and for love of her pardon me, and fetch memy clothes, that I may resume them, and get me down hence." Whereat thescholar fell a laughing, and seeing that 'twas not a little past tierce,made answer:--"Lo, now, I know not how to deny thee, adjuring me as thoudost by such a lady: tell me, then, where thy clothes are, and I will gofetch them, and bring thee down." The lady, believing him, was somewhatcomforted, and told him where she had laid her clothes. The scholar thenquitted the tower, bidding his servant on no account to stir from hispost, but to keep close by, and, as best he might, bar the tower againstall comers until his return: which said, he betook him to the house ofhis friend, where he breakfasted much at his ease, and thereafter went tosleep. Left alone upon the tower, the lady, somewhat cheered by her fondhope, but still exceeding sorrowful, drew nigh to a part of the wallwhere there was a little shade, and there sate down to wait. And now lostin most melancholy brooding, now dissolved in tears, now plunged indespair of ever seeing the scholar return with her clothes, but nevermore than a brief while in any one mood, spent with grief and the night'svigil, she by and by fell asleep. The sun was now in the zenith, andsmote with extreme fervour full and unmitigated upon her tender anddelicate frame, and upon her bare head, insomuch that his rays did notonly scorch but bit by bit excoriate every part of her flesh that wasexposed to them, and so shrewdly burn her that, albeit she was in a deepsleep, the pain awoke her. And as by reason thereof she writhed a little,she felt the scorched skin part in sunder and shed itself, as will happenwhen one tugs at a parchment that has been singed by the fire, while herhead ached so sore that it seemed like to split, and no wonder. Nor mightshe find place either to lie or to stand on the floor of the roof, butever went to and fro, weeping. Besides which there stirred not the leastbreath of wind, and flies and gadflies did swarm in prodigious quantity,which, settling upon her excoriate flesh, stung her so shrewdly that'twas as if she received so many stabs with a javelin, and she was everrestlessly feeling her sores with her hands, and cursing herself, herlife, her lover, and the scholar.
Thus by the exorbitant heat of the sun, by the flies and gadflies,harassed, goaded, and lacerated, tormented also by hunger, and yet moreby thirst, and, thereto by a thousand distressful thoughts, she pantedherself erect on her feet, and looked about her, if haply she might seeor hear any one, with intent, come what might, to call to him and cravehis succour. But even this hostile Fortune had disallowed her. Thehusbandmen were all gone from the fields by reason of the heat, andindeed there had come none to work that day in the neighbourhood of thetower, for that all were employed in threshing their corn beside theircottages: wherefore she heard but the cicalas, while Arno, tantalizingher with the sight of his waters, increased rather than diminished herthirst. Ay, and in like manner, wherever she espied a copse, or a patchof shade, or a house, 'twas a torment to her, for the longing she had forit. What more is to be said of this hapless woman? Only this: that whatwith the heat of the sun above and the floor beneath her, and thescarification of her flesh in every part by the flies and gadflies, thatflesh, which in the night had dispelled the gloom by its whiteness, wasnow become red as madder, and so besprent with clots of blood, that whosohad seen her would have deemed her the most hideous object in the world.
Thus resourceless and hopeless, she passed the long hours, expectingdeath rather than aught else, until half none was come and gone; when,his siesta ended, the scholar bethought him of his lady, and being mindedto see how she fared, hied him back to the tower, and sent his servantaway to break his fast. As soon as the lady espied him, she came, spentand crushed by her sore affliction, to the aperture, and thus addressedhim:--"Rinieri, the cup of thy vengeance is full to overflowing: for if Igave thee a night of freezing in my courtyard, thou hast given me uponthis tower a day of scorching, nay, of burning, and therewithal ofperishing of hunger and thirst: wherefore by God I entreat thee to comeup hither, and as my heart fails me to take my life, take it thou, for'tis death I desire of all things, such and so grievous is my suffering.But if this grace thou wilt not grant, at least bring me a cup of waterwherewith to lave my mouth, for which my tears do not suffice, so parchedand torrid is it within." Well wist the scholar by her voice how spentshe was; he also saw a part of her body burned through and through by thesun; whereby, and by reason of the lowliness of her entreaties, he feltsome little pity for her; but all the same he made answer:--"Nay, wickedwoman, 'tis not by my hands thou shalt die; thou canst die by thine ownwhenever thou art so minded; and to temper thy heat thou shalt have justas much water from me as I had fire from thee to mitigate my cold. I onlyregret that for the cure of my chill the physicians were fain to usefoul-smelling muck, whereas thy burns can be treated with fragrantrose-water; and that, whereas I was like to lose my muscles and the useof my limbs, thou, for all thy excoriation by the heat, wilt yet be fairagain, like a snake that has sloughed off the old skin." "Alas! woe'sme!" replied the lady, "for charms acquired at such a cost, God grantthem to those that hate me. But thou, most fell of all wild beasts, howhast thou borne thus to torture me? What more had I to expect of thee orany other, had I done all thy kith and kin to death with direst torments?Verily, I know not what more cruel suffering thou couldst have inflictedon a traitor that had put a whole city to the slaughter than this whichthou hast allotted to me, to be thus roasted, and devoured of the flies,and therewithal to refuse me even a cup of water, though the verymurderers condemned to death by the law, as they go to execution, notseldom are allowed wine to drink, so they but ask it. Lo now, I see thatthou art inexorable in thy ruthlessness, and on no wise to be moved by mysuffering: wherefore with resignation I will compose me to await death,that God may have mercy on my soul. And may this that thou doest escapenot the searching glance of His just eyes." Which said, she draggedherself, sore suffering, toward the middle of the floor, despairing ofever escaping from her fiery torment, besides which, not once only, but athousand times she thought to choke for thirst, and ever she weptbitterly and bewailed her evil fate. But at length the day wore tovespers, and the scholar, being sated with his revenge, caused hisservant to take her clothes and wrap them in his cloak, and hied him withthe servant to the hapless lady's house, where, finding her maid sittingdisconsolate and woebegone and resourceless at the door:--"Good woman,"quoth he, "what has befallen thy mistress?" Whereto:--"Sir, I know not,"replied the maid. "I looked to find her this morning abed, for methoughtshe went to bed last night, but neither there nor anywhere else could Ifind her, nor know I what is become of her; wherefore exceeding great ismy distress; but have you, Sir, nought to say of the matter?" "Onlythis," returned the scholar, "that I would I had had thee with her therewhere I have had her, that I might have requited thee of thy offence,even as I have requited her of hers. But be assured that thou shalt notescape my hands, until thou hast from me such wage of thy labour thatthou shalt never flout man more, but thou shalt mind thee of me." Then,turning to his servant, he said:--"Give her these clothes, and tell herthat she may go bring her mistress away, if she will." The servant didhis bidding; and the maid, what with the message and her recognition ofthe clothes, was mightily afraid, lest they had slain the lady, andscarce suppressing a shriek, took the clothes, and, bursting into tears,set off, as soon as the scholar was gone, at a run for the tower.
Now one of the lady's husbandmen had had the misfortune to lose two ofhis hogs that day, and, seeking them, came to the tower not long afterthe scholar had gone thence, and peering about in all quarters, if haplyhe might have sight of his hogs, heard the woeful lamentation that thehapless lady made, and got him up into the tower, and called out as loudas he might:--"Who wails up there?" The lady recognized her husbandman'svoice, and called him by name, saying:--"Prithee, go fetch my maid, andcause her come up hither to me." The husbandman, knowing her by hervoice, replied:--"Alas! Madam, who set you there? Your maid has beenseeking you all day long: but who would ever have supposed that you werethere?" Whereupon he took the props of the ladder, and set them inposition, and proceeded to secure the rounds to them with withies
. Thusengaged he was found by the maid, who, as she entered the tower, beat herface and breast, and unable longer to keep silence, cried out:--"Alas,sweet my lady, where are you?" Whereto the lady made answer as loud asshe might:--"O my sister, here above am I, weep not, but fetch me myclothes forthwith." Well-nigh restored to heart, to hear her mistress'svoice, the maid, assisted by the husbandman, ascended the ladder, whichhe had now all but set in order, and gaining the roof, and seeing herlady lie there naked, spent and fordone, and liker to a half-burned stumpthan to a human being, she planted her nails in her face and fell aweeping over her, as if she were a corpse. However, the lady bade her forGod's sake be silent, and help her to dress, and having learned from