Early Italian Love Stories Classic Reprint PDF Download

Excerpt from Stories From Old Italian Romance Before very long a rumour reached the King's ears of evil report which cast doubt on his right to the throne. It was suggested that he was not really the son Of the late sovereign, and he was keenly desirous to ascertain the truth. Once again he had the learned Greek prisoner brought into his presence, and announced to him, Master, I hold you in high esteem as a man of great penetration. Your answers to my questions have given me much satis faction, and I have to-day a more important one still to ask. Whose son am I? The Greek, greatly astonished, replied, Sire, how strange a question! You are well aware you are the son of your honoured predecessor on the throne. But the King, doubtful and displeased, said, Do not dare to evade my question. Unless you tell me the truth, readily and completely, you shall be put to death as a traitor. Then, sire, replied the prisoner, I must reveal to you that you are the son Of a baker. The King, in fear and anger, sent for the Queen-mother, and questioned her closely under threats of severe punish ment if anything were concealed; and she at length con fessed that he was not the son of the late King. The royal infant having died just after birth, another baby, the son Of a baker, was put in his place to allay anxiety and maintain the succession. Once again he sent for the Greek, and addressed him thus: Master, you have given me many striking proofs of your wisdom, and now I ask you to tell me how you obtained the knowledge each time. Then the Greek replied, Sire, I will inform you willingly. With respect to the horse, I knew he had been nourished on asses' milk because he hung his ears, which is not natural to a horse. As to the precious stone, I felt that it was warm and as for a stone to be warm is con trary to nature, I knew that some living animal must be within. The King sat pondering, and then said, But how did you discover that I was the son of a baker? That, said the Greek, I suspected from the first. For when I told you the strange circumstance about the horse you re warded me with half a loaf a day; then, when I discovered the worm, you ordered me a whole loaf. This convinced me; for if you had really been a king's son you would have given me a city, as my wisdom deserved. But in your gifts your origin betrayed itself, and you were con tent to give me a loaf a day, as your father would have done. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.