Itong hari cong tinuran
si don Fernando ang ngalan
ang caniyang tinubuan
ang Berbaniang caharian.
Ang haring sinabi co na
ay may tatlóng anác sila,
tuturan co't ibabadyá
nang inyo ngang maquilala.
Si don Pedro ang panganay
na anác nang haring mahal,
at ang icalaua naman
si don Diego ang pangalan.
Ang icatlo'i, si don Juan
ito'i siyang bunsong tunay,
parang Arao na sumilang
sa Berbaniang caharian.
King Fernando of Berbania had three sons, Pedro, Diego and
Juan of whom the last was the favorite.  He so loved Juan
that when one night he dreamed that his two children
conspired against their youngest brother, the king became
so frightened that he fell sick with a malady, which non of
the physicians of the kingdom were able to cure.  Persons
were not lacking, however, who would advise him that bird
Adarna was the one living being in the world which could
restore to him his lost health and tranquility.  Acting on this
advice, he sent out his  oldest son Pedro to look for this
coveted animal.   After days of wandering through the
dense forests ad extensive thickets, he came to a tree of
diamond, at the foot of which he fell down tired and thirsty. 
He never suspected that it was this tree the very one in
which the famous bird was accustomed to pass the night;
and when the night was setting and the Adarna flung into
the air the first of its seven songs, his melody was so softly
sweet that Pedro was lulled into a profound sleep.  After
emitting its seventh melody for the night, the bird defecated
on the sleeping prince who was thereby converted into a
stone.
METRICAL TALE

A long narrative poem which tells about the lives of ordinary people

Features/Characteristics

Metrical tale is to poetry what the short story is to prose.

It deals with any emotion or phase of life and its story is told in a simple,
straightforward, and realistic manner.
The characters are ordinary people, concerned with ordinary events.
It has simple structure and tells of a single incident.
A narrative told by a known author with characters, setting, plot and theme.
Metrical tale is written in number of verses.
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

• Crusades (11th-13th centuries)

• Holy war which was to recapture Jerusalem
• Europe supported and fought in these wars.
• Devotion to the Virgin Mary influenced the development of a unique
type of literature known as romance—which portrayed the standards
of knightly conduct known as chivalry
• Romances were stories of adventure and dealt with the exploits of
knights (battles, jousts, etc). They would present a series of tests or
trials of the knight’s virtues
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

• Geoffrey Chaucer: in many estimates, ranks second only to

Shakespeare as England’s greatest writer. He wrote The Canterbury
Tales, a series of verse told by different pilgrims on their way to the
tomb of Thomas Becket
• Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in around 1343AD, is a poet of
the Middle Ages, widely known as the Father of English Literature. He
wrote the famous metrical tale - Canterbury Tale.
CANTERBURY TALES

• Chaucer's long poem follows the journey of a group of pilgrims, 31

including Chaucer himself, from the Tabard Inn in Southwark to St
Thomas à Becket's shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. The host at the inn
suggests each pilgrim tell two tales on the way out and two on the way
home to help while away their time on the road. The best storyteller is
to be rewarded with a free supper on their return.
• The Canterbury Tales (written c. 1388-1400 CE) is a medieval literary
work by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE) comprised of 24
tales related to a number of literary genres and touching on subjects
ranging from fate to God’s will to love, marriage, pride, and death.
The Pardoner’s Tale

• Reveling
• Denounce
• Gluttony
• Oath
• Witless
• Lecherous
• Perjury
• Wretch
• Bushel
• Tirade
• Apothecary
The Pardoner’s Tale

• Reveling
enjoy oneself in a lively and noisy way, especially with drinking and
dancing
They spent the evening reveling with their guests.
• Denounce
publicly declare to be wrong or evil
The government and the church denounce the use of violence.
• Gluttony
habitual greed or excess in eating
Gluttony is a sin.
The Pardoner’s Tale

• Oath
a solemn promise
Knights took an oath of allegiance to the king.
• Witless
foolish; stupid
A witless person has no future.
• Lecherous
having or showing excessive or offensive sexual desire
We must ignore lecherous gazes from people we hardly know.
The Pardoner’s Tale

• Perjury
the offense of willfully telling an untruth in a court after having taken
an oath or affirmation
The judge claimed two witnesses at his trial had committed perjury.
• Wretch
an unfortunate or unhappy person
Can the dead body of the poor wretch tell what really happened?
• Bushel
a measure of capacity equal to 8 gallons (equivalent to 36.4 liters)
A farmer harvested his grains and produced a bushel of rice grains.
The Pardoner’s Tale

• Tirade
a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation
Politics is rich with tirade of abuse.
• Apothecary
a person who prepared and sold medicines and drugs
The apothecary was grinding herbs for a medicine.
The Pardoner’s Tale

In Flanders, there were three young men who loved to

amuse themselves by reveling. The Pardoner launches
into a long criticism about their sinful lives, citing many
Biblical examples as support. First, he denounces their
gluttony, which he says caused the fall of Man. He next
decries their drunkenness, which makes men witless
and lecherous. He then denounces their gambling:
dice, he says, are the mothers of lies. The Pardoner
criticizes the swearing of false oaths, saying that cursing
and perjury are wretched.
The Pardoner’s Tale

Finally, after his long tirade, the Pardoner returns to the

three young rioters, who are drinking at a tavern when
they hear the bell signaling the sound of a passing
coffin. A servant tells them that the dead man was a
friend of the revelers who had been stabbed in the
night by a thief called Death. The revelers declare that
they will seek and slay this false traitor Death. They
pledge to be true to each other as brothers in this
quest.
The Pardoner’s Tale

The revelers meet an old man in rags who says that he

must wander the earth restlessly because Death will
not take his life. He makes a move to leave, but the
rioters demand that he tell them where they can find
Death. The old man says that he has just left Death a
moment ago sitting under an oak tree. The youths run
down the crooked path to the tree, where they find not
Death but eight bushels of gold.
The Pardoner’s Tale

The worst of the rioters speaks first, saying that this is

their lucky day, but if they take the treasure down to
the town by daylight, they will be accused as thieves,
and therefore they must wait for nightfall to move the
gold. He proposes that they draw straws, and
whichever one gets the short straw must go to town to
get food and drink so they can wait out the day.
The Pardoner’s Tale

The youngest draws the short straw and leaves. While

he is away, the other two rioters plot to kill the third
when he returns so that the two of them will each get a
bigger share of the treasure. Meanwhile, the youngest
decides to poison the other two revelers so that he can
keep all the money for himself. He goes to an
apothecary, buys the strongest poison available, and
pours it into two bottles, keeping a third clean for
himself.
The Pardoner’s Tale

When the youngest reveler returns, the two others slay

him. Then, celebrating, they drink the poisoned wine.
Thus, all three of the revelers die.
Vocabulary: The Pardoner’s Tale

They spent the evening reveling with their guests.

The government and the church denounce the use of violence.
Do not eat if you are already full or else you commit a sin called gluttony.
Knights took an oath of allegiance to the king.
A witless person has no future.
We must shun away the lecherous gazes from people we hardly know.
The judge claimed two witnesses at his trial had committed perjury.
Can the dead body of the poor wretch tell what really happened?
A farmer harvested his grains and produced a bushel of rice grains.
Politics is rich with tirade of abuse.
The apothecary was grinding herbs for a medicine.