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Transcript

The Canon's Yeoman's Tale

Questions

Questions:

1.) Why is the Yeoman’s skin so damaged?

2.) What does the Canon take from the priest in exchange for his “magic” formula?

3.) What tips Harry Bailey off that the alchemist may be a fraud?

4.) True or False: The Yeoman says that he has occasionally seen his master be successful in his attempts and alchemy.

5.) What special skill does the Yeoman say his master possesses?

Answers:

1.) His job is to blow on coals of fire and the fumes have ruined his skin.

2.) The Canon takes forty pounds in exchange for his “magic” formula.

3.) He and his assistant are shabbily dressed.

4.) False

5.) Turning silver into gold is the special skill his master possesses.

Summary-Part 1

Plot

The Yeoman focuses on alchemy and people who are being tricked by it. His tale is making fun of canons and selling them out to be frauds and thieves, while selling himself out along the way.

The first part of the Yeoman’s tale is autobiographical. It is simply a confession. He says that he once had good clothes and a good living, and that he and the Canon are alchemists. He says that he is in debt because their attempts at alchemy always fail. He explains their job, their failed attempts, and their search for the Philosopher’s stone. The Yeoman tells of the four spirits (substances which are easily evaporated by heat) and the seven metals, which in medieval alchemy, were an almost ancestor to the periodic table. He says that anybody who ever studies alchemy will never gain anything from it no matter how much they study the terms. He turns to God and says that even though He had given him hope, they were not successful. He reminds the listeners that alchemists are liars. He tells some of the reactions that the metals produce, and says that when a pot shatters, even if some of the metal has survived, his master starts over, despite the money that the money that the people spent to buy the goods. Finally, the narrator claims that nothing is what it seems. Some examples are: apples which look nice are not good, men that seem the wisest are the most foolish, and the man who seems most trustworthy is a thief.

Summary-Prologue

Theme

Alchemy and Greed

After Saint Cecilla’s tale, a Canon and his yeoman ride up to the group of pilgrims. The Host asks if the Canon can tell a story. The Yeoman steps in and starts talking about his master, the Canon, and goes on about how he has a special skill of turning silver into gold. Then he accidentally reveals that he and his master are frauds, thieving alchemists. The Canon tries to stop him and when this fails, he realizes that the Yeoman is going to tell everything, so he bails on the pilgrimage. The Yeoman goes on with his story into the first of two parts of his tale.

Setting

London

Summary-Part 2

The second part of the Yeoman’s tale tells of a Canon whose never-ending lies and sneakiness cannot be written. He makes anyone he communicates with behave foolishly, and yet people ride for miles to meet him, not knowing or suspecting that he is a fraud. The narrator then makes a small interruption to apologize to canons in general, claiming that his tale is about just one bad canon, but is not about all canons, just as Judas was the one traitor among the apostles. The story begins in London, with a priest who sung masses for the dead. One day he was visited by the fraud Canon, who begged him to lend him a certain amount of gold. The priest agreed, and, three days later, the Canon returned to pay him back. Expressing appreciation that the Canon has paid him back on time, the priest listens to the Canon about the importance of truth and keeping one’s word. The Canon then promises to show the priest some of his secrets before he goes. The Canon sends the priest’s servant for quicksilver and coal, and then took a crucible and showed it to the priest. He tells him to put an ounce of quicksilver in there. The priest did as he asked, and they put the crucible into the fire. The false Canon had a fake coal with a hole in it, closed with wax, which held silver filings. While the priest was wiping his face, the Canon laid the coal in the furnace just above the crucible. As expected, the wax melted and the silver filings ran out over the crucible. The Canon tricks the priest two other times with chalk and quicksilver, making the priest very pleased. Thus by various tricks and schemes, the Canon charges his gullible audience huge amounts for his secrets. By telling the priest that, if he (the Canon) were caught, he would be killed as a suspected sorcerer; the Canon could charge even higher prices for his services. The Yeoman concludes the story by saying that God does not want the men to know how to get the Philosopher’s stone, so it should remain undiscovered.

Climax/Resolution

Main Characters

  • The climax of the tale is when the Canon was sneaking the real substances into the fire, chalk, or bowl.

Canon

  • The resolution is when the less valuable objects "magically" turn into the more valuable objects and the priest is pleased.

Priest

Conflict

  • The Priest is being tricked by the canon for money.
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