Note 3 — VOLUME VI slice I Châtelet to Chicago (continued 2)

The Talks on the Road show clearly that only one Priest in attendance on the Prioress, and two tales to each narrator, were originally contemplated, but the “Prestes thre” in line 164 of the Prologue, and the bald couplet (line 793 sq.) explaining that each pilgrim was to tell two tales each way, were probably both alterations made by Chaucer in moments of amazing hopefulness. The journey was reckoned a 3½ days’ ride, and eight or nine tales a day would surely have been a sufficient allowance.