<P> The Pardoner's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer . In the order of the Tales, it comes after The Physician's Tale and before The Shipman's Tale; it is prompted by the Host's desire to hear something positive after that depressing tale . The Pardoner initiates his Prologue--briefly accounting his methods of conning people--and then proceeds to tell a moral tale . </P> <P> The tale itself is an extended exemplum . Setting out to kill Death, three young men encounter an Old Man who says they will find him under a nearby tree . When they arrive they discover a hoard of treasure and decide to stay with it until nightfall and carry it away under cover of darkness . Out of greed, they murder each other . The tale and prologue are primarily concerned with what the Pardoner says is his "theme": Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of (all) evils"). </P> <P> In the order of The Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner's Prologue and Tale are preceded by The Physician's Tale . The Physician's Tale is a harrowing tale about a judge who plots with a "churl (low fellow)" to abduct a beautiful young woman; rather than allow her to be raped, her father beheads her . The invitation for the Pardoner to tell a tale comes after the Host declares his dissatisfaction with the depressing tale, and declares: </P>

What is the central theme of the pardoner's tale
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