A Brief Introduction to Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales, mostly written in verse(韵文), although some in prose （散文）, are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. In a long list of works, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, Parliament of Fowls, The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus(力作). He uses the tales and the descriptions of the characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Structurally, the collection bears the influence of The Decameron（意大利小说家薄伽丘的作品《十日谈》）, which Chaucer is said to have come across during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372. However, Chaucer describes his tales with “sundry（各种各样的） folk”, rather than fleeing nobles（离家出走的贵族）.。