Canon Yeoman's Tale (Canterbury Tales)

A detailed Summary of Canon Yeoman's Tale (Canterbury Tales)

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a Canon and his Yeoman have joined a man they see leave an inn. In this story, the Yeoman starts by telling the host of their occupation and attempts at alchemy. The story the Yeoman is about to tell focuses mainly on one occasion when a Canon had dealings with a priest. After explaining to their host the debt he is now in, the Yeoman tells of the various objects and equipment that they use in the practice of their craft, and against the wishes of his master, he begins his story.

In part one of the Yeoman's tale, he begins by telling the host a bit of his life's past with the Canon. The Yeoman tells his host: "For seven years I have lived with this Canon, and for all his wisdom I'm no better off; I have lost all I owned, as a result, and, God knows, so have many others". (315) With these statements, the Yeoman is setting the opinion of his Canon before the story begins. As he continues in part one,

With everything the canon is about to do being pre-planned, he offers to perform some of his alchemy by turning quicksilver into real silver. The priest, not noticing the trick, was pleased. For a second time, the canon placed chalk into the fire, but slipped a real ingot of silver in when the priest looked away. For a third time, the canon had a hollow stick he had previously filled with silver shavings and plugged with wax. As the wax heated and melted, the silver poured forth. With the priest believing his methods, he offered to buy his secrets, giving forty pounds and promising not to reveal the secrets to anyone. The canon then promptly disappeared.

In the second part of the tale, the Yeoman speaks of a religious man, a canon, that would poison a whole town. "For when he does business with anyone, he so winds himself up in cunning terms and speaks his words in such a sly manner, that unless the person is as much a devil as he, the canon soon

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 649
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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Canon Yeoman's Tale (Canterbury Tales)

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