Geoffrey Chaucer
英国文学之父——杰弗里·乔叟

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales . Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.
杰弗里·乔叟(1343—1400)，英国文学之父，被公认为中世纪最伟大的英国诗人，也是首位葬在威斯敏斯特教堂“诗人之角”的诗人。作为诗人、哲学家、炼金术士和天文学家, 乔叟生前声名显赫。除此之外，他还积极投身于社会公职工作，做过官员、侍臣和外交家。他的众多作品中最为著名的要数《坎特伯雷故事集》。在当时文学语言主要是法语和拉丁语的背景下，乔叟在促进中世纪英语白话的正统性方面起了举足轻重的作用。

Chaucer's works are sometimes grouped into first a French period, then an Italian period and finally an English period, with Chaucer being influenced by those countries' literatures in turn. However, it is The Canterbury Tales , wherein he focuses on English subjects, with bawdy jokes and respected figures often being undercut with humor that has cemented his reputation. The Canterbury Tales contrasts with other literature of the period in the naturalism of its narrative, the variety of stories the pilgrims tell and the varied characters who are engaged in the pilgrimage. Chaucer was able to shape their speech and satirize their manners in what was to become popular literature among people of the same types.
由于在不同时期受到不同国家文学的影响，乔叟的作品可以归结为法国影响时期、意大利影响时期和后期的英语创作时期。而《坎特伯雷故事集》因其主要描写英国市民百姓间的俗谑笑谈和对有身份地位人物的幽默调侃而巩固了乔叟的文学地位。《坎特伯雷故事集》有别于同时代作品之处，在于自然贴合现实的叙事风格，在于朝圣者叙述故事的包罗万象，在于一群性格迥异的朝圣者。因乔叟善于生动临摹人物语言和对这些人物进行辛辣讽刺，该书在当时同类文学作品中最受欢迎。