A Review of The Canterbury Tales: The Reeve's Tale

After The Miller's Tale is told, which mocks a Reeve, The Reeve decides to get back at the Miller by telling a story about a corrupt miller. As goes the first verse from The Reeve's Tale: 
                                        ''At Trumpington, nat fer fro Cantebrigge,
                                         Ther goth a brook and over that a brigge,
                                          Up-on the whiche brook stant a melle;
                                          And this is verray soth that I yow tell. ''

The Reeve's Tale is about a miller that steals from many. The miller was called ''Scornful Simkin'', and all were frightened of him. He is described as being able to play bagpipes, and fish, and make nets, along with other handy things.   Early on in the story, two rascals and foolhardy scholars by the names of John and Allen are looking for a little entertainment and mischief for themselves. They go to the miller's mill to see if he will rob them. Indeed, the miller steals the two men's horse. Later on in the story, the two men fight the miller and beat him before stealing his wife and daughter.
 While that is the story in a wrap up, I also found much satire here. The miller's wife who is proud like him, is called madame by by all. Of noble blood, she is the daughter of a Catholic priest {sounds like Chaucer is again bringing out a bigger message than what is simply contained in the text.}
 There are always morale lessons that I have found in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. I guess the morale of this tale was that if one takes from others so it will be done to them. As Proverbs says, ''Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall be not depart from his house. '' Chaucer's theme in The Miller's Tale is to not expect good if one gives to others evil as the miller did.
 I have been reading all The Canterbury Tales contained in the Barnes and Noble edition, which includes almost all of them.  The Reeve's Tale was not contained in The No Fear Canterbury Tales, so I used The Canterbury Tales from Barnes and Noble Classics for this one. To read the full Canterbury Tales in Middle English Books a Million has a hardcover copy with the full stories, though it is the only one I currently know of. Most copies of The Canterbury Tales only include some of the stories in Middle English, or all the stories in modern English. Sadly, most people don't seem to read the full stories that Chaucer wrote except professors of English or Medieval Literature lovers like me.
It is good to return back to my series of The Canterbury Tales, which unfortunately was delayed by much business that I had going on for a while. I've said many times that The Canterbury Tales is my favorite work of English Literature. I was glad to learn and know, that both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien loved these stories. These tales have lasted the test of time and have inspired many famous English writers such as Charles Dickens and J. K. Rowling. Geoffrey Chaucer was a student of the Franciscan John Wycliffe at Oxford University, and according to the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages by Norman F. Cantor, Chaucer was a Lollard, a follower of Wycliffe. It is no wonder then that Chaucer's stories survived as an inspiration to the Protestant Reformation. The scandalous characters of the Canterbury Tales, including occasional church clergy, are more or less occasions of satire for Chaucer to convey a bigger theme and message than even the many laughs to readers the stories give. I just find Chaucer so entertaining and funny. His occasional crude humor is foundation to many of his stories, and his wit is necessary to them.