The Miller's Tale from canterbury tales

After the knight has finished his story, Miller insist to have the next story to tell to people. The story is about Nocholas, a student who lives with John the carpenter and his much younger wife, Alison, Nicholas falls in love with Alison. But there’s another man, the courtly romantic Absolon, also falls in love with Alison. Nicholas contrives and has an effort to sleep with Alison by telling John that there’s a flood that equal to Noah's flood will come soon, and the only way that he, Nicholas and Alison will survive is by staying in separate kneading tubs placed on the roof of houses, out of sight of all and they can’t see each other. While John remained in this kneading tub, Nicholas and Alison leave to have sex, but are interrupted by Absolon, singing to Alison at her bedroom window. She told him to close his eyes and he would receive a kiss. He did so, and she pulled down her pants so that he could kiss her arse. The humiliated Absolon got a hot iron from a blacksmith and returned to Alison. This time, Nicholas tried the same trick, and Absolon branded his backside. Nicholas shouted for water, awakening John, who was asleep on the roof. Thinking the flood had come, he cut the rope and came crashing through the floor of his house, landing in the cellar.

What’s funny in this story?

Ofcourse miller’s tale is funny, when we compare it with the knight’s tale which full of heroic manner and sadness for one side in the end of story. Both knight’s tale and miller’s tale are the same, both of them are the story about 2 man who fall in love with a girl. But the differences are both of them have different effort and act to get the girl’s love, and those makes it funny. The knights do fight to get the girl they really love, but in the miller’s tale they do trick the carpenter to get his wife, and there’s so many stupidity things in the story which seems really funny to read.

What we can learn from this story?

 So many things we can learn from this story, in my own opinion, the message is all about fair competition, be honest and trustworthy. Not only in the effort of getting a girl we love, but in so many aspects. Be honest and trustworthy are two things that connect each other. When someone trust you, be honest and trustworthy, don’t betray or destroy the trust of someone to you. This story also tell us about not to be a sly person to get what we want. We have to do the right thing throught the right path without using the sly way, because we won’t really get what we want if we use that way. Love is not such the simple thing like that we can reach by just stupid and sly way like that. I would prefer choose the knight’s tale that the miller’s tale in the effort to get their love.