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The Manciple’s Tale
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The Manciple’s Tale

story by Chaucer
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Article History

The Manciple’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

The Manciple, or steward, tells a story about the origin of the crow, based on the myth of Apollo and Coronis as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Phebus (Phoebus) kept a snow-white crow that could mimic any human voice. The bird witnesses Phebus’s wife with her lover and informs his keeper. Phebus kills his wife in a jealous rage. Later, feeling remorseful, he blames the crow for his madness, plucks out its feathers, turns the bird black, and commends it to the devil.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.