Various French, English and Italian authors have written imitations of this tale, concerning which Dunlop writes as follows in his History of Fiction:—
“The plot of Bandello’s thirty-fifth story is the same as that of Horace Walpole’s comedyThe Mysterious Mother, and of the Queen of Navarre’s thirtieth tale. The earlier portion will be found also in Masuccio’s twenty-third tale: but the second part, relating to the marriage, occurs only in Bandello’s work and theHeptameron. It is not likely, however, that the French or the Italian novelist borrowed from one another. The tales of Bandello were first published in 1554, and as the Queen of Navarre died in 1549, it is improbable that she ever had an opportunity of seeing them. On the other hand, the work of the Queen was not printed till 1558, nine years after her death, so it is not likely that any part of it was copied by Bandello, whose tales had been edited some years before.”
Walpole, it may be mentioned, denied having had any knowledge either of theHeptameronor of Bandello when he wroteThe Mysterious Mother, which was suggested to him, he declared, by a tale he had heard when very young, of a lady who had waited on Archbishop Tillotson with a story similar to that which is told by Queen Margaret’s heroine to the Legate of Avignon. According to Walpole, Tillotson’s advice was identical with that given by the Legate.
Dunlop mentions that a tale of this character is given in Byshop’sBlossoms(vol. xi.); and other authors whose writings contain similar stories are: Giovani Brevio,Rime e Prose vulgari, Roma, 1545 (Novella iv.); Desfontaine’sL’Inceste innocent, histoire véritable, Paris, 1644 5 Tommaso Grappulo, or Grappolino,Il Convito Borghesiano, Londra, 1800 (Novella vii.); Luther,Colloquia Mens alia(article on auricular confession); and Masuccio de Solerac,Novellino, Ginevra, 1765 (Novella xxiii.).
Curiously enough, Bandello declares that the story was related to him by a lady of Navarre (Queen Margaret?) as having occurred in that country, while Julio de Medrano, a Spanish author of the sixteenth century, asserts that it was told to him in the Bourbonnais as being actual fact, and that he positively saw the house where the lady’s son and his wife resided; but on the other hand we find the tale related, in its broad lines, inAmadis de Gauleas being an old-time legend, and in proof of this, it figures in an ancient French poem of the life of St. Gregory, the MS. of which still exists at Tours, and was printed in 1854.
In support of the theory that the tale is based on actual fact, the following passage from Millin’sAntiquités Nationales(vol. iii. f. xxviii. p. 6) is quoted—
“In the middle of the nave of the collégial church of Ecouis, in the cross aisle, was found a white marble slab on which was inscribed this epitaph:—
“Hore lies the child, here lies the father,Here lies the sister, here lies the brother,Here lie the wife and the husband,Yet there are but two bodies here.”
“The tradition is that a son of Madame d’Écouis had by his mother, without knowing her or being recognised by her, a daughter named Cecilia, whom he afterwards married in Lorraine, she then being in the service of the Duchess of Bar. Thus Cecilia was at one and the same time her husband’s daughter, sister and wife. They were interred together in the same grave at Écouis in 1512.”
According to Millin, a similar tradition will be found with variations in different parts of France. For instance, at the church of Alincourt, a village between Amiens and Abbeville, there was to be seen in Millin’s time an epitaph running as follows:—
“Here lies the son, here lies the mother,Here lies the daughter with the father;Here lies the sister, here lies the brother,Here lie the wife and the husband;And there are only three bodies here.”
Gaspard Meturas, it may be added, gives the same epitaph in hisHortus Epitaphiomm Selectorum, issued in 1648, but declares that it is to be found at Clermont in Auvergne—a long way from Amiens—and explains it by saying that the mother engendered her husband by intercourse with her own father; whence it follows that he was at the same time her husband, son and brother.—L. M. and Ed.
End of vol. III.
LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILISTS
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ContentsFOURTH DAY.PROLOGUE.TALE XXXI.TALE XXXII.TALE XXXIII.TALE XXXIV.TALE XXXV.TALE XXXVI.TALE XXXVII.TALE XXXVIII.TALE XXXIX.TALE XL.FIFTH DAY.PROLOGUE.TALE XLI.TALE XLII.TALE XLIII.TALE XLIV.(A).TALE XLIV. (B).TALE XLV.TALE XLVI. (A).TALE XLVI.(B).TALE XLVII.TALE XLVIII.TALE XLIX.TALE L.APPENDIX.A. (Tale XXXVI., Page 63.)List of IllustrationsFrontispieceTitlepage007a.jpg the Wicked Friar Captured007.jpg Page Image0016.jpg Tailpiece017a.jpg Bernage Observing the German Lady’s Strange Penance017.jpg Page Image028.jpg Tailpiece029a.jpg the Execution of The Wicked Priest and his Sister029.jpg Page Image037.jpg Tailpiece039a.jpg the Grey Friar Imploring The Butcher to Spare his Life039.jpg Page Image047.jpg Tailpiece049a.jpg the Lady Embracing The Supposed Friar049.jpg Page Image062.jpg Tailpiece063a.jpg the Clerk Entreating Forgiveness of The President063.jpg Page Image072.jpg Tailpiece073a.jpg the Lady of Loué Bringing Her Husband The Basin Of Water073.jpg Page Image081.jpg Tailpiece083a.jpg the Lady of Tours Questioning Her Husband’s Mistress083.jpg Page Image088.jpg Tailpiece089a.jpg the Lord of Grignaulx Catching The Pretended Ghost089.jpg Page Image094.jpg Tailpiece095a.jpg the Count of Jossebelin Murdering his Sister’s Husband095.jpg Page Image109.jpg Tailpiece115a.jpg the Beating of The Wicked Grey Friar115.jpg Page Image122.jpg Tailpiece123a.jpg the Girl Refusing The Gift of The Young Prince123.jpg Page Image142.jpg Tailpiece143a.jpg Jambicque Repudiating Her Lover143.jpg Page Image155.jpg Tailpiece157.jpg Page Image162.jpg Tailpiece163a.jpg the Lovers Returning from Their Meeting in The Garden163.jpg Page Image176.jpg Tailpiece177a.jpg the Man of Tours and his Serving-maid in The Snow177.jpg Page Image186.jpg Tailpiece187.jpg Page Image193.jpg Tailpiece195a.jpg the Young Man Beating his Wife195.jpg Page Image201.jpg Tailpiece203a.jpg the Gentleman Reproaching his Friend for His Jealousy203.jpg Page Image211.jpg Tailpiece213a.jpg the Grey Friars Caught and Punished213.jpg Page Image218.jpg Tailpiece219a.jpg the Countess Facing Her Lovers219.jpg Page Image232.jpg Tailpiece233a.jpg the Lady Killing Herself on The Death of Her Lover233.jpg Page Image240.jpg Tailpiece
FOURTH DAY.
PROLOGUE.
TALE XXXI.
TALE XXXII.
TALE XXXIII.
TALE XXXIV.
TALE XXXV.
TALE XXXVI.
TALE XXXVII.
TALE XXXVIII.
TALE XXXIX.
TALE XL.
FIFTH DAY.
PROLOGUE.
TALE XLI.
TALE XLII.
TALE XLIII.
TALE XLIV.(A).
TALE XLIV. (B).
TALE XLV.
TALE XLVI. (A).
TALE XLVI.(B).
TALE XLVII.
TALE XLVIII.
TALE XLIX.
TALE L.
APPENDIX.
A. (Tale XXXVI., Page 63.)
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007a.jpg the Wicked Friar Captured
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017a.jpg Bernage Observing the German Lady’s Strange Penance
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029a.jpg the Execution of The Wicked Priest and his Sister
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039a.jpg the Grey Friar Imploring The Butcher to Spare his Life
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049a.jpg the Lady Embracing The Supposed Friar
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063a.jpg the Clerk Entreating Forgiveness of The President
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073a.jpg the Lady of Loué Bringing Her Husband The Basin Of Water
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083a.jpg the Lady of Tours Questioning Her Husband’s Mistress
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089a.jpg the Lord of Grignaulx Catching The Pretended Ghost
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095a.jpg the Count of Jossebelin Murdering his Sister’s Husband
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115a.jpg the Beating of The Wicked Grey Friar
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123a.jpg the Girl Refusing The Gift of The Young Prince
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143a.jpg Jambicque Repudiating Her Lover
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163a.jpg the Lovers Returning from Their Meeting in The Garden
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177a.jpg the Man of Tours and his Serving-maid in The Snow
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195a.jpg the Young Man Beating his Wife
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203a.jpg the Gentleman Reproaching his Friend for His Jealousy
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213a.jpg the Grey Friars Caught and Punished
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219a.jpg the Countess Facing Her Lovers
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233a.jpg the Lady Killing Herself on The Death of Her Lover
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FOURTH DAY.PrologueTale XXXI.Punishment of the wickedness of a Friar who sought to liewith a gentleman’s wife.Tale XXXII.How an ambassador of Charles VIII., moved by the repentanceof a German lady, whom her husband compelled to drink out of her lover’sskull, reconciled husband and wife together.Tale XXXIII.The hypocrisy of a priest who, under the cloak of sanctity,had lain with his own sister, is discovered and punished by the wisdomof the Count of Angoulême.Tale XXXIV.The terror of two Friars who believed that a butcherintended to murder them, whereas the poor man was only speaking of hisPigs.Tale XXXV.How a husband’s prudence saves his wife from the risks sheincurred while thinking to yield to merely a spiritual love.Tale XXXVI.The story of the President of Grenoble, who saves the honourof his house by poisoning his wife with a salad.Tale XXXVII.How the Lady of Loué regained her husband’s affection.Tale XXXVIII.The kindness of a townswoman of Tours to a poorfarm-woman who is mistress to her husband, makes the latter so ashamedof his faithlessness that he returns to his wife.Tale XXXIX.How the Lord of Grignaulx rid one of his houses of apretended ghost.Tale XL.The unhappy history of the Count de Jossebelin’s sister, whoshut herself up in a hermitage because her brother caused her husband tobe slain.FIFTH DAY.PrologueTale XLI.Just punishment of a Grey Friar for the unwonted penance thathe would have laid upon a maiden.Tale XLII.The virtuous resistance made by a young woman of Tourainecauses a young Prince that is in love with her, to change his desire torespect, and to bestow her honourably in marriage.Tale XLIII.How a little chalk-mark revealed the hypocrisy of a ladycalled Jambicque, who was wont to hide the pleasures she indulged in,beneath the semblance of austerity.Tale XLIV. (A).Through telling the truth, a Grey Friar receives as almsfrom the Lord of Sedan two pigs instead of one.Tale XLIV. (B).Honourable conduct of a young citizen of Paris, who,after suddenly enjoying his sweetheart, at last happily marries.Tale XLV.Cleverness of an upholsterer of Touraine, who, to hide thathe has given the Innocents to his serving-maid, contrives to give themafterwards to his wife.Tale XLVI. (A).Wicked acts of a Grey Friar of Angoulême called De Vale,who fails in his purpose with the wife of the Judge of the Exempts, butto whom a mother in blind confidence foolishly abandons her daughter.Tale XLVI. (B).Sermons of the Grey Friar De Vallès, at first againstand afterwards on behalf of husbands that beat their wives.Tale XLVII.The undeserved jealousy of a gentleman of Le Perche towardsanother gentleman, his friend, leads the latter to deceive him.Tale XLVIII.Wicked act of a Grey Friar of Perigord, who, while ahusband was dancing at his wedding, went and took his place with thebride.Tale XLIX.Story of a foreign Countess, who, not content with havingKing Charles as her lover, added to him three lords, to wit, Astillon,Durassier and Valnebon.Tale L.Melancholy fortune of Messire John Peter, a gentleman ofCremona, who dies just when he is winning the affection of the lady heloves.Appendix to Vol. IV.
FOURTH DAY.
PrologueTale XXXI.Punishment of the wickedness of a Friar who sought to liewith a gentleman’s wife.Tale XXXII.How an ambassador of Charles VIII., moved by the repentanceof a German lady, whom her husband compelled to drink out of her lover’sskull, reconciled husband and wife together.Tale XXXIII.The hypocrisy of a priest who, under the cloak of sanctity,had lain with his own sister, is discovered and punished by the wisdomof the Count of Angoulême.Tale XXXIV.The terror of two Friars who believed that a butcherintended to murder them, whereas the poor man was only speaking of hisPigs.Tale XXXV.How a husband’s prudence saves his wife from the risks sheincurred while thinking to yield to merely a spiritual love.Tale XXXVI.The story of the President of Grenoble, who saves the honourof his house by poisoning his wife with a salad.Tale XXXVII.How the Lady of Loué regained her husband’s affection.Tale XXXVIII.The kindness of a townswoman of Tours to a poorfarm-woman who is mistress to her husband, makes the latter so ashamedof his faithlessness that he returns to his wife.Tale XXXIX.How the Lord of Grignaulx rid one of his houses of apretended ghost.Tale XL.The unhappy history of the Count de Jossebelin’s sister, whoshut herself up in a hermitage because her brother caused her husband tobe slain.
FIFTH DAY.
PrologueTale XLI.Just punishment of a Grey Friar for the unwonted penance thathe would have laid upon a maiden.Tale XLII.The virtuous resistance made by a young woman of Tourainecauses a young Prince that is in love with her, to change his desire torespect, and to bestow her honourably in marriage.Tale XLIII.How a little chalk-mark revealed the hypocrisy of a ladycalled Jambicque, who was wont to hide the pleasures she indulged in,beneath the semblance of austerity.Tale XLIV. (A).Through telling the truth, a Grey Friar receives as almsfrom the Lord of Sedan two pigs instead of one.Tale XLIV. (B).Honourable conduct of a young citizen of Paris, who,after suddenly enjoying his sweetheart, at last happily marries.Tale XLV.Cleverness of an upholsterer of Touraine, who, to hide thathe has given the Innocents to his serving-maid, contrives to give themafterwards to his wife.Tale XLVI. (A).Wicked acts of a Grey Friar of Angoulême called De Vale,who fails in his purpose with the wife of the Judge of the Exempts, butto whom a mother in blind confidence foolishly abandons her daughter.Tale XLVI. (B).Sermons of the Grey Friar De Vallès, at first againstand afterwards on behalf of husbands that beat their wives.Tale XLVII.The undeserved jealousy of a gentleman of Le Perche towardsanother gentleman, his friend, leads the latter to deceive him.Tale XLVIII.Wicked act of a Grey Friar of Perigord, who, while ahusband was dancing at his wedding, went and took his place with thebride.Tale XLIX.Story of a foreign Countess, who, not content with havingKing Charles as her lover, added to him three lords, to wit, Astillon,Durassier and Valnebon.Tale L.Melancholy fortune of Messire John Peter, a gentleman ofCremona, who dies just when he is winning the affection of the lady heloves.Appendix to Vol. IV.
On the Fourth Day are chiefly told Tales of thevirtuous patience and long suffering ofLadies to win over their husbands;and of the prudence that Menhave used towards Womento save the honour oftheir families andlineage.
The Lady Oisille, as was her excellent custom, rose up on the morrow very much earlier than the others, and meditating upon her book of Holy Scripture, awaited the company which, little by little, assembled together again. And the more slothful of them excused themselves in the words of the Bible, saying, “I have a wife, and therefore could not come so quickly.” (1) In this wise it came to pass that Hircan and his wife Parlamente found the reading of the lesson already begun. Oisille, however, knew right well how to pick out the passage in the Scriptures, which reproves those who neglect the hearing of the Word, and she not only read the text, but also addressed to them such excellent and pious exhortations that it was impossible to weary of listening to her.
1 “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”—St.Luke xiv. 20.—M.
The reading ended, Parlamente said to her—
“I felt sorry for my slothfulness when I came in, but since my error has led you to speak to me in such excellent fashion, my laziness has profited me double, for I have had rest of body by sleeping longer, and satisfaction of spirit by hearing your godly discourse.” “Well,” said Oisille, “let us for penance go to mass and pray Our Lord to give us both will and power to fulfil His commandments; and then may He command us according to His own good pleasure.”
As she was saying these words, they reached the church, where they piously heard mass. And afterwards they sat down to table, where Hircan failed not to laugh at the slothfulness of his wife. After dinner they withdrew to rest and study their parts, (2) and when the hour was come, they all found themselves at the wonted spot.
2 Meaning what they had to relate. The French word isrollefromrotulus.—M.
Then Oisille asked Hircan to whom he would give his vote to begin the day.
“If my wife,” said he, “had not begun yesterday, I should have given her my vote, for although I always thought that she loved me more than any man alive, she has further proved to me this morning that she loves me better than God or His Word, seeing that she neglected your excellent reading to bear me company. However, since I cannot give my vote to the discreetest lady of the company, I will present it to Geburon, who is the discreetest among the men; and I beg that he will in no wise spare the monks.”
“It was not necessary to beg that of me,” said Geburon; “I was not at all likely to forget them. Only a short while ago I heard Monsieur de Saint-Vincent, Ambassador of the Emperor, tell a story of them which is well worthy of being rememorated and I will now relate it to you.”
007a.jpg the Wicked Friar Captured
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A monastery of Grey Friars was burned down, with the monksthat were in it, as a perpetual memorial of the crueltypractised by one among them that was in love with a lady.
In the lands subject to the Emperor Maximilian of Austria (1) there was a monastery of Grey Friars that was held in high repute, and nigh to it stood the house of a gentleman who was so kindly disposed to these monks that he could withhold nothing from them, in order to share in the benefits of their fastings and disciplines. Among the rest there was a tall and handsome friar whom the said gentleman had taken to be his confessor, and who had as much authority in the gentleman’s house as the gentleman himself. This friar, seeing that the gentleman’s wife was as beautiful and prudent as it was possible to be, fell so deeply in love with her that he lost all appetite for both food and drink, and all natural reason as well. One day, thinking to work his end, he went all alone to the house, and not finding the gentleman within, asked the lady whither he was gone. She replied that he was gone to an estate where he proposed remaining during two or three days, but that if the friar had business with him, she would despatch a man expressly to him. The friar said no to this, and began to walk to and fro in the house like one with a weighty matter in his mind.
1 Maximilian I., grandfather of Charles V. and FerdinandI., and Emperor of Germany from 1494 to 1519.—Ed.
When he had left the room, the lady said to one of her women (and there were but two) “Go after the good father and find out what he wants, for I judge by his countenance that he is displeased.”
The serving-woman went to the courtyard and asked the friar whether he desired aught, whereat he answered that he did, and, drawing her into a corner, he took a dagger which he carried in his sleeve, and thrust it into her throat. Just after he had done this, there came into the courtyard a mounted servant who had been gone to receive the rent of a farm. As soon as he had dismounted he saluted the friar, who embraced him, and while doing so thrust the dagger into the back part of his neck. And thereupon he closed the castle gate.
The lady, finding that her serving-woman did not return, was astonished that she should remain so long with the friar, and said to the other—
“Go and see why your fellow-servant does not come back.”
The woman went, and as soon as the good father saw her, he drew her aside into a corner and did to her as he had done to her companion. Then, finding himself alone in the house, he came to the lady, and told her that he had long been in love with her, and that the hour was now come when she must yield him obedience.
The lady, who had never suspected aught of this, replied—
“I am sure, father, that were I so evilly inclined, you would be the first to cast a stone at me.”
“Come out into the courtyard,” returned the monk, “and you will see what I have done.”
When she beheld the two women and the man lying dead, she was so terrified that she stood like a statue, without uttering a word. The villain, who did not seek merely an hour’s delight, would not take her by force, but forthwith said to her—
“Mistress, be not afraid; you are in the hands of him who, of all living men, loves you the most.”
So saying, he took off his long robe, beneath which he wore a shorter one, which he gave to the lady, telling her that if she did not take it, she should be numbered with those whom she saw lying lifeless before her eyes.
More dead than alive already, the lady resolved to feign obedience, both to save her life, and to gain time, as she hoped, for her husband’s return. At the command of the friar, she set herself to put off her head-dress as slowly as she was able; and when this was done, the friar, heedless of the beauty of her hair, quickly cut it off. Then he caused her to take off all her clothes except her chemise, and dressed her in the smaller robe he had worn, he himself resuming the other, which he was wont to wear; then he departed thence with all imaginable speed, taking with him the little friar he had coveted so long.
But God, who pities the innocent in affliction, beheld the tears of this unhappy lady, and it so happened that her husband, having arranged matters more speedily than he had expected, was now returning home by the same road by which she herself was departing. However, when the friar perceived him in the distance, he said to the lady—
“I see your husband coming this way. I know that if you look at him he will try to take you out of my hands. Go, then, before me, and turn not your head in his direction; for, if you make the faintest sign, my dagger will be in your throat before he can deliver you.”
As he was speaking, the gentleman came up, and asked him whence he was coming.
“From your house,” replied the other, “where I left my lady in good health, and waiting for you.”
The gentleman passed on without observing his wife, but a servant who was with him, and who had always been wont to foregather with one of the friar’s comrades named Brother John, began to call to his mistress, thinking, indeed, that she was this Brother John. The poor woman, who durst not turn her eyes in the direction of her husband, answered not a word. The servant, however, wishing to see her face, crossed the road, and the lady, still without making any reply, signed to him with her eyes, which were full of tears.
The servant then went after his master and said—“Sir, as I crossed the road I took note of the friar’s companion. He is not Brother John, but is very like my lady, your wife, and gave me a pitiful look with eyes full of tears.”
The gentleman replied that he was dreaming, and paid no heed to him; but the servant persisted, entreating his master to allow him to go back, whilst he himself waited on the road, to see if matters were as he thought. The gentleman gave him leave, and waited to see what news he would bring him. When the friar heard the servant calling out to Brother John, he suspected that the lady had been recognised, and with a great, iron-bound stick that he carried, he dealt the servant so hard a blow in the side that he knocked him off his horse. Then, leaping upon his body, he cut his throat.
The gentleman, seeing his servant fall in the distance, thought that he had met with an accident, and hastened back to assist him. As soon as the friar saw him, he struck him also with the iron-bound stick, just as he had struck the servant, and, flinging him to the ground, threw himself upon him. But the gentleman being strong and powerful, hugged the friar so closely that he was unable to do any mischief, and was forced to let his dagger fall. The lady picked it up, and, giving it to her husband, held the friar with all her strength by the hood. Then her husband dealt the friar several blows with the dagger, so that at last he cried for mercy and confessed his wickedness. The gentleman was not minded to kill him, but begged his wife to go home and fetch their people and a cart, in which to carry the friar away. This she did, throwing off her robe, and running as far as her house in nothing but her shift, with her cropped hair.
The gentleman’s men forthwith hastened to assist their master to bring away the wolf that he had captured. And they found this wolf in the road, on the ground, where he was seized and bound, and taken to the house of the gentleman, who afterwards had him brought before the Emperor’s Court in Flanders, when he confessed his evil deeds.
And by his confession and by proofs procured by commissioners on the spot, it was found that a great number of gentlewomen and handsome wenches had been brought into the monastery in the same fashion as the friar of my story had sought to carry off this lady; and he would have succeeded but for the mercy of Our Lord, who ever assists those that put their trust in Him. And the said monastery was stripped of its spoils and of the handsome maidens that were found within it, and the monks were shut up in the building and burned with it, as an everlasting memorial of this crime, by which we see that there is nothing more dangerous than love when it is founded upon vice, just as there is nothing more gentle or praiseworthy when it dwells in a virtuous heart. (2)
2 Queen Margaret states (ante, p. 5) that this tale wastold by M. de St.-Vincent, ambassador of Charles V., andseems to imply that the incident recorded in it was one ofrecent occurrence. The same story may be found, however, inmost of the collections of earlyfabliaux. SeeOEuvres deRutebeuf, vol. i. p. 260 (Frère Denise), Legrandd’Aussy’sFabliaux, vol. iv. p. 383, and theRecueilcomplet des Fabliaux, Paris, 1878, vol. iii. p. 253. Thereis also some similarity between this tale and No. LX. of theCent Nouvelles Nouvelles. Estienne quotes it in hisApologie pour Hérodote, L’Estoile in hisJournal du règnede Henri III. (anno1577), Malespini uses it in hisDucento Novelle(No. 75), and it suggested to LafontainehisCordeliers de Catalogne.—L. and M.
“I am very sorry, ladies, that truth does not provide us with stories as much to the credit of the Grey Friars as it does to the contrary. It would be a great pleasure to me, by reason of the love that I bear their Order, if I knew of one in which I could really praise them; but we have vowed so solemnly to speak the truth that, after hearing it from such as are well worthy of belief, I cannot but make it known to you. Nevertheless, I promise you that, whenever the monks shall accomplish a memorable and glorious deed, I will be at greater pains to exalt it than I have been in relating the present truthful history.”
“In good faith, Geburon,” said Oisille, “that was a love which might well have been called cruelty.”
“I am astonished,” said Simontault, “that he was patient enough not to take her by force when he saw her in her shift, and in a place where he might have mastered her.”
“He was not an epicure, but a glutton,” said Saffredent. “He wanted to have his fill of her every day, and so was not minded to amuse himself with a mere taste.”
“That was not the reason,” said Parlamente. “Understand that a lustful man is always timorous, and the fear that he had of being surprised and robbed of his prey led him, wolf-like, to carry off his lamb that he might devour it at his ease.”
“For all that,” said Dagoucin, “I cannot believe that he loved her, or that the virtuous god of love could dwell in so base a heart.”
“Be that as it may,” said Oisille, “he was well punished, and I pray God that like attempts may meet with the same chastisement. But to whom will you give your vote?”
“To you, madam,” replied Geburon; “you will, I know, not fail to tell us a good story.”
“Since it is my turn,” said Oisille, “I will relate to you one that is indeed excellent, seeing that the adventure befel in my own day, and before the eyes of him who told it to me. You are, I am sure, aware that death ends all our woes, and this being so, it may be termed our happiness and tranquil rest. It is, therefore, a misfortune if a man desires death and cannot obtain it, and so the most grievous punishment that can be given to a wrongdoer is not death, but a continual torment, great enough to render death desirable, but withal too slight to bring it nearer. And this was how a husband used his wife, as you shall hear.”