Dryden translated some of Ovid's tales and found that there were many things common between Ovid and Chaucer. Chaucer in his opinion is in no way inferior to Ovid. Moreover, Chaucer was his countryman, and Dryden always honoured his native country. So he translated some tales of the "Canterbury Tales" into modern English.
Dryden asks his readers to judge for themselves by comparing the stories of Ovid and those of Chaucer and to be convinced of their equal merits. He does not like to be adjudged as being partial to his countryman Chaucer. Both Chaucer and Boccaccio refined their mother tongues. But there is one difference: it was Dante who had already began the refinement of the Italian tongue and it was continued by Petrarch. It was Boccaccio who was responsible for refining Italian prose. Chaucer, on the other hand, was the first to adorn and amplify the English language from the provincial, which was then the most polished of all modern languages. For these reasons Dryden resolved to include both these authors in his "Fables". Dryden claims that he has studied these authors’ works thoroughly before translating them. He also says that he had translated stories with instructive morals from ancient and modern poets.
