The Manciple's Tale

"The Manciple's Tale" is part of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It tends to appear near the end of most manuscripts of the poem, and the prologue to the final tale, "The Parson's Tale", makes it clear it was intended as the penultimate story in the collection. The Manciple, a purchasing agent for a law court, tells a fable about Phoebus Apollo and his pet crow, which is both an origin myth explaining the crow's black feathers and a moralistic injunction against gossip.

Prologue

In the tale's prologue, the Host tries to rouse the drunken Cook to tell a tale, but he is too intoxicated. The Manciple insults the Cook, who falls semi-conscious from his horse, but they are reconciled by the Host and the Manciple offers the Cook another drink to make up.^[1]

Plot

In the main plot of the tale, Phoebus has a crow, which is all white and can speak. Phoebus also has a wife, whom he treasures but keeps shut up in his house. He is very jealous of his wife:

A good wyf, that is clene of werk and thoght,
Sholde nat been kept in noon awayt, certayn;
And trewely the labour is in vayn
To kepe a shrewe, for it wole nat bee.
This holde I for a verray nycetee,
To spille labour for to kepe wyves:
Thus writen olde clerkes in hir lyves.^[2]

The Manciple digresses to say that one cannot tame a creature to remove its essential nature; no matter how well-fed a tame cat may be, it will still attack mice instinctively. Similarly, Phoebus's wife takes a lover of low estate; the crow reveals their secret, and Phoebus in rage kills his wife. In his grief afterwards, he regrets his act and blames the crow, cursing it with black feathers and an unmelodious voice. The Manciple ends by saying it is best to hold one's tongue, and not to say anything malicious even if it is true.^[3]

Sources

The ultimate source for the tale is Ovid's Metamorphoses. Chaucer probably knew several French versions, such as that in the Ovide moralisé and Machaut's Voir dit.^[4] Adaptations were popular in Chaucer's time, such as one in John Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[5]^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Chaucer: The Manciple's Tale". public.wsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
^ "9.1 The Manciple's Prologue and Tale". chaucer.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
^ "The Manciple's Tale | story by Chaucer". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
^ See Jamie Claire Fumo, "Thinking Upon the Crow: The Manciple's Tale and Ovidian Mythography", The Chaucer Review, 38 no.4 (2004): 355-375. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/cr.2004.0011
^ Hazelton, Richard (1963). "The "Manciple's Tale": Parody and Critique". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 62 (1): 1–31. ISSN 0363-6941. JSTOR 27714178.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Manciple's Prologue and Tale (Chaucer)

Geoffrey Chaucer

Works

The Canterbury Tales	General Prologue The Knight's Tale The Miller's Tale The Reeve's Tale The Cook's Tale The Man of Law's Tale The Wife of Bath's Tale The Friar's Tale The Summoner's Tale The Clerk's Tale The Merchant's Tale The Squire's Tale The Franklin's Tale The Physician's Tale The Pardoner's Tale The Shipman's Tale The Prioress's Tale Sir Thopas The Tale of Melibee The Monk's Tale The Nun's Priest's Tale The Second Nun's Tale The Canon's Yeoman's Tale The Manciple's Tale The Parson's Tale Chaucer's Retraction
Other works	The Romaunt of the Rose The Book of the Duchess The House of Fame Anelida and Arcite The Parliament of Fowls Boece Troilus and Criseyde The Legend of Good Women A Treatise on the Astrolabe The Complaint of Mars
Spurious	The Cuckoo and the Nightingale The Complaint of the Black Knight The equatorie of the planetis The Floure and the Leafe Pierce the Ploughman's Crede Jack Upland Tales The Tale of Gamelyn Prologue and Tale of Beryn The Plowman's Tale The Pilgrim's Tale

Language
and Texts

Manuscript tradition: Order of The Canterbury Tales; Hengwrt Chaucer; Ellesmere Chaucer; Harley MS. 7334; Adam Pinkhurst; Scribe D; John Shirley; Geoffrey Spirleng

Chaucer's influence on fifteenth-century Scottish literature
Influence of Italian humanism on Chaucer
Philippa Roet (wife)
Katherine Swynford (wife's sister)
Thomas Chaucer (son)
Alice de la Pole (granddaughter)
A Knight's Tale (2001 film)

v t e Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
Order of The Canterbury Tales	General Prologue The Knight's Tale The Miller's Tale The Reeve's Tale The Cook's Tale The Man of Law's Tale The Wife of Bath's Tale The Friar's Tale The Summoner's Tale The Clerk's Tale The Merchant's Tale The Squire's Tale The Franklin's Tale The Physician's Tale The Pardoner's Tale The Shipman's Tale The Prioress's Tale Sir Thopas The Tale of Melibee The Monk's Tale The Nun's Priest's Tale The Second Nun's Tale The Canon's Yeoman's Tale The Manciple's Tale The Parson's Tale
Addenda	The Plowman's Tale The Tale of Gamelyn Siege of Thebes Prologue and Tale of Beryn
Films	The Canterbury Tales (1972)
Stage and music	The Two Noble Kinsmen (1634 play) The Canterbury Pilgrims (De Koven) (1917 opera) Canterbury Tales (1964 musical)
Television	Trinity Tales (1975) Canterbury Tales (2003)
Literature	The Canterbury Puzzles A Commentary on the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Single tale derivations	The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle Chanticleer and the Fox The Book of the Dun Cow Palamon and Arcite (Edwardes) "Palamon and Arcite" (Dryden) God Spede the Plough "The Pilgrim's Tale"
Related	Chaucer's Retraction Descriptive Catalogue Ellesmere Chaucer "Have a nice day" Hengwrt Chaucer The Tabard

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