One morning, at a tavern in Flanders, three men sit around a table consuming drink after drink. These men cannot resist the temptation of the devil seeing that they often gamble, drink, swear, flirt, and go to brothels. As a cart passes by the tavern, the men listen carefully to the sound of a bell. One of the men yells for his serving boy to ask who corpse is in the cart. Without leaving the tavern, the serving boy reports that the corpse was a friend of theirs and that Death took his life during the night. Concerned by all the commotion, the tavern keepers stands up and announces that Death must live in a large village nearby. Immediately, one of the three men makes a pack with his two comrades to slay death and to protect each other during …show more content…
After examining the man, the proudest rioter asks why he is wrapped in cloth and why he is alive at such an old age. The old man looks at the rioter with sad eyes and explains that he is very ill but that Death will not take him. At the mention of Death, the rioters gather around the man demanding that he tell them where they can find death. Pointing to a path, the old man tells them that Death is in that groove under an oak tree. Then, the rioters run up the hill to the tree. There, they stare in shock and amazement at what they have found. Before them, sits eight bushels of florin gold coins. To collect themselves, they sit down beside the treasure. Reasoning that they cannot move their treasure during the day because others will claim that they are theives, they agree that they must wait until night to take their treasure. Then, the rioters draw straws to determine who will go to town to get bread and wine. The youngest rioter picks the shortest straw and heads to town. Once he is out of sight, one of the remaining rioters turns to the other to explain his plan. He tells the other that he should wrestle with the youngest when he returns so that he can stab him from one