And everich of thise riotoures ran
Til he cam to that tree, and ther they founde
Of floryns fyne of gold ycoyned rounde
Wel ny an eighte busshels, as hem thoughte.
No lenger thanne after Deeth they soughte,
But ech of hem so glad was of that sighte,
For that the floryns been so faire and brighte.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Tale. As soon as they find bags of gold by the tree, the three drunken revelers forget about the oath they swore to find Death and to slay him. Greed, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, has taken them over. This is an example of dramatic irony because the reader knows that the tale is about the wickedness of greed.