The Franklin's Prologue and Tale
The Franklin's Tale is one of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
The story tells of a young man named Averagus and a young woman named Dorigen, who fall in love. Averagus then leaves on a boat to defend his country.
While he is gone, Aurelius falls in love with Dorigen, who refuses his love unless he can make the rocks in the sea, upon which she fears her betrothed's ship will crash, disappear. Aurelius pays a magician/philosopher to make a flood come and cover the rocks with water.
The flood issues forth just as Averagus returns safely, and Dorigen is promptly confronted by both men claiming her hand. Averagus claims that love is less important than keeping one's word, so he advises Dorigen to marry Aurelius. (In this, Averagus mirrors the Franklin, who aspires to a idealistic standard of nobility).
However, Aurelius himself defers to nobility when he recognizes that the couple's love is true, and therefore retracts his request to marry her. The magician is so pleased that he cancels the debt that Aurelius owes him.
