Throughout the semester we have discussed the idea that, when in the presence of a beautiful woman men cannot control themselves and they must sleep with her despite their better judgement. In the story about the young monk and the Abbott, the young monk sees a beautiful girl and although he is supposed to abstain from sex, he invites her to his room and they sleep together. He gets caught by the Abbott and he is about to be punished, but then the monk sees the Abbott sleep with her as well. So, they hide each others' sins and continue to invite the girl to the monastery to sleep with both of them. This story not only mocks the seriousness of the church, but reinforces the idea that men cannot control themselves around beautiful women.
The ultimate example of men's lack of control in love, is the story of Alatiel. Alatiel is shipwrecked and then passed from one man to the next as they literally kill each other in order to have sex with her. At first, she rejects the first man, but after he convinces her to sleep with him, she doesn't refuse any of the next 8 men who come her way. And what's funniest is that when she gets back home, she claims to be a virgin and gets married based on that pretense.