THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER 28 — Then Frisio said, laughing : " How do you know that she did not die of grief at hearing that her husband was coming home? " The Magnifico replied: " Because the rest of her life did not comport with this; nay, I think that her soul, unable to brook delay in seeing him with the eyes of her body, forsook it, and, drawn by eagerness, quickly flew whither her thought had flown on reading the letter." My lord Gaspar said: " It may be that this lady was too loving, for women always run to extremes in everything, which is bad; and you see that by being too loving she wrought evil to herself, and to her husband and children, for whom she turned to bitterness the joy of his perilous and longed-for deliverance. So you ought by no means to cite her as one of those women who have been the cause of such great benefits." The Magnifico replied: " I cite her as one of those who bear witness that there are wives who love their husbands ; for of those who have been the cause of great benefits to the world, I could tell you of an endless number, and discourse to you of some so ancient that they almost seem fabulous, and of those who among men have been the inventors of such things, that they deserved to be esteemed as goddesses, like Pallas and Ceres; and of the Sibyls,'*" by whose mouth God has so often spoken and revealed to the world events that were to come; and of those who have instructed very great men, like Aspasia,*" and like Diotima,""' who furthermore by her sacrifices delayed for ten years the time of a pestilence that was to come upon Athens. I could tell you of Nicostrate,™" Evander's mother, who taught the Latins letters; and of still another woman,'^ who was preceptress to the lyric poet Pindar;"^ and of Corinna'* and of Sappho, who were excellent in poetry; but I do not wish to seek out matters so far afield. I tell you, however (leaving the rest apart), that women were perhaps not less the cause of Rome's greatness than men." " This," said my lord Gaspar, " would be fine to hear." 29 — The Magnifico replied: " Then listen to it. After the fall of Troy many Trojans fled 197
