Translation:The Three Princes of Serendip/Novella 6
Novella 6 - Saturday
IN my country of Serger, far away from here, which is immensely lovely because of its beautiful gardens and clear fountains is a city by the sea called Letzer. A great Muslim King reigned there who, in a short while became very famous because he treated both his citizens and foreigners in a very friendly manner. Hence, this city was always full of rich Christian and Saracene merchants.
When this king died, he was succeeded by his son who lacked the virtues his father had in abundance. Everyone was greatly troubled by his evil nature and he was very much hated by his vassals and foreigners alike.
For this reason, a large number of the merchants abandoned the city and among the few that remained were two dear old friends, men of great honor and wealth. They were Christians and observed God's commandments. They would have had happy and peaceful lives if they had had children. Both were very sad about this and one day they agreed after their lamentations, that if, at some time, they were to have children, one being male and the other female, they would have them join in marriage.
Not long thereafter, their desire was fulfilled because on almost the same day their wives with great contentment gave birth to truly exceptionally beautiful children. One was a son, called Feristeno, and the other a daughter, named Giulla.
They were brought up virtuously until they could be sent to school. Then they were entrusted to a learned and holy person who taught them to read and write as well as good manners. This program was successful because the children were very intelligent and learned as much as their wise tutor taught them. And as they were still young, they loved each other dearly and they could not be separated from one another for too long. In addition to his other skills, their tutor was also able to arrange bouquets of roses or other flowers so that they would easily represent the face of a man or a woman. The children enjoyed this art very much and, besides the other skills they learned, they became so excellent in it that hey surpassed their tutor in a short amount of time. But when the girl reached the age of twelve and had acquired all the skills required for such an age, her father removed her from the school and had her cared for by her mother at home.
This was very painful above anything else for Feristeno who saw himself separated from the one he loved so much and he felt that he was dying of passion. This continued for a year and each day he felt his heart being pierced by his love for her and he tried to let her know this in whatever way possible. So, he expertly composed a bouquet of roses and other flowers in which her face with such liveliness could be seen and had it delivered to her secretly by one of his servants.
When Giulla received such a rare and noble gift from her Feristeno whom she loved above else, she kissed it many times. She then ran into her garden immediately where she collected many flowers and arranged them in a bouquet which portrayed her own face and that of Feristeno and had it sent to him by the same servant.
Feristeno saw this with great joy; nevertheless, because of the great love he felt for her he was overcome by a serious illness soon thereafter. When the father became aware that the great love that his son had for Giulla was the cause of his illness he let her father immediately know this. The latter found himself in the same situation. He told him, "The agreements, dear friend, must be observed. Your daughter has now come of marriageable age, and Feristeno is ready to take her as his wife. Therefore, I kindly pray you that they be married as soon as possible. To enable them, who love each other so passionately, to do this, will free them from a certain death. Giulla's father consented to this, he ordered a great feast and the wedding was solemnly celebrated.
Because of the marvelous beauty of the girl, her fame soon reached the ears of the king. While he had never seen her, he had nevertheless heard so much praise of her beauty that he decided to see her. And immediately he had his ministers call the aging fathers before him and ordered them that the children whose wedding had just been celebrated were to be brought without delay into his presence that very day. The order was forthwith obeyed by the good fathers and they went with the young couple, richly dressed according to their status, to the palace. They appeared before the king who realized that the bride was even more beautiful than he had imagined. He fell ardently in love with her and addressed Feristeno in this way, "I command you to provide yourself with another wife and leave this girl for my own person because I wish to avail myself of her for my own pleasure. And if you do not follow this order in three days, know, that you will be beheaded.
These words greatly upset Feristeno. "Sire," he replied to the King, "Your proposal seems truly incredible and unacceptable to me. And as for your harsh decision, know that I have never committed a murder and I do not deserve the death that you threaten me with. I inform you that I will not release my spouse to you nor any other man for as long as I live.
The King was deeply offended by this answer, because he had one of his brothers killed after the previous King, their father, prior to his passing, had imposed on him that his brother's son, had to marry the present King's own daughter. This misdeed of not obeying the command of his father, and then condemning his nephew and his own daughter who had to marry him, to lifelong imprisonment, deserved itself capital punishment. And Feristeno's answer implied that it was the King who deserved to die.
"Well," he said to himself, "because I killed my own brother, his words can only mean only that it is not he, but I, that must be condemned to capital punishment." So, filled with evil thoughts, he ordered his ministers that the young man be bound and imprisoned and early the next morning be thrown into the sea. Then he addressed the father of the girl, "And you," he said, "unless you are informed otherwise, I want you to keep custody of your daughter whom I intend to legally marry in a few days." And after he had finished his speech, the miserable and distressed fathers who were greatly confused by this course of events were sent away. While he was ardently in love with Giulla, when he was by himself, the King still had some sparks of reason in him for he wanted to seek the advice of his scholars regarding Feristeno's answer. So, he had them come before him, told them the whole story, and asked them for their advice. After the scholars had listened to what the King had told them and knowing that he had no reasonable argument against Feristeno, the oldest of them replied as follows, "I would judge, Sire, that the best thing to do would be to release the young Christian, for it would be unjust to have him killed since he had not committed a murder. We find in our law that Mohammed promises that on the Day of Judgment, Muslims who have injured Christian subjects will be severely persecuted.” These words greatly frightened the King. However, he did not want to drop his harsh decision. He summoned his ministers again and ordered that the miserable Feristeno should be thrown into the sea the next morning. But the righteous God, guardian of the innocence of the young man, wanted to free him from the unjust sentence of the king. And to console the miserable and sorrowful father, the following way was found for his escape. The tutor of Feristeno had a son, named Giassemen, who, among many other talents, possessed the skill of digging tunnels with one of his rods, so that in a very short time he could make three or four miles of passages. And in this way, he could break through any big wall and restore it in such a way that nobody, however observant, could ever have noticed it. This young man had lately returned from a long journey on the very day the misadventure occurred to Feristeno. And when he heard of the cruel and injust sentence the King had given him, and because of his tender love for Feristeno, he decided to liberate him with his skill. And he went to his father's residence and consoled him by telling him of his plan.
When night fell, Giassemen went towards the place where Feristeno was imprisoned, taking the rod in his hand. He made an underground passage to the prison where, after he had broken through the wall, found the miserable young man in holy prayer. He called him and took him by the hand and after a lengthy persuasion he begged him to be cheerful and promised him that he would be able to enjoy Giulla with ease. In this way he took him away from the prison after he had restored the wall to its previous state and led him to the old and sorrowful father. After he saw his son, he embraced him weeping from being overjoyed. Then, since the day was approaching and there was little time left for lengthy discussions, the father turned to Giassemen and thanked him for the great service he had rendered and dearly begged him, now that he had liberated Feristeno from death, to also take care of him by hiding him somewhere in the city so that he could not be recaptured. Giassemen showed himself to be ready to do this and he received a large sum of money from the old man and made provisions that were necessary to live. He rented a house which was near the walls of the city and took Feristeno there.
Now, at daybreak, the King's ministers wanted to carry out the order. They quietly went to the prison but upon entering it, they did not find Feristeno. And they lit many lights to see if there had been a break-in anywhere, but they observed that everything was whole and intact. They were all dumbfounded by this and immediately ran to inform the King's counselors, who were greatly surprised by this and interpreted it in various ways. Some were saying that since the prison was nowhere broken, that it had miraculously occurred because of the young man's innocence. Others did not agree with this and said that the Christians were fraught with sins. They reasoned that Feristeno had escaped because the judgment of the King had violated Muslim law. But knowing the fierce nature of the king, who might think that the ministers had let Feristeno escape for money, for which they would suffer a cruel death, they decided not to reveal the event to him. And the ministers ordered to take a criminal condemned to die from another prison and throw him into the sea. And they would report to the King immediately that they had put Feristeno to death early in the morning.
The ministers carried this out immediately and it is hard to describe how happy and cheerful the King was when he heard the news of Feristeno's death. After he had informed Giulla's father that her husband had passed away, he was ordered to bring his daughter whom he wanted to legally marry, to him. The timid old man, afraid that what he believed had happened to Feristeno, may also be the fate of himself and his daughter, if he did not immediately comply with the King's order, made it understood that he could do with his daughter whatever pleased him or dispose of anything else he possessed.
The wretched girl was now in such a miserable and sorrowful state and knowing that she was going to be enjoyed for the pleasure of the King who had inflicted such a cruel death upon her Feristeno, was weeping hysterically and in desperation decided to kill herself. She took a knife and wanted to cut her veins with it, but was kept from doing so by a daughter of her nurse, called Achel, who had always lived with her. She severely criticized her and showed her that it was a grave error to despair. And if she did kill herself, her soul would eternally be damned in the painful fires of Hell. For this and many other reasons Giulla renounced her proud resolution. And Achel consoled her also somewhat by saying that it was not easy to believe that the tyrant had spread the news through the city that he had put Feristeno to death. She could not believe this herself anyway. The tearful Giulla answered her, "I truly know, dearest Achel, that you see me in such great need of comfort because of the overwhelming love you have for me, that you try to prevent me from deciding to kill myself. But tell me, please, if I do not kill myself, when I find myself in such a miserable state of life, deprived of my dearest husband, is it reasonable that I should give my virginity to such a cruel and impious tyrant, who is an enemy of our faith?"
"Never," Achel said, "nor would I ever comfort you, because this would show little friendship to you and be untrue to my belief in Christ with whose help, I hope we could find a way out of this misfortune. You must also know how good and holy our confessor is considered by everyone. If you wish, let him immediately come to see us. Since we have a need and if you tell him you would like him to, I am sure that, with God's grace, he will give us some useful and good counsel."
The sorrowful Giulla approved of this, the confessor was immediately called for and they told him everything, and asked him to give the tearful girl advice.
He answered the young girl, saying to her, “Daughter, we must never despair because of any strange misfortune that happens to us. On the contrary, by having recourse to Christ, we may implore him for help. Because he never abandons, whoever trusts in him. Therefore, first of all, you and I together must appease the wrath of the lord through prayer and fasting. And pray to Him that in view of our sins, he may help us in our time of great need.
Then, if it happens that you, Giulla, are led before the King, after you have paid him due reverence, you must say to him, "Sire, since I truly know that you have decided that I will be your spouse, because of the great and perfect love that you have for me, I beg you please, that you will not deny me the first grace that I ask from you. Which is that before the celebration of our wedding, you will grant me forty days of time in a room of your guarded palace, in order to satisfy some of my needs." "Surely, if he so ardently loves you, and also because the Lord God will allow this, he will not deny you this request. After you have obtained this favor from him, enter the room which will be assigned to you where you will fast for forty days and say one thousand "Pater Nosters" daily. I will assure you that if you do that you will be liberated from the great ordeal which you are now experiencing.
It is needless to say that Giulla and Achel were satisfied by the words of the confessor. After he gave them his blessing, the holy man asked to leave and departed.
Not long thereafter, a large company of richly dressed women, ordered by the King, arrived at the residence of the father of the young woman to accompany her solemnly to the palace. Giulla received them cheerfully and they stayed awhile with her. Later, together with her faithful Achel, accompanied by her sorrowful mother and the matrons of the King, she set out for the royal palace. The King who had received the news of her arrival, immediately descended the stairs of the palace and awaited her in the courtyard with an esteemed company of knights. So, when she arrived in his presence, she asked him for a forty-day time period, as she was instructed by her confessor. The King granted her this cheerfully, called his treasurer and presented her with a solemn gift of very precious jewels. He ordered that she would stay in secret custody with Achel in a location, called Giulistano, in the royal palace garden.
It was not far from another location where the King's own daughter was also imprisoned. No person was allowed to enter there, except for an old woman, who was in charge of that location because of her expertise in gardening.
The sorrowful Giulla stayed there in prayers and supplications, following the counsel of her confessor. It so happened that the King's daughter who had heard of the arrival of Giulla from the old lady, expressed that she wanted to talk to her. She affectionally begged her father for permission which was easily granted. She communicated this to Giulla through one of her maids. This was received by her with a happy smile. They talked about a variety of matters for quite a while, including also at length also about Giulla's misfortune from the beginning. The King's daughter was moved with great sympathy when she heard Giulla talk with great frankness about her miseries. She also mentioned the death of her uncle, the imprisonment of her husband and the long time that her father had kept her locked up. And the two young women became very intimate with each other and spent a great part of the day together. Giulla hoped that the secret that her confessor had taught her would soon free her from the hands of the tyrant. And she wanted to tell this secret to the King's daughter, so that she too might be liberated.
And one day when they had a long discussion on various matters, Giulla said to her, “Because I truly know that with the help of God and with a secret which my confessor, a good and saintly man, taught me I will be able to flee from the hands of the wicked King and return to my previous state and that it pains me greatly that you will have to remain in your state of captivity, I will reveal it to you also and this will help you to immediately save you from your misery, provided you promise me never to reveal it to anyone.” The King's daughter was very grateful to her and promised to never reveal it to anyone. She affectionately begged her to teach her the secret so that she would also be able to free herself from her miserable state. When Giulla had instructed her right away, it seemed to her that with such a secret she would be able to flee with her husband from prison. She vowed to God that as soon as she was restored to her previous state, she would immediately have herself baptized. And she thanked Giulla for the great loving kindness she had shown her and returned to her quarters to begin dedicating herself to fasting and saying a thousand Pater Nosters daily. After Giulla had already done this for several days, she saw the miserable Feristeno one night in a dream. He was grieving about her tragedy and begged her dearly that since he had been suffering so much misfortune because of her, at least she should console him with a bouquet of roses in which he could see her face. But she could not prolong this dream too long because she suddenly woke up due to the great pain Feristeno's words caused her. She called her companion Achel and told her everything. Because she saw Giulla weep sorrowfully, she tried to console her with many words until sunrise.
At this time, the old woman who took care of the place, had collected a basket of freshly picked roses and made them into a beautiful bouquet which she presented to Giulla in the name of the King. She received them with a happy smile and asked the woman to gratefully thank her Lord for them. And she took them as a sign of good luck and said to the old woman, "Mother mine, truly I cannot deny that the bouquet of roses that you have brought me is beautiful and it is politely accepted. But if I could have a basket of roses, I could make bouquet which in beauty would surpass the one you brought me." Because, the old woman who believed that she was masterful in this art, was eager to see how capable the young girl was and rushed to pick the roses. As soon as she had brought those to Giulla, to console herself, she wanted to fulfill the request that Feristeno had made in her dream. She placed herself in front of a mirror, looked into it, and arranged her own face with so much skill in the bouquet that everyone could recognize her.
Then she called the old woman and presented her the bouquet, saying, "Present it as a gift to whom you like most."
When the woman looked at it, she realized that it was so beautiful and delicate that it surpassed her own creation. She was suspicious that if she presented it to the King in Giulla's name, she would lose her position as the caretaker of that place, and that the King would assign it to the young woman who was so much more skillful. Not only did she not want to present it to the King, but she suspected also that if he was not aware of the skill of the young woman, she did not have to guard her any more. So, she decided to search around the city gardens if she could find a master who would be better than Giulla, and by employing him, she could preserve her profession, her honor and her work.
But because she was unable to find anyone who could make a more beautiful bouquet than Giulla's, she went back to Giulistano, full of sorrow, and happened to meet Giassemen. As soon as he saw the bouquet in the hand of the old lady, he realized that it had been made by Feristeno's wife.
He was immeasurably delighted and said to her, "Please, mother mine, would you by any chance sell that rose bouquet to me?" "Never," she replied, "I don't want to, unless you give me at least ten scudi."
The young man who pretended to greatly admire it, replied that if she gave him only two scudi, he could show her a more beautiful bouquet. The old lady became very covetous. "Certainly," she replied, "I will be happy to give you not two, but five scudi, if you let me have one, not more, but as beautiful as this one."
And he agreed to this and overjoyed he took the old lady by the hand and brought her to Feristeno's residence. When they were in his presence, Giassemen approached him and whispered in his ear, "Be very happy today, because now I bring you good news." The young man rose immediately to his feet when he heard these words, and when he saw the bouquet of his Giulla in the hands of the woman, and remembering the agreement she had made with Giassemen, he said, "Now, mother mine, if you bring me a basket of roses, I will make a bouquet far more beautiful than you see now."
This was above all what she wanted, so that she would no longer have to fear Giulla's skill. She left her bouquet with him and quickly went to fetch the roses. But Feristeno who had kissed the bouquet more than a thousand times wrote Giulla a letter in which he described his imprisonment and everything else that had happened to him up to that day. He dearly begged her to assure him of her situation and of where she was, so that he could easily, with the skill of Giassemen who had liberated him from death, go and see her. Then, he hid the letter inside a reed and waited for the old woman to bring him the roses.
As soon as she arrived with them, he took the reed in his hand and arranged the bouquet on top of it in such a way that his portrait and that of Giulla could be seen. And the roses were arranged with such artistry that the composition greatly surpassed the bouquet arranged by Giulla.
Then he gave it to the old woman and said, "Mother mine, "the price which you have promised my companion, I give you in full. I want no other payment from you, other than that you will show the bouquet that I give you to the master who made the other one and for which you asked ten scudi, so that he will know that in this city there are also others that can make bouquets that are more beautiful than his own." The woman promised this to Feristeno and thanked him many times for the courtesy that she had received and left him happily and cheerfully.
She returned to the young woman and said to her, "Now take a look, young lady, I also know how to make a bouquet that is more beautiful than your own." Giulla immediately recognized her husband's work and was greatly consoled, knowing that he was not dead. She answered this way, "Truly, I cannot deny that your bouquet is undoubtedly more beautiful than the one I gave you. But if you permit me, and bring me some roses, I can show you another bouquet tomorrow morning which is even more beautiful."
Because the old woman wanted to see anyway what the young woman was able to do, she gave her the bouquet and left, because it was already late. When Giulla was alone, she cried profusely because of the sweet bliss knowing that her husband was still alive. She immediately called her companion Achel and embraced her tightly. "Rejoice with me," she said, "because God has begun to hear our prayers."
And she told her that she had established that Feristeno was alive from the bouquet of roses that he had sent her by means of the old woman. It cannot be described how happy Achel was to hear this news. She took the bouquet in her hands and saw the letter which Feristeno had written and put in the hollow reed.
She showed it to Giulla and took the letter from the reed. They read everything that had happened to Feristeno and became fully informed about his state of mind. Giulla had now the opportunity to communicate what her situation was in the same way as he had shown her. In a small letter she told him right away what had happened to her, and let him know where she was. She placed the letter in a small reed, like Feristeno had done and awaited the next morning anxiously.
Upon sunrise, the old woman arrived with the roses. Giulla received her cheerfully. Around the reed with the letter she arranged a bouquet more beautiful than the one Feristeno had made. She gave it to the old woman and words cannot express how much she admired its artistry. But she became as suspicious as before that if the King would become aware of Giulla's skill in this art, she could be deprived of her position. So, she returned to Feristeno with the bouquet from Giulla and took with her a small basket of roses, so that he could arrange one even more beautiful.
And when she came into his presence, she handed him the bouquet of roses and said, "My son, because I know that the bouquet which I have brought you now is more beautiful and shows more artistry than yours, I wanted to bring you roses as well, so you can make one that is even more beautiful and the master of the other one will know that your skill is greater than his."
Feristeno appreciated the words of the old woman very much and he accepted the bouquet from the young woman which he recognized immediately. He asked the woman to return to him late in the evening for the bouquet which he would have created. When she asked to leave and departed, he was left alone with Giassemen. And as soon as she had stepped outside, he removed Giulla's letter from the reed, and fully ascertained himself of how and where she was. Then he made a bouquet from the roses that the old woman had brought him which was far more beautiful than any of the others and gave it to her in the evening. She truly knew that it could not have been more beautiful. And because her previous fears had totally disappeared, she returned to her dwelling very contended.
Now, Feristeno was happy and cheerful beyond measure for having received news from his Giulla and knowing how much and how tenderly she loved him, he wanted to rescue her in whatever way possible and kept begging his Giassemen for help. To which he immediately replied in this manner, "You should know, sir, that near the place where the young woman is being held, is a large and beautiful palace which belongs to a certain merchant, who owes the King a lot of money and the treasury is now selling it in public auction. Thus, if you decided to buy it, our ideas could easily be realized." Feristeno praised his advice highly and said to Giassemen that it should be bought at any price. Pretending to be a foreign merchant, Giassemen went to see the Lord's counselors. And he informed them that he had come from a distant country with a companion to live here, and he bought the palace with money received from Feristeno's father. He had it richly decorated with all kinds of furniture and without delay he went to live there with Feristeno.
Then, by means of the magic rod he tunneled the road up to Giulla's dwelling and arrived there quietly with his patron. In this way, Feristeno found his wife again. She was lying on her bed, tired of the long fasting and many hours of prayers. He lay down beside her and weeping tenderly he embraced her tightly. When the young woman woke up and saw her dearest husband, judging that she was dreaming, said nothing to him. But after he started to affectionately touch her and began to talk to her, she realized that it was not a dream and that it was indeed her husband. But when she understood how he had come with Giassemen, it is needless to say how consoled she was. They engaged in sweet conversation together with Achel who was delighted beyond measure of what was happening. They went with Giassemen to the newly bought palace where they stayed for quite some time after which Feristeno addressed Giassemen in this way, "It seems to me, my dearest Giassemen, that it pleased God that with your skill I find myself with the one which I desire most, and that we have completely realized what we wanted to do. It would be well advised that in order to escape the wrath of cruel tyrant that we leave here with Giulla and Achel to go to a safe location to live a peaceful existence."
Giassemen answered to this, "Master, as far as that is concerned, I kindly ask you that you will leave it to me, because I have already thought for a long time what we should do and I know that you will be completely satisfied with my plan." These words put Feristeno completely at ease and he left everything to Giassemen.
In order to be able to avenge fully the misdeeds of the King, Giassemen went to his court the next morning. He received an audience and had a lengthy conversation with him as a new merchant. And Giassemen invited him to visit the next day the palace that he had recently bought from the treasury. After the King had accepted the invitation, he asked leave from him and returned to Feristeno and Giulla with the greatest happiness in the world. He immediately informed them of everything that they had to do the next day.
The King came at the agreed-upon time in the courtyard with a single page. When he wished to go up the stairs of the palace, he was met by Giassemen and received with due reverence. Upon entering the hall where Feristeno and Giulla were, he saw the young couple immediately. They proceeded towards him, as they were instructed to do by Giassemen, greeted him with due reverence and kissed his hands. But the King who was dumbfounded by all of this, seemed to recognize them and said to himself, “Is it not true that she is my wife, and the other one can only be her first husband Feristeno, whom I had thrown into the sea. And if this is not the case, then, truly, I must be dreaming."
Giassemen, made it seem that he had not noticed anything, and said, "Sire, please, why are you so thoughtful?"
The King who wanted to ascertain what he had seen, replied to this, “I just remembered something for which I have to return to my palace immediately. But, don't leave here because I shall soon be back with you again." Having said this, he left immediately.
Whereupon Giassemen realized that he wanted to go to Giulistano to see whether Giulla was there. So, he had her dress in the same clothes she had on before and led her to her room via the secret tunnel. Not long thereafter the King arrived and when he found the young woman there, there were no words to describe how surprised he was. And after he had remained with her for some time, amazed and full of wonder, he was anxious beyond measure to see the young couple again which he had seen previously, and he returned to Giassemen's palace. Giulla had arrived before him. Dressed as before and richly adorned with the jewels he had given her, she came to meet him in the hall with Feristeno.
Immediately, when the King saw the jewelry that he had seen on Giulla, he was even more surprised than before. He turned to Giassemen and asked him who these young people were.
To which Giassemen replied, "Sire, this is one of my companions, a merchant like myself, and that is his wife."
But since the King did not feel satisfied by this reply, he asked the young woman kindly, if she could lend him the jewels that adorned her neck, which he would return in a very short time. He wanted to compare them with some of the jewels in the Giulistano palace, meaning that he wanted to compare them which the jewels which he had first given to Giulla.
She appeared agreeable to this. "But Sire,” she answered, “because I should be greatly ashamed to remove the jewels from my neck in your presence, I shall do so in the adjacent room and bring them to you forthwith, so that you can dispose of them as well as of anything else, which may please you, and which we offer you wholeheartedly." The King heard these words which reminded him of the voice of Giulla in the room where he talked with her previously. He listened carefully and disturbed beyond measure, he began saying to himself, "What greater security than that can I have with the jewels, now I have seen and listened to her speak? But it is better that I return again to where she lives, so that, thereby, I can be more certain of the truth. So, he pulled Giassemen aside and told him that he wanted go back to his palace quickly again, and to let the young woman, who had gone to the adjacent room to remove her jewels, know, not to bring them to him but to, please, wait for him here for he would be returning without delay. And without saying another word, he furiously rushed to Giulistano. Giassemen led Giulla there via the usual secret passage. She returned to dress in her previous clothes and was in her room before the King arrived. When he saw her in the clothes with which she left him, but did not see the jewels around her neck, he asked her what the reason was that she had not adorned herself with them.
To these words, she answered, "Sire, I should not be wearing the jewels which you have graciously given me, till the forty day timespan which I asked you for, is over. I therefore keep them locked in this small case." And she opened it and showed them to him. "But please, Sire," she added, "tell me, why are you asking me such a question now?"
To whom the King, who had almost dropped his suspicion, and ardently loved the young girl, told her everything that had happened, and swore to her, that the more he watched her, the more he saw how similar she was to some extent to the wife of the young merchant, who lived in Giassamen's palace. And having finished his conversation, he thought by what signal he could ascertain himself of her. He took her by the hand and pretending to want to caress her, he squeezed her right arm in such a manner that the flesh turned black and blue. After he left her, he immediately went to Giassemen's palace.
But Giulla was frightened by this sign and returned to the other palace faster than the King via the secret tunnel. She showed her arm to her husband and Giassemen and told them that the King had caused it to be painful. But Giassemen who excelled in more than one skill told her, "Don't be afraid, mistress, because I will be able to quickly return your livid flesh now to its previous color." And he immediately went into the garden and found a certain herb with which he touched the bruise which the King had so astutely caused and the flesh became beautiful and soft once more.
Giulla was overjoyed beyond measure by this. She dressed in other clothes again and adorned herself with jewels and went into the courtyard with her husband and with Giassemen to meet the King. He happily received the greetings and addressed the young woman as follows, "Please, most beautiful lady, before we sit down at the table, I am asking you a favor with your husband's permission and that is that you show me your right arm publicly to remove a great doubt from me." Giulla immediately agreed to this and the King saw no mark on it and was all happy and cheerful, believing that she was not his own Giulla. He thanked her profusely for her courtesy and sat at the table across from her and turned his thoughts to how he could abduct her.
And at the end of the banquet they were entertained for a while with songs and music. The King, who did not want to fail in what he intended to do, discussed various matters and said at the end that he had never spent a happier day in all his life. He let them know that their acquaintance was so dear to him and he appreciated it so much and that, if they would like, he would return often to visit them in their sweet company. Giassemen heard these words and realizing why the King was saying these, wanted to mock him doubly and answered in this way, "It shall always be very dear to us and we consider it a great grace if you would be so kind to honor us with your royal presence many times and we humbly beg you do so."
The King very much appreciated these words and happily took his leave and returned to his palace.
As soon as dawn appeared the following day, he entered into the garden which was at the foot of the palace where the young couple lived in order to watch the young woman. And seeing her, his desire was aroused and for seven days he went to dine with the young people, and tried in every way possible to find her alone. But because Giassemen had decided to mock the King completely, he concluded together with Feristeno to let the king find Giulla in a certain part of the palace by herself the next day so he could entertain her in every way with sweet conversation.
The young woman did fully what she was asked to do and when the King came the next day to dine with the young people, he found her alone in one part of the palace. He used many beautiful words to let her know how ardently he loved her, and he begged her affectionately to give him the gift of her love.
To which request Giulla answered, "Sire, your demeanor has really made me fall in love with you so much that I could never refuse you what you ask of me. But as long as my husband and Giassemen are here, I cannot see how to satisfy our desires." Because in a few days they will have to leave the city with their merchandise, we shall wait until they depart on their journey. At that time, we can enjoy ourselves with greater security for my own life and your contentment. This answer pleased the King very much. He kissed her hand, he left her, happy and cheerful. Then Giulla told her husband and Giassemen the whole story. And one cannot say how delighted they were by the trick the young woman had played on the King. But because they realized how ardently the King was in love with her and that they had very much mocked him, they decided to depart quickly to escape any deceit the tyrant could have prepared for them.
Therefore, late the same evening Giassemen went to the harbor and found a Christian ship that was bound to leave the following night. He reached an agreement with the captain and they made the necessary preparations for their departure. Then early the next morning, he went to see the King and pretended he was going on a journey with some of their merchandise to India. He highly recommended to him the young woman who would remain alone in charge of their palace. The King was greatly pleased about this and without hesitation promised them that because of the many courtesies he had received from them, he would guard their palace and the young woman as if they were his own. The young people thanked him for this profusely, asked to leave, and departed. And since everything had been prepared, late the following day they departed on board of the ship with Giulla and Achel. And in a few hours with a very favorable wind they were miles away from the tyrant.
The King got up early in the morning and when he was informed that the ship had left, he believed that he could leisurely enjoy the young woman. He immediately went to her palace and when he entered the courtyard and heard nobody, he went up the stairs and came into the hall. He found it and the other rooms completely empty and no one appeared. He also noticed the opening Giassemen had made and entered it desperately and arrived into the quarters assigned to Giulla. He then realized the great mockery that the young people had made of him. He immediately suffered great pain and was overwhelmed by excessive anger so that within two days he died miserably without anyone knowing the cause.
Since the King had no other offspring than his imprisoned daughter, the counselors, after a lengthy discussion about the royal succession, concluded to liberate the daughter of the dead tyrant from prison and have her marry her cousin, the son of the King's killed brother. They made him the successor to the throne of the kingdom.
Having carried out this counsel, the wedding was solemnly celebrated. Not long thereafter, the new King heard from his wife that he had succeeded to the throne because of the prayers and vow made by Giulla. He ordered that the young men and Giulla and Achel should immediately return there because he intended to repay them for the great benefits he had received. But he learned that while they had been ascertained of the tyrant's death, they were nevertheless fearful to venture to return there. So, he sent his ambassadors to assure them of their safety under the new King.
Giulla recounted the story from its beginning. And the King thanked Almighty God for the immense graces he had received. He wanted to satisfy the vow of his wife and immediately accepted the faith of Christ with her. The counselors, having witnessed the miracles, did likewise and in a short time all the peoples of the cities and the towns in his land were baptized. The wedding was celebrated once more according to the rituals of the Roman church. The King wanted also that Giassemen who was responsible for his achieving such high office should marry Achel, the faithful companion of Giulla. And a solemn and great feast was announced in which everyone from near and far away towns participated. At the end of the festivities the King made Feristeno and Giassemen patrons of great treasure. And the King and his wife lived as true Christians, and they continually rendered endless thanks to Our Lord for the great benefits they had received.
Beramo had already recovered his previous health when the sixth storyteller was at the end of his story. He commanded his majordomo that the whole court was to appear early the following morning on Sunday dressed in gold clothing, at the seventh palace, which likewise was adorned with gold trimmings. The barons listened to the order of the Lord and everyone was ready to obey. He also greatly marveled at all the events that occurred because of the cruel and impious sentence that the harsh tyrant had given Feristeno, as he mounted his horse before the appearance of dawn of the following day. Moreover, he did not need the sedan any more now he had become healthy and he reached the seventh palace at the hour of Tierces.
He dismounted there, and he took the damsel whom he met by the hand and enjoyed for quite a while the delightful conversation with her. And while relaxing with some delicious foods, he ordered the storyteller, who was the last one, to begin his tale. The storyteller who was not far from the Lord, obeyed his order, and giving him due reverence, he began his story in this way, "Sire, I think that the other storytellers have recounted events that occurred to others in their stories. But I, instead, will narrate what has happened to myself, rather than to others."