Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/168

 In my youth I tirelessly studied music so that I surpassed all my companions by far in ability. And seeing that in my city the sound of the lute was greatly appreciated, I put all of my soul into it. Every day I made major improvements so that in a short amount of time I surpassed all others in excellence. And I was teaching this skill to many in my city and also to others that came from nearby towns to learn, and I used to earn a great deal of money.

Now it happened that in the meantime an old merchant arrived in our city who had brought with him a young woman who played the lute so beautifully that no one else in this profession in the world could be found that could compare with her. As her fame spread through the city, it also reached the ears of the Lord who greatly delighted in music and he invited the old merchant to come to see him. And when he heard of the skills of the young woman from him, he begged him affectionately to bring her into his presence. The merchant replied that because of the rare talent that she possessed, he had adopted her as his daughter and because she had decided to always live in chastity, he kept her in a room, served by four maids. She never wanted to leave the room and spent her time there in prayer and good works.