Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/152

 But Feristeno who had kissed the bouquet more than a thousand times wrote Giulla a letter in which he described his imprisonment and everything else that had happened to him up to that day. He dearly begged her to assure him of her situation and of where she was, so that he could easily, with the skill of Giassemen who had liberated him from death, go and see her. Then, he hid the letter inside a reed and waited for the old woman to bring him the roses. As soon as she arrived with them, he took the reed in his hand and arranged the bouquet on top of it in such a way that his portrait and that of Giulla could be seen. And the roses were arranged with such artistry that the composition greatly surpassed the bouquet arranged by Giulla. Then he gave it to the old woman and said, "Mother mine, "the price which you have promised my companion, I give you in full. I want no other payment from you, other than that you will show the bouquet that I give you to the master who made the other one and for which you asked ten scudi, so that he will know that in this city there are also others that can make bouquets that are more beautiful than his own." The woman promised this to Feristeno and thanked him many times for the courtesy that she had received and left him happily and cheerfully.

She returned to the young woman and said to her, "Now take a look, young lady, I also know how to make a bouquet that is more beautiful than your own."