The Reeve's Tale

At Trumpington, near Cambridge, there is a brook where nearby stands a mill. There is a miller who lived there once who wore ostentatious clothing and could play the bagpipe, wrestle and fish. He always had a knife with him, and had a round face and flattened nose. His name was Simon, and nicknamed Symkyn. His wife came from a noble family; her father was the parson. Symkyn was a jealous man and his wife pretentious. They had a daughter who was now twenty and a toddler. The miller was dishonest in his business dealings. He cheated the college worst of all, and stole meal and corn from the dying steward of Cambridge. Two students, John and Aleyn, received permission from the provost to see the corn ground at the mill. Aleyn tells Symkyn that he is there to ground the corn and bring it back, since the sick steward cannot. While they ground the corn, Symkyn found the students' horse and set it loose. When the students finished, they rush after the horse, forgetting both the corn and the meal. While they were gone, the miller took part of their flour and told his wife to knead it into dough. The students returned to find their meal stolen. They begged the miller for help, and he offers them a place to stay for the night. The miller's daughter slept in the same room alone. The miller himself fell asleep and began to snore, annoying the students. Aleyn vows to seduce the daughter, Molly, as revenge for the stolen corn. John warns him that the miller is dangerous. Aleyn seduced her, while John felt humiliated that he was merely sleeping while Aleyn was having sex with the miller's daughter. John himself seduced the miller's wife. That morning, Molly told Aleyn where he could find the bread that she helped her father steal. Aleyn goes to tell John of his exploits, but Symkyn hears and grabs him by the neck. Aleyn punches him, and the two fight, until the miller tumbles backward on his wife, breaking her ribs. John sprang up quickly to find a staff. The miller's wife found one, and tried to hit Aleyn with it, but instead struck her husband. The students left him lying, got dressed and took their meal. So the proud miller got himself a beating, lost his labor, was cuckolded and had his daughter seduced. The proverb rings true: "Let him not look for good whose works are ill," for a trickster shall himself be tricked.