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| Medieval Illumination of the Renart et Chantecler (wikimedia) |
- The Nun's Priest's Tale in the Canterbury Tales is also the tale of the Cock, the Hen, and the Fox. A poor old widow lives alone with her two daughters. She doesn't have much, but she makes do. One thing she does have is a fantastic rooster. His name is Chanticleer. He is the greatest, most beautiful, smartest rooster ever. Chanticleer has seven hen-wives. His favorite, the most beautiful, is Demoiselle Partelote. So, one night Chanticleer has a dream about a small red animal with glowing eyes and black markings. The dream frightens Chanticleer. When he tells his favorite wife about the dream, she shames him and says that men are not supposed to be afraid of things, especially not dreams. Unbeknownst to them, there is an evil fox lurking nearby, and it desperately wants to get is jaws on Chanticleer. One day, the fox comes up and flatters and tricks Chanticleer (who should have been warned by his dream), then grabs the rooster by the neck and takes off with him. Chanticleer crows for help, and a bunch of humans chase after the fox. Chanticleer then tricks the fox and gets away.
- The story provides two morals, one from the perspective of the fox and one from the rooster. The rooster's moral is 'no one will ever thrive who shuts up his eyes when he ought to keep them open.' The fox's moral is 'bad luck to him who talks when he ought to hold his peace.'
- I want to retell the story from Demoiselle Parelote's perspective. She shames him for being afraid of his dream, when they should have heeded the warning in it. She needs her own moral 'only the foolish scoff at a warning that is given.'
Bibliography: The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan. Web source.
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