The Pardoner’s Tale

In the Canterbury Tales by Chauffer, the pardoner told a tale of morals. Three rioters were at a tavern drinking. They hear a knell at a funeral. As it turns out, one of the reveler’s servants tells them one of their old friends was killed in the night by a mysterious creature named death. Outraged and drunk, the men go out to find and kill death to honor their fallen comrade.

    As they traveled down the road, the rioters cross paths with an old man. He is miserable, weary, and desires that death take him away now. The old man has waited for death to take for quite awhile as he wandered the very earth. However, when the elder explains this, the younger men grew enraged and call him a traitor. They harshly request to know where death is. Reluctantly, the old man guides them to the woods and says Death is there under an oak tree.

    When the rioters find the tree, they find eight bushels of unclaimed gold lying around. They are taken-aback. Then, the craftiest one of the trio purposes that take the gold at night. For if they took it now, the rioters would be accused of theft. He then suggests that one of them runs into town and fetches some food and wine to tide them over for the time being. The youngest of the trio is chosen to run the errand.

    However, irony falls in as the other two plot to kill their companion and spilt the gold for themselves. They set up a trap to carry out this deed. Meanwhile, the youngest is plotting to kill his friends and take the gold for himself. So he buys some poison to carry out his plot and then fills two of the bottles of wine. But when the youngest returns to the tree, his friends leap out and kill him on the spot.

    In the end, the other two remaining rioters drink the wine their brought back, not knowing of the poison. Shortly, they lie dead next to their friend. The pardoner wraps up his tale by warning the others of sin and corruption for they will only bring treason and death in the end.

    I think it is ironic to read this tale that the Pardoner tells to his fellow pilgrims because he only loves money and will scan people to get it. But I do like the story to a degree.