thatihavealstcaughtacardiacle:**heartache
bycorpusdomini
,but*ihavetriacle,***unless**aremedy
orelseadraughtofistandcorny
ale,
orbut*ihearanonamerrytale,*unless
mineheartisbrost*forpityofthismaid。*burst,broken
thou*belami,*thoupardoner,"hesaid,*goodfriend*
"tel露ssomemirthofjapes*rightanon。"*jokes
"itshallbedone,"quothhe,"bysaintronion。
butfirst,"quothhe,"hereatthisale-stake**ale-housesign
iwillbothdrink,andbitenonacake。"
butrightanonthegentlesgantocry,
"nay,lethimtel露sofnoribaldry。
tel露ssomeralthing,thatwemaylear**learn
somewit,*andthennewillwegladlyhear。"*wisdom,sense
"igranty-wis,"*quothhe;"butimustthink*surely
uponsomehonestthingwhilethatidrink。"
thenailsandbloodofchrist,bywhichitwasthenafashiontoswear。
mediaevalmedicalwriters;seenote36totheprologuetothetales。
boist:box;french"boite,"oldform"boiste。"
erme:grieve;fromanglo-saxon,"earme,"wretched。
cardiacle:heartache;fromgreek,"kardialgia。"
corpusdomini:godsbody。
cornyale:newandstrong,nappy。asto"ist,"seenote39totheprologuetothetales。
(transcribersnote)inthisscehepilgrimsarerefreshingthemselvesattablesinfrontofaninn。thepardonerisdrunk,whichexplainshisboastfulandrevealingconfessionofhisdeceits。