The Canterbury Tales

This one happens to be on point.

This line about long spoons and devils origi- originated from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

I guess Chaucer knew something about boundaries, because that's really what this is about.

The meaning of this proverb is pretty clear.

Literary evidence supports all this.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, set around a group of pilgrims heading to Becket’s shrine, is a brilliant window into what life was like.

Though fictional, it shows us how many different walks of life—a knight, a miller, an innkeeper’s daughter—could travel the same road and interact, often sparking humor and social critique.

Chaucer’s depiction goes beyond mere caricature.

Passion was not the motive, and probably there was too much system, for he was unsuccessful on two occasions.

The first was with Miss Harriet Lee, the authoress of several novels and of The Canterbury Tales.

Godwin seems to have been much struck by her, and, after four interviews at Bath, wrote on his return to London a very characteristic and pressing letter of invitation to her to stay in his house if she came to London, explaining that there was a lady, Miss Jones, who superintended his home.

As this letter met with no answer, he tried three additional letters, drafts of all being extant.

Commissioned by a Norman patron, it was produced by English craftsmen who blended their indigenous style with continental narratives.

Moving into the medieval literary sphere, illuminated books such as the Queen Mary Psalter and Chaucer's own manuscript of The Canterbury Tales showcase both textual innovation and visual opulence.

These manuscripts often feature grotesque beasts beside biblical scenes, an artistic reminder that England was simultaneously a Christian realm and a land steeped in myth.

They also show how patronage by nobles could turn book production into a statement of prestige.