Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/72

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Diocletian reigned, he decreed, that whosoever committed adultery should be put to death. It happened that a certain knight married a girl and had a son by her. The child grew, and every one loved him. After a while his father went out to battle, and fighting manfully, was deprived of his right arm. In the mean time his wife lost her honour; and the husband, on his return, discovering his shame, ought, according to law, to have put her to death. Calling his son, therefore, he said, "My dear boy, your mother has committed adultery, and by law should die; but I have lost my arm, and am unable