"That same Prince and that Moevere," quod he,
"Hath stablissed in this wrecched world adoun
Certeyne dayes and duracioun
To al that is engendred in this place,
Over the whiche day they may nat pace,
Al mowe they yet tho dayes wel abregge.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Knight’s Tale. Theseus says that God has allocated a specific number of days to a creature’s life on earth, beyond which day they cannot pass.