Dante's Heart
The Seven Sages of Rome
The Knight, the Dog, and the Snake
“…A knight had a very beautiful greyhound, young, perfectly gentle, and
very good; and he had a baby whom he was nurturing in a cradle. It
happened one day that a tournament was to be held in Rome. The knight
went to see them, and his wife and the servants went upstairs to watch, and
they left the child and the greyhound alone in the house.
"Now the house was so very old that from a crack in the wall, a very great
and terrible snake came out to devour the child. And the dog, seeing this,
wished to defend the child, and fought for this with the snake: and as they
came to such blows so violently that they seemed to form one body, the
cradle of the child turned itself over, so that the child remained below safe
and sound. The dog and the serpent made great battle, and at the end the
dog killed the snake, and the dog was left covered with wounds. When one
of the servants returned, she saw the dog with its mouth bloodied. She
believed that he had killed the child, and she began to fly about screaming.
The wife, hearing this, asked the reason, which she told her. The wife
immediately went mad with grief, crying and weeping with all of her servants.
"In the midst of this the knight returned home, and he asked the reason for
the weeping. They said to him, ‘The dog that you have loved so much has
killed your child.’ He looked at the dog and saw him bloodied; he believed
that it was so, and he killed the dog at once. And then he went to the cradle
and picked it up, and he found the child safe and sound. And then he
looked around the room and saw the dead serpent, and he knew that the
dog had killed it; and he was very sad about his dog that he had killed -- for
the dog, which had well recompensed the knight, had been killed. Thus it will
happen to you, that, if you have your son executed, you will regret his
death; for he tried to attain reward from you, and you wish to have him
killed.”
Hearing this, the emperor suspended the sentence of his son.
The emperor returned that evening to his wife, and he found her very sad
and disturbed because the sentence had not gone to execution. Then the
woman said to him:
back next page: "The Two Pines"
The Knight, the Dog, and the Snake
“…A knight had a very beautiful greyhound, young, perfectly gentle, and
very good; and he had a baby whom he was nurturing in a cradle. It
happened one day that a tournament was to be held in Rome. The knight
went to see them, and his wife and the servants went upstairs to watch, and
they left the child and the greyhound alone in the house.
"Now the house was so very old that from a crack in the wall, a very great
and terrible snake came out to devour the child. And the dog, seeing this,
wished to defend the child, and fought for this with the snake: and as they
came to such blows so violently that they seemed to form one body, the
cradle of the child turned itself over, so that the child remained below safe
and sound. The dog and the serpent made great battle, and at the end the
dog killed the snake, and the dog was left covered with wounds. When one
of the servants returned, she saw the dog with its mouth bloodied. She
believed that he had killed the child, and she began to fly about screaming.
The wife, hearing this, asked the reason, which she told her. The wife
immediately went mad with grief, crying and weeping with all of her servants.
"In the midst of this the knight returned home, and he asked the reason for
the weeping. They said to him, ‘The dog that you have loved so much has
killed your child.’ He looked at the dog and saw him bloodied; he believed
that it was so, and he killed the dog at once. And then he went to the cradle
and picked it up, and he found the child safe and sound. And then he
looked around the room and saw the dead serpent, and he knew that the
dog had killed it; and he was very sad about his dog that he had killed -- for
the dog, which had well recompensed the knight, had been killed. Thus it will
happen to you, that, if you have your son executed, you will regret his
death; for he tried to attain reward from you, and you wish to have him
killed.”
Hearing this, the emperor suspended the sentence of his son.
The emperor returned that evening to his wife, and he found her very sad
and disturbed because the sentence had not gone to execution. Then the
woman said to him:
back next page: "The Two Pines"
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