The Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Tale Lines 199 – 218 Summary

  • Remember how Lot slept with his own daughters by mistake when he was so drunk that he had no idea what he was doing?
  • And Herod gave the order to kill John the Baptist after drinking too much wine at his feast?
  • Seneca has a wise saying about this: he says he can see no difference between a crazy man and a drunk, except that insanity lasts longer than drunkenness.
  • O gluttony, full of evil! O first cause of our sin! O beginning of our damnation and fall, only rectified when Christ purchased us with his blood!
  • Look at what's happened: the whole world became corrupt because of gluttony!