Philip de la Vache ""The Canterbury Tales"". However, the reference to Vache in Chaucer's poem may on good grounds also be a pun on his own name. The phrase Vache, leve! in the first line of the Envoy corresponds to medieval French Vache, reïs!, 'cow, leave!'. The French phase reïs, Vache!, (REISVACHE), when reversed, becomes CHAVSIER, the French form of the poet's name (this is a so-called palindrome). In the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament, the cows on their way to Beth Shemesh are likened to holy men, or monks on their way to the Heavenly Jerusalem. Chaucer may have regarded
Animal tale Animal tale An animal tale or beast fable generally consists of a short story or poem in which animals talk. It is a traditional form of allegorical writing. Important traditions in beast fables are represented by the "Panchatantra" and "Kalila and Dimna" (Sanskrit and Arabic originals), Aesop (Greek original), "One Thousand and One Nights" ("Arabian Nights") and separate trickster traditions (West African and Native American). The medieval French cycle of allegories, "Roman de Reynart" is called a beast-epic, with the recurring figure Reynard the fox. Beast fables are typically transmitted freely between languages, and often assume pedagogic roles: for example,