Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/384

210 up by the hope of success, to attempt, and to perish in the attempt. But it happened that a poor man, called Abibas, inhabited that country, who thus communed with himself. "I am very poor, and of a base extraction; if I may overcome this lady and marry her, not only shall I be promoted myself, but all who are of my blood." The incitement was too powerful for his resistance, and he determined to make the trial. But wiser than the rest, he took the three following precautions. First, he framed a curious garland of roses, of which he had ascertained that the lady was devotedly fond. Then, he procured a zone of the finest silk, from a conviction that most damsels were partial to this sort of clothing. And, lastly, he bought a silken bag, in which he deposited a golden ball bearing the following inscription; "Whosoever plays with me, shall never satiate of play." These three things he placed in his bosom, and knocked at the palace-gate. The porter enquired his business; and he stated his wish in the usual form.

It happened that the princess herself stood