Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/142

virgins, Mary and Eve, who were both born free from sin^[1], Mary being sanctified in the womb. She carries a sword, that is, sin, by which Christ died^[2].

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TALE XXXVI.

OF THE LOVE OF GOD.

King Pepin married a very beautiful girl, by whom he had a son; but the mother died in her confinement. He therefore espoused another, and she also brought forth a son, whom he sent with the elder-born to be educated in another country. Now they so much resembled one another, that it was impossible to distinguish them; and when, after a length

1. We may observe that the Catholics lose no opportunity of honoring the virgin Mary, at whatever expense.
2. The reader is desired to frame the rest of the moralization himself, the original being too delicate to handle.