Not Too Far From Reality

We read the Miller's tale and laugh. With a combination of the following aspects, the story can go from conventional to ludicrous.

First aspect: A man so foolish to believe he must be like Noah, and save Nicholas, his wife and himself from a flood that's approximating:

3538 ""Hastou nat herd," quod Nicholas, "also
"Hast thou not heard," said Nicholas, "also
3539 The sorwe of Noe with his felaweshipe,
The sorrow of Noah with his fellowship,
3540 Er that he myghte gete his wyf to shipe?
Before he could get his wife onto the ship?
3541 Hym hadde be levere, I dar wel undertake,
He would rather, I dare well guarantee,
3542 At thilke tyme, than alle his wetheres blake
At that time, than have all his black sheep
3543 That she hadde had a ship hirself allone.
That she had had a ship for herself alone.
3544 And therfore, woostou what is best to doone?
And therefore, knowest thou what is best to do?
3545 This asketh haste, and of an hastif thyng
This needs haste, and of a hasty thing
3546 Men may nat preche or maken tariyng.
Men may not preach nor make tarrying"

Second aspect:

Absolon's description in the story:

3337 "But sooth to seyn, he was somdeel squaymous
But to say the truth, he was somewhat squeamish
3338 Of fartyng, and of speche daungerous.
About farting, and fastidious in his speech."

Followed by his actions and their outcomes.

3805 " "Spek, sweete bryd, I noot nat where thou art."
"Speak, sweet bird, I know not where thou art."
3806 This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart
This Nicholas immediately let fly a fart
3807 As greet as it had been a thonder-dent,
As great as if it had been a thunder-bolt,
3808 That with the strook he was almoost yblent;
So that with the stroke he was almost blinded;
3809 And he was redy with his iren hoot,
And he was ready with his hot iron,
3810 And Nicholas amydde the ers he smoot.
And he smote Nicholas in the middle of the ass."

The author links Absolon's description with Nicholas' action. This detail makes the story humorous and ridiculous. It reminds me of poetic justice; in a certain way, Absolon gets what he deserves.

Third aspect:

How the vulgar word usage in this story matches the Miller's personality, and at the same time, contrasts with the Knight's tale.

3167 "What sholde I moore seyn, but this Millere
What more should I say, but this Miller
3168 He nolde his wordes for no man forbere,
He would not refrain from speaking for any man,
3169 But tolde his cherles tale in his manere.
But told his churl's tale in his manner.
3170 M'athynketh that I shal reherce it heere.
I regret that I must repeat it here."

Joining these three, we are able to make fun of the Miller's tale. We characterize the Miller as vulgar, the carpenter as stupid, and the story in general as ridiculous. While we do this, we are making fun human race overall. We laugh at John because he is fooled by Nicholas but not so long ago we were threatened by swine flu, a pandemic which was going to kill us all. So many people went crazy. Countries bought millions of vaccines which ended up either causing terrible side effects or expiring.

So basically, we're still playing the silly game.

Want to get rich?
Make a disease look awfully lethal and then make countries buy enormous amounts of vaccines.

Want to get the carpenters wife?
Make him believe you can foresee a flood, convince him to build and stay inside a tub while you sleep with his wife.

Not too different, are they?

A Migration Of Culture

I first hear of "goods that cross the waters".
Precise descriptions, detailed objects.
I hear of silks of different colors,
Of patterns, of masks, of cast iron pots.
I hear of precious rocks, of tin, and led, and salt,
From gunpowder to flowers,
To exotic fruits of every color.
In the boats come spices, nuts, threads and needles,
Furniture, big animals, small animals,
"Cage birds that sing, birds that talk, birds the color of ash,
The color of sunrise."
Descriptions, details, objects.

With all this comes the rum,
And with the rum comes history,
The history of slaves, of their invention.
A migration of goods that cross the water.
A migration of culture, of new words, of a new language.

"On the boats come the blood that cross the waters"
A mixture of people, of races, of customs.
A melting pot where origins are forgotten.
Mexican parents raising American children.
"When the rain comes again, you will remember,
A certain origin, a canopy of molecules and mist.
You will forget to want yourself a different shade, a different shape."

"On the boats come the blood, the blood, the blood."
The goods are the blood, the words are the blood, the people are the blood.
The blood is culture.
A migration of blood.
A migration of culture.

"Palanca" With The Gods

The farmer prays for rain, while the tourist prays for sun. The germans wanted Paul to be wrong, while the spanish were praying for a psychic octopus. More than six billion people in the world. Those who believe in God(s) (which I'm guessing is a huge number) all asking for different things.

Being a God has to be an arduous task. Overwhelming amounts of requests, sacrifices. Pleads, curses, wishes, cries. Who shall we please? What prayer shall we answer?

Thank GOD we can't even apply for the job. What we do have to worry about though, is making the Almighty listen to us.

It's actually very simple.

If an english teacher wants a book from, oh, lets say Argentina, and knows he wont be visiting any time soon, all he has to do is the following: take full advantage of the benefits of being a teacher and ask his Argentine student if it's not of any inconvenience to maybe stop by a bookstore and buy the book. The student will not refuse to this request (the teacher is of course, aware of this). And there you have it. All the teacher needs to do in order to get the book, is know who to ask.

Gods, like humans have rankings. Some are obviously more important than others. When human's prayers collide and contradict each other, the God of Gods decides which human he will please. He does this by looking back at who prayed to who. The secret lies in what God you plead to. Praying to relatives of the Almighty will definitely have its benefits.

Let's use the story of Palmoun, Arcite and Emelye as an example.

Palmoun prays to Venus:

"Have pitee of my bittre teeris smerte,
Have pity on my bitter, smarting tears,
And taak myn humble preyere at thyn herte.
And take my humble prayer to thy heart."

(2225-2226)

He continuous saying...


Thanne rekke I noght, whan I have lost my lyf,
Then I care not, when I have lost my life,
Though that Arcita wynne hire to his wyf.
Though Arcite win her to be his wife.
This is th'effect and ende of my preyere:
This is the substance and goal of my prayer:
Yif me my love, thow blisful lady deere."
Give me my love, thou blessed dear lady."

(2257-2260)

And to this, Venus responds:

"But atte laste the statue of Venus shook,
But at the last the statue of Venus shook,
And made a signe, wherby that he took
And made a sign, whereby he understood
That his preyere accepted was that day.
That his prayer was accepted that day."

(2265-2267)

Not bad, Palmoun. Lets continue.

Emelye decides to pray to Dyane.

"Chaste goddesse, wel wostow that I
Chaste goddess, well knowest thou that I
Desire to ben a mayden al my lyf
Desire to be a maiden all my life,
Ne nevere wol I be no love ne wyf.
Nor never will I be no lover nor wife."

(2304-2306)

To this she adds:

"And if so be thou wolt nat do me grace,
And if it so be thou wilt not do me grace,
Or if my destynee be shapen so
Or if my destiny is shaped so
That I shal nedes have oon of hem two,
That I must by necessity have one of them two,
Sende me hym that moost desireth me.
Send me him who most desires me."

(2322-2325)

Too bad for Emelye, her prayer will not be answered.

"Thou shalt ben wedded unto oon of tho
Thou shalt be wedded unto one of those
That han for thee so muchel care and wo,
Who have for thee so much care and woe,
But unto which of hem I may nat telle.
But unto which of them I may not tell.
Farwel, for I ne may no lenger dwelle.
Farwell, for I can stay no longer ."

(2152-2354)

Lastly, Arcite pleads to Mars.

"And do that I tomorwe have victorie.
And bring it about so that I have victory tomorrow.
Myn be the travaille, and thyn be the glorie!
Mine be the labor, and thine be the glory!
Thy sovereyn temple wol I moost honouren
I will most honor thy most excellent temple
Of any place, and alwey moost labour
Over any place, and always most labor"

(2405-2408)

Lucky him...


The statue of Mars bigan his hauberk rynge,
The statue of Mars began to ring its coat of mail,
And with that soun he herde a murmurynge
And with that sound he heard a murmuring
Ful lowe and dym, and seyde thus, "Victorie!"
Very low and faint, that said thus, "Victory!"
For which he yaf to Mars honour and glorie.
For which he (Arcite) gave to Mars honor and glory.

(2431-2434)

So the competition is between Palmoun and Arcite. Two completely opposite wishes. It's up to Saturn to decide.

"Now weep namoore; I shal doon diligence
Now weep no more; I shall do my diligence
That Palamon, that is thyn owene knyght,
So that Palamon, who is thine own knight,
Shal have his lady, as thou hast him hight.
Shall have his lady, as thou hast promised him."

(2470-2472)

Congratulations Palmoun!

In this case we see how Venus, being Saturn's daughter, had advantage over Dyane and Mars. Palmoun did well praying to the Goddess of love.

There you have it humans.

Next time you wish for something, you know what to do.

Thou See Therefore Thou Love

Oh how familiar dost this seem,
A love growth from what eyes may see.
This tale thus tell us of two knights,
Called were these men Palamoun and Arcite.
Both shared some similarities:
Cousins, prisoners and most importantly,
From only, and just only sight,
They fell in love with all their might
Of beautiful, young Emelye,
Whom Palamoun saw first and quod he:

"This prison caused me nat for to crye,
But I was hurt right now thurghout myn ye
Into myn herte, that wol my bane be.
The fairnesse of that lady that I see
Yond in the gardyn romen to and fro
Is cause of al my criyng and my wo." (1095-1100)

So I beseech thou to recall,
A similar tale, of this thou shall.
'Tis Romeo, a dear fere of his,
For he too loved another miss.

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

(Romeo and Juliet Scene V.)

Oh fellows, as described above,
These men shall see, therefore shall love.
How can it be that love come from thine eye?
Not a word been spoken yet thou love just fine.