Dante's Heart
The Seven Sages of Rome
The Jealous Man Locked Out of the House
“…A man had a wife, who committed adultery with a youth -- and one
evening this young man came and knocked at the door. She gave her
husband a reason for going out for something else, and she went to the
young man. Her husband realized this, and he got up and locked the door,
so that the wife remained outside. In that land there was an ordinance:
whoever was found outside of his or her house after curfew was whipped
through the city. And she, coming to the door, begged her husband to open
it for her, and she offered many excuses. He did not want to give in to her,
for he had seen the adultery. In front of the house there was a well, and
she, being there, took a big rock and put it on top of this well, and returned
to her husband and said to him, ‘If you do not let me into the house, I
promise you that I will throw myself in the well, before I am whipped.’
"Her husband said, ‘At least you would be drowned!’
"Then she went to the well, saying, ‘Since you don’t want to open the door,
I’m going to throw myself in!’ She threw the rock, and made a great noise,
and she hid herself on the other side of the well.
"Her husband, believing that the noise was her, was moved to pity and
opened the door, and went to the well to see this thing. The wife went
quietly inside the door and locked it, and began to shout very loudly and
cried: ‘Do you see this whoremonger of a husband of mine, at what hour he
comes home?’
"And at this the guards came. They found him, and they led him into the
palace, and in the morning he was whipped through the land. Whence
behold, lord emperor, what are the deeds of women, and do not believe the
false words of your wife.” Hearing this, the emperor revoked the sentence.
On the eighth day the young man began to talk to the guards, and he said to
them, “Let me speak to the emperor.” The guards were very cheerful and
immediately came to their lord and told him what the young man had said.
The emperor was very glad; he ordered that his son come to him.
"And the son, coming to him with great reverence, threw himself on the floor
saluting him, and said, “Father of mine, may it please you to hear me. It
appears to me the greatest of marvels how the wisdom of a man so wise as
you are can be moved by the request of a wicked woman to make you kill me,
your most beloved son. And by chance may it happen to you as it did to
another father who, through envy, wished to drown his son.”
The emperor said, “Tell me, son.”
And his son said:
Next Page: "The Father Envious of His Son
And The Prophecy Fulfilled"
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The Jealous Man Locked Out of the House
“…A man had a wife, who committed adultery with a youth -- and one
evening this young man came and knocked at the door. She gave her
husband a reason for going out for something else, and she went to the
young man. Her husband realized this, and he got up and locked the door,
so that the wife remained outside. In that land there was an ordinance:
whoever was found outside of his or her house after curfew was whipped
through the city. And she, coming to the door, begged her husband to open
it for her, and she offered many excuses. He did not want to give in to her,
for he had seen the adultery. In front of the house there was a well, and
she, being there, took a big rock and put it on top of this well, and returned
to her husband and said to him, ‘If you do not let me into the house, I
promise you that I will throw myself in the well, before I am whipped.’
"Her husband said, ‘At least you would be drowned!’
"Then she went to the well, saying, ‘Since you don’t want to open the door,
I’m going to throw myself in!’ She threw the rock, and made a great noise,
and she hid herself on the other side of the well.
"Her husband, believing that the noise was her, was moved to pity and
opened the door, and went to the well to see this thing. The wife went
quietly inside the door and locked it, and began to shout very loudly and
cried: ‘Do you see this whoremonger of a husband of mine, at what hour he
comes home?’
"And at this the guards came. They found him, and they led him into the
palace, and in the morning he was whipped through the land. Whence
behold, lord emperor, what are the deeds of women, and do not believe the
false words of your wife.” Hearing this, the emperor revoked the sentence.
On the eighth day the young man began to talk to the guards, and he said to
them, “Let me speak to the emperor.” The guards were very cheerful and
immediately came to their lord and told him what the young man had said.
The emperor was very glad; he ordered that his son come to him.
"And the son, coming to him with great reverence, threw himself on the floor
saluting him, and said, “Father of mine, may it please you to hear me. It
appears to me the greatest of marvels how the wisdom of a man so wise as
you are can be moved by the request of a wicked woman to make you kill me,
your most beloved son. And by chance may it happen to you as it did to
another father who, through envy, wished to drown his son.”
The emperor said, “Tell me, son.”
And his son said:
Next Page: "The Father Envious of His Son
And The Prophecy Fulfilled"
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