The reader should remember that one story is sometimes told in relationship to another story. Here at the beginning of the tales, we see this relationship most clearly. The Knight’s Tale and The Miller’s Tale involve a three-way love triangle. In both tales, two men are seeking the love (or possession) of the same woman. In both tales, the woman remains the more-or-less passive bystander while the men struggle for her. Furthermore, the two tales deal with justice and injustice or getting what one deserves. In spite of his jealousy and precaution, the carpenter’s wife “thus was swyver (screwed),” he has a broken arm from the fall, and he is now the laughing stock of the entire town. The scheming scholar, Nicholas, is outfoxed by the clerk and ends up with a severely burned “arse,” and the fussy, effeminate incense swinger is befouled by kissing the rear end of a woman he once idolized. For Absalon, then, to go from idolization (eschatology) to arse-kissing (scatology) is a complete journey.
