Page:Tales from Chaucer.djvu/109

 his sitting on horseback, as being after the newest fashion. Before him lay his wallet stuffed with pardons, all hot from Rome. He had a full glaring eye, like a hare's; a sneaking voice like a goat's; and a chin which never owned the inheritance of a beard.

And now to speak of his profession. If you were to search from Ware to Berwick-upon-Tweed, you would not meet with such another Pardoner. Among his relics he could produce a pillow-covering, which he pronounced to be the Virgin Mary's veil; a small piece of the seal which St. Peter had with him when he walked upon the sea; a brazen cross set with brilliants; and some pig's bones in a glass. With these relics he would make in one day more money among the poor country people than the parson would in two months. Thus with his flattery and his falsities he made fools of both priest and people.

Notwithstanding all this, however, I must acknowledge that he was a famous churchman. He read the service with dignity and emphasis; though he shone to greater advantage at the