October 2018 1 9 Report
Przetłumaczycie mi? Introduction

'As you know, it's a long way to Canterbury. You need to stay happy on the journey. I've got an idea. You must all tell a story on the way. We'll give a free dinner to the person who tells the best story. Now, put up your hands if you agree.'

The pilgrims all held up their hands and cried out, ' Yes!'

A group of pilgrims are travelling together for five days from London to Canterbury. On the way, each pilgrim has to tell a story. Some stories are happy, and some are sad. But they all have a message, and we can learn from them.

The writer of these tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, was born in London in about 1342. We do not know exactly when he was born. His father, John, and his grandfather, Robert, worked in the wine business. They probably also worked for King Edward III. The family earned quite a lot of money and had a comfortable life.

When he was a young boy, Chaucer went to school in London. He then worked for an important lady in the king's family. It was a very good job and he met some very interesting people.

In 1359 Chaucer was sent abroad as a soldier. He was fighting for the king against France in part of the Hundred Years'War. He was taken prisoner by the French near Rheims, but after a year the king paid money for his return.

When he returned to England, Chaucer worked for the king, his family and friends. In about 1367 he married Philippa de Roet, a lady who worked for the Queen.

Chaucer was a great reader and he had an excellent memory. He learned to read in Latin, French, Anglo-Norman and Italian. He knew a lot about literature, history and science.

The king often sent him to other countries on important business for him. On two of these journeys Chaucer went to Italy; first to Genoa, in 1372, and then to Milan, in 1378. People think that Chaucer became interested in Italian story-tellers on these journeys. He probably met the Italian writer, Boccaccio, when he was in Italy. We can be sure that he read Boccaccio's book, the Decameron (1348—58).

Chaucer became a rich man during this time, but in December 1386 he lost his job. John of Gaunt, the king's son and Chaucer's friend, left England to fight in Spain. The Duke of Gloucester took his place and he didn't like Chaucer. He gave Chaucer's job to his friends. So Chaucer had more time for writing, and he began work on The Canterbury Tales.

In 1389 John of Gaunt returned to England and gave Chaucer an important job again. Chaucer was growing old. He felt that his writing was getting worse. He died on 25 October, 1400, and his body was put in Westminster Abbey.

We do not know exactly when Chaucer started writing poems. It was probably when he returned from the war in France.

Chaucer wrote a lot of poems, and some of his great books are The Book of the Duchess (1369—70), The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls (between 1372 and 1382), and Troilius and Criseyde (between 1380 and 1385). His most famous work is The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer worked on this from 1386 or 1387, but he never finished the book.

Printing was introduced in Germany in about 1450. In 1477 Caxton made the first machine which could print in England. He printed The Canterbury Tales in 1478.

The Canterbury Tales was not the first book of short stories. Chaucer's idea — a group of people who each tell a story — wasn't a new idea either. In Boccaccio's Decameron, ten people escape to the country from a terrible illness in Florence. Each person tells a story to pass the time.

In The Canterbury Tales, the story-tellers are pilgrims. Their stories are interesting, but the pilgrims also seem very real to us. We feel we know them personally by the end of their stories. They are ordinary people — rich and poor, intelligent and stupid, young and old, from the town and from the country. They do not do the same jobs as we do today. But we all know people like them. The pilgrims' stories help us to understand English life in Chaucer's time.

The pilgrims' stories are all completely different, and they come from all over Europe. Some of the stories even come from countries in the East. At that time, people in Europe loved stories which taught them something — stories with a message about life or a new idea.

The stories in The Canterbury Tales are told like poems, and they are written in Chaucer's English. For this Penguin Reader we have chosen seven of the pilgrims' stories, and we have written them in modern English.


The Prologue

At the Tabard Inn

Pilgrims are people who travel to special places because they want to please God. Their journeys are often to places where a saint lived or died. Thomas a Becket was a saint. He was killed in Canterbury, in a great old church. Years ago, pilgrims went to Canterbury to visit this church.

This book tells the story of some pilgrims who travelled from London to Canterbury together. On the journey each person had to tell a story — a tale.

The pilgrims met at a place called the Tabard Inn in London. The fat owner of the inn was always happy. He told amusing stories which made the pilgrims laugh. They had a good meal at his inn, with a lot of excellent food and drink.

After the meal, the fat man stood up and said,' Friends, I'm very pleased to meet you. As you know, it's a long way to Canterbury. You need to stay happy on the journey. I've got an idea. You must all tell a story on the way. We'll give a free dinner to the person who tells the best story. Now, put up your hands if you agree.'

The pilgrims all held up their hands and cried out,' Yes! Yes! That's a good idea. And you can decide which story is best.'

The next morning they all got up very early and started on their journey. After a time, they stopped and gave their horses water. Then the fat man said,' Now, who's going to tell the first story ? Sir Knight, will you ?'

The knight was travelling to Canterbury for a special reason. He wanted to thank God because he was safe after a dangerous war.

' Yes, all right,' he said.' I'll begin.'

And he started to tell his story.

Wiem, że sporo, ale chyba punkty zachęcają? ;>

Oczywiście tłumaczenia "translatorowe" zgłaszam :)


More Questions From This User See All

The Friar's TaleThe Summoner and the DevilThere was a summoner and a friar on the pilgrimage to Canterbury.Summoners found people who did bad things. They took them to an important person in the church. People often paid summoners a lot of money to forget those bad things. A friar's job was different. He asked people for money for the church.The summoner and friar on the pilgrimage were not friends.The friar said to the pilgrims,' I'm going to tell you a story about summoners.'Then the summoner said, 'And I'm going to tell you a story about friars.''Well, I'm going to tell my story first,' said the friar.So the friar began.●There was an important man in the church who was very bad. He only wanted people's money. A summoner worked for this man. He watched people quietly. Then he caught them when they did bad things. 'You must leave the church,' he told them. 'But if you give me a lot of money, you can come into the church again.'●One day, the summoner was on his way to see an old woman. He thought that she was a bad woman. He wanted her to give him money.On the way he met a man. The man was wearing bright red clothes and riding a brown horse.' Where are you riding to ?' asked the man. Nobody liked the summoner, so he lied.'I'm just going to get some money from an old woman. She has to pay the money to my lord.'' Oh, so you're a bailiff,' said the man.A bailiff is a man who looks after land for rich lords. He takes money from the farmers who use the land.' Yes, that's right,' answered the summoner.' I'm a bailiff.' ' I've got a farm which I look after for a lord,' said the man. ' Oh, that's interesting,' said the summoner.' Tell me, how do you get your money from people ?'' I get it in many different ways,' said the man.' I like having a lot of money, but my lord doesn't pay me much.'' I've got my ways too,' said the summoner.' I don't mind if people are frightened of me or unhappy. I think we're the same, you and I.What's your name?'The man's answer gave the summoner a surprise. ' I'll tell you who I am. I'm a devil, and I live in hell!' he said. ' Oh, I thought you were an ordinary man like me,' said the summoner.' You look like a man.'' Devils can look like anything they want to,' laughed the devil. ' There are good reasons for this. Now, let's continue our journey.'●So the man and the devil rode along the road. After a short time, they saw a man with some horses. He was hitting the horses and shouting at them.' The devil can take you, you lazy animals!' he cried.'Did you hear that?' the summoner asked the devil. 'Go and take his horses. He says that the devil can take them!''You can't believe everything you hear,' answered the devil. 'Wait. Let's see what happens.'After a few minutes the tired horses started to walk a little faster.' Good horses!' shouted their owner.' Good Brock! Good old Scottie! God will save you all!'' What did I tell you ?' said the devil.' He said one thing but he meant another thing. There's nothing for me here. Let's continue.'●When the town was far behind them, the summoner said to the devil,' You didn't do very well with the man and his horses, did you? Now I'm going to get some money from this poor old woman. Watch carefully! You can see how I do it.'He went to the old woman's door.' Come out!' he shouted. ' I'm sure you're doing something bad in there!''Who's that?' cried the old woman, coming quickly out of her house.When she saw the summoner, she looked very frightened. ' Oh, it's you, sir,' she said.' People are saying some very bad things about you,' said the summoner in a serious voice.' If they're true, you'll have to go to the church. You'll have to pay them a lot of money.'When she heard this, the old woman began to cry.' Oh, sir, please be kind to me,' she said.' I'm ill and I can't get to church. Can I pay you the money ?'' Yes, but you must pay me now,' answered the summoner.' It will cost you twelve pennies. Quickly!'' Twelve pennies!' cried the old woman.' Oh, God help me! I haven't got twelve pennies! What can I do ?'' Give me your money!' shouted the summoner angrily.' But I haven't done anything bad,' said the poor woman.'Give me your money or I'll take your cooking pot. You were with a man who isn't your husband. You know you were!''No, I always loved my husband,' cried the old woman. 'I hope the blackest devil in hell carries you away! And the cooking pot too!'Then the devil spoke to the old woman.' Do you really mean what you're saying, madam ?'' Yes I do!' she answered. ' The devil can carry him away — clothes, cooking pot, everything.'The summoner was still shouting at her. He was very angry.' What ? Will I get no money from this stupid old woman ?''Why are you so angry?' asked the devil. 'You and the cooking pot are mine now. She gave you to me. Tonight you'll be in hell with me. You can learn about devils there and about how we do our work!'Suddenly the devil jumped on the summoner and caught him. Then he carried him down to hell. There's a place for summoners in hell, and it's always very full!●The friar finished his story and looked at all the pilgrims.'Think hard about my story,' he said. 'We must hope that God will keep us from the devil!'Then the summoner told his story about the friar. But it wasn't a very interesting story so I haven't put it in this book.Proszę o przetłumaczenie na polski. Bez translatora!
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