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KEY TO THE ACTIVITIES

The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer Page 12 • activity 3 From top left clockwise: hood, arrows, horn, shield, sword, belt, bow, spear.

General Prologue

b. It starts from the Tabard Inn in Southwark. c. The writer (Geoffrey Chaucer). d. There were wide and comfortable rooms. e. The Prioress, known as Madam Eglantine, could speak French. f. The Pardoner was good at telling stories. Page 20 • activity 3

Pilgrim

Physical Appearance

Knight

e

g c

f

b

armour



trap 1

inn

veins

meadow

wart

The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

dressed in a very simple way, wearing a dark tunic with marks left by his armour

Page 20 • activity 2 a. It takes place in April.

Squire

quite short, goodlooking

brave

clothes embroidered with colourful flower

Prioress

grey eyes, small but soft and red lips, very broad forehead, quite tall

well-mannered, all sentiment and heart

bracelet

Manciple

–

cautious and clever

h

Page 20 • activity 1 a. The Knight was an unpretentious man. b. The Yeoman was tanned. c. The Monk was overweight. d. The Student from Oxford loved books. e. The woman from Bath was sociable. f. The Miller was muscular g. The Summoner liked drinking wine. h. The Pardoner’s voice was sharp.

Clothes/ Accessories

wise, modest

a

Page 12 • activity 2



Personality

–

d

Page 12 • activity 1 a. A pilgrimage is a journey to a shrine or other location of spiritual importance. b. People may look for a cure from an illness or for personal peace or as an act of thanksgiving or to make a special request to the Saint associated with the site. c. Lourdes, Santiago de Compostela, Medjugorje for the Christianity, Mecca for Muslim pilgrims, Jerusalem for the Jewish religion.

g. The Parson was honest and pure. h. The Squire fought for love. i. The Wife from Bath was an expert in matters of love. j. The Monk loved hunting. k. The Student from Oxford. l. The Shipman killed his enemies.

Student from Oxford

thin

very serious look

Shipman

brown face

ignored the good rules of conscience

Woman from Bath

bold and red face

liked laughing in company

Miller

red beard, fat and strong, large red hairy wart on his big red nose

good at telling jokes but also good at stealing corn from his customers

Pardoner

long, flowing, yellow hair, high voice

good preacher, storyteller, and singer

– worn out overcoat – scarlet red dress, soft shoes, big hat –

–

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Page 21 • activity 4

Religious Figures

Aristocrats

Monk, Prioress, Friar, Parson, Pardoner, Nun, Priest

Knight Squire

Intellectuals

Middle Class

Peasantry

Student from Oxford, Doctor

Cook, Manciple, Miller, Wife of Bath, Franklin, Merchant, Shipman, Sergeant of the Law, Franklin,, Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver and Carpet-maker

Ploughman, Yeoman, Reeve

Page 21 • activity 5

B C O R A G E M P I D P I E S A S E G A I S L E N E M

F L H A L O Y M E N E O B U O T R O N O T H I P S U Y R P R E A L

P R N T I Z R A V E M Y

P I C H E R

Page 22 • activity 6 a. The author was staying at the Tabard, ready to go on his pilgrimage, when the other pilgrims came. b. He had woken up before the sun rose. c. The Knight said, “I have served my King in the wars, fighting in many parts of the world”. d. The Squire had done some service in the cavalry before coming to Southwark. 3

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e. The Nun behaved very well every time she was eating. f. The author didn’t know the Merchant’s name. g. The Woman from Bath knew about love very well, because she had been in love very often when she was younger. h. As the pilgrim were going/went out of the Tabard Inn, the Miller was playing the bagpipes. Page 23 • activity 7 Sample answer. This picture shows a group of people, they are the Pilgrims to Canterbury. There is a man on a horse on the right of the picture. He is wearing a coat and an embroidered jacket. His hair is quite long and yellowish. Next to him, in the corner I can see a woman, she’s quite plump and has got a red nose. She’s wearing a hat but I can’t see the colour of her hair because it’s covered with a veil. On her left there’s a man bending down, maybe looking for something on the ground. He looks quite young and has got short, curly, fair hair. On the left of the picture, a monk is holding the reins of a horse. On the horse there’s a woman,

a nun, sitting very confidently and keeping a rosary in her right hand, so she may be preaching while riding her horse to Canterbury. Page 23 • activity 8 Description 1: Wife of Bath Description 2: Miller Transcript 1. I know a lot about what people call love. Oh, I have been in love so many times, and I have been married so many times, too. So if you need advice about love matters, just ask me and I will be pleased to help you. 2. Ah, ah, ah! I want to tell you something which will make you laugh: it’s a funny story about a gullible carpenter whose wife… But let me play some music before… Page 23 • activity 9 Sample answer. Dear Peter, You asked me about my school trip. Well, my class went to Prague last month. We travelled by train and the journey was a bit tiring, but we played the guitar and laughed most of the time. We spent five days in Prague, walking down the lanes and enjoying the magic of it. I want to tell you about three friends of mine: Piero, Giulio and Andrea. Piero is a bit fat but he is the most active person I have ever known; he is able to walk for hours without getting tired, making us laugh all the time. Giulio is a lazy boy: it takes ages to wake him up in the morning! He is very thin but he’s always eating. Andrea is the girls’ favourite, he is handsome and a very good student as well. He took lots of photos and knew a lot about the city even though it was the first time there for him, too. Love, Anna

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The Knight’s Tale Page 26 • activity 1 At the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark, near London, the narrator joins a company/group of twenty-nine pilgrims. The pilgrims, like the narrator, are travelling to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The Host, whose name is Harry Bailey, suggests that the company/group ride together and entertain one another with stories. He decides that each pilgrim will tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. The best storyteller will receive a meal at Bailey’s tavern, paid for by the other pilgrims. The pilgrims draw lots and determine that the Knight will tell the first tale. Page 26 • activity 2 a. Thebes is a city in the west of Greece. b. Theseus killed the Minotaur, a giant with a bull’s head, locked up in a labyrinth in Crete; he escaped from it, freeing Ariadne. c. Honour, courtesy, fighting to defend the weak. Page 26 • activity 3 a. 8 – b. 9 – c. 6 – d. 1 – e. 7 – f. 2 – g. 3 – h. 5 – i. 4 Page 33 • activity 1 Two knights, Arcite and Palamon, are captured in battle and imprisoned in a tower in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While there, both see Emily, Theseus’s sister-in-law and fall instantly in love with her. Both knights eventually leave Athens separately. Arcite returns disguised as a page, but one day he meets Palamon. They The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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fight over Emily, but their combat is stopped by Theseus. The King sets the rules for a tournament between the two knights for Emily’s love. Before the battle, Arcite prays to Mars for victory in battle, and Palamon prays to Venus to have Emily as his wife. During their battle, Arcite is victorious, but as soon as he is crowned victorious, he is wounded by falling off his horse. Before he dies, he is reconciled with Palamon and tells him that he deserves to marry Emily. Palamon and Emily marry after some years of mourning. Page 33 • activity 2

Name

Description

Theseus

Duke of Athens

Creon

Lord of Thebes

Palamon

Theban soldier

Arcite

Theban soldier

Perotheus

Arcite and Theseus’s friend

Emily

blonde and beautiful, Theseus’s sister-in-law

Page 33 • activity 3 a. To give back four women the bones of their husbands for the funeral. b. She is outside the tower where they are imprisoned; she is making flower garlands. c. Because he could still see Emily every day from the tower. d. He believes that Arcite will return, conquer Athens and take Emily by force. e. They meet again in the woods. f. To decide who will marry Emily. g. Arcite turns to Mars and Palamon to Venus. 5

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h. He makes the earth shake under Arcite while he is riding toward Theseus to take Emily. i. He told them that they could not refuse to accept death. Page 34 • activity 4 (Translation into Italian) a. kneel: inginocchiarsi b. siege: assedio c. bury: seppellire d. death: morte e. investigate: scoprire f. freedom: libertà g. believe: credere h. imprisonment: prigionia i. agree: accettare, essere d’accordo j. winner: vincitore Page 34 • activity 5 a. Theseus marched on Thebes and conquered it. b. Arcite and Palamon are condemned to a life of imprisonment in an Athenian tower. c. Arcite is jealous of Palamon, who can still see Emily every day from the tower. d. Mercury, messenger to the gods, appears to Arcite in a dream and tells him to return to Athens. e. Palamon has escaped and hears Arcite while walking through the woods. f. Theseus builds an enormous stadium and erects three temples to the gods by its gate. g. Arcite wants Emily to marry Palamon after his death. h. The Athenians are sad about Arcite’s death. Page 35 • activity 6 a. Creon, the Lord of Thebes, has dishonoured our husbands by refusing

b.

c. d.

e.

to bury their bodies. = Creon, the Lord of Thebes, has dishonoured our husbands because he refused to bury their bodies. The prisoners, called Palamon and Arcite, are cousins. = The prisoners, whose names are Palamon and Arcite, are cousins. Palamon’s cry wakes Arcite. = Arcite is woken up by Palamon’s cry. Mercury, messenger to the gods, appears to Arcite in a dream and tells him to return to Athens. = Mercury, messenger to the gods, appears to Arcite in a dream and says to him: “Return to Athens.” “I love you so much, Emily!”, says Arcite. = Arcite tells Emily that he loves her a lot.

Page 35 • activity 7 Transcript A knight was armed to the teeth. He had so much armour that he depended on his squire to keep it clean and in good working condition. At first, armour was made of small metal rings called chain mail. A suit of chain mail could have more than 200,000 rings. However, chain mail was heavy, uncomfortable and difficult to move in. As time passed, knights covered their bodies with plates of metal. A bucketlike helmet protected the knight’s head and had a hinged metal visor to cover his face. A suit of armour weighed between forty and sixty pounds. A knight also needed a shield to hold in front of himself in battle. Shields were made of either wood or metal and decorated with their family emblem. A knight’s main weapon was his sword. It was worn on his left side and fastened around his waist. A knife was worn on

the knight’s right side. Knights used other weapons as well, including the lance, a long spear used in tournaments. Page 36 • activity 8 Chaucer: Could you tell me, Sir, what the rules of Chivalry are? You: They are truth, honour, generosity and courtesy. C.: Do you come from a noble family, Sir? YOU: Yes, of course! C.: What is your armour made of? YOU: It’s made of small metal rings. It can have more than 200,000 rings. C.: Is it comfortable, when you are wearing it? YOU: Oh no! It’s very uncomfortable and difficult to move in. C.: How does your squire help you? YOU: He helps me to keep my armour and weapons clean and in good working conditions. C.: How do you protect your head? YOU: This bucket protects my head and this metal visor covers my face. C.: What are your weapons? YOU: I wear my sword on my left side and a knife on my right side and use the lance in tournaments.

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The Miller’s Tale Page 39 • activity 1 (1) applaud – (2) word – (3) persuade – (4) drunk – (5) introduces – (6) apologizes – (7) warns Page 39 • activity 2 a. 7 – b. 6 – c. 5 – d. 3 – e. 1 – f. 2 – g. 8 – h. 4 The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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Page 39 • activity 3 a. A carpenter is a skilled worker who makes, finishes and repairs wooden objects. b. Open answer. (Suggested answer: God warned Noah that a great flood would come and cover the Earth and ordered him to build a big wooden ark to save his family and a couple of all existing animals.) c. Open answer. Page 46 • activity 1 13-Al; 10-J; 19-J; 16-N; 1-J; 8-N; 2-J; 3-N; 11-N+Al; 14-Ab; 15-Ab; 5-Ab; 12-Ab; 17-Ab; 4-N; 9-N; 18-N; 7-N; 6-Al. Page 46 • activity 2 a. He was afraid that she could be unfaithful because she was such a pretty young girl. b. He was able to predict the weather, could play the harp and sing, and knew the art of love well. c. Because he was going to spend two days locked in his room pretending he had got crazy. d. Nicholas was in the middle of the room, sitting on the floor, with his mouth open and his eyes on the ceiling. e. Because he believed Nicholas’ astronomy studies were inquiring into God’s secrets and thought madness is what one gets for that. f. No, because everybody thought it was not very wise of John to have chosen a wife much younger than him. Page 47 • activity 3 a. sometimes – b. hadn’t – c. easy – d. Sunday – e. believed in – f. hopeless 7

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Page 47 • activity 4 John: possessive – simple – wealthy – old – silly Nicholas: gallant – educated – clever – good-looking – poor Alison: pretty – cheerful – slim Absolon: self-confident – vain Page 47 • activity 5 a. who – b. whose – c. which – d. which – e. who – f. which – g. whose – h. whom Page 48 • activity 6 Sample answer. Dear Paula/David, Since I saw you at Joseph’s party I can’t stop thinking of you. I like you, you are the prettiest girl/best looking boy I have ever met. I’d like to see you again. Let’s meet up at the shopping centre at 5 p.m. I can’t wait! ... Page 48 • activity 7 a. did not respect God’s will – b. kill them – c. his family, himself and a pair of each kind of animals – d. every house, person and animal on Earth – e. to tell the people on Earth a flood would never happen again. Transcript According to the Book of Genesis in the Bible, things went on more or less peacefully for a long time after Cain and Abel’s descendants populated the earth. But these people started to behave badly and did not live the way God wanted them to. So He decided to kill them all. But there was one good man, Noah, and so God decided to save him and just kill all the others. He told Noah to build an enormous boat and inside it put his stuff and two of each kind of animal, a male one and a female one; then he, his wife and his sons and their wives should all get in. Noah

did that, and then God sent a huge flood which wiped out every person on earth, except Noah and his family, and all the houses and animals and everything as well. It rained for forty days! When the flood was over, Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives got out of the boat and began a new society according to what God wanted. God set a rainbow in the sky as a sign that he would never send such a flood again. Page 49 • activity 8 Suggested answers. A. I think the story deals with competition for a woman. B. Why do you think so? A. Because three men, John, Nicholas and Absolon all want the same woman. B. I agree. OR C. In my opinion the story deals with chivalry. D. Why do you think so? C. Because Absolon serenades Alison, showing courtesy and respect.. D. I disagree, he too just fancies her and wants to make love to her.

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The Wife of Bath: Prologue and Tale Page 51 • activity 1 Transcript The Miller concluded his tale and everybody laughed at what happened to John, Absolon and the gallant Nicholas. Only the Reeve was not happy with it, and soon started telling his tale, which was about a

dishonest Miller. The Cook appreciated his tale and asked the Host permission to tell his own tale. The Man of Law then came, narrating his long tale about a princess. The Host was really satisfied by this and encouraged the Parson to tell the next one, but the Parson reproached him for swearing, and they started arguing about unimportant things forgetting their purposes. Then the Wife of Bath introduced her tale… Page 51 • activity 2 She was wearing a scarlet red dress and soft shoes. Her face was bold and red and she had large hips. She had had five husbands and many other friends in youth. She liked laughing in company and knew all the remedies for love troubles because she knew love well. Page 51 • activity 3 a. 4 – b. 1 – c. 5 – d. 3 – e. 2 – f. 6 Page 57 • activity 1 a. F (She has great experience of marriage.) b. T c. F (The Wife’s words have made him change his mind.) d. F (Of her five husbands, three had been good and two had been bad.) e. T f. F (Her fifth husband was the one she loved best.) g. F (She says she used her verbal and sexual power to bring her husbands to total submission.) Page 57 • activity 2 a. 3 – b. 6 – c. 2 – d. 4 – e. 1 – f. 5 The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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Page 57 • activity 3 a. the Knight – b. the young lady – c. King Arthur – d. the Queen – e. the Queen – f. the old lady – g. the old lady – h. the Knight – i. the old lady – j. the Knight

f.

g. Page 58 • activity 4 a. 8 – b. 3 – c. 9 – d. 13 – e. 4 – f. 14 – g. 12 – h. 5 – i. 10 – j. 7 – k. 11 – l. 2 – m. 1 – n. 6 Page 58 • activity 5 a. The Samaritan woman was criticized by Jesus Christ. b. The King should punish that knight. c. Each of her five husbands was dominated and controlled by her. d. The old lady answered the question. e. An answer to the Queen’s question will be found. f. The Queen had granted the knight his life. Page 58 • activity 6 a. The wife of Bath was a self confident, assertive woman, which can be seen both in her gestures, in the way she spoke and in the touch of extravagance in her clothes (she was wearing scarlet stockings). b. The Wife was intelligent in a commonsense, rather than intellectual, way. Through her experiences with her husbands, she had learnt how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or power. c. Yes, she was. d. With her first four husbands she was mostly looking for money and obedience, that is to say, the possibility of having them do what she wanted, but she really loved her fifth husband. e. The Wife used her own body as a tool, denying her husbands sexual 9

The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

h.

i. j. k. l. m.

pleasure until they gave her what she demanded. She really loved her fifth husband, maybe because he had a strong personality, too. No, he thought women were the cause of most men’s troubles. They argued violently, she showed him how strong she was (not only physically), and in the end he gave her the power. He was looking for an answer to the question “What do women want?” No, it was very difficult. An old ugly lady. She wanted to know if he was loyal and trusted her. Suggested answer: b.

The wife of Bath was a self-confident, assertive woman, which can be seen both in her gestures, in the way she spoke and in the touch of extravagance in her clothes (she was wearing scarlet stockings). In addition, she was intelligent in a commonsense, rather than intellectual, way and, through her experiences with her five husbands, she had learnt how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or power. She was very proud of that. With her first four husbands she was mostly looking for money and obedience, that is to say, the possibility of having them do what she wanted. With them, the Wife used her own body as a tool, denying her husbands sexual pleasure until they gave her what she demanded. She really loved her fifth husband, maybe because he had a strong personality too, even though he thought women were the cause of most men’s troubles. For this reason, they argued violently but she showed him how strong she was (not only physically), and in the end he gave her the power.

The knight of the Wife’s tale was looking for an answer to the question “What do women want?”, but it was very difficult for him to find it until an old ugly lady helped him. In the end, she wanted to know if he was loyal and faithful and if he trusted her. A good conclusion to this tale could be “Men, always do what your wives tell you to do!” Page 59 • activity 7 Transcript One night Jankin, my husband, sat by the fire and read his book, first about Eve, who brought all mankind to misery, then he told me how Samson lost his hair in his sleep: his sweetheart had cut it with her scissors. Then he read to me about Hercules and his Dejanira, who caused him to set fire to himself. He didn’t forget to read about the pain which Socrates had with his two wives. He read with good devotion about Clytemnestra, who caused her husband’s death. He told me also of Livia and Lucilia, who both caused their husbands to die, the one out of hate, the other out of love. Livia poisoned her husband, because she had become his enemy; Lucilia loved her husband so much that she gave him a lovedrink, so that she might always be in his mind, but the drink was of such power that he was dead before morning. In one way or another, husbands had to suffer a lot. He read about wives of later times, some of whom had murdered their husbands in their sleep, some others had driven nails into their husband’s brains while they were in bed together. He said, “It’s better to fight with a lion or a dragon than with an angry woman who doesn’t love her husband.” When I saw that he was still reading that damned book, I suddenly tore three pages

into pieces, and I also struck him on the cheek so that he fell down backward into the fire. He started up like a mad lion, and struck me on the head so that I lay as dead on the floor. “Before I die, I will still kiss you…”, I said then. He came near me and kneeled down gently and said, “Dear wife, I’ll never hit you again! Forgive me for that.” I hit him on the cheek again. In the end, we were reconciled and he put the power in my hands. I had the governance of the house and control over his tongue and hands as well, and I made him burn his book. Page 60 • activity 8 Open answers.

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The Merchant’s Tale Page 62 • activity 1 Transcript When the Clerk from Oxford had concluded his tale, the Merchant said that everyone who had a wife suffered great pain. Then he said his young wife was a bad woman who could destroy Satan if she were married to him. The Clerk’s story, about a patient wife named Grisilde, made him think about the huge difference between Grisilde and his own wife. He had been married for only two months but nobody could tell a story as bad as the one about his own marriage and about how awful his wife was. The Host then invited him to tell them his story. The Merchant replied that he would gladly tell his tale, which wasn’t about his troubles. The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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Page 62 • activity 2 Suggested answer: young, unfaithful, disobedient, clever, pretty Page 62 • activity 3 a. purse – b. bachelor – c. gesture – d. blind – e. wealthy – f. bush Page 68 • activity 1 SECTION 1. Heading: January needs a wife. An old wealthy merchant, January, is looking for a wife. She has to be young and pretty but obedient, and not too intelligent because he is jealous and wants to control her. He marries young and beautiful May and he is very happy. SECTION 2. Heading: Damian, the young squire. Damian is a young handsome squire who works for January. He fells in love with May and gets ill. January sends May to visit him and he declares his love to May with a letter. After some time, old January gets blind. May loves Damian now and the two manage to write and exchange messages, even though January never leaves May alone. SECTION 3. Heading: The garden of love. January has a locked garden, where he loves spending time with May. One day, while they are going there, May is able to make gestures to Damian and to tell him to go there, too. Damian climbs a pear tree and hides in the leaves. May tells January she fancies some pears and climbs the tree, too. Once there, she has sex with Damian. Pluto and Proserpine look at what is happening. Pluto wants to help January, so he restores his sight; Proserpine wants to help May so she provides the girl with a good excuse. In the end, poor January 11

The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

is very happy because he can see her beautiful wife again. Page 68 • activity 2 a. Because a wife could take care of him when he got sick. b. Because he wanted a wife he could control and direct. c. Justinus was. d. January was impatient to be alone with his wife. e. He was very happy. f. He was lovesick because he had fallen in love with May. g. Because he couldn’t control May. h. They communicated with secret signals and written messages. i. Proserpina did. j. Happy because he could see beautiful May again. Page 69 • activity 3 2

5

6

3

4

1

Page 69 • activity 4 a. married: bachelor b. disobedient: obedient c. silly: clever d. simple: serious e. sadly: happily f. presence: absence g. got ill: recovered h. open: locked

i. weak: strong j. slowly: quickly Page 70 • activity 5 a. January is wealthier than his brothers. b. January was the eldest of his brothers. c. His house was as big as his brothers’ houses. d. Justinus was not as sure as Placebo about January’s marriage. e. Placebo was less sceptical than Justinus about January’s marriage. f. May was younger than January. g. Damian felt better after May’s letter. h. January was the happiest man in the world after he could see again. Page 70 • activity 6 Sample answer. My Darling, I saw you at the wedding and I haven’t stopped thinking of you since then. I love you desperately, you are so beautiful and fresh, like a rose in a garden. I need you here beside me. You are always in my mind by the time I wake up till I close my eyes. I just want to see your face and be lost in your embrace. I miss you so much. Can we meet again? If so, please come to Mass next Sunday at ten. Hopefully yours, Damian Page 70 • activity 7 Transcript Medieval marriage was under the control of the Church. Brides, on the average, were much younger than their grooms and more than three quarters were married before they reached nineteen. In 1076, the Council of Westminster decreed that no man should give his daughter

or female relative to anyone without a priest’s blessing. Later, councils stated that marriage should not be secret but held in the open. Medieval wedding ceremonies and celebrations depended largely on the social class of the bride and groom. Inheritance and property were usually two common reasons for arranged marriages. Arranged marriages among the noble class used to be decided when the future bride and groom were only ten or eleven years old. The wedding day included an incredible celebration with minstrels, jugglers and other entertainers. The lord of the castle might free prisoners, and beggars gathered at the gates to eat food left after the banquet. Page 71 • activity 8 Suggested answer. Student A: May should be punished. She should be faithful to poor January who adores her but she makes love to Damian. Student B: Poor May, she is so young and full of life and January is such an old man. Student A: May can live comfortably now, thanks to January; she can have what she likes. Student B: She didn’t choose her husband, her family did. She hasn’t got what she really likes, love and a man of her age. Student A: But now she is January’s wife so she has no rights but has to be faithful to his husband. Student B: You are right but when a woman falls in love, she is not guilty: love makes everything pure and innocent and can move mountains, because love is stronger than anything else. The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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Student A: Love is what January feels for May, too. Student B: No, you’re wrong, January just needs a wife that he could control and direct. Student A: Well, maybe you’re right but I think I must help January and make him see again. Student B: And I’ll definitely not leave May in trouble so I’ll give her a good excuse!

c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k.

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They heard the sound of a bell. He was an old friend of theirs. A sneaky thief named Death killed him. They left in the direction of the village to find Death. They met an old man. They asked him about Death. They found eight purses of gold coins. The youngest of the three went to town. He bought three bottles of wine and some poison. They planned to kill him and keep the treasure for themselves. They drank the poisoned wine.

The Pardoner’s Tale

m.

Page 74 • activity 1 1. When the Merchant... – 2. The Host was disappointed... – 3. “I will be glad to tell my tale... – 4. “I preach that money...

Page 80 • activity 2 a. F (They spent their time gambling, drinking, dancing and visiting brothels.) b. F (The text doesn’t say.) c. T d. F (They decided to find the man who had killed their friend.) e. F (They wanted to find him.) f. T g. T h. F (They spoke to him rudely.) i. T j. F (They found eight purses of gold coins under an oak tree.) k. T l. T m. F (The two drank the poisoned wine and died.)

Page 74 • activity 2 Suggested answers. a. The Pardoner can’t be such a good person because he preaches things which he doesn’t seem to take into account in the way he leads his life. b. No, because he says that money is the root of all evil but then he says he loves money. c. Yes, it was; but after some time this practice was condemned and punished by the Church. d. I think that Chaucer condemns the Pardoner’s behaviour. Page 74 • activity 3 b. Men who like dancing, drinking, gambling, etc. in public in a noisy way. Page 80 • activity 1 a. The three men were drinking. b. They were in a tavern. 13

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Page 80 • activity 3 a. The Wife of Bath did the same. b. Disapproval c. “My sermons are caused by my excessive desire (for gold) and are about the troubles caused by excessive desire.”

Page 81 • activity 4

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H Page 82 • activity 5 a. One of the men asked whose corpse it was. b. The servant told the man he knew who he was. c. The host said that Death had already killed lots of people in a village near there. d. One of the three men told the others that they had to go and find him. e. One of the two men said that if they killed him there would be more gold for them. f. The chemist said that that was the strongest (poison) he sold, it could kill any kind of animal. Page 82 • activity 6 a. Three bad men from Flanders were drinking in a tavern. b. They heard the sound of a bell. c. It was the corpse of a friend of theirs that was being carried to the grave. d. The host told them Death had killed him. e. They decided to go and find Death.

f. On their way they met an old ugly man. g. The old man told them he had met Death under an oak tree not far from there. h. There they found eight purses of gold coins. i. One of them went to town to buy some food and drinks. j. While in town, he bought some poison to kill his friends. k. The others decided to kill him, too. l. In the end, the three men found Death. Page 82 • activity 7 a. The Black Death struck Europe in the 14th century. b. It started in Asia in the 1340’s. c. Infected people had red spots on their arms and necks. d. 25 million people died of the plague in two years. e. After ten years over a third of the population of Europe had died of the Plague. f. To protect themselves, people locked their doors. g. The disease was carried by rats. h. People thought it was a punishment from God for their sins. Transcript In the 14th century a terrible disease struck Asia, Africa and Europe. The people called this illness the Black Death. The disease started in Asia in the 1340’s. It quickly spread to Africa and throughout Europe. Infected people first broke out with red ringshaped marks with dark centre spots on their arms and necks. They got high fevers, their illness got worse and then they died. In just two years, 25 million people died of the plague. In ten years, the plague had The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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killed over a third of Europe’s population. At first, people locked their doors trying to protect themselves. They carried flowers to keep away the smell of the dead. The houses where people had died were burnt. People did not know that infected rats had carried the disease. They thought it was a punishment from God for their sins. Page 83 • activity 8 Suggested answers. SCENE 1. At the Tavern. Reveller 1: Listen to the sound of the bell! Whose corpse is that one they are carrying to the grave? Servant: I know who he is. It’s a friend of yours, Sir. Death has killed him!

Reveller 2: Death? Who’s he? Where can we find him? We must avenge our friend! Host: He’s a dangerous man, everybody was killed by Death in a village near here. SCENE 2. The old man. Reveller 1: Look at that old man, how old and ugly he is! Reveller 2: Hey man, you’re too old! It’s time for you to die! Old man: I know I’m too old to live any longer, even Death doesn’t want me! Reveller 3: Have you heard? He must know Death! Old man: I have met Death under an oak tree not far from where we are now.

summing-up activities Page 86 • activity 1 a. To visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. b. The Prioress does. c. Palamon marries Emily. d. It is about her experience of marriage and how she got the power over her husbands. e. Women desire to command and have power over their husbands. f. The Merchant’s Tale. g. They are searching for Death. h. Nicholas is. i. The Miller’s Tale. j. Because he tells him he is the most sinful of the Pilgrims. Page 86 • activity 2 Prologue: (1) twenty-nine – (2) Saint Thomas Becket – (3) Host – (4) stories – (5) two – (6) meal – (7) draw lots • The Knight’s Tale: (8) Theseus – (9) prison – 15

The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

(10) sister-in-law – (11) Athens – (12) page – (13) tournament – (14) Arcite – (15) Palamon • The Miller’s Tale: (16) student – (17) carpenter – (18) tub – (19) flood – (20) kiss – (21) red-hot poker – (22) Nicholas – (23) water – (24) arm • The Wife of Bath’s Tale: (25) knight – (26) women – (27) woman – (28) agrees – (29) control – (30) marry – (31) choice • The Merchant’s Tale: (32) brothers – (33) squire – (34) garden – (35) fruit – (36) Pluto • The Pardoner’s Tale: (37) revellers – (38) tree – (39) gold – (40) youngest – (41) poisoned – (42) kill Page 88 • activity 3 a. 7 – b. 6 – c. 10 – d. 3 – e. 1 – f. 9 – g. 4 – h. 5 – i. 8 – j. 2

b. When people at the King’s castle knew what has had happened, everybody complained and asked for justice. c. Nicholas said: “I will certainly die if won’t don’t make love to you!” d. January was a wealthy knight from Lombardy; he loved much many/a lot of/lots of women in his life and was thinking of getting married. e. Three men were drinking in a tavern when they were hearing heard the sound of a bell. Page 89 • activity 5 See transcript in Activity 2. Page 89 • activity 6 Sample answers. Student B: Where did the Pilgrims’ journey start? Student A: It started in Southwark, at a tavern called the Tabard. Student B: Why were the Pilgrims going to Canterbury? Student A: They were going there to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett. Student B: How many pilgrims were there? Student A: There were twenty-nine of them, and I joined them for the ride to Canterbury. Student B: Who had the idea of telling stories while travelling? Student A: Harry Bailey, the host. Student B: Who told the story first? Student A: The Knight, he told a story about two Theban knights, both in love with the same lady.

Student B: Did the pilgrims get on well? Student A: There was a bit of an argument between the Pardoner and the Host, but the Knight intervened and restored normality. Student B: What was the funniest story? Student A: No doubt it was the Miller’s tale; everybody laughed of gullible John and vain Absolon! Page 89 • activity 7 Sample answer. I was wondering in the woods, when I found this old manuscript... under a stone. It was written on very old paper, and some characters could not be read because they had faded out. I was curious and tried to decipher it, but it was written in a language I was not able to understand. “What shall I do?” I asked myself. I took a photo of it with my mobile, then I had an idea. I would take it to school the following day asking Mr Benton, the Latin teacher, to have a look at it. I was sure he would be able to understand something more. So I folded it carefully, put it inside my rucksack and came back home. The day after I woke up excited and was looking forward to going to school. As I saw Mr Benton, I called him and told him about my discovery. He was doubtful so I put my hand inside the rucksack to take the manuscript out, but... it had disappeared! Mr Benton’s silence was eloquent. He started to walk away when I remembered the photo taken with my mobile............

Page 88 • activity 4 a. “I want to remain a virgin, I do not want to marry no one anyone!” Emily said. The Canterbury Tales – EDISCO

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