Funny thing and a small hang up of mine is that Middle English stands relatively so close to modern Dutch, with the addition of the French words that are in the M.E., that in spite of missing some words, I can fairly well follow the whole story.

Example: 2 sentences from the Knight's Tale

Middle English : Ther was a duc that highte theseus;
Modern Dutch : Er was een hertog die heette Theseus
Modern english: There was a duke whose name was Theseus:

Middle English: And eek hir yonge suster emelye.
Modern Dutch: En ook haar jonge zuster Emilie
Modern English: And, too, her younger sister, Emily.

The modern Dutch is a correct translation of the modern english.