoping for a kiss from Alisoun. He starts calling her and she refuses him, but Absolon persists, so Alisoun gives him a quick kiss. He is not happy yet, he wants a lingering kiss, then Absolon leaps forward near the window, but he finds the Alisoun’s naked arse instead of her lips. The lovers start laughing and Absolon goes away.

The “arse kisser” wants his revenge and he runs to the blacksmith to take a red-hot poker. He returns to the carpenter’s house and he re-tries to kiss Alisoun, so he knocks another time. Nicholas, tired of being interrupted, puts his buttocks on the window and farts thunderously on Absolon’s face. So Absolon brands Nicholas’s arse with the poker and he starts screaming for the big pain. John wakes up because of the scream and he thinks that the flood is happening, then he cuts free the tub and comes crashing to the ground, breaking his arm.

The big noises attract a lot of townspeople. The carpenter tells the flood story and Alisoun and Nicholas pretend ignorance, they say that John is mad. The townspeople laugh that all have received their dues. In the end the Miller hopes good luck to all members of the company.