But as she saugh a whit thyng in hir ye. And whan she gan this white thyng espye, She wende the clerk hadde wered a volupeer, And with the staf she drow ay neer and neer, And wende han hit this Aleyn at the fulle, And smoot the millere on the pyled skulle, That doun he gooth, and cride, "Harrow! I dye!"

But as she saugh a whit thyng in hir ye.
And whan she gan this white thyng espye,
She wende the clerk hadde wered a volupeer,
And with the staf she drow ay neer and neer,
And wende han hit this Aleyn at the fulle,
And smoot the millere on the pyled skulle,
That doun he gooth, and cride, "Harrow! I dye!"

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Reeve’s Tale. When Symkyn’s wife sees his bald skull fall down on her, she mistakingly thinks he is one of the clerks wearing a night cap. So he grabs a club and hits her husband on the head and down he goes crying "Help! I die!"

Geoffrey Chaucer Quotes