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From The Pardoner's Tale, lines 219-262:
A sermon on gluttony
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From The Canterbury Tales:
The Pardoner's Tale
lines 263-286: A sermon on drunkenness


       A lecherous thyng is wyn, and dronkenesse
Is ful of stryvyng and of wrecchednesse.
265O dronke man, disfigured is thy face!
Sour is thy breeth, foul artow to embrace,
And thurgh thy dronke nose semeth the soun,
As though thow seydest ay, "Sampsoun! Sampsoun!"
And yet, God woot, Sampsoun drank nevere no wyn!
270Thou fallest, as it were a styked swyn;
Thy tonge is lost, and al thyn honeste cure;
For dronkenesse is verray sepulture
Of mannes wit and his discrecioun,
In whom that drynke hath dominacioun.
275He kan no conseil kepe, it is no drede.
Now kepe yow fro the white and fro the rede,
And namely, fro the white wyn of Lepe,
That is to selle in fysshstrete, or in Chepe.
This wyn of Spaigne crepeth subtilly
280In othere wynes, growynge faste by,
Of which ther ryseth swich fumositee,
That whan a man hath dronken draughtes thre
And weneth that he be at hoom in Chepe,
He is in Spaigne, right at the toune of Lepe,
285Nat at the Rochele, ne at Burdeux toun;
And thanne wol he seye "Sampsoun, Sampsoun!"
       A lecherous thing is wine, and drunkenness
Is full of striving and of wretchedness.
265O drunken man, disfigured is your face,
Sour is your breath, foul are you to embrace,
And through your drunken nose there comes a sound
As if you snored out "Samson, Samson" round;
And yet God knows that Samson drank no wine.
270You fall down just as if you were stuck swine;
Your tongue is loose, your honest care obscure;
For drunkenness is very sepulture
Of any mind a man may chance to own.
In whom strong drink has domination shown
275He can no counsel keep for any dread.
Now keep you from the white and from the red,
And specially from the white wine grown at Lepe
That is for sale in Fish Street or in Cheap.
This wine of Spain, it mixes craftily
280With other wines that chance to be near by,
From which there rise such fumes, as well may be,
That when a man has drunk two draughts, or three,
And thinks himself to be at home in Cheap,
He finds that he's in Spain, and right at Lepe, -
285Not at Rochelle nor yet at Bordeaux town,
And then will he snore out "Samson, Samson."




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From The Pardoner's Tale, lines 287-292:
A hymn to abstinence and prayer
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