One Hundred Merrie And Delightsome Stories / Right Pleasaunte To Relate In All Goodly Companie By Way Of Joyance And Jollity

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

18575

Title

One Hundred Merrie And Delightsome Stories / Right Pleasaunte To Relate In All Goodly Companie By Way Of Joyance And Jollity

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A collection of one hundred bawdy, satirical tales from the late 15th century, translated into English by Robert B. Douglas. These fabliaux explore themes of marital infidelity, clerical corruption, and social hypocrisy with a tone of irreverent humor and moral irony.

Summary up to 500 words

"One Hundred Merrie And Delightsome Stories" presents a collection of one hundred short tales originally compiled in the French work *Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles* and translated by Robert B. Douglas. These narratives, often attributed to various authors from the Burgundian court, function as moral fables disguised as entertainment. The stories frequently feature tricksters, cuckolded husbands, lustful monks, and cunning wives who outwit their partners or societal norms. The narratives range from the absurd, such as a drunkard imagining his own death, to the scandalous, involving illicit affairs and deceptive marriages. Through exaggerated scenarios and punchline endings, the stories critique human folly, greed, and the gap between appearance and reality. While the content is risqué and occasionally crude, the collection offers a fascinating glimpse into medieval attitudes toward gender, religion, and justice, maintaining a consistent vein of dark comedy throughout. The volume includes tales such as "The Reverse of the Medal," where a husband discovers his friend bathing with his wife, and "The Monk-Doctor," involving a young girl and a Cordelier monk. Other stories explore themes of deception and retribution, such as "The Search for the Ring," where a knight deceives a miller's wife, and "The Armed Cuckold," featuring a Scotch archer and a mercer's wife. The collection also highlights the absurdity of social norms through stories like "The Drunkard in Paradise" and "The Waggoner in the Bear." Through these varied tales, the book exposes the hypocrisy of the clergy, the cunning of women, and the foolishness of men, all while providing a humorous yet critical commentary on the human condition in the medieval era.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Classics
• Fiction