Greetings,
I've provoked a question on the Chaucerlist that I hope some of you
might be able to answer. At the end of The Friar's Tale, a devil
carries off a wicked Summoner, but also a cooking pan that an old
woman has consigned to him. The question is: what can he possibly
want with a pan? It strikes me as similar to a passage in Dr. Faustus,
where Mephastophilis is anxious to get extra money out of a horse-
trader. Again, what does he want with money? Is it mindless
cupiditas?
Regards,
Jim Kerbaugh
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