After having a drink, the Pardoner begins his Prologue. He tells the company about his job, a combination of traveling preaching and selling promises of salvation. His sermon topic always remains the same: Radix malorum est Cupiditas, or “greed is the root of all evil.” He gives a similar sermon to each congregation, then pulls out his bag of "relics" that he readily admits to the pilgrims listening are fake. He will take a sheep bone and claim that it has miraculous healing powers for all kinds of illnesses. The parishioners still believe this and make their offerings to the relics, which the pardoner quickly pockets. The Pardoner admits that he is preaching only to get money and not to correct sin. He argues that many sermons are the product of bad intentions. By preaching, the Pardoner can take revenge on anyone who has offended him or his brothers. In his sermon he always preaches about lust, the very vice to which he himself is prey. His one and only interest is to fill his ever-growing pockets. He prefers to take the last cent from a widow and her starving family rather than give up his money and the good cheese, bread and wine that such income brings him. Speaking of alcohol, he notes, he has now finished his glass of ¡§corny ale¡¨ and is ready to begin his tale.Summary: The Pardoner's StoryThe Pardoner describes a group of young Flemings who spend their time to drink and revel, indulging in all forms of excess. After commenting on their debauched lifestyle, the Pardoner launches into a tirade against the vices they practice. First and foremost is gluttony, which he identifies as the sin that caused the fall of humanity in Eden. Then he tackles drunkenness, which makes a man seem crazy and stupid. Then comes the game, the temptation that ruins men of power and wealth. Finally, he denounces swearing. He argues that it offends God so much that He forbade swearing in the Second Commandment, placing it higher on the list than homicide. After nearly two hundred lines of sermon, the Pardoner finally returns to his story of lecherous young Flemings. As three of these rioters sit drinking, they hear the funeral toll. One of the partygoers' servants tells the group that an old friend of theirs was killed that night by a mysterious figure named Death. The rioters are outraged and, in their drunkenness, decide to find and kill Death to avenge their friend...