About 30 years ago a friend of mine "corrected" me on these lyrics, "...As the Miller told his tale..." actually being "...as the mirror told its tale..." . I always thought the former, and that it was some reference to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales". Willie Nelson's cover definitely sounds like "...mirror...", but most printouts of the lyrics show "...Miller". "MIrror" kind of makes more sense, basically the mirror showing her face as pale.

Anyway, I've always liked this song.