Fabliau

A fabliau is a short medieval verse tale, usually comic and often bawdy, that delights in trickery, irony, and surprise endings. Originating in French literature, fabliaux typically focus on ordinary people rather than nobles and often poke fun at foolishness, greed, lust, or hypocrisy.

Chaucer's The Miller's Tale is one of the best-known English examples of the form.

Example

The miller bragged of coin and grain,
The baker winked and plotted gain;
By dawn the sacks were filled with sand,
And laughter spread through every hand.

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