neither Charon nor Pluto will do anything for nought: for if if it be a poor man that is near to die, and lacketh money in his hand, none will allow him to give up the ghost. Wherefore deliver to the foul old man one of the halfpence which thou bearest for thy passage, but make him receive it with his own hand out of thy mouth. And it shall come to pass as thou sittest.in the boat, thou shalt see an old man swimming on the top of the river holding up his deadly hands, and desiring thee to receive him into the bark; but have no regard to his piteous cry, for it is not lawful to do so. When thou art past over the flood thou shalt espy certain old women weaving who will desire thee to help them, but beware thou do not consent unto them in any case, for these and like baits and traps will Venus set, to make thee let fall but one of thy bops: and think not that the keeping of thy sops is a light matter, for if thou lose one of them thou shalt be assured never to return again to this world. For there is a great and marvellous dog with three heads, huge and horrid, barking continually at the souls of such as enter in, to frighten them with vain tear, by reason he can now do them no harm; he lieth day and night before the gate of Proserpina, and keepeth the desolate house of Pluto with great diligence: to whom, if thou cast one of thy sops, thou mayest have access to Proserpina without all danger: she will make thee good cheer, and bid thee sit soft, and entertain thee with delicate meat land drink, but sit thou upon the ground and desire brown bread and eat it, and then declare thy message unto her, and when thou hast received what she giveth, in thy return appease the rage of the dog with the other sop, and give thy other halfpenny to covetous Charon, and crossing his river come the same way again as thou wentest in to the upper world of the heavenly stars: but above all things have a regard that thou look not in the box, neither be not too curious about the treasure of the divine beauty.'
‘Transito fluvio modicum te progressam textrices orabunt anus telam struentes, manus paulisper accommodes. Nec id tamen tibi contingere fas est: nam haec omnia tibi et multa alia de Veneris insidiis orientur, ut vel unam de manibus omittas offulam: nec putes futile istud polentacium damnum leve; altera enim perdita, lux haec tibi prorsus denegabitur. Canis namque praegrandis, teriugo et satis amplo capite praeditus, immanis et formidabilis, tonantibus oblatrans faucibus mortuos, quibus iam nil mali potest facere, frustra territando ante ipsum limen et atra atria Proserpinae semper excubans servat vacuam Ditis domum: hunc offrenatum unius offulae praeda facile praeteribis, ad ipsamque protinus Proserpinam introibis, quae te comiter excipiet ac benigne, ut em molliter assidere et prandium opipare suadeat sumere. Sed tu et humi reside et panem sordidum petitum esto, deinde nuntiato quid adveneris, susceptoque quod offeretur, rursus remeans canis saevitiam offula reliqua redime, ac deinde, avaro navitae data quam reservaveras stipe transitoque eius fluvio, recolens priora vestigia ad istum caelestium siderum redies chorum. Sed inter omnia hoc observandum praecipue tibi censeo, ne velis aperire vel inspicere illam quam feres pyxidem vel omnino divinae formositati addictum curiosius thesaurum.’
" In this manner the high tower prophetically spake unto Psyche, and advertised her what she should do: and immediately she took two halfpence, two sops, and all things necessary and went into Taenarus to go towards Hell, and thence passing down in silence by the lame ass, she paid her halfpenny for passage, neglected the desire of the mead old man in the river, denied to help the wily prayers of the women weaving, and filled the ravenous mouth of the dog with a sop, and came to ¦the chamber of Proserpina. There Psyche would not sit in any royal seat, nor eat any delicate meats, but sitting lowly at the feet of Proserpina, only contented with coarse bread, declared the message of Venus, and after she had received a mystical secret in the box she departed, and stopped the mouth of the dog with the other sop, and paid the boatman the other halfpenny. Then returning more nimbly than before from Hell, and worshipping the white light of day, though she was much in haste to come to the end of her task, she was ravished with great desire, saying: 'Am not I a fool, that knowing that I carry here the divine beauty, will not take a little thereof to garnish my face, to please my lover withal?'
Sic turris illa prospicua vaticinationis munus explicuit. Nec morata Psyche pergit Taenarum sumptisque rite stipibus illis et offulis, infernum decurrit meatum transitoque per silentium asinaria debili et amnica stipe vectori data, neglecto superi natantis mortui desiderio, et spretis textricum subdolis precibus, et offulae cibo sopita canis horrenda rabie, domum Proserpinae penetrat: nec offerentis hospitae sedile delicatum vel cibum beatum amplexi sed ante pedes eius residens humilis, cibario pane contenta, Veneriam pertulit legationem, statimque secreto repletam conclusamque pyxidem suscipit, et offulae sequentis fraude caninis latratibus obseratis, residuaque navitae reddita stipe, longe vegetior ab inferis recurrit. Et repetita atque adorata candida ista luce, quanquam festinans obsequium terminare, mentem capitur temeraria curiositate, et ‘Ecce ’ inquit ‘Inepta ego divinae fori mositatis gerula, quae nec tantillum quidem indidem mihi delibo, vel sic illi amatori meo formoso placitura,’
And by and by she opened the box, where she could perceive no beauty nor anything else, save only an infernal and deadly sleep, which immediately invaded all her members as soon as the box was uncovered, covering her with its dense cloud in such sort that she fell down on the ground, and lay there in her very steps on that same path as a sleeping corpse. But Cupid being now healed of his wound and malady, not able to endure the long absence of Psyche, got him secretly out at a high window of the chamber where he was enclosed, and (his wings refreshed by a little repose) took his flight towards his loving wife; whom when he had found, he wiped away the sleep from her face, and put it again into the box, and awaked her with an harmless prick of the tip of one of his arrows, saying: ' O wretched captive, behold thou wert well nigh perished again with thy overmuch curiosity; well, go thou, and do bravely thy message to my mother, and in the mean season I will provide all things accordingly '; wherewithal he took his flight into the air, and Psyche brought to Venus the present of Proserpina.
et cum dicto reserat pyxidem: nec quicquam ibi rerum nec formositas ulla, sed infernus somnus ac vere Stygius, qui statim coperculo revelatus invadit eam crassaque soporis nebula cunctis eius membris perfunditur et in ipso vestigio ipsaque semita coli lapsam possidet; et iacebat immobilis et nihil aliud quam dormiens cadaver. Sed Cupido iam cicatrice solida revalescens nec diutinam suae Psyches absentiam tolerans, per altissimam cubiculi, quo cohibebatur, elapsus fenestram, refectisque pinnis aliquanta quiete, longe velocius provolans Psychen accurrit suam, detersoque somno curiose et rursum in pristinam pyxidis sedem recondito, Psychen innoxio punctulo sagittae suae suscitat, et ‘Ecce’ inquit ‘Rursum perieras, misella, simili curiositate. Sed interim quidem tu provinciam, quae tibi matris meae praecepto mandata est, exsequere naviter; cetera egomet videro.’ His dictis amator levis in pinnas se dedit, Psyche vero confestim Veneri munus reportat Proserpinae.
Now Cupid being more and more in love with Psyche, and fearing the sudden austerity of his mother, returned again to his tricks, and did pierce on swift wings into the heavens, and arrived before Jupiter to declare his cause: then Jupiter after that he had eftsoons embraced his dear face and kissed his hand, began to say in this manner: 'O my lord and son, although thou hast not given due reverence and honour unto me as thou oughtest to do, but hast rather soiled and wounded this my breast (whereby the laws and order of the elements and planets be disposed) with continual assaults of terrene luxury and against all laws, yea even the Julian 1 law, and the utility of the public weal, hurting my fame and name by wicked adulteries, land transforming my divine beauty into serpents, pre, savage beasts, birds, and bulls.2 Howbeit remembering my modesty, and that I have nourished thee with mine own proper hands, I will do and accomplish all thy desire. But still thou shouldest beware of spiteful and envious persons, and if there me any excellent maiden of comely beauty in the world, remember yet the benefit which I shall shew unto thee, by recompense of her love towards me again.' When he had spoken these words, he commanded Mercury to call all the gods to counsel, and if any of the celestial powers did fail of appearance, he should be condemned in ten thousand pounds: which sentence was such a terror unto all the gods, that the high theatre was replenished with them, and Jupiter began to speak in this sort: 'O ye Gods, registered in the books of the Muses, you all doubtless know this young man Cupid, whom I have nourished with mine own hand, whose raging flames of his first youth I have thought best to bridle and I restrain. It sufficeth in that he is defamed in every place for his adulterous living and all manner of vice;
Interea Cupido, amore nimio peresus et aegra facie, matris suae repentinam sobrietatem pertimescens ad armillum redit alisque pernicibus caeli penetrato vertice magno Iovi supplicat suamque causam probat. Tunc Iuppiter prehensa Cupidinis buccula manuque ad os suum relata consaviat, atque sic ad illum ‘Licet tu’ inquit ‘Domine fili, nunquam mihi concessu deum decretum servaris honorem, sed istud pectus meum, quo leges elementorum et vices siderum disponuntur, convulneraris assiduis ictibus crebrisque terrenae libidinis foedaveris casibus, contraque leges et ipsam Iuliam disciplinamque publicam turpibus adulteriis existimationem famamque meam laeseris, in serpentes, in ignes, in feras, in aves et gregalia pecua serenos vultus meos sordide reformando; at tamen modestiae meae memor quodque inter istas meas manus creveris, cuncta perficiam, dum tamen scias aemulos tuos cavere ac, si qua nunc in terris puella praepollet pulchritudine, praesentis beneficii vicem per eam mihi repensare te debere.’
wherefore all such occasion ought to be taken away and his boyish wantonness tied up in the bonds of marriage: he hath chosen a maiden that favoureth him well, and hath bereaved her of her virginity; let him have her still and possess her, and in the embrace of Psyche take his own pleasure.' Then he turned unto Venus, and said: ' And you, my daughter, take you no care, neither fear the dishonour of your progeny and, estate, neither have regard in that it is a mortal marriage, for I will see to it that this marriage be not unequal, but just, lawful, and legitimate by the law civil.' Incontinently after, Jupiter commanded Mercury to bring up Psyche into the palace of heaven. And then he took a pot of immortality, and said: ' Hold, Psyche, and drink to the end thou mayest be immortal, and that Cupid may never depart from thee, but be thine everlasting husband.' By and by the great banquet and marriage feast was sumptuously prepared. Cupid sat down in the uppermost seat with his dear spouse between his farms: Juno likewise with Jupiter and all the other gods in order: Ganymedes, the rustic boy, his own butler, filled the pot of Jupiter, and Bacchus served the rest: their drink was nectar, the wine of the gods. Vulcanus prepared supper, the Hours decked up the house with roses and other sweet flowers, the Graces threw about balm, the Muses sang with sweet harmony, Apollo turned pleasantly to the harp, fair Venus danced finely to the music, and the entertainment was so ordained that while the Muses sang inquire, Satyrus and Paniscus played on their pipes: and thus Psyche was married to Cupid, and after in due time she was delivered of a child, whom we call Pleasure.”
Sic fatus iubet Mercurium deos omnes ad contionem protinus convocare ac si qui coetu caelestium I defuisset, in poenam decem milium nummum conventum iri pronuntiare. Quo metu statim completo caelesti theatro, pro sede sublimi sedens procerus Iuppiter sic enuntiat: ‘Dei conscripti Musarum albo, adulescentem istum quod manibus meis alumnatus sim, profecto scitis omnes, cuius primae iuventutis caloratos impetus freno quodam coercendos existimavi. Sat est cotidianis eum fabulis ob adulteria cunctasque corruptelas infamatum: tollenda est omnis occasio et luxuria puerilis nuptialibus pedicis alliganda. Puellam elegit et virginitate privavit: teneat, possideat, amplexus Psychen semper suis amoribus perfruatur’: et ad Venerem collata facie, ‘Nec tu,’ inquit ‘Filia, quicquam contristere nec prosapiae tantae tuae statuque de matrimonio mortali metuas. Iam faxo nuptias non impares sed legitimas et iure civili congruas,’ en illico per Mercurium arripi Psychen et in caelum perduci iubet. Porrecto ambrosiae poculo, ‘Sume,’ inquit ‘Psyche, et immortalis esto; nec unquam digredietur a tuo nexu Cupido sed istae vobis erunt perpetuae nuptiae.’
This the trifling and drunken old woman declared to the captive maiden, but I, poor ass, not standing far off was not a little sorry in that I lacked pen and book to write so worthy a tale; when by and by the thieves came home laden with treasure, and many of them which were of strongest courage being wounded: then (leaving behind such as were lame and hurt to heal and air themselves) said they would return back again to fetch the rest of their pillage which they had hidden in a certain cave. So they snatched up their dinner greedily, and brought forth me and my horse into the way to carry those goods, and beat us before them with staves, and about night (after that we were weary by passing over many hills and dales) we came to a great cave, where they laded us with mighty burdens, and would not suffer us to refresh ourselves any season, but brought us again in bur way, and hied very fast homeward; and what with their haste and cruel stripes wherewith they did belabour and drive me, I fell down upon a stone by the highway side.
Nec mora, cum cena nuptialis affluens exhibetur: accumbebat summum torum maritus, Psychen gremia suo complexus; sic et cum sua Iunone Iuppiter ac deinde per ordinem toti dei. Tunc poculum nectaris, quod vinum deorum est, Iovi quidem suus pocillator, ille rusticus puer, ceteris vero Liber ministrabat, Vulcanus cenam coquebat, Horae rosis et ceteris floribus purpurabant omnia, Gratiae spargebant balsama, Musae quoque canora personabant, Apollo cantavit ad citharam, Venus suavi musicae superingressa formosa saltavit: scaena sibi sic concinnata, ut Musae quidem chorum canerent et tibias inflarent, Satyrus et Paniscus ad fistulam dicerent. Sic rite Psyche convenit in manum Cupidinis, et nascitur illis maturo partu filia, quam Voluptatem nominamus.”
Then they beat me pitifully in lifting me up, hurting my right thigh and my left hoof, and one of them said: “How long shall we continue to feed this evil-favoured ass that is now also lame?” Another said: “Since the time we had him first he never did any good, and I think he came into our house with evil luck; for we have had great wounds since, and loss of our valiant captains.” Another said: “As soon as he has brought unwillingly home his burden, I will surely throw him out upon the mountain to be a prey for vultures.” While these gentle men reasoned together of my death, we fortuned to come home, for the fear that H was in caused my feet to turn into wings. After that we were discharged of our burdens, they took no account of our needs, nor even of my slaying; they fetched their fellows that lay wounded, and returned again to bring the rest of the things, by reason (as they said) of our great tardiness and slow-mess by the way. Then was I brought into no small anguish, when I perceived my death prepared before my face, and I communed with myself: “Why stand est thou still, Lucius? Why dost thou look for thy death? Knowest thou not that the thieves have cruelly ordained to slay thee, and they shall Wind it easy enough? Seest thou not these sharp precipices and pointed flints which shall bruise and pear thee in pieces or ever thou comest to the bottom pf them?
Sic captivae puellae delira et temulenta illa narrabat anicula; sed astans ego non procul dolebam mehercules quod pugillares et stilum non habebam, qui tam bellam fabellam praenotarem. Ecce confecto nescioquo gravi proelio latrones adveniunt onusti; nonnulli tamen, immo promptiores, vulneratis domi relictis et plagas recurantibus, ipsi ad reliquas occultatas in quadam spelunca sarcinas, ut aiebant, proficisci gestiunt; prandioque raptim tuburcinato, me et equum meum vectores rerum illarum futuros fustibus exinde fundentes producunt in viam, multisque clivis et anfractibus fatigatos prope ipsam vesperam perducunt ad quampiam speluncam, unde multis onustos rebus rursum, ne breviculo quidem tempore refectos ociter reducunt, tantaque trepidatione festinabant, ut me plagis multis obtundentes propellentesque super lapidem propter viam positum deicerent: unde crebris aeque ingestis ictibus crure dextero et ungula sinistra me debilitatum aegre ad exsurgendum compellunt,
Thy gentle magician hath not only given thee the shape and travail of an ass, but also a skin so soft and tender as it were of a leech. Why dost thou not take a man's courage and run away to save thy life? Now hast thou the best occasion of flight while the thieves are from home. Art thou afraid of the old woman, which is more than half dead, whom with a stripe of thy heel, though lame, thou mayest easily dispatch? But whither shall I fly? What lodging shall I seek? Behold an assy cogitation of mine; for who is he that passes by the way land will not gladly take up a beast to carry him?” Then while I devised these things, I broke suddenly the halter wherewith I was tied, and ran away with all my four feet 1: howbeit I could not escape the kite's eyes of the old woman, for when she saw me loose she ran after me, and with more audacity than becometh her kind and age, caught me by the halter and thought to pull me home; but I, not forgetting the cruel purposes of the thieves, was moved with small pity, for I kicked her with my hinder heels to the ground. I had well nigh slain her, who (although she were thrown and hurled down) yet held still the halter and would not let me go, but was for some time dragged along the ground by me in my flight. Then she cried with a loud voice and called for succour of some stronger hand, but she little prevailed because there was no person to bring her help, save only the captive gentlewoman, who, hearing the voice of the old woman, came out to see what the matter was and perceived a scene worth telling, a new Dirce 2 hanging, not to a bull, but to an ass. Then she took a good courage and performed a deed worthy of a man: she wrested the halter out of her hands, and (entreating me with gentle words) stopped me in my flight and got upon my back and drove me to my running again. Then I began to run, both that I might escape and to save the maiden, and she gently kicked me forward, in so much that beneath her frequent urging I seemed to scour away like a horse, galloping with my four feet upon the ground. And when the gentlewoman did speak I would answer her with my braying, and oftentimes (under colour to rub my back) I would turn back my neck and sweetly kiss her tender feet.
et unus ‘Quousque ’ inquit ‘Ruptum istum asellum, nunc etiam claudum, frustra pascemus?’, et alius: ‘Quid quod et pessimo pede domum nostram accessit, nec quicquam idonei lucri exinde cepimus sed vulnera et fortissimorum occisiones.’ Alius iterum: ‘Certe ego cum primum sarcinas istas quamquam invitus pertulerit, protinus eum vulturiis gratissimum pabulum futurum praecipitabo.’ Dum secum mitissimi homines altercant de mea nece, iam et domum perveneramus, nam timor ungulas mihi alas fecerat. Tum quae ferebamus amoliti properiter, nulla salutis nostrae cura sed ne meae quidem necis habita, comitibus adscitis qui vulnerati remanserant, dudum recurrunt reliqua laturi acutulae anus milvinos oculos effugere potui: nam ubi me conspexit absolutum, capta super sexum et aetatem audacia lorum prehendit ac me deducere ac revocare contendit. Nec tamen ego, memor exitiabilis propositi latronum, pietate ulla commoveor, sed incussis in eam posteriorum pedum calcibus protinus applodo terrae. At illa, quamvis humi prostrata, loro tamen tenaciter inhaerebat, ut me procurrentem aliquantisper tractu sui sequeretur, et occipit statim clamosis ululatibus auxilium validioris manus implorare. Sed frustra fletibus cassum tumultum commovebat, quippe cum nullus adforet qui suppetias ei ferre posset, nisi sola illa virgo captiva. Quae vocis excitu procurrens videt Hercule memorandi spectaculi scaenam, non tauro sed asino dependentem Dircen aniculam, sumptaque constantia virili facinus audet pulcherrimum. Extorto etenim loro manibus eius me placidis gannitibus ab impetu revocatum naviter inscendit et sic ad cursum rursum incitat.
Then she, fetching a sigh from the bottom of her heart, lifted up her eyes unto the heavens, saying: “O sovereign gods, deliver me, if it be your pleasure, from these present dangers; and thou, cruel fortune, cease thy wrath; let the sorrow suffice thee which I have already sustained. And thou, little ass, that art the occasion of my safety and liberty, if thou canst once render me safe and sound to my parents, land to that comely one that so greatly desireth to have me to his wife, thou shalt see what thanks I will give thee, with what honour I will reward thee, and how I will feed thee. First I will finely comb thy mane and adorn it with my maiden necklaces, and then I will bravely dress the hair of thy forehead, and tie up thy rugged tail trimly, whose bristles are now ragged and matted by want of care: I will deck thee round about with golden trappings land tassels, in such sort that thou shalt glitter like the stars of the sky, and shalt go in triumph amid the applause of the people: I will bring thee every day in my silken apron the kernels of nuts, and will pamper thee up with dainty delights; I will set store by thee, as by one that is the preserver of my life. Finally, thou shalt lack no manner of thing, and amongst thy glorious fare, thy great ease, and the bliss of thy life, thou shalt not be destitute of dignity, for thou shalt be chronicled perpetually in memory of my present fortune, and the providence divine; All the whole history of this our present flight shall be painted upon the wall of our house: thou shalt be renowned throughout all the world, and this tale (though rude) shall be registered in the books of doctors, how an ass saved the life of a young maiden, a princess, that was a captive amongst thieves. Thou shalt be numbered amongst the ancient miracles: we shall believe by the example of this truth that Phrixus saved himself from drowning upon a ram, Arion escaped upon a dolphin, and that Europa rode upon a bull. If Jupiter transformed himself into a lowing bull, why may it not be that under shape of this ass is hidden the figure of a man, or some power divine?” While that the virgin did thus mix sorrowful sighs with her hopes and prayers we fortuned to come to a place where three ways did meet, and she took me by the halter and would have me turn on the right hand to her father's house, but I (knowing that the thieves were gone that way to fetch the residue of their pillage) resisted with my head as much as I might, saying within myself: “What wilt thou do, unhappy maiden? ' Why wouldest thou go so willingly to Hell? Why wilt thou run into destruction in despite of my feet? Why dost thou seek thine own harm and mine likewise?”
Ego simul voluntariae fugae voto et liberandae virginis studio, sed et plagarum suasu, quae mel saepicule commonebant, equestri celeritate quadripedi cursu solum replaudens virgini delicatas voculas adhinnire temptabam. Sed et scabendi dorsi mei simulatione nonnunquam obliquata cervice pedes decoros puellae basiabam. Tunc illa suspirans altius, caelumque sollicito vultu petens ‘Vos,’ inquit “Superi, tandem meis supremis periculis opem facite, et tu, Fortuna durior, iam saevire desiste: sat tibi miseris istis cruciatibus meis litatum est. Tuque, praesidium meae libertatis meaeque salutis, si me domum pervexeris incolumem parentibusque et formoso proco reddideris, quas tibi gratias perhibebo, quos honores habebo, quos cibos exhibebo? Iam primum iubam istam tuam probe pectinatam meis virginalibus monilibus adornabo, frontem vero crispatam prius decoriter discriminabo caudaeque setas incuria lavacri congestas et horridas, comptas diligenter mollibo, iam credemus exemplo tuae veritatis et Phrixum arieti supernatasse et Arionem delphinum gubernasse et Europam tauro supercubasse. Quod si vere Iupiter mugivit in bovem, potest in asino meo latere aliqui vel vultus hominis vel facies deorum.” Dum haec identidem puella replicat votisque crebros intermiscet suspiritus, ad quoddam pervenimus trivium, unde me arrepto capistro dirigere dextrorsum magnopere gestiebat, quod ad parentis eius ea scilicet iretur via. Sed ego gnarus latrones illac ad reliquas commeasse praedas, renitebar firmiter atque sic in animo meo tacitus expostulabam: ‘Quid facis,infelix puella? Quid agis? Cur festinas ad Orcum? Quid meis pedibus facere contendis? Non enim te tantum, verum etiam me perditum ibis.’ Sic nos diversa tendentes et in causa finali de proprietate soli, immo viae herciscundae contendentes, rapinis suis onusti coram deprehendunt ipsi latrones et ad lunae splendorem iam inde longius cognitos risu maligno salutant;
And while we two strove together like men striving at law about the division of land, or rather about some right of way, the thieves returned laden with their prey, and perceived us afar off by the light of the moon: and after they had known us they laughed despitefully, and one of them began to say: “Whither go you so hastily? Be you not afraid of spirits and ghosts of the night? And you (you harlot) do you go to see your parents? Come on, we will bear you company for safety's sake and shew you the way to your parents.” And therewithal one took me by the halter and drove me back again, beating me cruelly with a great staff that he had, full of knobs; then I returning against my will to my ready destruction, and remembering the grief of my hoof, began to shake my head and to wax lame, but he that led me by the halter said: “What, dost thou stumble? Canst thou not go? These rotten feet of thine can run well enough, but they cannot walk; thou couldst mince it finely even now with the gentlewoman, so that thou didst seem to pass the horse Pegasus in swiftness.” In jesting and saying these kindly words they beat me again with a great staff, and when we were come almost home we saw the old woman hanging by a noose upon a bough of a cypress-tree; then one of them cut her down where she hanged, together with her rope, and cast her into the bottom of a great ditch. After this they bound the maiden in chains and fell greedily to their victuals which the miserable old woman had provided for them to eat after she was dead. Now while they devoured all very gluttonously? they began to devise with themselves of our death and how they might be revenged.
et unus e numero sic appellat: ‘Quorsum istam festinanti vestigio lucubratis viam nec noctis intempestae Manes Larvasque formidatis? An tu, probissima puella, parentes tuos intervisere properabas? Sed nos et solitudini tuae praesidium praestabimus et ad parentes tuos iter monstrabimus,’ et unus manu secutus prehenso loro retrorsum me circumtorquet, nec baculi nodosi quod gerebat suetis ictibus temperat. Tunc ingratis ad promptum recurrens exitium reminiscor doloris ungulae et occipio nutanti capite claudicare: sed ‘Ecce’ inquit ille qui me retraxerat, ‘Rursum titubas et vacillas et putres isti tui pedes fugere possunt, ambulare nesciunt! At paulo ante pinnatam Pegasi vincebas celeritatem.’ Dum sic mecum fustem quatiens benignus iocatur comes, iam domus eorum extremam loricam perveneramus, et ecce de quodam ramo procerae cupressus induta laqueum anus illa pendebat; quam quidem detractam protinus cum suo sibi funiculo devinctam dedere praecipitem puellaque statim distenta vinculis cenam, quam postuma diligentia praeparaverat infelix anicula, ferinis invadunt animis.
Divers were the opinions of this divers number, such as might well be in a turbulent company: the first said that pie thought best the maid should be burned alive; the second said she should be thrown out to wild beasts; the third said she should be hanged upon a gibbet; the fourth said she should be flayed alive with tortures: certainly was the death of the poor maiden decided by the vote of them all. But one of the thieves did make them all to be silent, and then very quietly speak in this manner: “It is not convenient unto the oath of our company, nor to the clemency of each person, nor indeed to my own gentleness, to puffer you to wax more cruel than the quality of the offence doth merit; for I would that she should not be hanged, nor burned, nor thrown to wild beasts, nor even that she die any sudden death; but hearken Ito my counsel, and grant her life, but life according to her desert. You know well what you have determined already of this dull ass, that always eateth more than he is worth, and now who feigneth lameness, and that was the cause and helper of the flying away of the maid. My mind is that he shall be slain to-morrow, and when all the guts and entrails of his body are taken out let the maid, whom he hath preferred to us, be stript and sewn into his belly, so that only her head be without, but the rest of her body be enclosed within the beast. Then let us lay this stuffed ass upon a great stone against the broiling heat of the sun; so they shall both sustain all the punishments which you have ordained: for first the ass shall be slain as he hath deserved; and she shall have her members torn and gnawed with wild beasts, when she is bitten and rent with worms; she shall endure the pain of the fire, when the broiling heat of the sun shall scorch and parch the belly of the ass;
Ac dum avida voracitate cuncta contruncant, iam incipiunt de nostra poena suaque vindicta secum considerare. Et utpote in coetu turbulento variae fuere sententiae, ut primus vivam cremari censeret puellam, secundus bestiis obici suaderet, tertius patibulo suffigi iuberet, quartus tormentis excarnificari praeciperet; certe calculo cunctorum utcumque mors ei fuerat destinata. Tunc unus omnium sedato tumultu, placido sermone sic orsus est: “Nec sectae collegii nec mansuetudini singulorum ac ne meae quidem modestiae congruit pati vos ultra modum delictique saevire terminum, nec feras nec cruces nec ignes nec tormenta ac ne mortis quidem maturatae festinas tenebras accersere. Meis itaque consiliis auscultantes vitam puellae, sed quam meretur, largimini. Nec vos memoria deseruit utique quid iamdudum decreveritis de isto asino semper pigro quidem sed manducone summo, nunc etiam mendaci fictae debilitatis et virginalis fugae sequestro ministroque. Hunc igitur iugulare crastino placeat, totisque vacuefacto praecordiis per mediam alvum nudam virginem, quam praetulit nobis, insuere, ut sola facie praeminente ceterum corpus puellae nexu ferino coerceat, tunc super aliquod saxum scruposum insiticium et fartilem asinum exponere et solis ardentis vaporibus tradere.
she shall abide the gallows, when the dogs and vultures shall drag out her innermost bowels. I pray you number all the torments which she shall suffer: first, she shall dwell alive within the paunch of the ass; secondly, her nostrils shall receive the carrion stink of the beast; thirdly, she shall die for heat and hunger, and she shall find no means to rid herself from her pains by slaying herself, for her hands shall be sewn up within the skin of the ass.” This being said, all the thieves consented not by their votes 1 only, but with their whole hearts to the sentence; and when I (poor ass) heard with my great ears and understood all their device I did nothing else save bewail and lament my dead carcass, which should be handled in such sort on the next morrow.
Sic enim cuncta, quae recte statuistis, ambo sustinebunt; et mortem asinus quam quidem meruit, et illa morsus ferarum, cum vermes membra laniabunt, et ignis flagrantiam, cum sol nimis caloribus inflammarit uterum, et patibuli cruciatum, cum canes et vultures intima protrahent viscera. Sed et ceteras eius aerumnas et tormenta numerate: mortuae bestiae ipsa vivens ventrem habitabit, tum factore nimio nares excruciante Ut primum tenebris abiectis dies inalbebat et candidum solis curriculum cuncta collustrabat, quidam de numero latronum pervenit;