The moore queynte crekes that they make,
The moore wol I stele whan I take.
In stide of flour yet wol I yeve hem bren.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Reeve’s Tale. Symkyn the miller pledges that the more tricks and stratagems John and Alan make, the more he will steal from them and instead of wheat flour he will give them bran. It has become like a competition to Symkyn as to who will outwit whom.