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The Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Tale Lines 573 – 592 Summary

  • The clerk tells him, "This poison is so strong that no creature in the world that eats or drinks so much as the amount of a corn kernel of it can live.
  • He'll be dead in less time than it takes you to walk a mile, that's how strong it is."
  • Perfect.
  • With the box of poison in his hand, he runs to the next street, where he borrows three large bottles. 
  • Into two he pours the poison, keeping the third free of it to drink himself, since he plans to work all night carrying the gold away.
  • He fills the bottles with wine and goes back to his friends.