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OF SINNERS.
TALE VI.
OF SINNERS, WHO RECEIVE THE DIVINE GRACE ON EARNESTLY SEEKING IT.
A certain emperor made a law by which if any woman were taken in adultery she should be condemned to perpetual imprisonment. It happened that a knight espoused a noble lady, to whom he was greatly attached. Being called by some emergency into foreign parts, his wife fell under the sentence of the law. She was accordingly cast into a dungeon, and there brought forth a remarkably handsome boy. The child grew, and was beloved by all who saw him. But the mother consumed her hours in groans and tears, nor experienced the smallest comfort. The boy, observing the continual lamentation of his mother, said to her, "For what reason, dearest
