Description

When an eclectic group of pilgrims take turns telling tales while on the road to Canterbury Cathedral, the Pardoner begins his tale with a confession—that he preaches against greed but swindles churchgoers by pressuring them into buying fake religious relics. However, he claims that despite his hypocrisy he can tell a moral tale, and describes a story about three greedy young men attempting to cheat death.

The Pardoner is one of the most memorable characters in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. This special edition of “The Pardoner’s Tale,” includes “The General Prologue,” “The Pardoner’s Introduction,” “The Pardoner’s Prologue,” and “The Pardoner’s Tale” in original Middle English and modern translated versions.

HarperCollins brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperCollins short-stories collection to build your digital library.

About the author(s)

Often referred to as the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer was a fourteenth-century philosopher, alchemist, astrologer, bureaucrat, diplomat, and author of many significant poems. Chaucer’s writing was influential in English literary tradition, as it introduced new rhyming schemes and helped develop the vernacular tradition—the use of everyday English—rather than the literary French and Latin, which were common in written works of the time. Chaucer’s best-known—and most imitated—works include The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Criseyde, The Book of the Duchess, and The House of Fame.

More Classics