The Nun's Priest's Tale Video

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale appears as the twentieth story in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written in 1390. The story is a “beast fable,” meaning that the plot features animals endowed with human characteristics as a way to satirize society. In the story, a rooster named Chaunticleer has a dream about his safety being compromised, which later proves prophetic when he is pursued by a mal-intended fox. Following the tradition of Aesop’s fables, the reader is meant to derive a moral resolution at the story’s conclusion.

The story begins with a poor, old widow who lives in a small cottage in a valley. She leads a simple life, providing for her two daughters from a modest farm on her property. In this yard lives a rooster named Chaunticleer. He is described as beautifully colored, with a bright red head and golden feathers. Chaunticleer lives with seven hens, his favorite of which is named Pertelote.

One morning, Chaunticleer produces a groan from his throat. Worried, Pertelote inquires to see what is the matter. Chaunticleer explains that he had a horrible dream in which a fox entered the yard and tried to kill him. Chaunticleer is convinced that the dream is foreshadowing a future event, and he worries about a potential attack.

Pertelote mocks Chaunticleer, explaining that he is a coward for believing an imaginary event that happened in a dream could come true. Pertelote quotes the teachings of someone named Cato, who argued that dreams are merely caused by physical issues in the body. Pertelote suggests that she go pick herbs and prepare an elixir to cure Chaunticleer of inflammation, which she believes to be the cause of his disturbance. Chaunticleer disagrees with Pertelote, explaining that throughout history there have been many instances of dreams being significations of things to come.

In order to prove this point, Chaunticleer draws upon two examples: one in which a man dreams that his friend was murdered and his body hidden in a dung cart, and another in which a man preparing for an overseas journey dreams that he will drown. In both of these instances, the dreams proved to be real. Chaunticleer also references characters in history and mythology that had prophetic dreams––among them Andromache (a Greek mythological figure that dreamt her husband would die in battle), Macrobius (a fifth century scholar who wrote about dream theory), and Croesus (the ancient king of Lydia who dreamt that his son would be killed by an iron spear).

Chaunticleer cuts himself short and changes the subject from dreams. Instead, he tells Pertelote that the beauty of her face is enough to make him feel fearless. He quotes a Latin proverb to express his affection: “Mulier est hominis confusio.” He translates it as “woman is man’s joy and all his bliss,” but the actual translation is “woman is man’s ruin.”

The story skips in time to the beginning of May. Chaunticleer is walking proudly around his land with his seven wives while a coal-tipped fox lurks nearby. The narrator explains that the fox has been waiting for three years for the perfect moment to pounce. Chaunticleer sees the fox while looking at a butterfly in the cabbage patch.

The fox begins talking to Chaunticleer, claiming to have met his mother and father. The fox praises Chaunticleer’s father’s singing voice, describing how he used to stretch his neck and stand on his tiptoes before breaking into song. The fox asks Chaunticleer if he is able to sing like his father, and Chaunticleer stands on his tiptoes, outstretches his neck, and closes his eyes. The fox finally pounces, grabbing Chaunticleer by the neck and dragging him into the woods.

Startled by the commotion, the widow and her daughters leave their cottage and follow the fox into the grove. Chaunticleer manages to speak to the fox, encouraging him to speak to the widow and her daughters. The fox opens his mouth to agree to Chaunticleer’s point, and when he does so, Chaunticleer breaks free and soars high above into a nearby tree. The fox attempts to trick Chaunticleer into descending, but Chaunticleer knows better than to fall into this trap. Frustrated, the fox curses all those that “chatter when they should hold their peace.”