"Wife of Bath."

Two only among these "Tales" are in prose--a vehicle of expression, on
the whole, strange to the polite literature of the pre-Renascence
ages--but not both for the same reason. The first of these "Tales" is
told by the poet himself, after a stop has been unceremoniously put
upon his recital of the "Ballad of Sir Thopas" by the Host. The ballad
itself is a fragment of straightforward burlesque, which shows that in
both the manner and the metre (Dunbar's burlesque ballad of "Sir Thomas
Norray" is in the same stanza) of ancient romances, literary criticism
could even in Chaucer's days find its opportunities for satire, though
it is going rather far to see in "Sir Thopas" a predecessor of "Don
Quixote." The "Tale of Meliboeus" is probably an English version of a
French translation of Albert of Brescia's famous "Book of Consolation
and Counsel," which comprehends in a slight narrative framework a long
discussion between the unfortunate Meliboeus, whom the wrongs and
sufferings inflicted upon him and his have brought to the verge of
despair, and his wise helpmate, Dame Prudence. By means of a long
argumentation propped up by quotations (not invariably assigned with
conscientious accuracy to their actual source) from "The Book," Seneca,
"Tullius," and other authors, she at last persuades him not only to
reconcile himself to his enemies, but to forgive them, even as he hopes
to be forgiven. And thus the Tale well bears out the truth impressed
upon Meliboeus by the following ingeniously combined quotation:--

And there said once a clerk in two verses: What is better than gold?
Jasper. And what is better than jasper? Wisdom. And what is better
than wisdom? Woman. And what is better than woman? No thing.

Certainly, Chaucer gave proof of consummate tact and taste, as well as
of an unaffected personal modesty, in assigning to himself as one of
the company of pilgrims, instead of a tale bringing him into
competition with the creatures of his own invention, after his mocking
ballad has served its turn, nothing more ambitious than a version of a
popular discourse--half narrative, half homily--in prose. But a
question of far greater difficulty and moment arises with regard to the
other prose piece included among the "Canterbury Tales." Of these the
so-called "Parson's Tale" is the last in order of succession. Is it to
be looked upon as an integral part of the collection; and, if so, what
general and w