Chaucer's Nun's Priest Again

Abstract

“Com neer, thou preest, come hyder, thou sir John!Telle us swich thyng as may oure hertes glade.Be blithe, though thou ryde upon a jade.What thogh thyn hors be bothe foul and lene?If he wol serve thee, rekke nat a bene.Looke that thyn herte be murie everemo.”“Yis, sir”, quod he, “yis, Hoost, so moot I go,But I be myrie, ywis I wol be blamed.”—Prologue, Nun's Priest's Tale“But by my trouthe, if thou were seculer,Thou woldest ben a trede‐foul aright.For if thou have corage as thou hast myght,Thee were nede of hennes, as I wene,Ya, moo than seven tymes seventene.See, whiche braunes hath this gentil preest,So gret a nekke, and swich a large breest!He loketh as a sperhauk with his yen;Him nedeth nat his colour for to dyenWith brasile, ne with greyn of Portyngale.Now, sire, faire falle yow for youre tale!”—Epilogue, Nun's Priest's TaleThe literary pastime of finding real-life models for characters in literature is a fascinating one. In proportion as the vital statistics of the object of the literary manhunt recede in time, the fascination grows. Something akin to the possession of occult powers is felt by the literary detective who can, from a foothold in the twentieth century, reach back three, four, or five hundred years and “get his man.” Admittedly there is a real value in this kind of scholarly effort, but there is also a very real danger. The danger arises from the pleasurable self-hypnosis that often accompanies these ventures. In this state of quasi-suspended judgment, we are not always responsible for our conclusions. It is my desire to examine the results of one of these ostensibly successful manhunts in an effort to suggest that the “culprit” was not actually apprehended after all.