"So wisly helpe me, as I ne may.
I have been syk, and that ful many a day.
I may nat go so fer," quod she, "ne ryde,
But I be deed, so priketh it in my syde."

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Friar’s Tale. When the Summoner tries to cheat the widow out of money using a bogus summons to the ecclesiastical courts, she pleads with him. The old woman tells him that she is sick and cannot walk or ride to the court for fear of it killing her.