quest in a drunken rage. Before they have gone far,
they encounter a mysterious old man, completely muf-
fl ed except for his face, who tells the young men that
he seeks death. Although the old man is polite to the
riotours, they menace him and demand more informa-
tion about the whereabouts of “Deeth.” The almost
mythical old man directs the riotours to a special route:
“If that yow be so leef / To fynde Deeth, turne up this
croked wey” (ll. 760–761). He explains that he left
Death there under the oak tree.
The “croked wey” is the appropriate metaphor for the
course of the three riotours, who have been on the wrong
path, it seems, all their lives, for they have lived their
lives in sin. This sinful route, which the riotours eagerly
pursue in their quest for Death, takes them to heaps “of
fl orins fyne of gold ycoyned rounde” (l. 770). The three
worry about transporting the gold back to their homes
during the day, so they decide to send one to town for
provisions (food and drink) while the other two remain
with the gold to guard it. They draw straws to determine
who will go to town—a variant of the gambling subtopic
of the sermon—and that task falls to the youngest riot-
our. As soon as he departs, one of the remaining “sworn
brothers” suggests that the two of them cut the youngest
out of the deal by killing him. He sums up:
And thanne shal al this gold departed be,
My deere freend, bitwixen me and thee.
Thanne may we bothe oure lustes all fulfi lle,
And pleye at dees right at oure owene wille
(ll. 831–834)In town, the youngest purchases food but also rat
poison with which he spikes one of the three wine bot-
tles. When he returns, the other brothers slay him and,
as the Pardoner puts it, they just happen “To take the
botel ther the poyson was” (a fi nal instance of the
“gambling” subtopic) (1. 886). As a conclusion to his
exemplum, the Pardoner returns to his rhetorical
denunciations of greed, gluttony, lust, gambling, and
cursing (ll. 895–903). The Pardoner can sermonize so
well on the subject of greed because he has himself fol-
lowed the “croked wey” all his professional life.
As corrupt as he admits he is, the Pardoner says he
can still help others to the true Christian path and sal-
vation. Although he does not care if his parishioners go
to hell and “pick blackberries,” his artful storytelling
may yet, he claims, inspire them to repentance: “Yet
kan I maken oother folk to twynne / From avarice and
soore to repente” (ll. 431–432). The Pardoner exposes
an underlying theme for The Canterbury Tales: the pur-
pose of storytelling, especially on a pilgrimage. Should
stories always and only have a moral purpose? Can
moral stories be related by corrupt sinners? This issue
may have been important to Chaucer, the master poet,
who introduced new and sometimes controversial
European modes of storytelling to the English court.
The exemplary tale of the three riotours has been
told by a pilgrim who freely and even proudly admits
that he is greedy and false. Chaucer modeled the Par-
doner in part on Faus Semblant (False Seeming), a
notorious character in Jean de Meun’s portion of Le
Roman de la Rose (The Romaunt of the Rose), a 13th-
century work that Chaucer studied closely and claimed
to have translated. Faus Semblant is depicted as one of
“Antecristes men,” those who affect holiness and
appear to be virtuous but who are quite other than
they seem. The Pardoner is one such man but is even
more dangerous since he pledges help toward salva-
tion with his relics and absolution, while his supposed
efforts on behalf of his congregations are based entirely
on bad faith. As he explains to the pilgrims:I wol have moneie, wolle, chese, and whete,
Al were it yeven of the povereste page,
Or of the povereste wydwe in a village,
Al sholde hir children sterve for famyne.
Nay, I wol drynke licour of the vyne
And have a joly wenche in every toun.
(ll. 448–453)Unlike the pilgrim Parson, who shares his meager
wealth with his impoverished parishioners, the Par-
doner selfi shly takes from the poorest widow and her
hungry children; he seeks an abundance of food and
drink and a “wench” with whom he can fornicate. Or
so he claims.
In the GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES,
Chaucer describes the Pardoner as of dubious sexuality
whose sexual partner (such is the implication) is the306 “PARDONER’S TALE, THE”