AR: 8.1

Note that this is a review of Vincent F. Hopper's Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (Selected): An Interlinear Translation. Most of the other reviews on this page are of The Canterbury Tales in general, in editions which should have been linked to that work, not to this interlinear Chaucer. As far as I'm concerned, the Canterbury Tales is a five star work, but the Hoppner version is about two stars.

This is an idea that works a lot better in theory than in practice. I have quite a few interlinear editions of various works -- the Greek Bible, Beowulf, others. For a language that is not English, the benefits of an interlinear are obvious and the detriments relatively few (unless you're trying to force yourself to become truly fluent in the source language, anyway). I had hoped that that would be true of Chaucer, too.

It isn't. Period. End of story.

Part of that is the way this interlinear is done. A good interlinear presents the main text continuously, usually with the translated text in smaller type below the main one. There is a clear main text and a clear subordinate text. This isn't done that way. Chaucer's text and Hopper's are placed one above the other, with Chaucer's text in roman type and Hopper's in italic, then a blank line. Thus the first three lines are:

Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote
When April with his showers sweet

The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
The drought of March has pierced to the root,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
And bathed every vein in such liquor,

This format makes it much too easy to read both lines by accident, when one really wants to read only Chaucer and refer to the interlinear only when necessary. Particularly since the modern English text is pedestrian. What's more, the modern English text sometimes is literal and sometimes is pretty free, which doesn't really help with understanding the Middle English. Hopper's is really a text that belongs as a parallel, not an interlinear. That would save paper, too, and let Hopper include more tales.

And therein lies the other problem: This isn't really the Canterbury Tales. This thing has truly pressed most of the life out of the Tales. As well as misrepresenting them.

Oh, it's no great loss to drop a few tales. The Physician's Tale is no loss, and the Squire's Tale is enough to make your head spin. And the greatest of the Tales -- the Knight's, the Franklin's, the Wife of Bath's, the Pardoner's, the Nun's Priest's -- are here.

But so is the Prioress's Tale, and if any tale should be suppressed, it's that horrid racist one! And the Miller's Tale is gone, and so is "Sir Thopas"! You can't do Chaucer without Sir Thopas! I'd really like to have the Canon's Yeoman's Tale, too.

Now I understand why the Miller's Tale is gone -- it was too dirty for 1948. But if you don't have the Miller's Tale, then you don't have the link between the Knight's Tale and the Miller's Tale, and you miss much of the point of the Canterbury Tales, which often is not the tales themselves but the links. Yes, the greatest of the tales -- the five I listed above, in particular -- can stand on their own, but the fun of the rest lies in the links. Hopper turned a continuous work, even if one that was never completed and lacks many connections -- into a mere anthology.

Another strange effect of the interlinear translation is that it prevents Hopper from providing an adequate set of notes. There are only about six pages. So the note on "at the Tabard as I lay" says only that the Tabard is "The name of the inn." Which is true, but not particularly useful. It's important to know that the Tabard was a real inn, in a real Southwark, managed by a real Harry Bailly, from which actual pilgrims set out to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. (By the way, there is no gloss at all on "The holy blisful martir for to seek" -- no explanation of the cult of Becket!)

A few other comments: The introduction is pretty weak, though that's not all Hopper's fault; Chaucer Studies have come a long way since his time. But it's still not adequate, and there really isn't enough information about what Middle English edition Hopper used as his base.

All in all, a dreadful disappointment. Admittedly I read Middle English a lot better than most -- I can often go many lines of Chaucer without needing a gloss. But I genuinely think that anyone who wants to read Chaucer (which should be every native speaker of English -- we're talking about the man who made English a great literary language!) would do better with the Riverside Chaucer or its equivalent: You get all the Chaucer, all the notes, and all the meaning.

Terribly hard to get used to the writing, initially. But once you pick it up, you realize that Chaucer was one saucy dog. His tales are riddled with jokes that would make playboy blush. Seriously. Take a look at the kinds of jokes people told at bars in the 14th century. ( )

I always knew that Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was an important work, and one that I should read someday. However, it wasn't until I became interested in the development of the English language that I decided to read Chaucer. He was one of the first, if not the first, non-clerical writers in the English vernacular, and all of the weird Saxon and French influences are on display in this bilingual, interlinear translation by Vincent Hopper. What I did not anticipate was the bawdiness of Chaucer's subject matter. While the Knight's tale is somewhat boring and moralistic, many of the other selected tales in this volume are pretty spicy. Who knew that people in the Middle Ages were as preoccupied with sex and money as their modern counterparts? If I had known about the Miller's and Reeve's tales in high school, I would have definitely had the Canterbury Tales on my reading list. And now that I'm a middle aged modern man . . . Hooray for the Wife of Bath and her libido!

I was also intrigued by Hopper's Introduction to this volume in which he discussed the influence of Chaucer's diplomatic travel on his writing, particularly his trip to Italy in 1372 where Petrach and Boccaccio reigned over the beginning of a literary renaissance. Hopper states that Chaucer was apparently unacquainted with Boccaccio's The Decameron, but I find that hard to believe given the similarity of the works, including the serial story-telling, the generally bawdy nature of both works, and the targeting of corrupt clergy (for which I am surprised that neither author was burned at the stake or thrown into boiling oil).

Get yourself a reader's guide and dive into at least a selection of the Canterbury Tales! ( )

I was a little surprised at how enjoyable "Canterbury Tales" was, as it was written from 1386 to Chaucer's death in 1400 and I suppose I had the misconception that it might be a bit dusty and dry. The editorial "selection" by Hopper and the "interlinear" translation putting modern English next to ye Olde variety were surely helpful, but it's Chaucer himself who is the star. In his stories he paints a picture of life in the Middle Ages and displays a great deal of insight into human nature, all the while doing so in a way that is informal and fun. It's a pity that the work was only about a quarter finished relative to his original plan.

Quotes:
On Adultery, from the Franklin's Tale:
"Let such folly disappear from your heart.
What pleasure would a man have in his life
to go love another man's wife,
who has her body whenever he pleases"

On Censorship, from the Prologue to the Miller's Tale:
"And therefore, whoever prefers not to hear it,
turn over the page, and choose another tale;
for he will find enough, large and small,
of storied things that concern gentility,
and also morality and holiness;
don't blame me if you choose amiss.
The Miller is a churl, you know this well;
so was the Reve, and many more of the others.
And both of them told bawdy tales.
Make up your minds and don't put the blame on me;
and besides people should not take fun seriously."

On Death, from the Knight's Tale:
"Alas, the severing of our companionship!
Alas, my heart's queen! Alas, my wife!
My heart's lady, ender of my life!
What is this world? What do men ask to have?
Now with his love, now in his cold grave
Alone, without any company."

Also:
"And certainly a man has most honor
to die in his prime and flower,
when he is sure of his good name;
Then has he done no shame to his friend or himself.
And his friend ought to be more glad of his death,
when with honor he yielded up his breath,
than when his name had faded with age;
for all forgotten are his exploits.
Thus it is best, for a worthy reputation,
to die when one is in the height of fame."

On God, from the Knight's Tale:
"How is mankind more beholden to you
than the sheep that huddles in the fold?
For man is slain like any other beast.
and also dwells in prison and detention,
and suffers sickness and great adversity,
and many times guiltless, God knows!
What justice is in this Omniscience,
that torments guiltless innocence?
And yet this increases all my torture,
that man is bound by his obedience,
for God's sake, to restrain his desires,
whereas a beast may fulfill all its appetites."

On Love, from the Knight's Tale:
"He fell suddenly into a study,
as lovers do in their changeful ways,
now in the treetops, now down in the briars,
now up, now down, like a bucket in a well,
just as on Friday, to state a fact,
sometimes it shines, sometimes it pours."

On Old Age, from the Prologue to the Reeve's Tale:
"The poor tongue may well ring and chime
about follies that happened long ago;
except for dotage there is nothing else for old folk."

On Religion, from the Prologue to the Pardoner's Tale:
""Of avarice and of such cursedness
is all my preaching, to make them liberal
to give their pennies, and especially to me.
For my intention is only for profit,
and not at all for correction of sin.
...
For in truth, many a sermon
comes often out of evil intention;
some for the pleasing and flattering of people,
to have advancement by hypocrisy,
and some for worldly fame, and some for hate.
...
Thus I spit out my venom under color
of Holiness, while seeming holy and sincere."

On Sex, from the Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale:
"Tell me also, for what purpose
were the organs of generation made,
and for what purpose was a body made?
Trust it right well, they were not made for nothing.
...they are made for both,
that is to say, for function and for pleasure
of begetting, where we do not displease God.
Why otherwise should men state in their books
that man shall pay his debt to his wife?
Now with what should he make his payment,
if he does not use his instrument?
...
In wifehood I will use my instrument
as freely as my Maker has bestowed it.
If I be grudging, God give me sorrow!
My husband shall have it both night and morning,
whenever he wants to come forth and pay his debt."

Also:
"What ails you to grouch so and groan?
Is it that all you want is my tail?
Why take it all, here, have every bit of it:
Peter! Curse you but you love it well!"

On Sorrow, form the Nun's Priest's Tale:
"'...My heart is full of joy and satisfaction.'
But suddenly a sorrowful event befell him;
for the latter end of joy is always woe.
God knows that worldly joy is soon departed..."

On Women and Men, from the Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale:
"But in our bed he was so fresh and gay,
and, besides, he could cajole me so well,
when he would have my pretty thing,
that even though he had beaten me on every bone,
he could very quickly win my love again.
I guess I loved him best because he
was miserly of his love to me.
We women have, if I do not lie,
a curious notion in this matter;
pick out whatever thing we cannot easily have,
that we will crave and cry for all day."

Also:
"Some said, that our spirits are most soothed,
when we are flattered and spoiled.
That comes very close to the truth, I will not lie;
a man shall win us best with flattery;
and with attentions, and with thoughtful acts,
are we caught, both the strong and the weak."

And:
"Women desire to have sovereignty
over their husbands as much as over their lovers,
and to be masters of them;
that is your greatest desire..."

Finally from the Franklin's Tale:
"Love is a thing as free as any spirit;
women by nature desire liberty,
and not to be held down like slaves;
and so do men, if I speak the truth.
Observe him who is most patient in love,
he has the advantage over all others."

On the Loss of Youth, from the Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale:
"But Lord Christ! when I think back
upon my youth, and on my gaiety,
it tickles me to the bottom of my heart.
To this day it does my heart good
that I have had my day in my time." ( )