Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/192

180 meritest, thou shalt have," said the judge; "bear them away, and drag them at the tails of horses to the cross, upon which let them be immediately suspended." The noblemen of the kingdom applauded the sentence, not less than the ingenuity of the investigation. The property of the unjust knight was conferred upon the son of him, whom he had wished to wrong; the young man gave thanks to the king, and possessed his inheritance in peace.

My beloved, the two knights are the devil and our first parent, whose son is the whole human race. The inheritance is Paradise; the forged writing, original sin; and the seal, Adam's consent to partake with Eve of the forbidden tree. The three witnesses are the pride of life, concupiscence of the flesh, and concupiscence of the eyes.