At times he seems to pander to expectations of modesty, telling readers upfront that "my mind is short, you may well understand." Repeatedly, he breaks the fourth wall, jokingly criticizing his own rhyming abilities (through his own characters, of course) or having others lament that there is no story they can tell that Chaucer has never told. Before Miller's story, he apologizes for the crudity of the story (giving the excuse that it was Miller who was spewing such ridicule, not Chaucer himself), and asking his readers to " do nothing about the game” (advice that perhaps overly competitive pilgrims would do well to heed). Chaucer's moments of uncertainty arise in his tales as well as in his prologues, such as when he inserts himself into the Knight's Tale after Arcite's death, saying that he cannot know where the souls of the deceased go when they leave Earth. Chaucer's proud quest to transform previously foreign classics into informative English poetry is in many ways a quest to prove the extent of his knowledge and abilities, making it particularly visible that he fits into a tale to tell the reader that there is a gap in their knowledge. Perhaps Chaucer's ostentatious confusion in matters of pagan theology is a subtle means by which he intends to distance himself from prevalent non-Christian beliefs as part of his openness.