1300: la prima vera raccolta di racconti in lingua “Inglese”

The stories of storytellers goes on in the centuries. In 1387 Geoffrey Chaucer, father of the English language, wrote The Canterbury Tales.  
This work is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims from various parts of England. They  meet in London, at the Tabard Inn (tavern = locanda), and choose to continue the journey together as they are all travelling to Canterbury to pray on the shrine (memorial = santuario)of Saint Thomas à Beckett. To enjoy (to have pleasure = per passare bene)  their time during the journey these pilgrims decide to tell each other (= reciprocamente) stories. The teller (man who tells = colui che racconta) of the best story shall have a free dinner on his return to the inn.
The collection of Tales has a preface, a Prologue, in which G. Chaucer describes vividly (colourfully = vivacemente) each of the pilgrims, their characteristics and clothes, their qualities and defects.
They  represent the complex social reality of the 14th century, from the highest class (knighthood  = cavalieri and clergy = clero) to the lowest (middle class and peasants = contadini). Very few pilgrims escape Chaucer’s comic satire, and irony. .
The tales reflect the background, personality and taste of the narrator.  
The stories are 24 in all –  some are incomplete – and  vary from courtly, idealistic  romances to comic and  farcical anecdotes. Every one gives also a sort of lesson based on real experience.