"The Merchant's Tale" starts out in the town of Lombardy in Pavia. January, a 60-year-old knight who has led a promiscuous life and has never been married decides that it is time he settles down with a wife and share in the joys of marriage. January gathers his friends and tells them about his plan. Most of them approve, including his brother Placebo. January's brother, Justinius, disapproves. He says that she will ruin his life. January ignores Justinius and sets his sites on a young, 20 year-old girl named May. Soon after they get married.

January's servant Damian has a secret crush on May and reveals it to her in a letter. May too had a crush on Damian and lets him know with a response to his letter. January had a garden that had only one key, only he and May could get into it until May gave the key to Damian and had him make a copy of the key. The plan was

One day, January and May went into the garden and Damian was already there, waiting. May asked January to boost her into the tree Damian was hiding in so that she could get some fruit. As soon as she gets boosted up there, her and Damian began fooling around. Seeing this, Pluto granted January his sight back so he could catch the two of them in the act. When January discovers them in the tree, Prosperpina gives May an explanation that she can tell January so she wont get in trouble. May tells January that he just got his sight back and his eyes are just playing tricks on him. May and Damian continue to fool around in front of January after that day using the same excuse

"The Merchant's Tale" presents the merchant's opinion on marriage. He believes that marriage is a trap and women are deceitful, to the point that May can make January doubt what he is seeing with his own eyes. Although the Merchant intended this to be the moral of his tale, a more fitting moral would be, not to marry in haste. Had January courted a woman closer to his age and gotten to know her before marrying her, the same problem would've most likely not arisen and they would have had a long, happy marriage.

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Approximate Word count = 820
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)