That same night, Absolon comes and begs Alisoun to kiss him. At first she refuses him, but she finally agrees. Instead of presenting her lips to Absolon 's, though, she sticks her backside out the bedroom 's "shot - window '' (privy vent), and Absolon kisses her "ers '' in the dark. Angry at being fooled, Absolon gets a red - hot coulter from the smith with which he intends to burn Alisoun. When he returns, though, Nicholas sticks his backside out to get in on the joke and farts in Absolon 's face. Absolon thrusts the coulter "amidst the ers '' of Nicholas who cries out for "Water! '' to assuage the pain.
who is branded by a red-hot poker in the miller's tale
Nicholas Nicholas