“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is another tale from the Canterbury Tales. It is a story told by a anthropomorphic rooster named Chanticleer. Chanticleer sees a dream of a fox attacking him. His wife, Pertelote, convinced him to ignore it. However, the fox later tricks Chanticleer and kidnaps him, but Chanticleer uses his wit to escape.

The Prologue

After the Monk’s tragic story, the knight interrupts him to stop. What he has said is true but he wants to listen to a different story. Most people have experienced grief in their lives and it is distressing to hear when a prosperous man encounters a sudden downfall. On the other hand, it is joyful to hear when one rises from adversity to prosperity and remains in that state. 

Such stories are pleasing to him and worth sharing with all. The Host agrees with the Knight and tells it is fruitless to complain about misfortune. His story has brought sadness and is annoying the pilgrims. He stops him because he finds it not entertaining. Therefore, he requests the Monk, Sir Piers, a different story of hunting. He refuses; therefore the Host assertively calls upon assertively the Nun’s Priest, Sir John, to tell a story that will delight them.

His horse is becoming lean which suggests the tiredness of not just the animal but also of all of them. Therefore, the Nun’s Priest agrees to tell a story.

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

There is an old, poor widow who lives in a little cottage beside a grove in a valley. She is patient and leads a simple life. She has two daughters and three pigs, three cows, and a sheep called Molly. She often passes her day with an insufficient amount of food, and no tasty sauce or good food. The moderate diet makes keeps her healthy and away from diseases like apoplexy. Instead of wine, she has milk and brown bread. Her livestock is her resource. She eats grilled bacon and one or two eggs in her meals.

She is a diary maid. She has an enclosed yard which is surrounded by palings. There is a rooster named Chanticleer who is known for his crowing. There is no rooster like him. He has a mellifluous voice and it is more pleasant than the organ played on mass days in the chapel. His crowing is more accurate than a clock or abbey horologe.

Chanticleer has seven hens to take care of. One of them is Pertelote who is a seven-night-old hen, she is courteous, discreet, debonair, and friendly. Chanticleer likes her the most. They sing together joyfully when the bright sun rises.

One day, Chanticleer is sitting on his porch among his wives. He starts moaning and his love Pertelote asks him what it is that troubling him, He tells him he has had a nightmare. He is wandering in the yard and sees a beast that looks like a hound and is about to attack him. Pertelote scolds him for being fearful and he has lost her heart and her love for him for being a coward. She says a woman desires a brave, wise, free, discreet, no miser, and humble husband. She cannot love a coward. She asks him where his heart is to match his beard. She tells dreams are nothing to be afraid of.

She refers to Cato, an ancient Roman philosopher who advised people not to pay attention to dreams. She suggests he take a laxative to help to purge his choler and melancholy to avoid bad dreams in the future. She offers her help to find the right herbs in their yard for him since there is no apothecary there.

Pertelote tells Chanticleer that he is choleric, meaning hot-tempered, which is characterized by anger, irritability, and impatience. The noon’s heat may increase the humor in his body if he does not pay attention to his body before he has a tertian fever or an ague. She recommends taking digestives of wormwood one or two days before taking laxatives of laurel, centaury, fumitory, hellebore, caper spurge, and blackthorn berry plantain. If he follows her, he will have no dream.

Chanticleer argues though Cato advised people to be afraid of dreams, some wise writers have opined that dreams are significant for both joys and sorrows of life. 

Chanticleer refers to Cierco, a great author, who says that once two friends go on a pilgrimage. They come across a town where they meet so many people for which there is no rent of a cottage to stay together. Therefore, one of them stays in a stable with oxen under compulsion. However, the other one gets a comfortable place. 

The one who sleeps comfortably has a nightmare where he sees his friend in a stable calling him for help because he thinks he is going to be murdered. He wakes up in fear but he initially dismisses it as mere fantasy and goes back to sleep.

He sees his dream again and in the third dream, the victim tells him he is dead and instructs him how to find the corpse, and calls him to the west gate of the town. The murderer has hidden the body in a cart, full of dung. The Carter has killed him for his gold and he asks his friend to get him arrested.

The next morning, the other friend goes there and finds the cart full of dung. The innkeeper informs him that his friend had already left the town. He becomes suspicious and remembers what his friend has told him in his dream He follows his dream and finds the dead body in the dung cart accordingly. He calls upon the officers for justice.

The murder of a virtuous man is a foul act and God will reveal it eventually, even though it is hidden for a year or three. The officer seizes the cater and the innkeeper. They confess their wicked act and they were hanged. 

Chanticleer tells another story of two men who wish to pass the sea to go into a far country. One of them has a dream where a man stands by his bedside and prophesizes that he will drown if he sails. He tells his friend about his dream and begs him to delay their voyage for the day. His friend who is sleeping by the bedside laughs at him and ignores the dream and his friend’s request. He dismisses this by saying dreams are meaningless.

He sails and a mishap happens. Other ships witness the ship and the man drowns in the sea probably due to the torn planks of the ship. 

Therefore, Chanticleer claims to Pertelote that based on these examples, it is clear that man should consider dreams lightly. He brings another reference from the life of Saint Kenelm who has a vision of his murder. As a seven-year-old boy, he is too young to understand the warning he has received in the dream. 

Chanticleer suggests his wife Pertelote read Macrobius, who writes of a vision of Scipio’s in Africa, his opinion, the Old Testament, the stories of Joseph, Pharaoh, and Croesus, the king of Lydia.

Andromache, Hector’s wife, sees a dream of the night before her husband’s death. She warns him not to go to the battle. Unfortunately, he goes and Achilles kills him in the fight. 

Therefore, he believes he shall have some problems in the future and her recommendation to take laxatives is of no use. He considers the herbs poison and so, he rejects having them. After discussing for a long time, Chanticleer suggests to Pertelote that they should talk of something delightful and forget the disturbing discussion.

The story transits to March. Chanticleer is walking proudly by the side of his seven wives. But his joyful time will come to an end as a sly and wicked fox who has lived in the grove for three years is planning to attack Chanticleer. Accordingly, the fox sneaks into the yard at night. 

Chanticleer goes to the yard despite being aware of the dream and follows the advice of Pertelote. The narrator points out that women’s suggestion often leads man to misfortune. He refers to the story of Adam and Eve to validate his point. He states these are the cockerel’s words, not his and he wishes not to harm any divine woman.

One day, when Chanticleer is singing merrily, he sees the fox lying low. Before Chanticleer runs away and the fox convinces him not to be afraid of him and that he means no harm. He tells him that he has come to hear how well he sings. The fox flatters the rooster and tells him that he has a voice that can please the angels greatly.

He continues his flattery and says he is better than Boethius or any singer. The fox also adds that Chanticleer is like his father who is also a great singer. He encourages Chanticleer to sing again and he becomes blinded by his flattery. The narrator warns the pilgrims should be aware of the flatters and cozener. He advises them to read Ecclesiastes on flattery. As Chanticleer stretches out his neck and keeps his eyes closed to sing, the fox, Sir Russell, seizes the rooster by the throat and runs away from the place.

The narrator laments the kidnap of Chanticleer. Pertelote also mourns for her husband. Her grief is more intense that she cries louder than Hasdrubal’s wife when her husband dies. The hens cry as loudly as the senator’s wives who lose their husbands when Nero sets fire to Rome. 

The poor widow and her daughters hear the cry of the hens and they chase after the fox. The shouting of men and women, and the barking of the dogs frighten the cow, calf, hogs, and other animals and cause them to run or fly away. The narrator compares the noise to the screams of the fiends in Hell. They bring trumpets of brass, flutes of box, horns, and bones to make noise. 

Despite his fear, Chanticleer says that if he were the fox, he would turn back and confront them to say loudly that he will eat the rooster. As Sir Russell opens his mouth, Chanticleer suddenly breaks free from his mouth and flies into a tree nearby.

Sir Russell feels sorry and tries to deceive the rooster again. The fox tries to convince him to come down from the tree and tells him that he has brought him not to harm him. He does not believe him and curses both himself and the fox. In Christianity, flattery is not recommended. He uses flattery to save himself. Chanticleer rebukes himself for being foolish and the fox in turn wishes that God might give them bad luck who are careless about their behavior and talk when they should be silent. He realizes being reckless, negligent, and trusting in flattery can lead to trouble. 

The narrator ends his tale by advising his listeners to take note of the moral. He refers to Saint Paul who says that we should take the grain, the useful part of something, and leave the chaff, the useless parts behind. He concludes the story with a prayer to God, asking him to make them all good men and bring them to the heights of bliss.

The Epilogue to the Nun’s Priest’s Tale

The Host praises the Nun’s Priest for telling such a merry tale. He tells him if he were not a religious man, he would have been a trader of hens because of his spirit and strength. His complexion does not need any artificial dyes from Brazilian wood or scarlet from Portugal. The priest can handle a lot of hens. The host praises his physical appearance: his shoulders, solid neck, and chest. He compliments and says that he gazes like a sparrow hawk and thanks him for his story.