Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/52

40 not depute another to show our gratitude, but exert ourselves in the most earnest manner.

is related of a certain prince, that with all his power he could not subdue his enemies. At length he made use of the following stratagem. He feigned a flight, and resigned his castles, with the provisions they contained, into the hands of his foes. Now the castles were furnished with casks of wine empoisoned with the seed of a certain herb; insomuch, that whosoever drank of it immediately fell asleep. He knew that his opponents were hunger-starved and gluttonous; and that, overjoyed to find such excellent quarters, they would drink