For a three-act plot analysis, put on your screenwriter’s hat. Moviemakers know the formula well: at the end of Act One, the main character is drawn in completely to a conflict. During Act Two, she is farthest away from her goals. At the end of Act Three, the story is resolved.
Act I
Three party boys, gathered early one morning at a tavern to begin their drinking and gambling, see a corpse go by. Upon learning that it's the body of a friend of theirs, killed by a man called Death who's been ravaging the countryside, they swear a pact of brotherhood and vow to find and kill this Death. The bartender tells them they can find him in a nearby town, and they set off to do so.
Act II
Not long into their quest, the three friends meet a frail old man who's been unable to die despite begging the earth to accept his body. Convinced that he knows where Death is, they threaten him with violence until he tells them they can find Death under a tree in a nearby grove. When they get there, they find not Death, but eight bushels of gold. They decide to wait until nightfall to carry the gold home and draw straws to see who will go into town to get bread and wine for the long wait. The lot falls to the youngest. After he leaves, the two others plot to kill him when he gets back so they only have to split the gold two ways. In the meantime, the youngest poisons two of the bottles of wine, intending to kill his friends and keep all the gold for himself.
Act III
The youngest party boy returns to the grove, where his friends stab him to death. The two remaining friends drink the poisoned ale and die gruesome and painful deaths.