until now, meseemed,thou hadst done me. Cursed be Fortune that constrains thee to ply socensurable a trade." Which said, he selected a very few things, and nonesuperfluous, from his ample store, and having done likewise with thehorses, ceded all else to Ghino, and hied him back to Rome; where, seeinghim, the Pope, who to his great grief had heard of his capture, asked himwhat benefit he had gotten from the baths. Whereto the abbot made answerwith a smile:--"Holy Father, I found nearer here than the baths a worthyphysician who has wrought a most excellent cure on me:" he then recountedall the circumstances, whereat the Pope laughed. Afterwards, stillpursuing the topic, the abbot, yielding to the promptings ofmagnificence, asked a favour of the Pope; who, expecting that he wouldask somewhat else than he did, liberally promised to give him whatever heshould demand. Whereupon:--"Holy Father," quoth the abbot, "that which Iwould crave of you is that you restore Ghino di Tacco, my physician, toyour favour; seeing that among the good men and true and meritorious thatI have known, he is by no means of the least account. And for the evillife that he leads, I impute it to Fortune rather than to him: changethen his fortune, by giving him the means whereby he may live in mannerbefitting his rank, and I doubt not that in a little while your judgmentof him will jump with mine." Whereto the Pope, being magnanimous, and anadmirer of good men and true, made answer that so he would gladly do, ifGhino should prove to be such as the abbot said; and that he would havehim brought under safe conduct to Rome. Thither accordingly under safeconduct came Ghino, to the abbot's great delight; nor had he been long atcourt before the Pope approved his worth, and restored him to his favour,granting him a great office, to wit, that of prior of the Hospital,whereof he made him knight. Which office he held for the rest of hislife, being ever a friend and vassal of Holy Church and the Abbot ofCluny.
NOVEL III.
--Mitridanes, holding Nathan in despite by reason of his courtesy, journeyswith intent to kill him, and falling in with him unawares, is advised byhim how to compass his end. Following his advice, he finds him in acopse, and recognizing him, is shame-stricken, and becomes his friend.--
Verily like to a miracle seemed it to all to hear that a prelate had doneaught with magnificence; but when the ladies had made an end of theirremarks, the king bade Filostrato follow suit; and forthwith Filostratobegan:--Noble ladies, great was the magnificence of the King of Spain,and perchance a thing unheard-of the magnificence of the Abbot of Cluny;but peradventure 'twill seem not a whit less marvellous to you to hear ofone who, to shew liberality towards another, did resolve artfully toyield to him his blood, nay, his very life, for which the other thirsted,and had so done, had the other chosen to take them, as I shall shew youin a little story.
Beyond all question, if we may believe the report of certain Genoese, andother folk that have been in those regions, there dwelt of yore in theparts of Cathay one Nathan, a man of noble lineage and incomparablewealth. Who, having a seat hard by a road, by which whoso would travelfrom the West eastward, or from the East westward, must needs pass, andbeing magnanimous and liberal, and zealous to approve himself such inact, did set on work cunning artificers not a few, and cause one of thefinest and largest and most luxurious palaces that ever were seen, to bethere builded and furnished in the goodliest manner with all things meetfor the reception and honourable entertainment of gentlemen. And so,keeping a great array of excellent servants, he courteously andhospitably did the honours of his house to whoso came and went: in whichlaudable way of life he persevered, until not only the East, butwell-nigh all the West had heard his fame; which thus, what time he waswell-stricken in years, albeit not for that cause grown weary of shewingcourtesy, reached the ears of one Mitridanes, a young man of a countrynot far distant. Who, knowing himself to be no less wealthy than Nathan,grew envious of the renown that he had of his good deeds, and resolved toobliterate, or at least to obscure it, by a yet greater liberality. So hehad built for himself a palace like that of Nathan, of which he did thehonours with a lavish courtesy that none had ever equalled, to whoso cameor went that way; and verily in a short while he became famous enough.
Now it so befell that on a day when the young man was all alone in thecourtyard of the palace, there came in by one of the gates a poor woman,who asked of him an alms, and had it; but, not content therewith, cameagain to him by the second gate, and asked another alms, and had it, andafter the like sort did even unto the twelfth time; but, she returningfor the thirteenth time:--"My good woman," quoth Mitridanes, "thou artnot a little pertinacious in thy begging:" howbeit he gave her an alms.Whereupon:--"Ah! the wondrous liberality of Nathan!" quoth thebeldam:--"thirty-two gates are there to his palace, by every one of whichI have entered, and asking alms of him, was never--for aught heshewed--recognized, or refused, and here, though I have entered as yet bybut thirteen gates, I am recognized and reprimanded." And therewith shedeparted, and returned no more. Mitridanes, who accounted the mention ofNathan's fame an abatement of his own, was kindled by her words with afrenzy of wrath, and began thus to commune with himself:--Alas! whenshall I attain to the grandeur of Nathan's liberality, to say nought oftranscending it, as I would fain, seeing that in the veriest trifles Icannot approach him? Of a surety my labour is in vain, if I rid not theearth of him: which, since old age relieves me not of him, I mustforthwith do with mine own hands. And in the flush of his despite up hestarted, and giving none to know of his purpose, got to horse with asmall company, and after three days arrived at the place where Nathanabode; and having enjoined his comrades to make as if they were none ofhis, and knew him not, and to go quarter themselves as best they mightuntil they had his further orders, he, being thus alone, towards eveningcame upon Nathan, also alone, at no great distance from his splendidpalace. Nathan was recreating himself by a walk, and was very simplyclad; so that Mitridanes, knowing him not, asked him if he could shew himwhere Nathan dwelt. "My son," replied Nathan gladsomely, "that can nonein these parts better than I; wherefore, so it please thee, I will bringthee thither." The young man replied that 'twould be mighty agreeable tohim, but that, if so it might be, he had a mind to be neither known norseen by Nathan. "And herein also," returned Nathan, "since 'tis thypleasure, I will gratify thee." Whereupon Mitridanes dismounted, and withNathan, who soon engaged him in delightsome discourse, walked to thegoodly palace. Arrived there Nathan caused one of his servants take theyoung man's horse, and drawing close to him, bade him in a whisper to seeto it without delay that none in the house should tell the young man thathe was Nathan: and so 'twas done.
Being come into the palace, Nathan quartered Mitridanes in a most goodlychamber, where none saw him but those whom he had appointed to wait uponhim; and he himself kept him company, doing him all possible honour. Ofwhom Mitridanes, albeit he reverenced him as a father, yet, being thuswith him, forbore not to ask who he was. Whereto Nathan made answer:--"Iam a petty servant of Nathan: old as I am, I have been with him since mychildhood, and never has he advanced me to higher office than thiswherein thou seest me: wherefore, howsoever other folk may praise him,little cause have I to do so." Which words afforded Mitridanes some hopeof carrying his wicked purpose into effect with more of plan and less ofrisk than had otherwise been possible. By and by Nathan very courteouslyasked him who he was, and what business brought him thither; offering himsuch counsel and aid as he might be able to afford him. Mitridaneshesitated a while to reply: but at last he resolved to trust him, andwhen with no little circumlocution he had demanded of him fidelity,counsel and aid, he fully discovered to him who he was, and the purposeand motive of his coming thither. Now, albeit to hear Mitridanes thusunfold his horrid design caused Nathan no small inward commotion, yet'twas not long before courageously and composedly he thus madeanswer:--"Noble was thy father, Mitridanes, and thou art minded to shewthyself not unworthy of him by this lofty emprise of thine, to wit, ofbeing liberal to all comers: and for that thou art envious of Nathan'smerit I greatly commend thee; for were many envious for a like cause, theworld, from being a most wretched, would soon become a happy place. Doub
tnot that I shall keep secret the design which thou hast confided to me,for the furtherance whereof 'tis good advice rather than substantial aidthat I have to offer thee. Which advice is this. Hence, perhaps half amile off, thou mayst see a copse, in which almost every morning Nathan iswont to walk, taking his pleasure, for quite a long while: 'twill be aneasy matter for thee to find him there, and deal with him as thou maystbe minded. Now, shouldst thou slay him, thou wilt get thee home with lessrisk of let, if thou take not the path by which thou camest hither, butthat which thou seest issue from the copse on the left, for, though 'tissomewhat more rough, it leads more directly to thy house, and will besafer for thee."
Possessed of this information, Mitridanes, when Nathan had left him,privily apprised his