Chanticleer and the Fox
Encyclopedia
The Nun's Priest's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales
by the Middle English
poet Geoffrey Chaucer
. Composed in the 1390s, the 626-line narrative poem is a beast fable
and mock epic based on an incident in the Reynard cycle. The story of Chanticleer and the Fox
became further popularised in Britain through this means.
s, criminals and fallen heroes which prompts an interruption from the knight. The host upholds the knight's complaint and orders the monk to change his story. The monk refuses, saying he has no lust to pleye, and so the Host calls on the Nun's Priest to give the next tale. There is no substantial depiction of this character in Chaucer's General Prologue
, but in the tale's epilogue the Host is moved to give a highly approving portrait which highlights his great physical strength and presence. "The Nun's Priest's Tale" offers a lively and skillfully told story from a previously almost invisible character.
The fable concerns a world of talking animals who reflect both human perception and fallacy. Its protagonist is Chauntecleer, a proud rooster who dreams of his approaching doom in the form of a fox. Frightened, he awakens Pertelote, the chief favourite among his seven wives. She assures him that he only suffers from indigestion and chides him for paying heed to a simple dream. Chauntecleer recounts stories of prophets who foresaw their deaths, dreams that came true, and dreams that were more profound (for instance, Cicero's account of the Dream of Scipio
). Chauntecleer is comforted and proceeds to greet a new day. Unfortunately for Chauntecleer, his own dream was also correct. A col-fox, ful of sly iniquitee (line 3215), who has previously tricked Chauntecleer's father and mother to their downfall, lies in wait for him in a bed of wortes
.
When Chauntecleer spots this daun
Russell (Line 3334), the fox plays to his prey's inflated ego and overcomes the cock's instinct to escape by insisting he would love to hear Chauntecleer crow just as his amazing father did, standing on tiptoe with neck outstretched and eyes closed. When the cock does so, he is promptly snatched from the yard in the fox’s jaws and slung over his back. As the fox flees through the forest, with the entire barnyard giving chase, the captured Chauntecleer suggests that he should pause to tell his pursuers to give up. The predator's own pride is now his undoing: as the fox opens his mouth to taunt his pursuers, Chauntecleer escapes from his jaws and flies into the nearest tree. The fox tries in vain to convince the wary rooster of his repentance; it now prefers the safety of the tree and refuses to fall for the same trick a second time.
The Nun's Priest elaborates his slender tale with epic parallels drawn from ancient history and chivalry and spins it out with many an excursus
, giving a display of learning which, in the context of the story and its characters, can only be comic and ironic. It concludes by admonishing the audience to be careful of reckless decisions and of truste on flaterye
.
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
by the Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
poet Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
. Composed in the 1390s, the 626-line narrative poem is a beast fable
Beast fable
The beast fable or beast epic, usually a short story or poem in which animals talk, is a traditional form of allegorical writing. It is a type of fable in which human behaviour and weaknesses are subject to scrutiny by reflection into the animal kingdom....
and mock epic based on an incident in the Reynard cycle. The story of Chanticleer and the Fox
Chanticleer and the Fox
The Nun's Priest's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by the Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Composed in the 1390s, the 626-line narrative poem is a beast fable and mock epic based on an incident in the Reynard cycle...
became further popularised in Britain through this means.
The tale and framing narrative
The prologue clearly links the story with the previous Monk's Tale, a series of short accounts of toppled despotDespotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
s, criminals and fallen heroes which prompts an interruption from the knight. The host upholds the knight's complaint and orders the monk to change his story. The monk refuses, saying he has no lust to pleye, and so the Host calls on the Nun's Priest to give the next tale. There is no substantial depiction of this character in Chaucer's General Prologue
General Prologue
The General Prologue is the assumed title of the series of portraits that precedes The Canterbury Tales. It was the work of 14th century English writer and courtier Geoffrey Chaucer.-Synopsis:...
, but in the tale's epilogue the Host is moved to give a highly approving portrait which highlights his great physical strength and presence. "The Nun's Priest's Tale" offers a lively and skillfully told story from a previously almost invisible character.
The fable concerns a world of talking animals who reflect both human perception and fallacy. Its protagonist is Chauntecleer, a proud rooster who dreams of his approaching doom in the form of a fox. Frightened, he awakens Pertelote, the chief favourite among his seven wives. She assures him that he only suffers from indigestion and chides him for paying heed to a simple dream. Chauntecleer recounts stories of prophets who foresaw their deaths, dreams that came true, and dreams that were more profound (for instance, Cicero's account of the Dream of Scipio
Dream of Scipio
The Dream of Scipio , written by Cicero, is the sixth book of De re publica, and describes a fictional dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before he commanded at the destruction of Carthage in 146 BCE.Upon his arrival in Africa, Scipio Aemilianus is visited by his...
). Chauntecleer is comforted and proceeds to greet a new day. Unfortunately for Chauntecleer, his own dream was also correct. A col-fox, ful of sly iniquitee (line 3215), who has previously tricked Chauntecleer's father and mother to their downfall, lies in wait for him in a bed of wortes
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
.
When Chauntecleer spots this daun
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Russell (Line 3334), the fox plays to his prey's inflated ego and overcomes the cock's instinct to escape by insisting he would love to hear Chauntecleer crow just as his amazing father did, standing on tiptoe with neck outstretched and eyes closed. When the cock does so, he is promptly snatched from the yard in the fox’s jaws and slung over his back. As the fox flees through the forest, with the entire barnyard giving chase, the captured Chauntecleer suggests that he should pause to tell his pursuers to give up. The predator's own pride is now his undoing: as the fox opens his mouth to taunt his pursuers, Chauntecleer escapes from his jaws and flies into the nearest tree. The fox tries in vain to convince the wary rooster of his repentance; it now prefers the safety of the tree and refuses to fall for the same trick a second time.
The Nun's Priest elaborates his slender tale with epic parallels drawn from ancient history and chivalry and spins it out with many an excursus
Excursus
An excursus is a short episode or anecdote in a work of literature . Often excursuses have nothing to do with the matter being discussed by the work, and are used to lighten the atmosphere in a tragic story, a similar function to that of satyr plays in Greek theatre...
, giving a display of learning which, in the context of the story and its characters, can only be comic and ironic. It concludes by admonishing the audience to be careful of reckless decisions and of truste on flaterye
Flattery
Flattery is the act of giving excessive compliments, generally for the purpose of ingratiating oneself with the subject....
.
Adaptations
- Robert HenrysonRobert HenrysonRobert Henryson was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots makars, he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renaissance at a time when the culture was on a cusp between medieval and renaissance sensibilities...
used The Nun's Priest Tale as a source for his Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the FoxeThe Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the FoxeThe Taill of Schir Chanticleir and the Foxe is Fabill 3 of Robert Henryson's cycle of thirteen Morall Fabillis composed in Scotland in the later fifteenth century...
, the third poem in his Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian composed in or around the 1480s. - The poet John DrydenJohn DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
adapted the tale into more modern language under the title of The Cock and the Fox (1700). - The Nun's Priest's Tale was put to music in 1951 by Gordon JacobGordon JacobGordon Percival Septimus Jacob was an English composer. He is known for his wind instrument composition and his instructional writings.-Life:...
. - The poem was made into a book titled Chanticleer and the FoxChanticleer and the FoxThe Nun's Priest's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by the Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Composed in the 1390s, the 626-line narrative poem is a beast fable and mock epic based on an incident in the Reynard cycle...
written and illustrated by Barbara CooneyBarbara CooneyBarbara Cooney was an American children's author and illustrator of more than 200 books and double Caldecott Medalist. She has written books for six decades...
that won the 1959 Caldecott MedalCaldecott MedalThe Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
. - Michael HurdMichael HurdMichael Hurd can refer to:*Michael John Hurd , English composer*Michael J. Hurd, psychologist, author, and talk radio host...
set it as a pop cantata for children in 1976 as "Rooster Rag." - Chanticleer and the Fox - A Chaucerian Tale (1991) is a book written by Fulton Roberts with Marc Davis' illustrations for a Disney cartoon that was never completed.
- Around 2007, the playwright Dougie Blaxland wrote the comic play "Chauntecleer and Pertelotte", which is inspired by the Nun's Priest's Tale.
See also
- Chaucer’s special manuscript words
- Online resources