The merchant's tale

the long version

Combining a high rhetoric style with typical Chaucerian carnality, The Merchant's Tale is a love story with a darker side. Face with conflicting advice from his friends, age-withered January selects a radiant young wife. His Beloved-innocence embodied, to the untrained eye-wastes little time acquainted herself with his staff. Chaucer's genius is to elevate her transgressions to the level of gender politics; as deities intervene to decide the plight of future Man and Woman, the full significance of January and May's relationship is revealed. A dual-language edition of Chaucer's timeless tale of adultery and deception, presenting a brand new modern-English translation by acclaimed Chaucer scholar, Lyn Richmond. --Book Jacket.