Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/131

 the Prince, so as not to be seen by her, immediately returned to bed. And she returned, quietly undressed herself and laid down beside him. Nevertheless, given all this, he still could not convince himself that she was good and thought that she wanted to deceive him through a pretense of sanctity. Therefore, he decided to lie down with her the three following nights and he kept her with him for that length of time. And when he realized that the young woman was truly good and virtuous since he saw her continually persevere in prayer, he chose her as his wife and decided firmly to avenge himself on the other three for the abuse he had suffered.

Among the many fierce animals he had, which he had fight together for entertainment, there was a horrible and frightful mule. Late one evening, he called his servants and entered the stable with them. He ordered that they take the mule out and tie it to a spot where he knew the evil woman had to pass. The servants did as he ordered and so that the groom would not remove the mule from the spot, he ordered them to stay that night in the stable with the groom.

And when he returned to his room, he ordered that the young woman, whose quarters were above the stable, should come to him. She obeyed his command and immediately went to meet the Prince.