Have I nat of a capon but the lyvere,
And of youre softe breed nat but a shyvere,
And after that a rosted pigges heed –
But that I nolde no beest for me were deed –
Thanne hadde I with yow hoomly suffisaunce.
I am a man of litel sustenaunce;
My spirit hath his fostryng in the Bible.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Summoner’s Tale. After Thomas’s wife asks him what he would like to eat, Friar John orders a substantial meal, which includes a roasted pig’s head, capon liver and soft white bread. He then lies that he is a man of little sustenance. He adds that his spirit has its nourishment in the Bible – although he has already admitted that he only glosses it and doesn’t strictly stick to holy writ. He is quite the greedy gut and hypocrite.