The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales

by Geoffrey Chaucer

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The Canterbury Tales: 14: The Summoner's Tale Summary and Analysis


Summary
The pilgrim Summoner is so enraged at the condemnation of the Friar that he immediately tells an evil little joke about an angel touring a friar around hell. When the visiting friar comments that he sees no friars in hell, the angel takes him directly to Satan who reveals 20,000 friars hiding in his ass, the idea being that Satan and friars are extremely close. He then tells his tale.

There was once a very greedy friar who was licensed to beg and preach in a particular district. He would pretend to have his scribe record all the names of those who...

(The entire page is 586 words.)

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