Final answer:
In Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales,' each pilgrim was to tell four tales total, two on the journey to Canterbury and two on the return trip, but only 24 tales were completed.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question relates to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, a classic of English literature. In the prologue of this collection of stories, it is stated that each pilgrim is to tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more tales on the way back, making a total of four tales per pilgrim. However, the actual text includes only 24 tales, indicating that Chaucer did not complete the ambitious plan of 120 tales. The concept of pilgrims sharing stories is a common narrative framework used in literature to provide a variety of tales and insights into the characters of the storytellers.