My tale is of a cok, as ye may heere,
That tok his conseil of his wyf, with sorwe.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. With the rooster’s nightmare about the Fox coming true, the Nun’s Priest squarely points his finger at the Chauntecleer’s wife Pertelote for the disaster. The narrator buys into the idea that women are to blame for the disasters that befall men. My tale is of a cock who took his counsel from his wife, with sorrow, he says.