"Allas," quod John, "the day that I was born!
Now are we dryve til hethyng and til scorn.
Oure corn is stoln; men wil us fooles calle,
Bathe the wardeyn and oure felawes alle,
And namely the millere, weylaway!"
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Reeve’s Tale. John wails to Alan that they are going to be branded fools and viewed with contempt and scorn because the miller has succeeded in stealing their corn. He seems to be more concerned with the humiliation of being outsmarted by a miller than with the theft of the corn.