Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/126

 The Prince who noticed the falseness and wickedness of the young woman who fainted when she saw the wooden figurines on the ship drown, turned his eyes towards the statue and saw it grin. So, he was sure that he wasn't deceiving himself. But he gave no sign of this to the young woman. He caressed her and spent the night with her. And early the next morning he sent her back to her quarters which had been built above the stream. When he came out of the bath, he asked that the fourth damsel be brought to him.

When she came into his presence, she did not want to approach him out of reverence. He took her by the hand and began to caress her a lot. But because he saw that she was honest and had fine manners, and wandering whether she would be similar to the other women and wicked, he turned his eyes to the statue and did not see it laughing for she was truly good and honest. He amused himself with her also that night and in the morning sent her back to her quarters which were near the cellar.

But because of her humility and the great reverence with which she behaved, he thought that perhaps she was the daughter of some poor and common man and not of a prince. And thereafter he did not want to amuse himself with her and instead chose the other three.

It so happened that one evening he went to the room of the young woman who had pretended to faint from the rose petal that had touched her face and he went to bed with her after dinner. He engaged for a good while in varied conversation with her and then he fell asleep.