The Canterbury Tales The Miller's Prologue
The host is still laughing from the knight's tale and wants this tale telling game of stories to go on. He asks the Miller who is drunk to tell a story that will counteract the knight's. When the host realizes that the Miller is drunk, he asks him to wait until later to tell his tale, to which the Miller responds, "By Goddes soule, quod he, that wol nat I, / For I wol speke, or elles go my wey." Miller's Prologue, l. 24-25. He plans to tell a story of a carpenter, his wife, and another man - another love triangle. The Reeve is furious with the Miller for telling such a story of a cuckolded man, to which the Miller responds that he the Reeve may just be a cuckold himself, too. Most men have wives whom they love, but who just may be making cuckolds of them, as well. The host forewarns the readers that they can turn the page to another tale of valor and holiness if they do not wish to read about such immorality as told by the drunken Miller. The readers cannot hold the host responsible for what the Miller tells.