He that his hand wol putte in this mitayn,
He shal have multipliyng of his grayn,
Whan he hath sowen, be it whete or otes,
So that he offre pens, or elles grotes.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. In another of the Pardoner’s con tricks, he markets a magic mitten to his audiences as a great financial investment. All you do is put you hand in the mitten and your grain crops will multiply and make you rich, he says, appealing to people’s greed. And it only costs a few pennies to buy, urges the Pardoner, the only person who will get rich from his scheme!