The Sea-Captain's Tale:

There is a merchant and his wife who live in St. Denis. The merchant is very good friends with a visiting monk from Paris named Brother John. The merchant is preparing to leave for a business trip to Bruges, so before his departure he counts his income and takes stock of his items. He locks himself away in his office because it is time consuming work that requires a lot of attention. While the merchant is tucked away in his office, the wife approaches Brother John and tells him of her woes. She thinks her husband to be too stingy, and says that he never gives her money to buy any clothes, making her look lik a serving wench at best. She is to host a dinner party while the merchant is away but she has no money to buy a proper outfit. Her husband refuses to give her money because he believes her to be properly equipped. She asks Brother John for a hundred francs so she can buy a dress. Because the wife talked openly of her husband and told him a secret concerning her views on his manner, the monk tells her that he loves her. He says that he will give her the money if she were to spend the night with him in exchange. Brother John then goes to the merchant and discreetly asks for a hundred francs to pay a debt, which the merchant gratefully loans. Both the merchant and the monk leave to Bruges and Paris respectively. The next day Brother John returns and gives the wife the hundred francs, along with accepting his reward. Upon his return to Paris, the monk meets up with the merchant, who he tells that he returned the money to his wife in full and that his debt and loan are now clear. When the merchant returns home and the wife does not mention the payment he asks the wife why she has not yet told him. She says she spent the money on clothes and though it was a gift rather than a payment and apologizes.. but she is secretly very angry that Brother John tricked her.

The Sergeant-At-Law's Tale: Part 3

King Alla returns to his country to find his wife and child gone. The governor tells him what he had commanded and realized the treachery of the King's mother. The King has her killed and is distraught over the loss of his wife and son. Meanwhile, the emperor of Rome hears of what has happened to his daughter in Syria and sends a senator and an army to kill the Sultan's mother and her accomplices. On their journey back to Rome they come across a ship, the very ship that Constance and her son are on. They bring the disoriented woman and child back to Rome where the Senator takes her in and provides her with food and shelter. King Alla, feeling sinful for having killed his mother, goes on a pilgrimage to  Rome. He is greeted by the Senator who houses Constance, who unbeknownst to him is the man's wife. He invites the King to dinner, which the King gratefully accepts. When the King arrives he recognizes Constance and his son and they are happily reunited (after, of course, Constance finds out that it was not on the King's orders that she was sent away). Constance asks her husband to invite the emperor to meet. The emperor recognizes his daughter and they too happily reunite. Constance and her son then go with the King to England where they live for a year until the King dies. She then returns with her son to Rome to live with her father. Her son, Maurice, eventually becomes emperor of Rome.

The Sergeant-At-Law's Tale: Part 2

Upon Constance's arrival, a huge welcoming is arranged. She rides to the Sultan's Kingdom with the Sultan himself and his mother. The mother plays her part well, and pretends to love Constance and treats her as a daughter. However, that night at the feast, the mother hosts Constance and her party and kills them all, including the Sultan's advisors. She spares Constance and sends her on a ship with provisions, ordered to never come back. Constance wanders the sea for three years until she arrives at the tip of Gilbatar, a formerly Christian kingdom but one that has now been taken over by Muslims. Constance arrives delirious and forgetful of her past. The governor of the castle near where she comes ashore greets her and takes her in. He and his wife treat her as a daughter and she is well loved throughout the kingdom. A young knight sees her and falls in love but she rejects all his advances. Bitter, the knight devises a plan to destroy Constance. He slips into the castle when everyone is sleeping and slits the governor's wife's throat. He lays the knife next to Constance and she is thus accused of murder. She is brought before the King and makes her plea. The whole kingdom believes her plight and the King pities her. He asks the Knight to swear witness to the murder, which he does before God and is then smote on the back of his neck. He dies because of his lie and the King asks Constance to marry him. After a little while she bears a son, but the King is not present because he is off in Scotland. She sends word to the King's mother, who then gets the courier drunk and forges a letter to her son telling him that the child is deformed and is the Devil's spawn. The King writes back and tells the mother to keep the child safe until he returns, but the mother forges another letter in the King's name telling the governor to send Constance and the baby to sea within four days on the very same ship she arrived. The governor and the rest of the kingdom are shocked by the demand and regretfully force Constance to leave. She climbs aboard the ship with her baby and enough provisions to last her many years.

The Sergeant at Law's Tale: Part 1

There is a group of traders from Syria who are well known throughout the Middle-East and Europe. They go to Rome and are visited by the Emperor's daughter, Constance. When they return to Syria they visit their friend, the Sultan, to recount their travels and to tell him about Constance's beauty. The Sultan falls in love with her based upon the traders' story and gathers his council to tell them that he will die if he cannot marry her (sooo freakin' dramatic!) Anyways, the councilmen tell the Sultan that the Emperor would never permit his daughter to marry a Muslim. So the Sultan proposes that he should convert to Christianity, and hence, all his subjects and family would as well. His councilmen then present the proposal of marriage to the Emperor who accepts and plans a lavish wedding. Constance, however, is distraught because she has to marry a foreign man; one who she does not know and will have trouble relating to, due to their cultural differences. She acknowledges that she will essentially become a slave to her future husband and live a life of misery, yet she can do nothing to stop the marriage. Meanwhile, the mother of the Sultan is appalled that her son would renounce their religion and take up Christianity. She gathers her own councilmen and plots to prevent the marriage so that the her family and citizens can remain faithful to the Koran. She tells her advisers that they should all pretend to accept Christianity, and once they do that, she will throw a grand feast for the soon to be husband and wife.

The Cook's Tale Prologue:

The cook talks about how much he enjoyed the Reeve's tale and how people should be careful about who they let in their house. To prove his point he quotes Solomon, "Bring not every man into thine house." The host of the party warns the cook to tell a fair and decent tale with quality content. He doesn't want the tale to be like the cook's various pastries and pies that are a week old and covered in flies. The cook says that he has a good story but it is about an innkeeper and he asks the host not to take offense.

The Cook's Tale:

There was a prentice who lived in the same city as the cook. He was strong, handsome and incessantly happy. He loved to sing, dance and gamble his way through the city. However, a problem arose with his employers. They took his outings as thievery because they were essentially the ones to pay for his gambling excursions. Near the end of the man's apprenticeship his master told him to leave. The thought being that the man could not persuade the other men to follow his nightly outings. The Tale ends with the man finding a female companion to gamble and spend his days with. The catch being that she was a prostitute and that was the only match the man was fit for.

Intro to the Sergeant-At-Law's Tale:

Based on the sun's position in the sky, the host determines that it is the eighteenth of April. He asks the Sergeant-At-Law to fulfill his promise and to begin his story. The lawyer says that there is no tale he could tell that has not already been written by Chaucer, the writer in their company. The host says that Chaucer does not write tale's associated with anything that is grotesque or sinful. To that, the lawyer says that he will tell a tale of poverty and speak in prose, leaving the formation of poetry to Chaucer.

The Sergeant-At-Law's Tale Prologue:

The lawyer talk of poverty and how it is the worst condemnation that God could give. He says that poverty reduces a man to become a beggar and diminishes any sort of self-respect due to the need to survive. Poverty causes a man to steal and commit other sinful crimes. He quotes the wise as saying that it is "better to be dead than poor." He then transitions into talking about the rich and how God created a world in which men could be so disproportionately wealthy.

The Reeve's Tale Summary:

After the Miller finishes telling his tale, the Reeve is really offended because he is a carpenter and the story was inappropriate. So for some reason the Reeve thinks that he can get back at the Miller by telling an even raunchier tale that involves a dishonest miller getting cheated. So there is a miller who lives near Cambridge who grinds all the corn for the local area and a nearby college. He steals the flour from everyone he grinds it for and everyone know of his dishonesty but won't do anything about it because he is a strong and dangerous man. Two young men, named John and Alan, come from the nearby college to watch the miller grind their corn so they won't be cheated out again. However, the miller knows of their plan and tries to outsmart the scholars by undoing their plan. He goes outside his house, where the scholars' horse is tied up, and undoes the rope so that the horse runs off. Once the scholars find out about their runaway horse they completely forget about the overseeing of the flour and run to go retrieve their horse. They finally get the horse tied up again by nightfall and ask to stay in the millers house. After the miller, his wife, and his twenty year old daughter fall asleep, Alan decides to get some recompense for his stolen goods. He goes over to the miller's daughter and has sex with her. Then John feels like an idiot because he hasn't gotten any pay back so he moves the baby's cradle in front of his bed so that when the wife gets up to pee and comes back she'll climb into his bed (using the crib to navigate which bed she's in because it is so dark). So the wife gets in bed with John and they have sex because she thinks it's her husband. When Alan get ready to leave he goes to the miller's bed (thinking it's John's) and tells him what he did. The miller and Alan then get into a fight and eventually Alan and John escape with their flour, horse and a sense of payback.

The Miller's Tale:

After the Knight finishes telling his story the Miller drunkenly offers to tell his. He begins with a carpenter named John and his wife Alison. The carpenter is described as being a very simple man, who lacked any sort of intelligence. He allowed people to stay in his house for a fee; one of those men was a scholar name Fly Nicholas. Fly Nicholas was very interested in astrology and would tell people of his predictions based off the stars; such as when it might rain. He was very attracted to the carpenter's wife and made many advances that were adamantly denied by Alison. However, after some time Alison softened up and told Nicholas that when the carpenter left on business they could be together. A parish clerk named Absolon was also interested in Alison. He spotted her at church when she was giving her confessions, and he proceeded to sing by her window every night to tell her of his love. When the carpenter was preparing to finally go away on business, Nicholas and Alison hatched a plan. Nicholas brought up two days worth of food to sustain him while he hid in his room on the days proceeding the carpenter's departure. The thought was to have the carpenter think Nicholas gone so that no suspicions would arise upon his return from his business. The plan was never fulfilled, however, because the carpenter became so worried that he sent his servant up to Nicholas' room to check on him. The boy looked through a hole in the wall and saw that Nicholas was alright, but when he broke the door down Nicholas pretended to be possessed. He told the carpenter that he was sent a message from God saying that a great flood was about to happen, and the only people that could be saved were himself, the carpenter and his wife. Being a man of low intelligence, the carpenter believed every word and went to work on creating three separate tubs for each of them to survive the flood. The next night, the eve of the flood, all three climbed into their respective tubs, situated high up in the rafters of the house. The carpenter fell quickly to sleep, allowing Nicholas and Alison to be together all night in the carpenter's bedroom. Upon learning that the carpenter had not been seen for days, Absolon went to his house at dawn to sing to Alison. She refused him, saying she was in love with another, and told him to leave. He asked for one kiss before he left, which Alison granted with her butt rather than her mouth (it being pitch black out so that he wouldn't notice). When Absolon learned of her trickery he secretly returned with a hot iron and asked for another kiss. Nicholas came this time, and Absolon promptly burned him on the butt with the iron. Nicholas then screamed, awaking the carpenter who cut the rope thinking the flood had started. He fell to the floor breaking his arm, which led to his neighbors coming over to see him on the ground in pain. He told them about the flood, but Alison and Nicholas said he was mad, which everyone believed, and made the carpenter look insane.

The Knight's Tale Summary: Part 4

The tournament begins after many festivities and all of Athens goes to the arena to see the battle. Arcita arrives from the gate dedicated to Mars while Palamon enters from the gate of Venus. The morning of the battle Theseus had declared that he wants no noble man to die; so he ordered that all men that are defeated must be captured in battle rather than killed. After much fighting, Palamon is eventually taken captive. Arcita rejoices and is married on the spot to Emily. However, up in the heavens, Venus looks down with dismay and asks for Saturn to help her because she has been defeated. Saturn asks Pluto to send a fury to disrupt the end of the tournament. A fury arrives just after Arcita and Emily have been married. Arcita is atop his horse, but when the Fury appears, it scares the horse which topples over on top of Arcita. Arcita's chest has been crushed and they take him to Theseus' palace, expecting him to recover. However, Arcita succumbs to his injuries. Just before he dies, he asks Emily to take pity on him and that no man would love him more than Palamon once he is dead. After a great funeral pyre in the woods, years of mourning pass, felt by the citizens of Athens, Thebes, and most of all, Theseus, Emily and Palamon. Once a couple of years have passed a senate meeting occurs in Athens, in which a treaty between Thebes and Athens is proposed. Theseus sends for Palamon from Thebes to discuss the matter of the treaty. When the senate is assembled, along with Emily, Palamon and many onlookers, Theseus declares that Emily and Palamon shall be married. He says that they should stop their mourning and accept Arcita's fate. He says that Arcita passed away in his prime with all his honor and glory and that is something that should be admired not mourned. So he gives his blessing to Palamon and Emily and they are married happily ever after :)

Prompt- Which door would you choose?

I would most definitely choose the door that led to Hogwarts. There are so many reasons that I would pick this world, first and foremost being that there is magic. I also would want to become Hemione's best friend and kill Lavender Brown. I would get my wand at Ollivander's and it would probably be elm wood with a dragon heart string core, but as we all know the wand chooses the wizard so I don't know for sure. I would want to get an owl and a cat, although Im not sure if that would be in violation of some sort of one animal per student rule. I would get a black cat, one that looks a lot like Mrs. Norris so that students would think it worked for Filch and get scared. My owl would be snow white because Hedwig had a very classy look to her. If I went to Hogwarts I would want to be a chaser on the quidditch team. I would be in Ranvenclaw because everyone knows Slytherin is for jerks and Hufflepuff is for losers. I wouldn't want to be in Gryffindor because I feel like everyone in that house would be really arrogant (except for Hermione of course). So when I need to study for an exam I would invite Hermione to the Ravenclaw common room because that's where all the smart kids are. The only bad thing about going to Hogwarts is that I am pretty sure all the wizards and witches will die out. I mean, its just that J.K Rowling did not create a sustainable world; the only way the magic bloodline can stay alive is if there was a lot of incest going around. So yeah that is kind of self-explanatory in why I would be hesitant to go to Hogwarts. Even if you factor in Durmstrang and Beauxbatons and the rest of the wizarding world, it still isn't enough to remain magical for very long. And think of the squibs! So wizards would definitely have to interbreed with muggles. But then what would happen if the magic died out? Then I wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts because there would be no magic! So if I left right now to go to Hogwarts then it would be fine, but in a couple of generations, no thanks.

The Kinght's Tale Part 3 Summary:

Arcita and Palamon return to Thebes to each gather an army of a hundred men. During the year that passes, Theseus builds an amphitheater to house the upcoming battle. The amphitheater has three temples, one dedicated to Venus, the other to Diana, and the last to Mars. A year later, Palamon and Arcita ride to Athens, each with a hundred knights. Palamon rides with the King of Thrace, while Arcita rides with the King of India. Once they arrive in Athens, the two men and their company are situated in Thesus' castle. They are honored with feasts and are given Theseus' greatest hospitality. The day before the battle, Palamon goes to the temple of Venus before daybreak to pray for his victory. He prays that she help him in battle and give him strength to defeat Arcita and win Emily. On the same day, just after sunrise, Emily goes to the temple of Diana to pray that she protect her. Emily says that she does not want to ever marry or have a child, and prays that Diana, being the goddess of virgins, protect her from Palamon and Arcita and that they find love elsewhere. Several hours later, Arcita goes to the temple of Mars to pray for victory in battle. He asks Mars to give him strength and power to defeat Palamon. Each god responds to their prayers: Venus sends down a signal that she has heard Palamon's prayers; Diana appears before Emily to tell her she must marry either Arcita or Palamon; and Mars whispers that there will be victory to Arcita. However, up in the heavens, the gods fight with one another, each trying to help their respective followers.

The Knight's Tale Part 2 Summary:

After two years, Arcita awakens to a vision of Hermes telling him to go to Athens. Once he arrives in the city, he takes up the work of a common peasant in fetching the water and grains for Theseus' household. He goes by the name of Philostrate and is disguised by his slender figure and pale complexion, coming from two years of malnutrition due to his anguish. Arcita spends three years as a serf, working his way up the lowly ranks to become Theseus' own servant. Meanwhile, Palamon is wasting away in his prison. Seven years after Arcita's release, Palamon escapes with the help of a friend. He hides in the woods the next day on his way back to Thebes. On that same day, Arcita ventures to the same forest in search of flowers. Arcita, in his joy, sings of his life and his wish to be with Emily. Palamon hears and confronts Arcita. They both agree to a duel the next day in which one can die honorably and the other can pursue Emily. The next day, Theseus is hunting in the woods and comes upon the two men fighting. Palamon asks Theseus to kill them because of their sorrowful positions. However, the Queen and Emily are with Theseus, and they beg him to show the two men mercy. Theseus grants the women's wish and spares Palamon and Arcita. He says that they are now free, with no ransom and conditions; and that in one year they must return with 100 men to fight one another in a battle for Emily. He said there must be one victor, and the other taken captive or slain. Palamon and Arcita are overjoyed with this decision and gladly leave to find their armies.

The Knight's Tale Summary: Part 1

The story begins with a Duke named Theseus who was a lord and governor. He is returning to his home in Athens when he comes upon a group of widows mourning for their murdered husbands in the road. They tell him that they were all once queens but were outcasted from their home in Thebes by the tyrant Creon. Having just conquered the land of Femeny and the realm of the Amazons, Theseus took it upon himself to conquer one more city. Theseus rode straight to Thebes,  sending his wife, Queen Hippolyta, and her younger sister Emily, to Athens. Theseus easily captured Thebes and took two knights as prisoners. He said that no ransom could free the two men, who were cousins of the former King. So both men were condemned to the prisoner tower in Athens for the rest of their lives. One day Palamon, one of the two knights, looked out the window of his tower, into the gardens where Emily was picking flowers. He instantly fell in love with her and bid that his cousin, Arcita, come look upon her beauty. Arcita fell in love with her too, and thus created a quarrel between the two men. Palamon said that Arcita's love was a betrayal and that they would be enemies because of it. Arcita acknowledged the fact that they would never meet her and should be content with just catching glimpses of her. Shortly after their fight, a friend of Theseus, named Perotheus, paid a visit to Athens. Perotheus was also a friend of Arcita and asked for his release, which was then granted. However, terms for Arcita's release were created, one of which was that Arcita was exiled from Athens forever. This devastated Arcita, because even though he was free, he could never see Emily again. He thought that Palamon had the better of the two situations because even though he was in prison, he could see Emily.

The narrator describes the rest of his company in the prologue. He mentions a merchant that could handle any trade, and knew all the currency exchanges because of his extensive travels. There is a scholar who lives for the sole purpose of learning. He was a student at Oxford and seldom spoke unless to learn of something new. The next man was a sergeant-at-law that upheld justice wherever he went, and was said to have studied all the court cases since William the first. There was a franklin travelling with a freeman. He was known in the countryside as the patron saint of travellers for his hospitality by welcoming and holding a feast for all who came. The narrator then describes various middle, working class men that had respectable positions. He mentions a sea captain who knew every port from Holland to Northern Africa. There was a doctor that was 'skilled to pick out the astrologic moment for charms and talismans to aid the patient,' which obviously was impressive to the time period, but seems a tad phony to me. He describes a bussiness woman who had been married 5 times and was essentially a 'certified' mistress. He says that "she was 'gap-toothed,' if you take my meaning," but I  don't take his meaning at all.

Canterbury Tales background and intro:

Written in the late 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales is a story of a pilgramage to Canterbury Cathedral. Among the company are: a knight and his son, three priests, two nuns, a friar, a yeoman, and the narrator himself. After introducing the intention of his voyage, the narrator proceeds to describe his companions. The knight is escribed as being "the very pattern of a noble knight." He has traveled from Russia to Egypt and is as strong as he is courteous. His son is a man of twenty who fares well with women. The nuns and priest are gracious, respectful and civil. The narrator describes the friar as man who keeps to the 'new order' rather than following the archaic order of St Maurus or St Benedict. The friar enjoys hunting hares with his well trained greyhounds and horses, and is a man of sturdy build instead of that with the typical pale complexion associated with most monks.

I am from

I am from a hollow of magic

Nestled in the hills of illusion

I am from a time of darkness

Marked by the blood its victims

I am from the salvation of resistance

Forged by the sacrifices of the fallen

I am from the beacon of hope

Held by the citizens of the revolution

I am... Harry Potter

Hello blogosphere, this your new recruit, reporter kat lister coming to you from the mm library!