The Reeve's Tale

The Reeve's Tale Summary

"The Reeve's Tale" is another one of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, featuring a bawdy story of trickery and revenge. The Reeve, an old and thin man named Oswald, tells this tale in response to "The Miller's Tale" as he himself used to be a carpenter and didn't appreciate the foolish carpenter character in that tale.

Here is a summary in modern English:

The story is set in the town of Cambridge, where two students, John and Aleyn, study at a college known as Soler Hall. Both of them are from northern England, and they are known for their cleverness. They are poor and decide to try and outwit a local miller, Symkyn, who is notorious for his own cunning and for stealing grain from his customers.

They take a horse and some grain to be milled and tell Symkyn that they will watch the milling process to ensure that he doesn't steal from them. However, Symkyn, realising their intent, unties their horse, which runs off into the countryside. While the students chase after their horse, the miller takes a portion of their flour and instructs his wife to bake it into a cake.

When John and Aleyn return, they find that some of their grain is missing, but they can't prove the theft. They request to stay the night at the miller's house, planning to stay awake and guard the rest of their grain. They are given a bed in the same room as the miller, his wife, and his daughter. The miller's baby also sleeps in a crib in the room.

In the night, John and Aleyn enact their revenge. Aleyn sleeps with Symkyn's daughter, who mistakes him in the dark for her lover. Meanwhile, John moves the baby's crib to his own bed and tricks the miller's wife into thinking he is Symkyn, leading her to sleep with him.

In the morning, Aleyn, eager to share his escapade with John, accidentally wakes Symkyn. A fight breaks out when Symkyn realises what has happened. However, the miller's wife, thinking that Symkyn is attacking their guests, knocks him out with a staff. The students make a quick escape, taking their flour with them and leaving the miller disgraced and unconscious.

"The Reeve's Tale," like "The Miller's Tale," relies on crude humour and bawdy scenarios, featuring the theme of trickery and deception but with a focus on poetic justice.

Related pages

• The Canterbury Tales

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