Nonne Preestes Tale:Scheme of the Tale:

Nonne Preestes Tale:Scheme of the Tale:
The Nun’s Priest Tale collocates a number of stories. Some of them are about dreams told by the cock Chanticleer and the Priest. The widow tells the other story. The dream stories are embedded in the fable, the fable story is embedded in the window’s story and the widow’s story in the Priest’s, the Priest’s story is embedded in the Canterbury Tales which is Chaucer’s for the readers. The Cock, the Priest and the poet are the three story-tellers of this tale. The first and the third are created by the third, i.e. the poet. Every readers re-creates them all in his mind. Fictional details are ther- narration, description, dialogue and exposition. The narrative art of the Tun’s Priest’s Tale may be analyzed in terms of the Labovian diamond. The first one hundred twenty lines give the orientation of the tale. The next three hundred lines present the dream and its interpretations by the cock and the hen. The dream of the event and the even itself are related like idea and reality. The crisis is resolved through a play of interests.

The story in brief:
There lives an old widow in a cottage beside a grove. In her yard she has a cock and seven hens. The name of the cock is Chaunticleer. He is the master and husband of the seven hens. The fairest of the hens is called damsel Pertelote. She is courteous trustworthy, gracious and companionable. Chaunticleer loves Pertelote most. One night he dreams of being caught and killed by a fox. But his beloved Pertelote calls him a heartless coward for his being frightened by the dream. According to her there is nothing to fear dream, dream is the result of vanity, humors and fumes. She tells him a dose of purgative to clean his bowels and worms. Chaunticleer tells her of some well known dreams which have come true. However, the cock recovers himself and starts making merriment with his wives. He moves in pride like a royal lion. The time is morning. A fox comes to him and flatters him by saying that he has as sweet a voice as the angel of heaven. He requests Chaunicleer in the name of Saint Charity to sing and to prove that he is as great a singer as his father was. The cock is elevated by the flattery of the fox. He stands high upon his toes, stretches his neck, holds his eyes closed and begins to crow as loudly as it can. Russel the fox at once jumps upon him, catches the fox by the throat and carries it between his jaws towards the forest. The hens raise a tremendous uproar. This takes out of doors the widow, her two daughters and the neighbours. They all chase after the fox with sticks. The cock advises the fox to face the chasers and curse them by using strong words. The fox opens its mouth and as soon as it begins to talk, the cock flies from the fox’s mouth sits high upon a tree. The fox requests Chaunticleer to come down by saying that it has no bad intention. But the cock trusts him no longer.