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.