Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/106

lxxx at the fire. On the other's return, the knight is mistaken for the dead man, and with many bitter words thrown into the fire, horse and all. The sentinel goes back to his sister, and receives the stipulated reward. A hue and cry had now been made after the young men who were missing. The husband and wife engage in a quarrel, and the murder is of course discovered.

"This story has been immediately taken from The seven wise Masters, where it forms the example of the sixth master. The ground-work is, no doubt, oriental, and may be found, perhaps, in its most ancient form, in The little hunchbacked taylor, of The Arabian Nights. It was imported into Europe very early, and fell into the hands of the lively and entertaining French minstrels, who have treated it in various ways, as may be seen in Le Grand, Fableaux et Contes, tom. iv., where it is related five times. The several imitations of it from The seven wise masters, may be found in all the editions of Prince Erastus, an Italian modification of the Wise masters. It forms the substance of a