The Friar's Prologue and Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer
 A summoner who meets a yeoman one day who asks him what he does, but rather than admit he is a summoner, an odious profession, he says he is a bailiff. The yeoman says he is also a bailiff and when the summoner asks how he makes money the yeoman admits in any underhand way he can. The summoner agrees this is also how he works and then, in the spirit of confession, the yeoman says that he is actually a demon from hell. This does not seem to overtly concern the summoner and he simply asks how he is able to take human form. They come upon a carter damning his stubborn horses to hell; when they do move he praises God. The summoner criticizes the demon for not capitalizing on this situation and taking the horses, but the demon explains that since the man was not sincere in cursing the horses he couldn't take them. The summoner then says that he will show the demon how it is done, by extorting money from an old widow woman even though he admits there is nothing legitimate to summon her for. They go to her house and the summoner demands a bribe from her or he will summon her to court on a spurious charge. He also demands she give him her new pan in payment for an old debt, falsely claiming he paid a fine to get her off a charge of adultery. The old woman is so incensed she damns the summoner unless the summoner repents his false charges; the summoner refuses to repent and the demon, obligingly, takes his body and soul—along with the old woman's frying pan—to hell.