Read the excerpt from The Pardoner’s Tale in The Canterbury Tales. And it fell to the youngest of them all, And he set off at once towards the town. And thereupon, so soon as he was gone, One of the two who stayed said to the other: "You know, of course, that you are my sworn brother. I’ll tell you something that you won’t lose by. As you can see, our friend has gone away, And here is gold, and that in greatest plenty, All waiting to be split between us three. How would it be, if I can work it so That it is only shared between us two, Wouldn’t I be doing you a friendly turn?” How does Chaucer characterize the young man speaking in this passage?
The speaker suggests that he and the other man should keep the gold for themselves instead of sharing it with their absent companion. By proposing to cheat their friend while pretending to do him a favor, he is characterized as deceitful. “As loyal” is tempting because he calls the other man his sworn brother, but his actions betray their absent friend.
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