The Host raises more suspicions of the Manciple's dishonesty near the end of the Tales when he warns the Manciple that the Cook may pay back his insults by finding fault with the Manciple's "rekenynges," or financial accounts (Manciple's Prologue 74). The Manciple handles this by giving more wine to an already dangerously-drunken Cook, further throwing his ethics into question.
The Manciple's Portrait is not the only example we get of someone who tricks those who are above him on the totem pole (see the Reeve for another one). His successful face-off against "an heep of lerned men" (General Prologue 577) suggests that there's scholarly savvy, and then there's financial savvy, and sometimes the twain ne'er shall meet. It also raises the question
The Manciple's Portrait is not the only example we get of someone who tricks those who are above him on the totem pole (see the Reeve for another one). His successful face-off against "an heep of lerned men" (General Prologue 577) suggests that there's scholarly savvy, and then there's financial savvy, and sometimes the twain ne'er shall meet. It also raises the question