He was, pardee, an old felawe of youres, And sodeynly he was yslayn to-nyght, Fordronke, as he sat on his bench upright.

He was, pardee, an old felawe of youres,
And sodeynly he was yslayn to-nyght,
Fordronke, as he sat on his bench upright.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Tale. A servant boy to the drinking rioters in the tavern tells them that the dead person they saw was a friend of theirs who was slain as he sat on a bench drunk. His death after drunkenness echoes the Pardoner’s sermonizing about the evil end that awaits gluttonous sinners who imbibe to excess.

Geoffrey Chaucer Quotes