‘The Abbot of Canterbury’ is the title of the ballad that is taught in intermediate classes in Pakistan. In it, the poet tells the story of an abbot who lived in the splendid style of a great prince near London. He was very famous for his hospitality. He had fifty men wearing gold chains around him at his command. His name and fame spread far and wide. When he heard it from King John, who ruled England with strength and power, he suspected that he smacked of treason. He was very strange because he used to spend too much money for little benefit.

The abbot was called to his court and informed of his crime. His crime was the wealth gained from him and his reputation, which the king suspected was a betrayal of his kingdom. The abbot replied that he had obtained property honestly and never thought of any treason against the crown from him. The king was not satisfied with his answer and called it a greater crime with a greater punishment. He then put the condition on him that if he answered all three of his questions, he would be forgiven. His property would be confiscated until he answered the questions. It means that if he didn’t answer the questions, he would be beheaded and his property taken away.

The abbot was innocent and oblivious to such difficulties. He asked the three questions of him. The guy asked him the following three questions:

01 When I am on the throne and the crown is on my head in the midst of noble people, what is my exact value in one penny?

02 How long will it take me to travel around the world?

03 What am I thinking now?

The abbot listened to his questions and asked that the questions be beyond his knowledge and wisdom and for his answers, he needed time. The king gave him three weeks to find his answers; otherwise, no one would save him from the fixed punishment.

Dejected, he set out on his journey in search of answers. His intention was to meet with the sages and discuss the questions. He went to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and discussed with the professors and scholars, but they did not answer the questions. Finally, he returned to face the cruel king and punish him. On the way he met his pastor, who welcomed him and asked him for good news. The abbot gave him bad news that saddened the pastor. The shepherd asked him the three questions given by King John. He assured him that he would answer to King John in his place and save him from punishment.

The shepherd wore his master’s ceremonial dress and took other required things. He looked like the abbot of Canterbury and went to King John to answer him. He was received there and asked about the answers to three questions. The pastor replied that he had come to answer the questions. In answer to the first question, he said that the king’s price would be twenty-nine denarii because the prophet Christ was sold among the Jews for thirty denarii. So the value of it would be one cent less. Such an answer astonished the king and there was no possibility of objecting. He answered the second question that if the king got up early in the morning and ran with the speed of the sun, he would complete his journey around the world in twenty-four hours. For the third question, he said that the king had thought that he was the abbot, but he was not. He was the abbot’s poor shepherd.

King John was very pleased with his answers and announced for him a stipend of four nobles per weak. Furthermore, he was offered the position of abbot in place of his master, but he turned it down for being illiterate. The king forgave him and his master.

Something about the ballad:

It’s an old ballad from the south of England. It tells a story in a simple, traditional verse form. It consists of twenty-seven stanzas. Each verse is rhymed in the same way. The first verse rhymes with the second and the third with the fourth. Northern ballads are the best known. They are composed in a dialect but are difficult to understand. They contain magnificent poetry and touching stories. They tend to be harsh and tragic. The ballads of the south of England are similar in form, but very different in spirit. The stories are mostly funny and end happily.

This poem is anonymous because its authorship is unknown. It is not known who wrote the first ballads, nor is it easy to say when they were first composed. Perhaps he was the product of a traveling artist who composed beautiful songs and poems putting beautiful stock in verse form. This ballad is great poetry because its simplicity and rawness add a certain charm to it. The story is nothing more than a popular legend. King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216, was a very unpleasant man and a completely bad king, but there is no historical evidence that anything like this ever happened. This ballad is just one of many that refer to his misdeeds and make one thing clear: the common people hated him and after his death, many things became attached to him. The early ballads are plain and simple, but offer a fascinating glimpse into the soul of the common people of England who lived centuries before us.

The ballad occupies a good place in English literature and reveals the penchant for poetry of the people of his time, and how they used to convey their problems to others.