The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.)

by King of Navarre consort of Henry II Queen Marguerite

  _TALE XXXVI_.

  _By means of a salad a President of Grenoble avenged himself upon one of his clerks with whom his wife was smitten, and so saved the honour of his house_.

  In the town of Grenoble there dwelt a President whose name I shall notmention, but he was not a Frenchman. (1) He had a very beautiful wife,and they lived in great tranquillity together.

  1 The personage referred to is Jeffroy Charles or Carles, Chief President of the Parliament of Grenoble, and President of the Senate of Turin; his wife's name was Margaret du Mottet; she came of a very old family of Embrun. Some interesting particulars concerning President Charles, supplied by that erudite scholar M. Jules Roman, will be found in the Appendix to the present volume (A).--Ed.

  This lady, finding that her husband was now old, fell in love with ayoung clerk, called Nicholas. When the President went to the court inthe morning, Nicholas used to enter his room and take his place. Thiswas observed by a servant of the President's who had served his masterwell for thirty years, and in his faithfulness he could not refrain fromspeaking to him of the matter.

  The President, being a prudent man, would not lightly believe the story,but said that the servant wished to create contention between himselfand his wife. If the matter, said he, were really as the servantdeclared, he could easily prove it to him, and if proof were not givenhe would believe that it was a lie contrived in order to destroy thelove existing between himself and his wife. The servant promised that hewould show him the truth of what he had said, and one morning, as soonas the President was gone to the court and Nicholas had entered theroom, he sent one of his fellow-servants to tell his master to come,while he himself remained watching at the door lest Nicholas should comeout.

  As soon as the President saw the sign that was made to him by one of hisservants, he pretended to be ill, left the court and hastened home.Here he found his old servant at the door, and was assured by him thatNicholas was inside and had only just gone in.

  "Do not stir from this door," said his lord to him, "for, as you areaware, there is no other means of going into or out of the room, exceptindeed by way of a little closet of which I myself alone carry the key."

  The President entered the room and found his wife and Nicholas in bedtogether. The clerk, clad in nothing but his shirt, threw himself at hisfeet to entreat forgiveness, while his wife began to weep.

  Then said the President--

  "Though you have done a deed the enormity of which you may yourselfjudge, I am yet unwilling that my house should be dishonoured on youraccount, and the daughters I have had by you made to suffer. Wherefore,"he continued, "cease to weep, I command you, and hearken to what I amgoing to do; and do you, Nicholas, hide yourself in my closet and makenot a single sound."

  When this was done, he opened the door, and calling his old servant,said to him--

  "Did you not assure me that you would show me Nicholas in company withmy wife? Trusting in your word, I came hither in danger of killing mypoor wife, and I have found nothing of what you told me. I have searchedthe whole room, as I will show you."

  So saying, he caused his servant to look under the beds and in everyquarter. The servant, finding nothing, was greatly astonished, and saidto his master--

  "The devil must have made away with him, for I saw him go in, and he didnot come out through the door. But I can see that he is not here."

  Then said his master to him--

  "You are a wicked servant to try to create contention in this waybetween my wife and me. I dismiss you, and will pay you what I owe youfor your services to me, and more besides; but be speedily gone, andtake care that you are not in the town twenty-four hours from now."

  The President paid him for five or six years in advance, and, knowinghim to be a faithful servant, resolved to reward him still further.

  When the servant was gone weeping away, the President made Nicholas comeforth from the closet, and after telling them both what he thought oftheir wickedness, he commanded them to give no hint of the matter toanyone. He also charged his wife to dress more bravely than was herwont, and to attend all assemblies, dances and feasts; and he toldNicholas to make more merry than before, but, as soon as he whisperedto him, "Begone," to see that he was out of the town before three hourswere over. Having arranged matters in this way, he returned to thecourt, none being any the wiser. And for a fortnight, contrary to hiswont, he entertained his friends and neighbours, and after the banquethad the tabourers, so that the ladies might dance.

  One day, seeing that his wife was not dancing, he commanded Nicholas tolead her out. The clerk, thinking that the past had been forgotten, didso gladly, but when the dance was over, the President, under pretence ofcharging him with some household matter, whispered to him, "Begone,and come back no more." And albeit Nicholas was grieved to leave hismistress, yet was he no less glad that his life was spared.

  When the President had convinced all his kinsfolk and friends and thewhole countryside of the deep love that he bore his wife, he went intohis garden one fine day in the month of May to gather a salad, of suchherbs that his wife did not live for twenty-four hours after eating ofthem; whereupon he made such a great show of mourning that none couldhave suspected him of causing her death; and in this way he avengedhimself upon his enemy, and saved the honour of his house. (2)

  2 Whilst admitting the historical basis of this story, M. Le Roux de Lincy conceives it to be the same as No. xlvii. of the _Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles_, printed half-a-century before the _Heptameron_ was written. Beyond the circumstance, however, that in both cases a judge is shown privily avenging himself on his wife for her infidelity, there is no resemblance between the two tales. There is good reason for believing that Queen Margaret's narrative is based on absolute fact, and not on the story in the _Cent Nouvelles_. Both tales have often been imitated. See for instance Bonaventure Despericr's _Contes, Nouvelles, et joyeux Devis_ (tale xcii., or, in some editions, xc. ); _Les Heures de Recreation de Louis Guicciardini_, p. 28; G. Giraldi Cinthio's _Hecatommithi, overro cento Novelle, &c_. (dec. iii. nov. vi. ); Malespini's _Ducento Novelle _(part ii. nov. xvi.); Verboquet's _Les Delices, &c_, 1623, p. 23; and Shirley's _Love's Cruelly_. These tales also inspired some of the Spanish dramatists, notably Calderon.--Ed. and L.

  "I do not mean by this, ladies, to praise the President's conscience,but rather to bring out the frailty of a woman and the great patienceand prudence of a man. And I beg you, ladies, be not angered by thetruth, which sometimes speaks as loudly against ourselves as against themen; for vice and virtue are common alike to men and women."

  "If all those," said Parlamente, "who have fallen in love with theirservants were obliged to eat salads of that kind, I know some who wouldbe less fond of their gardens than they are at present, and who wouldpluck up the herbs to get rid of such as restore the honour of a familyby compassing the death of a wanton mother."

  Hircan, who guessed why she had said this, angrily replied--"A virtuouswoman should never judge another guilty of what she would not doherself."

  "Knowledge is not judgment nor yet foolishness," returned Parlamente."However, this poor woman paid the penalty that many others havedeserved, and I think that the President, when desirous of vengeance,comported himself with wondrous prudence and wisdom."

  "And with great malevolence, also," said Longarine. "'Twas a slow andcruel vengeance, and showed he had neither God nor conscience before hiseyes."

  "Why, what would you have had him do," said Hircan, "to revenge himselffor the greatest wrong that a woman can deal to a man?"

  "I would have had him kill her in his wrath," she replied. "The doctorssay that since the first impulses of passion are not under a man'scontrol, such a sin may be forgiven; so it might have obtained pardon.""Yes," said Geburon, "but his daughters and descendants would havealways borne the stain."

  "He ought not to have killed her at all," said Longari
ne, "for, whenhis wrath was past, she might have lived with him in virtue, and nothingwould ever have been said about the matter."

  "Do you think," said Saffredent, "that he was appeased merely because heconcealed his anger? For my part, I believe that he was as wrathful onthe last day, when he made his salad, as he had been on the first, forthere are persons whose first impulses have no rest until their passionhas worked its will. I am well pleased you say that the theologians deemsuch sins easy to be pardoned, for I am of their opinion."

  "It is well to look to one's words," said Longarine, "in presence ofpersons so dangerous as you. What I said is to be understood of passionwhen it is so strong that it suddenly seizes upon all the senses, andreason can find no place."

  "It is so," said Saffredent, "that I understood your words, and I thenceconclude that, whatever a man may do, he can commit only venial sinif he be deeply in love. I am sure that, if Love hold him fast bound,Reason can never gain a hearing, whether from his heart or from hisunderstanding. And if the truth be told, there is not one among us buthas had knowledge of such passion; and not merely do I think that sinso committed is readily pardoned, but I even believe that God is notangered by it, seeing that such love is a ladder whereby we may climbto the perfect love of Himself. And none can attain to this save by theladder of earthly love, (3) for, as St. John says, 'He that loveth nothis brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath notseen?'" (4)

  3 All this passage is borrowed, almost word for word, from Castiglione's _Libro del Cortegiano_. See _ante_, vol. i. p. 10.--B.J.

  4 i John iv. 20.--M.

  "There is not a passage in Scripture," said Oisille, "too good for youto turn to your own purposes. But beware of doing like the spider, whichtransforms sound meat into poison. Be advised that it is a perilousmatter to quote Scripture out of place and without cause."

  "Do you call speaking the truth out of place and without cause?" saidSaffredent. "You hold, then, that when, in speaking to you unbelievingwomen, we call God to our assistance, we take His name in vain; but ifthere be any sin in this, you alone must bear the blame, for it is yourunbelief that compels us to seek out all the oaths that we can think of.And in spite of it all, we cannot kindle the flame of charity in youricy hearts."

  "That," said Longarine, "proves that you all speak falsely. If truthwere in your words, it is strong enough to make you be believed. Yetthere is danger lest the daughters of Eve should hearken too readily tothe serpent."

  "I see clearly," said Saffredent, "that women are not to be conqueredby men. So I shall be silent, and see to whom Ennasuite will give hervote."

  "I give it," she said, "to Dagoucin, for I think he would not willinglyspeak against the ladies."

  "Would to God," said Dagoucin, "that they were as well disposed towardsme as I am towards them. To show you that I have striven to honour thevirtuous among them by recalling their good deeds, I will now tell youthe story of such a one. I will not deny, ladies, that the patience ofthe gentleman at Pampeluna, and of the President at Grenoble was great,but then it was equalled in magnitude by their vengeance. Moreover,when we seek to praise a virtuous man, we ought not so to exalt a singlevirtue as to make of it a cloak for the concealment of grievous vice;for none are praiseworthy save such as do virtuous things from the loveof virtue alone, and this I hope to prove by telling you of the patientvirtue of a lady whose goodness had no other object save the honour ofGod and the salvation of her husband."

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  073a.jpg The Lady of Loue bringing her Husband the Basin of Water]

  [The Lady of Loue bringing her Husband the Basin of Water]

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