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 to wait on ſome lady.' 'Mary, quoth the cobbler, if it be ſo, perhaps I may do you a piece of ſervice, for as ſimple as I ſit here: though I ſay it myſelf, I am well acquainted with the king; and as you ſeem to have both good honeſt faces, I do proteſt I will do you all the good I can that I will; & there's my hand on the ſame.' 'Thou ſayeſt well quoth the king, and if thou do me any kindneſs I do not matter if I give thee that leather as a reward of thy goodneſs, and ſo here's to thee.' 'I thank thee,' quoth the cobbler, and by the time he had drunk three or four carouſes, his heart grew light and he told the king he would ſing him a ſong of his own making. At which the queen, when ſhe heard it, laughed heartily; for he had many jokes and pleaſant ſongs; he delighted the queen more than any thing ſhe had ſeen or met with in her life. At length it grew towards noon, the cobbler was for going with them towards the court; but he muſt dreſs himſelf for he would not appear before the king in his cobbler's clothes for all the ſhoes in his ſhop.

HE cobbler being gone, the king turned himſelf to the queen, ſaying, 'How like you the converſation of this comical Criſpin? The queen ſaid, 'Right well, beſides I ſee ſomething of a principle in him, which in my judgment ſeems to outſhine his poverty; for, my liege, when you offered the leather to him at a low price, he let you know it was worth much more, and therefore was loth to meddle with it, fearing you came not honeſtly by it, and what I obſerved in him is, that he has a light heart, brisk and merry; and for ought I know, enjoys more happineſs in his coarſe and