Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/342

330 Celest. No sir; no one did.

Master. Unless you tell me the truth, I will flog you till the blood run.

The lad, fearful of what might follow, declared all that occurred, and how he had bound himself to the devil. The preceptor, grieved at the communication, induced the youth to confess himself, and renounce this fearful confederacy. When this was done he became a holy man; and after a well-spent life, gave up his soul to God.

My beloved, the king is Christ; the philosopher, any prelate; the mangy horse, a sinner covered with sins. The two sheep are two preachers bound by the cord of charity; the miller's house is the world; and, the fire, detraction.