PART FIVE The Wife of Bath's Tale

PART FIVE The Wife of Bath's Tale

A long time ago, when King Arthur ruled the land,there was a great knight who loved all the pleasures of life.But one day, a lady of the court told the King that the knight had attacked her.

Arthur was very angry and said that the knight must die. 'Cut off his head!'But the Queen and her ladies asked Arthur to give the knight to them for punishment.To please his queen, Arthur agreed.

The Queen sent for the knight.'I and my ladies have the power to let you live or die,' she said.'You will live only if you can answer this question:What is it that women most desire?If you cannot tell us at this moment, you may go away for a year and a day to find the answer.But if you return without the answer, remember this: the axe is sharp!'

The knight was very unhappy but he had no choice.He said goodbye to the Queen and rode away.

He travelled through the whole country, from coast to coast, looking for the answer.He knocked on every door. 'What is it that women most desire?' he asked.But he could not find two people who agreed.

'Women want to be rich.' 'No, they want a good reputation.'

'No, they want pleasure.' 'They want fine clothes.'

'They want a life of love with many husbands.'

'Women want to be spoilt and flattered.'

'Women want freedom, with nobody to criticise them.'

'Women want people to say that they can keep a secret.'

That is nonsense, of course. No woman can keep a secret.Do you remember the ancient tale of King Midas?Midas grew a splendid pair of donkey's ears under his long hair.Nobody knew except his wife.Midas loved her and made her promise that she wouldn't tell anyone about his ears.Of course, she promised but, because she was a woman, it was difficult to keep the secret.It wanted to fly out of her mouth.

'I must tell somebody,' she thought. So, she ran down to the lake, her heart on fire.She lay down among the river grasses and whispered the secret to the water.'My husband has a pair of donkey s ears.'The wind spread the secret through the whole country. We women are all like that.

Well, the knight realised that he would never find the answer. He felt sad and hopeless.The year had finished and this was the day when he had to return to the Queen.

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