Composed between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, these virtually unknown, yet deeply influential, erotic and satirc poems lie at the root of the Western comic tradition. Passed down by the anti-clerical middle classes of medieval France, The Fabliaux depict priapic priests, randy wives and their cuckolded husbands in tales that are shocking and hilarious even by today's standards. Chaucer and Boccacio borrowed heavily from these riotous tales, which were the wit of the common man rebelling against the aristocracy and Church in matters of food, money and sex. Containing 69 poems with a parallel Old French text, all deftly translated by Nathaniel E. Dubin, this handsomely designed volume brings to life The Fabliaux in a way that has never been done before.