Page:Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo.djvu/94

 But the woman assured her husband that she would never say a word of this to anyone.

“You know,” the goldsmith told her, “how easily the Lion can be moved anywhere with the wheels. So, anyone who wanted to ascertain its weight, can take it to the seashore and load it onto a ship and the weight could not even be in error by one pound of gold. After it is placed there and the outside of the ship is marked where it touches the sea, the Lion is taken out and the ship is loaded up with stones or other objects till the waterline marking is reached again. By weighing the stones or other objects, the weight of the gold can easily be determined.

The wife listened to this and promised her husband not to reveal this neat secret to anyone. Nevertheless, as daybreak came, when most of the women of low status arise from the bed of their husbands, she went out to the prayer where she met with the wife of the other goldsmith. She told her what her husband had revealed to her and asked her affectionately that she would not mention this to anyone else. She got this promise from her companion and after they had been together for a while, each returned home.

The wife of the second goldsmith, who had learned the secret for weighing the Lion from her friend, was extremely happy and cheerful and when she came home, she told her husband immediately about the discovery and encouraged him to inform the Lord right away of the robbery that was committed.