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	The story starts telling of an apprentice named Perkyn (a.k.a. Perkin) who is fond of drinking and dancing. Perkyn is released by his master and moves in with a friend who also loves to drink, and whose wife is a ''shopkeeper'' whose real occupation is that of a prostitute.		The story starts telling of an apprentice named Perkyn (a.k.a. Perkin) who is fond of drinking and dancing. Perkyn is released by his master and moves in with a friend who also loves to drink, and whose wife is a ''shopkeeper'' whose real occupation is that of a prostitute.

	After the tale, The Host later calls upon the Cook for another, but he is too drunk<ref>According to the Penguin Book edition of 'The Canturbury Tales" the cook not only goes through the "Four Stages of Drunkeness" but-similar to the equally drunken Miller and the Summoneur-has trouble breathing- an indication that all three are suffering from [[pneumonia]]</ref> and, after he falls from his horse and is helped back up, the [[The ~~Manciple~~'s ~~Prologue and~~ Tale\|~~Manciple~~]] tells a tale.		After the tale, The Host later calls upon the Cook for another, but he is too drunk<ref>According to the Penguin Book edition of 'The Canturbury Tales" the cook not only goes through the "Four Stages of Drunkeness" but-similar to the equally drunken Miller and the Summoneur-has trouble breathing- an indication that all three are suffering from [[pneumonia]]</ref> and, after he falls from his horse and is helped back up, the [[The Man of Law's Tale\|Man of Law]] tells a tale.

	== Analysis ==		== Analysis ==

imported>MS2P at 10:27, 29 June 2024

2024-06-29T10:27:20Z

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{{Short description|Part of the Canterbury Tales}}
[[File:Chaucer cook.jpg|thumb|"The Cook" from ''The Canterbury Tales'']]

"'''The Cook's Tale'''" is one of the ''[[The Canterbury Tales|Canterbury Tales]]'' by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]. It breaks off after 58 lines and was presumably never finished, although some scholars argue that Chaucer deliberately left the tale unfinished.<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Casey
| first = Jim
| authorlink =
| title = Unfinished Business: The Termination of Chaucer's Cook's Tale
| journal = The Chaucer Review
| volume = 41
| issue = 2
| pages = 185–196
| publisher = The Pennsylvania State University
| year = 2006
| url = http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/chaucer_review/v041/41.2casey.pdf
| accessdate = 2007-01-26
| doi = 10.1353/cr.2006.0019 }}</ref>

==Prologue==
The Cook (Roger) starts by commenting on the Reeve's tale and then, after a reference to [[Solomon]], asks for his listeners to attend while he tells of a trick that was played in his city (Lines 1 – 19).{{efn|A possible reference to a miller who had a trick played on him could possibly indicate that "The Cook's Prologue" was originally intended to have come after "[[The Miller's Tale]]" but that the material was reused in "[[The Reeve's Tale]]"?}} The host then invites the cook to tell his tale (Lines 20 – 40).{{efn|Both the host and the Cook make nasty jokes about each other – the host on how badly the cook prepares food for the unwary, and the Cook replies he'll tell a tale of an innkeeper.}}

== Plot ==
The story starts telling of an apprentice named Perkyn (a.k.a. Perkin) who is fond of drinking and dancing. Perkyn is released by his master and moves in with a friend who also loves to drink, and whose wife is a ''shopkeeper'' whose real occupation is that of a prostitute.

After the tale, The Host later calls upon the Cook for another, but he is too drunk<ref>According to the Penguin Book edition of 'The Canturbury Tales" the cook not only goes through the "Four Stages of Drunkeness" but-similar to the equally drunken Miller and the Summoneur-has trouble breathing- an indication that all three are suffering from [[pneumonia]]</ref> and, after he falls from his horse and is helped back up, the [[The Manciple's Prologue and Tale|Manciple]] tells a tale.

== Analysis ==
The tale continues the general downward trend of the preceding tales—the [[The Knight's Tale|Knight]]'s, the [[The Miller's Prologue and Tale|Miller]]'s and the [[The Reeve's Prologue and Tale|Reeve's tale]]—into ever-more-seedy stories. Its length makes finding a source impossible, but it is thought by some scholars to be a retelling of contemporary events, with a Roger Knight de Ware being mentioned in several manuscripts of the time.

In 25 of ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' MSS (notably [[British Library, Harley MS 7334|Harley MS 7334]] and Corpus Christi 198) the Cook's unfinished tale is followed by the anonymous [[The Tale of Gamelyn|Tale of Gamelyn]], and it has been suggested that Chaucer intended to rewrite the tale for the Cook. There is, however, no other connection of Gamelyn with Chaucer and the great difference in tone between that tale and the one the Cook starts suggests that it was inserted by the scribes who copied the manuscripts. Skeat argued instead that Chaucer intended the tale for the Yeoman, who would presumably be more interested in a tale of country life.

==Adaptations==
[[Pasolini]] adapted this story in his film [[The Canterbury Tales (film)|The Canterbury Tales]]. He greatly expanded on the story which is very short at only 58 lines. [[Ninetto Davoli]] stars as Perkin. The story includes a lot of [[slapstick]] humor and homages the films of [[Charlie Chaplin]].

== Influences ==
A renowned chef, Dev Biswal, renamed his Canterbury restaurant from 'The Ambrette' to 'Cook's Tale', in a tribute to the Chaucerian character. The tasting menu features such medieval delights as "Ypocras, fortified Kentish wine served with cake; Wastel breed with flavoured beef drippings; Pyk in Brasey; Pigeon with wortes and marybones; Salat of Sawge with Chybollus, Pesen Pottage; Mushroom bake with fecces; Tamworth pork mortreux, Venysoun with roasted chasteynes and Walsh-notes; and poached peres; and Chese."<ref>{{cite web |title=Canterbury's Ambrette rebrands as the Cook's Tale | Restaurant Industry Magazine |url=https://restaurantindustry.co.uk/2022/07/26/canterburys-ambrette-rebrands-as-the-cooks-tale/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 July 2022 |title=Award-winning restaurant in name change |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/award-winning-restaurant-in-name-change-270852/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Award-winning Canterbury restaurant rebrands as 'The Cook's Tale' |url=https://cenemagazine.co.uk/news/2021/6/4/ambrette-canterbury-to-become-the-cooks-tale}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Cook's Tale - Produced in Kent |url=https://www.producedinkent.co.uk/producers/the-cooks-tale}}</ref>

==References==
{{notelist}}
<references/>

== External links ==
{{wikisourcepar|The Cook's Prologue and Tale (Chaucer)}}
*[http://www.librarius.com/canttran/cooktrfs.htm "The Cook's Prologue and Tale", middle-english hypertext with glossary and side-by-side middle english and modern english]
*[http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/ckt-par.htm Read "The Cook's Tale" with interlinear translation]
*[https://medievalit.com/home/echaucer/modern-translations/the-cooks-tale-translation/ Modern Translation of "The Cook's Tale" and other resources at eChaucer]
*[https://archive.org/details/talegamelynfrom00gamegoog Walter William Skeat. The Tale of Gamelyn: From the Harleian Ms. No. 7334 (1884)]
*[http://eleusinianm.co.uk/redShalfleet/rs18cooks.html "The Cook's Tale" – a plain-English retelling for non-scholars.]

{{Chaucer}}
{{The Canterbury Tales}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooks Tale}}
[[Category:The Canterbury Tales]]
[[Category:Unfinished poems]]

The Cook's Tale - Revision history

2600:4040:7636:6600:6824:EA1F:7C06:2F6B at 18:40, 27 June 2025

imported>MS2P at 10:27, 29 June 2024