said, "My dear, what is the reason that you get up every night with so much regularity?" "A nightingale," answered she, "sings upon the fig-tree, opposite my window; and her song is so delightful that I cannot resist the pleasure of listening to it." The old knight hearing this, arose early in the morning; and, armed with bow and arrow, hastened to the fig-tree. He shot the nightingale, and taking out the heart, presented it to his wife. The lady wept exceedingly, and said, "Sweet bird, thou didst but what became thee. I alone am the occasion of thy death." Immediately she despatched a messenger to the youthful knight, to inform him of her husband's cruelty. The intelligence grieved him[1], and he exclaimed internally, "Although it is evident to this cruel old wretch how much his wife and I are attached to each other, yet he would treat me even still more vilely!" This reflection determined him; he cased himself in a double coat of mail, and entering the castle, retaliated upon his rival the death of the bird.
- ↑ "Commota sunt omnia viscera ejus," says the original. I hope the reader is satisfied with the rendering.
