For this ye knowen al so wel as I:
Whoso shal telle a tale after a man,
He moote reherce, as ny as evere he kan
Everich a word, if it be in his charge,
Al speke he never so rudeliche or large;
Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe,
Or feyne thyng, or fynde wordes newe.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. The Narrator Chaucer says that the storytellers must tell their tale truthfully and honestly and as they remember it. And he warns of rude stories to come, foreshadowing some of the bawdy and lewd tales that make up the collection of 24 stories from the group of pilgrims.