Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/158

146 desired to see it. Guido went accordingly; and the emperor was so struck with its uncommon beauty, that he wished to purchase it at any rate; and threatened if Guido refused compliance, to banish him the kingdom. "My lord," answered he, "I will sell the stone; but let me say one thing—if the price be not given, it shall be presently restored to me." He demanded three hundred florins, and then taking it from a small coffer, put it into the emperor's hands. Full of admiration, he exclaimed—"Tell me where you procured this most beautiful stone." This he did; and narrated from the beginning the seneschal's accident, and subsequent ingratitude. He told how severely he had been injured by his command; and the benefits he had received from the lion, the monkey, and serpent. Much moved at the recital, the emperor sent for the seneschal and said—"What is this I hear of thee?" He was unable to reply. "O wretch!" continued the emperor—"monster of ingratitude! Guido liberated thee from the most imminent danger, and for this thou hast nearly destroyed