| Why is X never doubled?... Read more of Why is X never doubled? at Speaking Writing.com | InformationalPrivacy |
| Home - Collection of Stories - Famous Stories - Short Stories - Wales Poetry - Yiddish Tales |
StoriesBeyond The MarkBy Monseigneur De Lannoy. _Of a shepherd who made an agree... The Fault Of The Almanac By Poncelet. _Of a cure who forgot, either by negligence o... A Sacrifice To The Devil By Monseigneur _Of a jealous rogue, who after many offerin... The Devil's Horn By Monseigneur. _Of a noble knight of Germany, a great tra... The Lost Ass Found By Michault De Changy. _Of a good man of Bourbonnais who w... The Muddled Marriages By The Archivist Of Brussels. _Of two men and two women wh... A Good Dog _Of a foolish and rich village cure who buried his dog in the... The Husband Pandar To His Own Wife By Monseigneur _Of a knight of Burgundy, who was marvellou... The Search For The Ring By Monseigneur de la Roche _Of the deceit practised by a k... The Butcher's Wife Who Played The Ghost In The Chimney By Michault De Changy. _Of a Jacobin who left his mistress... The Damsel Knight By Monseigneur De Foquessoles. _Of the loves of a young ge... The Bird In The Cage By Jehan Lambin. _Of a cure who was in love with the wife ... The Castrated Clerk By Monseigneur L'amant De Brucelles. _How a lawyer's clerk... A Cure For The Plague By Monseigneur De Villiers. _Of a girl who was ill of the ... The Obedient Wife By The Editor. _ Of a man who was married to a woman so la... The Scotsman Turned Washerwoman By Monseigneur De La Roche. _Of a young Scotsman who was d... From Belly To Back By Monseigneur De La Roche. _Of a gentleman of Burgundy wh... The Scarlet Backside By Pierre David. _Of one who saw his wife with a man to wh... How A Good Wife Went On A Pilgrimage By Messire Timoleon Vignier. _Of a good wife who pretended... The Waggoner In The Bear By Monseigneur _Of a goldsmith of Paris who made a waggone... |
Scorn For ScornBy Monseigneur. _Of two comrades who wished to make their mistresses better inclined towards them, and so indulged in debauchery, and said, that as after that their mistresses still scorned them, that they too must have played at the same game--as you will hear._ I knew, in the time of my green and virtuous youth, two gentlemen, good comrades, accomplished, and provided with every quality to be praised in a virtuous gentleman. They were friends, and were alike each other in every respect, not only bodily, but as regarded their clothes, their servants, and their horses. It happened that they fell in love with two fair young damsels of good family and gracious, and they did for these fair ladies' sake a hundred thousand little courtesies. Their vows were listened to--but nothing more. Perhaps the damsels had lovers already, or did not wish to have a love affair on their hands, for in truth the youths were both good fellows, such as many a noble lady would have liked for a lover. Be that as it may, they could not win their ladies' love, which caused them to pass many nights in God knows what sorrow, now cursing fortune, now love, and most often their mistresses for being so unkind. Whilst they were suffering this rage and grief, one of them said one day to his friend, "We can see with half an eye that our mistresses do not care for us, and yet we more madly desire them than ever, and the more scorn and harshness they show us the more we desire to please, serve, and obey them! Upon my word this seems to me the height of folly. Let us, I pray you, think no more of them than they do of us, and you will see that when they know that, it will be their turn to seek and importune us." "Ah!" said the other, "very good advice, no doubt, but how can it be carried out?" "I have found the means," said the first. "I have always heard it said, and Ovid puts it in his book, The Remedy of Love, that to do--you know what--much and often, makes you forget or think little of the person with whom you are in love. I will tell you what we will do. We will take home with us a couple of nice young 'cousins' (*), and we will sleep with them, and commit every folly with them that our strength will permit, and then we will go and see our ladies, and the devil is in it if they do not then care for us." (*) Prostitutes. The word is doubtless derived from _coussin_. The other agreed, and the proposal was carried out, and each took home a nice wench. And after that they went to a great feast where their ladies were, and they flaunted in front of the damsels, chattering carelessly here and there, and seeming to say in a hundred thousand ways, "We do not care for you", believing that, as they had devised, their mistresses would be displeased, and would try to make their lovers return to their allegiance. But it happened quite otherwise, for if the youths appeared to think but little of the ladies, they on the other hand, showed openly that they cared nothing for the young men, which the latter perceived, and were much amazed at. The one said to his friend; "Do you know what is the matter? Morbleu! our mistresses have done exactly what we have done. Do you not see how scornful they are? They carry themselves exactly as we do--and, believe me, for the very same reason. They have each chosen a paramour and indulged in folly to the utmost. Devil take the bitches! Let us leave them alone!" "By my oath!" replied the other, "I believe it is as you say. I never expected to find them like this." So the two friends thought that their mistresses had done the same as they had done themselves, because the damsels took no more heed of them than they did of the damsels--which may not have been true, but was not difficult to believe. ***** Next: The Sick Lover Previous: The Obliging Brother
Viewed 469 |
||||||||||||||||||||