Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/64

 She concealed that she suspected that a fraud had been committed, and said to him: "Sire, a little before you laid beside me, I had a great and horrible vision which I'm forbidden to tell you about at present. Therefore, I have decided to be chaste in the future, and beg you, please, to make me grateful by not coming to lie with me. In case you don't wish to accommodate me, I would kill myself, rather than acquiesce to you.”

These words greatly displeased the false Emperor. Nevertheless, since he passionately loved that woman, and was afraid that she would kill herself, he abstained from being intimate with her and contented himself by seeing her and conversing with her. However, he exercised all other affairs of the kingdom as a true and just Emperor.

Returning to the Emperor, who had been transmuted into a doe and was struck by all kinds of misadventure. He was chased a lot by bucks and often fiercely bitten by other wild animals. He decided to escape these misfortunes by wandering by himself to get away from other animals.

One day he found a parrot in the countryside who had died a short time before. And he convinced himself that he would have a less troubled existence if he were to enter the dead body with his spirit. He spoke the magic words over the body and instantly the doe was dead on the ground and he became the parrot.