Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/33

Rh the agony of her child, she said, "Dear son, for the residue of my life, I will expiate our crimes, by hardships and wanderings. Thou shalt govern the kingdom." "Not so," returned he, "do you remain, my mother. I will roam about, until our sins are forgiven."

The same night he arose; broke his lance, and put on the dress of a pilgrim. He bade his mother farewell, and, with naked feet, walked till he reached the uttermost boundaries of the kingdom. Having entered a certain city, he sought out the house of a fisherman, with whom he requested permission to lodge. When the fisherman had considered him attentively, and observed the comeliness of his person, and the grace of his form, he said, "Friend, you are no true pilgrim; this is evident from the elegance of your body." "Well," answered the other, "though I be not a true pilgrim, yet, for the love of God, I beseech you to give me harbourage." Now the fisherman's wife, looking upon him, was moved with a devout feeling, and entreated that he might be sheltered.