Summary
This tale starts off with an oxford student named Nicholas. Nicholas lives with a carpenter named John, and his very young wife Alison. John loved Alison so much that he was afraid to lose her, so he kept her locked in the house so she could never get with another man. When the carpenter was away, Nicholas would make passes at Alison. She refused him for write some time, until the two fell in love. The priest at the church Alison attends was quite fond of her. He tried flattering her with gifts and music but she only had eyes for Nicholas. When the carpenter went away for the weekend, Alison and Nicholas came up with a plan to fool him. They did this so that they could finally sleep together. Nicholas pretends to be sick all weekend, and when John returns home, he begins playing his trick. He tells John of a terrible vision that he had of a great flood coming that will kill everything in it's path. Nicholas tells john to hand three bathtubs from the roof of the barn, each with an axe and some food. On Monday night, the predicted day of the flood they slept in the tubs. If the flood came they were to hack down their tubs and float. When the carpenter fell asleep, Nicholas and Alison snuck back to sleep together in the carpenter's bed. During their time together, the priest knocks on the window asking Alison for a kiss and she refuses him yet again. He wont leave without a kiss, so Alison sticks her bare butt out the window, and he unknowingly kisses it. When he finds out what happens he is outraged, and comes back with a plan of his own. He got a heated iron poker and returned to ask for another kiss, only this time he gets Nicholas's butt. Without hesitating, the priest pokes him with the iron poker, branding his behind. Nicholas screams for help and for someone to get him water. this wakes the carpenter and when he hears water he assumes it is the flood. Whne he falls from the ceiling, he gets badly injured. The townspeople then arrive to see what happened, and listen to the carpenter's story. Alison and Nicolas claim that he is crazy and they stay together.