The Summoner's Tale

The Summoner's Tale Summary

"The Summoner's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" is a tale of satire and revenge told by the Summoner, a character who's angry and upset with the Friar for the tale he's just told about a corrupt Summoner.

Here's a summary in modern English:

The tale begins with a Friar who is visiting the house of a sick man named Thomas. The Friar delivers a long sermon on the evils of anger and the importance of giving donations to the Church. He criticises Thomas for not giving enough, accusing him of hoarding wealth while pretending to be poor.

Annoyed and frustrated by the Friar's constant pleas for money, Thomas tells the Friar that he does have a gift for him, but he must reach down and find it beneath him. Expecting a generous donation, the Friar reaches down only to be met with a loud, crude fart.

The Friar is enraged and rushes to the lord of the land to complain about the insult. The lord, however, is amused by the situation and proposes a solution to distribute Thomas's 'gift'. He suggests that the fart should be divided into twelve equal parts (an allusion to the twelve friars in a community) so that every friar gets an equal share. This way, the 'benefit' of the donation could be enjoyed equally among the friars.

"The Summoner's Tale" is a crude and vengeful story, a far cry from the moral and cautionary tales told previously. It's Chaucer's commentary on the hypocrisy of religious figures who preach about virtue but are driven by greed. It serves as a satirical critique of the Church's abuse of authority for personal gain.