Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/134

122 that death was inevitable; and full of grief at the intelligence, the emperor desired his son to undertake the cure. "No, my lord," said he, "I cannot comply with your wishes." "If you deny me," returned the father, "I will again banish you the kingdom." "Then," he replied, "you will act with the greatest injustice. You acknowledged yourself my father, yet banished me from you through this very woman's suggestion. My absence occasioned your sickness and sorrow; and my presence produces a like effect upon the queen, my unkind step-mother: therefore, I will not cure her, but will immediately depart." "The queen," returned the father, "is afflicted with the same infirmity that I was, and which you so effectually dispelled: let me entreat you to preserve her also." "My beloved father," answered he, "although she has the same infirmity, her complexion is different. When I entered the palace, the joy you felt at my return contributed to your speedy recovery; but the reverse happens to my step-mother. If I speak, she is full of grief; if I touch her, she is carried beyond herself. Now nothing