The Wife of Bath’s Tale



The Wife of Bath’s TaleIn VerseWhen good King Arthur ruled in ancient daysA king that every Briton loves to praiseThis was a land brim-full of fairy folk.The Elf Queen and her fairies would dance and joke.Or so was the opinion in days of yoreBut now no one sees fairies any more.Now it so happened, I began to sayLong, long ago in good King Arthur’s day,There was a knight who was a lusty liver.He saw a maiden walking from the river.She was walking alone and all forlornHe hurt her virtue and her dress was torn.The king condemned the knight to lose his head.This was the law. He was as good as dead.The Queen and other ladies in that placeWanted the King to exercise his grace.He granted her his life, and she could chooseWhether to show him mercy or refuse.The Queen gave the king thanks with all her mightAnd then she said this to that lusty knight.“You stand not certain of your life,” said she,“Yet you shall live if you can answer me:What is the thing that women most desire?Beware the ax and say as I require.A twelvemonth and a day you have to learnSufficient answer, then you shall return.”Sad was the knight and sorrowfully sighed,But there all other choices were denied.He knocked at every house, searched every placeYes, anywhere that offered hope of grace.What could it be that women wanted most?But all the same he never touched a coast,Country or town in which there seemed to beAny two people willing to agree.Some said that women wanted wealth and treasure,“Honor,” said some, some “flattery or pleasure.”The knight that I am telling you aboutSadly he thought he never would find outWhat it could be that women loved the best.His soul was sad within his lonely breast The Wife of Bath’s TaleProse TranslationBack in the time of King Arthur, Briton was full of fairies. The Fairy Queen and her fairies would dance and play jokes, but no one sees fairies anymore. Long ago in King Arthur’s day, there lived a lusty and wild knight. This knight saw a young woman walking all alone by the river. He attacked her and tore her dress. The law said he had to have his head cut off as punishment.The Queen and the other ladies did not want the knight to die, so they begged the King to let the Queen punish the wild knight. The Queen thanked the king and asked the knight a question. She asked him what it was that women wanted most, but he didn’t know the answer. She gave him a year and a day to find the correct answer or he would be put to death. The knight was scared and sad, but had no other choice. The knight searched all over from coast to coast, but there were not two people who could agree on the correct answer. No one anywhere knew what women wanted most. Some people said they wanted honor. Some people said they wanted compliments or good times, but no two people could agree. The knight was now sad and lonely. He was worried he would never find out what women wanted most.As home he went, he dared no longer stay;His year was up and now it was the day.On his way home he passed near a wood and greenWith one ugly old woman to be seen.She said, “Sir knight, there’s no way out from here.Tell me what you are looking for my dear,For I may know just what is best for you;We old, old women know a thing or two.”“Old woman,” said the knight, “Help me today.I am as good as dead if I cannot sayWhat thing it is that women most desire.”“Promise to do the thing I desire.”Said the crone, “if it be within your might,And you shall know the answer before night.”And then she told the secret in his earAnd told him to be glad and not to fear.They found the queen who was ready to hearAnd judge their answer, so the knight drew near.He gave his answer with a ringing wordOf a man’s voice, and everyone there heard.“A woman wants her own power to ruleHer life over husband, lover, or fool.”In all the court not one that shook her headCould contradict what the knight had just said.Every woman there cried, “He saved his life!”And on that word, up stood the old, old wife.She said, “I taught this answer to the knight,And he swore to do what I asked that night.To keep your word sir, take me as your wifeFor you know well that I have saved your life.”With nothing but heaviness and sorrow,He married her in private on the morrow.All day long he stayed hidden like an owlIt was such torture that his wife looked foul.At last she said, “Bless us! Is this, my dear,How knights and wives get on together here?I am your own beloved and your wife,And I am she, indeed, that saved your life;And certainly I never did you wrong.Then why, this first of nights, so sad a song?You’re carrying on as if you were half-witted.Say, for God’s love, what sin have I committed?He did not have any more time to try and find the answer. He had used up an entire year, and it was his last day. On his way home, he came across a very old and ugly woman sitting near the woods. She saw the knight looked lost and asked if she could help him in any way. The knight explained his problem to the old, ugly woman and asked if she knew what it was that women wanted most. To the knight’s surprise, the old ugly woman said she would help him, but first he had to promise to do whatever she asked him to do next. He promised, and she gave him the answer and told him not to worry.The old woman and the knight went to the castle and told the Queen and all her ladies the answer. A woman wants to have her own way and make her own decisions no matter what her husband or lover thinks. Everyone in the court agreed this was the correct answer, and the knight no longer needed to die. The old woman told the Queen how she helped the Knight and how he promised to do whatever she asked. Then, she asked the knight to marry her.The knight was very sad and unhappy. He married the old, ugly woman in a secret service and then hid from her the rest of the day like an owl. He was so upset his wife was ugly. That night, the old woman asked him why he was treating her so badly. She had saved his life, and she had never been mean to him. He was acting stupid, and she wanted to know what she did wrong to have him be so rude.I’ll put things right if you will tell me how.”“Put right?” he cried. “That never can be now!Nothing can ever be put right again!You’re old, and so abominably plain,So poor to start with, so low-bred to follow;It’s little wonder if I twist and wallow!God, that my heart would burst within my breast!”“Is that,” said she, “the cause of your unrest?”“Yes, certainly,” he said, “and can you wonder?”“I could set right what you suppose a blunder,That’s if I cared to, in a day or two,If I were show more courtesy by you.”“Just now,” she said, “you spoke of gentle birth,Such as descends from ancient wealth and worth.But Christ wills we take gentleness from Him,Not from a wealth of ancestry long dim.You are no gentleman, thought duke or earl,Vice and bad manners are what make a churl.“As for my poverty which you reprove, Almighty God himself in whom we move,Believe and have our being, chose a lifeOf poverty, and every man or wife,Nay, every child can see our Heavenly KingWould never stoop to choose a shameful thing.“Lastly you taxed me, sir, with being old.Yet even if you never had been toldBy ancient books, you gentlemen engage,Yourselves in honor to respect old age.You say I’m old and fouler than a fen.You need not fear to be cheated on then.“You have two choices; which one will you try?To have me old and ugly till I die,But still a loyal, true, and humble wifeThat never will displease you all her life,Or would you rather I were young and prettyAnd yet take your chances in a cityWhere friends will visit you because of me,Yes, and in other places too, maybe.She asked him if there was anything she could do to make him feel better, but he said he could never be happy again. She was just too old and ugly, too poor, and too low class.“Is that really why you are so upset?” she asked. He said it was and wondered how she could be so surprised that he didn’t love her. She said she could fix it if she wanted to and he was nicer to her.She said it was not a bad thing that she was not a gentlewoman by birth. She said people are good and gentle because they follow Christ and not because they have important ancestors and family members. She explained that people with good manners and values are noble and cruel people are not gentle even if they have a royal title.She explained that being poor was also not a bad thing, because Jesus Christ was poor and God would never let his son do something shameful.She said it was not a bad thing that she was old and ugly. People should be kind and respectful to older people and ugly people are not sexually wild because no one else wants them.She gave the knight a choice. He could have her as a kind and faithful wife even though she was old and ugly or he could have her be beautiful and important but someone cruel who would cheat on him with his friends. Which would you have: The choice is all your own.”“The knight thought long, and with a pathetic groanAt last he said, with all he care in life,“My lady and my love, my dearest wife,Whatever pleases you suffices me.”“And have I won the master?” said she,“Since I am to choose and rule as I think fit?”“Certainly, wife,” he answered her, “that’s it.”“Kiss me,” she cried. “No quarrels! On my oathAnd word of honor, you shall find me bothThat is, both fair and faithful as a wife,Now look at me, my husband and my life.”And when indeed the knight had looked to see,Now she was young and lovely, rich in charms.With great delight, he caught her in his arms,His heart frolicked in a bath of blissesAnd melted in a hundred thousand kisses.So they lived ever after to the endIn perfect bliss; and may Christ Jesus sendUs husbands meek and young and fresh in bed,And grace to overbid them when we wed.And –Jesu hear my prayer!—cut short the livesOf those who won’t be governed by their wives. Answer the following questions on your own sheet of paper.QuestionsWhat is the setting of this tale?Why is the knight in trouble with the King and Queen?What change does the Queen make in the knight’s punishment?What information does the ugly old woman give the knight?What must the knight do to repay the ugly old woman?Name three reasons the knight is not happy with his new wife.What choice does the knight’s wife give him? What does the young knight choose?What theme or message about marriage does the knight learn?What elements of the supernatural are there in this tale? Thinking QuestionHow is the question the queen asks the knight related to the crime he has committed?The knight had to choose which kind of wife he wanted. He groaned and thought about it for a while. At last, he decided to let his wife choose, and said he would be happy with the choice that made her happiest.The wife asked him if he was sure he wanted to give her the power to make her own choices, and he said yes. The wife then asked the knight to kiss her, and she promised to be both beautiful and faithful. When, the knight finally looks at her, he is surprised to see she is young, lovely, and charming. He holds her in his arms, is very happy, and kisses her a hundred thousand times. They both live happily ever after.The Wife of Bath then wishes every woman a humble, young, and sexy husband who will let them make their own choices and have their own way. She also prays that all the husbands who do not let their wives make their own choices will die young. ................
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