The Canterbury Tales: "The Pardoner's Tale"


The Pardoner’s Tale 
from The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer,
translated by Nevill Coghill 

  The Prologue 

            “But let me briefly make my purpose plain;
            I preach for nothing but for greed of gain
            And use the same old text, as bold as brass,
            Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of evils").
5         And thus I preach against the very vice
            I make my living out of—avarice.


            And yet however guilty of that sin
            Myself, with others I have power to win
            Them from it, I can bring them to repent;
10         But that is not my principal intent.
            Covetousness is both the root and stuff
            Of all I preach. That ought to be enough.
            “Well, then I give examples thick and fast
            From bygone times, old stories from the past.
15         A yokel mind loves stories from of old,
            Being the kind it can repeat and hold.
            What! Do you think, as long as I can preach
            And get their silver for the things I teach,
            That I will live in poverty, from choice?
20         That’s not the counsel of my inner voice!
            No! Let me preach and beg from kirk to kirk
            And never do an honest job of work,
            No, nor make baskets, like St. Paul, to gain
            A livelihood. I do not preach in vain.
25         There’s no apostle I would counterfeit;
            I mean to have money, wool and cheese and wheat
            Though it were given me by the poorest lad
            Or poorest village widow, though she had
            A string of starving children, all agape.
30         No, let me drink the liquor of the grape
            And keep a jolly wench in every town!
            “But listen, gentlemen; to bring things down
            To a conclusion, would you like a tale?
            Now as I’ve drunk a draft of corn-ripe ale,
35         By God it stands to reason I can strike
            On some good story that you all will like.
            For though I am a wholly vicious man
            Don’t think I can’t tell moral tales. I can!
            Here’s one I often preach when out for winning;
40         Now please be quiet. Here is the beginning.” 


The Tale 
            In Flanders once there was a company
            Of youngsters haunting vice and ribaldry,
            Riot and gambling, stews and public-houses
            Where each with harp, guitar, or lute carouses,
45         Dancing and dicing day and night, and bold
            To eat and drink far more than they can hold,
            Doing thereby the devil sacrifice
            Within that devil’s temple of cursed vice,
            Abominable in superfluity,
50         With oaths so damnable in blasphemy
            That it’s a grisly thing to hear them swear.
            Our dear Lord’s body they will rend and tear.. . .
            It’s of three rioters I have to tell
            Who, long before the morning service bell,
55         Were sitting in a tavern for a drink.
            And as they sat, they heard the hand-bell clink
            Before a coffin going to the grave;
            One of them called the little tavern-knave
            And said “Go and find out at once—look spry!—
60         Whose corpse is in that coffin passing by;
            And see you get the name correctly too.”
            “Sir,” said the boy, “no need, I promise you;
            Two hours before you came here I was told.
            He was a friend of yours in days of old,
65        And suddenly, last night, the man was slain,
            Upon his bench, face up, dead drunk again.
            There came a privy thief, they call him Death,
            Who kills us all round here, and in a breath
            He speared him through the heart, he never stirred.
70         And then Death went his way without a word.
            He’s killed a thousand in the present plague,
            And, sir, it doesn’t do to be too vague
            If you should meet him; you had best be wary.
            Be on your guard with such an adversary,
75         Be primed to meet him everywhere you go,
            That’s what my mother said. It’s all I know.”
            The publican joined in with, “By St. Mary,
            What the child says is right; you’d best be wary,
            This very year he killed, in a large village
80         A mile away, man, woman, serf at tillage,
            Page in the household, children—all there were.
            Yes, I imagine that he lives round there.
            It’s well to be prepared in these alarms,
            He might do you dishonor.” “Huh, God’s arms!”
85         The rioter said, “Is he so fierce to meet?
            I’ll search for him, by Jesus, street by street.
            God’s blessed bones! I’ll register a vow!
            Here, chaps! The three of us together now,
            Hold up your hands, like me, and we’ll be brothers
90         In this affair, and each defend the others,
            And we will kill this traitor Death, I say!
            Away with him as he has made away
            With all our friends. God’s dignity! Tonight!”
            They made their bargain, swore with appetite,
95         These three, to live and die for one another
            As brother-born might swear to his born brother.
            And up they started in their drunken rage
            And made towards this village which the page
            And publican had spoken of before.
100      Many and grisly were the oaths they swore,
            Tearing Christ’s blessed body to a shred;
            “If we can only catch him, Death is dead!”
            When they had gone not fully half a mile,
            Just as they were about to cross a stile,
105      They came upon a very poor old man
            Who humbly greeted them and thus began,
            “God look to you, my lords, and give you quiet!”
            To which the proudest of these men of riot
            Gave back the answer, “What, old fool? Give place!
110     Why are you all wrapped up except your face?
            Why live so long? Isn’t it time to die?”
            The old, old fellow looked him in the eye
            And said, “Because I never yet have found,
            Though I have walked to India, searching round
115     Village and city on my pilgrimage,
            One who would change his youth to have my age.
            And so my age is mine and must be still
            Upon me, for such time as God may will.
            “Not even Death, alas, will take my life;
120     So, like a wretched prisoner at strife
            Within himself, I walk alone and wait
            About the earth, which is my mother’s gate,
            Knock-knocking with my staff from night to noon
            And crying, ‘Mother, open to me soon!
125      Look at me, mother, won’t you let me in?
            See how I wither, flesh and blood and skin!
            Alas! When will these bones be laid to rest?
            Mother, I would exchange—for that were best—
            The wardrobe in my chamber, standing there
130      So long, for yours! Aye, for a shirt of hair
            To wrap me in!’ She has refused her grace,
            Whence comes the pallor of my withered face.
            “But it dishonored you when you began
            To speak so roughly, sir, to an old man,
135     Unless he had injured you in word or deed.
            It says in holy writ, as you may read,
            ‘Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head
            And honor it.’ And therefore be it said,
            ‘Do no more harm to an old man than you,
140     Being now young, would have another do
            When you are old’—if you should live till then.
            And so may God be with you, gentlemen,
            For I must go whither I have to go.”
            “By God,” the gambler said, “you shan’t do so,
145     You don’t get off so easy, by St. John!
            I heard you mention, just a moment gone,
            A certain traitor Death who singles out
            And kills the fine young fellows hereabout.
            And you’re his spy, by God! You wait a bit.
150     Say where he is or you shall pay for it,
            By God and by the Holy Sacrament!
            I say you’ve joined together by consent
            To kill us younger folk, you thieving swine!”
            “Well, sirs,” he said, “if it be your design
155     To find out Death, turn up this crooked way
            Towards that grove, I left him there today
            Under a tree, and there you’ll find him waiting.
            He isn’t one to hide for all your prating.
            You see that oak? He won’t be far to find.
160     And God protect you that redeemed mankind,
            Aye, and amend you!” Thus that ancient man.
            At once the three young rioters began
            To run, and reached the tree, and there they found
            A pile of golden florins on the ground,
165     New-coined, eight bushels of them as they thought.
            No longer was it Death those fellows sought,
            For they were all so thrilled to see the sight,
            The florins were so beautiful and bright,
            That down they sat beside the precious pile.
170     The wickedest spoke first after a while.
            “Brothers,” he said, “you listen to what I say.
            I’m pretty sharp although I joke away.
            It’s clear that Fortune has bestowed this treasure
            To let us live in jollity and pleasure.
175     Light come, light go! We’ll spend it as we ought.
            God’s precious dignity! Who would have thought
            This morning was to be our lucky day?
            “If one could only get the gold away,
            Back to my house, or else to yours, perhaps—
180     For as you know, the gold is ours, chaps—
            We’d all be at the top of fortune, hey?
            But certainly it can’t be done by day.
            People would call us robbers—a strong gang,
            So our own property would make us hang.
185     No, we must bring this treasure back by night
            Some prudent way, and keep it out of sight.
            And so as a solution I propose
            We draw for lots and see the way it goes;
            The one who draws the longest, lucky man,
190     Shall run to town as quickly as he can
            To fetch us bread and wine—but keep things dark—
            While two remain in hiding here to mark
            Our heap of treasure. If there’s no delay,
            When night comes down we’ll carry it away,
195     All three of us, wherever we have planned.”
            He gathered lots and hid them in his hand
            Bidding them draw for where the luck should fall.
            It fell upon the youngest of them all,
            And off he ran at once towards the town.
200     As soon as he had gone the first sat down
            And thus began a parley with the other:
            “You know that you can trust me as a brother;
            Now let me tell you where your profit lies;
            You know our friend has gone to get supplies
205     And here’s a lot of gold that is to be
            Divided equally among us three.
            Nevertheless, if I could shape things thus
            So that we shared it out—the two of us—
            Wouldn’t you take it as a friendly act?”
210     “But how?” the other said. “He knows the fact
            That all the gold was left with me and you;
            What can we tell him? What are we to do?”
            “Is it a bargain,” said the first, “or no?
            For I can tell you in a word or so
215     What’s to be done to bring the thing about.”
            “Trust me,” the other said, “you needn’t doubt
            My word. I won’t betray you, I’ll be true.”
            “Well,” said his friend, “you see that we are two,
            And two are twice as powerful as one.
220     Now look; when he comes back, get up in fun
            To have a wrestle; then, as you attack,
            I’ll up and put my dagger through his back
            While you and he are struggling, as in game;
             Then draw your dagger too and do the same.
225     Then all this money will be ours to spend,
            Divided equally of course, dear friend.
            Then we can gratify our lusts and fill
            The day with dicing at our own sweet will.”
            Thus these two miscreants agreed to slay
230     The third and youngest, as you heard me say.
            The youngest, as he ran towards the town,
            Kept turning over, rolling up and down
            Within his heart the beauty of those bright
            New florins, saying, “Lord, to think I might
235     Have all that treasure to myself alone!
            Could there be anyone beneath the throne
            Of God so happy as I then should be?”
            And so the Fiend, our common enemy,
            Was given power to put it in his thought
240     That there was always poison to be bought,
            And that with poison he could kill his friends.
            To men in such a state the Devil sends
            Thoughts of this kind, and has a full permission
            To lure them on to sorrow and perdition;
245     For this young man was utterly content
            To kill them both and never to repent.
            And on he ran, he had no thought to tarry,
            Came to the town, found an apothecary
            And said, “Sell me some poison if you will,
250     I have a lot of rats I want to kill
            And there’s a polecat too about my yard
            That takes my chickens and it hits me hard;
            But I’ll get even, as is only right,
            With vermin that destroy a man by night.”
255     The chemist answered, “I’ve a preparation
            Which you shall have, and by my soul’s salvation
            If any living creature eat or drink
            A mouthful, ere he has the time to think,
            Though he took less than makes a grain of wheat,
260     You’ll see him fall down dying at your feet;
            Yes, die he must, and in so short a while
            You’d hardly have the time to walk a mile,
            The poison is so strong, you understand.”
            This cursed fellow grabbed into his hand
265     The box of poison and away he ran
            Into a neighboring street, and found a man
            Who lent him three large bottles. He withdrew
            And deftly poured the poison into two.
            He kept the third one clean, as well he might,
270     For his own drink, meaning to work all night
            Stacking the gold and carrying it away.
            And when this rioter, this devil’s clay,
            Had filled his bottles up with wine, all three,
            Back to rejoin his comrades sauntered he.
275     Why make a sermon of it? Why waste breath?
            Exactly in the way they’d planned his death
            They fell on him and slew him, two to one.
            Then said the first of them when this was done,
            “Now for a drink. Sit down and let’s be merry,
280     For later on there’ll be the corpse to bury.”
            And, as it happened, reaching for a sup,
            He took a bottle full of poison up
            And drank; and his companion, nothing loth,
            Drank from it also, and they perished both.
285      There is, in Avicenna’s long relation
            Concerning poison and its operation,
            Trust me, no ghastlier section to transcend
            What these two wretches suffered at their end.
            Thus these two murderers received their due,
290     So did the treacherous young poisoner too. . . .
            “One thing I should have mentioned in my tale,
            Dear people. I’ve some relics in my bale
            And pardons too, as full and fine, I hope,
            As any in England, given me by the Pope.
295     If there be one among you that is willing
            To have my absolution for a shilling
            Devoutly given, come! and do not harden
            Your hearts but kneel in humbleness for pardon;
            Or else, receive my pardon as we go.
300     You can renew it every town or so
            Always provided that you still renew
            Each time, and in good money, what is due.
            It is an honor to you to have found
            A pardoner with his credentials sound
305     Who can absolve you as you ply the spur
            In any accident that may occur.
            For instance—we are all at Fortune’s beck—
            Your horse may throw you down and break your neck.
            What a security it is to all
310     To have me here among you and at call
            With pardon for the lowly and the great
            When soul leaves body for the future state!
            And I advise our Host here to begin,
            The most enveloped of you all in sin.
315     Come forward, Host, you shall be the first to pay,
            And kiss my holy relics right away.
            Only a groat. Come on, unbuckle your purse!”
            “No, no,” said he, “not I, and may the curse
            Of Christ descend upon me if I do! . . .”
320     The Pardoner said nothing, not a word;
            He was so angry that he couldn’t speak.
            “Well,” said our Host, “if you’re for showing pique,
            I’ll joke no more, not with an angry man.”
            The worthy Knight immediately began,
325     Seeing the fun was getting rather rough,
            And said, “No more, we’ve all had quite enough.
            Now, Master Pardoner, perk up, look cheerly!
            And you, Sir Host, whom I esteem so dearly,
            I beg of you to kiss the Pardoner.
330     “Come, Pardoner, draw nearer, my dear sir.
            Let’s laugh again and keep the ball in play.”
            They kissed, and we continued on our way. 





Journal 12 Continues... 


3. How do the tavern knave and the publican personify Death? What does the rioters’ response to the description tell you?  
4. What do you think the poor old man may symbolize?
5. Explain at least two instances of irony in this tale, at least one being situational irony and other being dramatic irony.  
6. Why is it ironic that the Pardoner preaches a story with this particular moral? How would you account for the psychology of the Pardoner: Is he truly evil, just drunk, or so used to cheating that he does it automatically?
7. What do you think Chaucer is satirizing in “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
8. How would the moral that the Pardoner wishes the audience to draw and the moral that Chaucer would hope the reader to draw differ?  Explain.

No comments:

Post a Comment