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StoriesThe Three CordeliersBy Monsigneur De Beauvoir _Of three merchants of Savoy who... The Woman, The Priest, The Servant, And The WOLF. By Monseigneur De Villiers. _Of a gentleman who cau... A Bargain In Horns By Monseigneur De Fiennes. _Of a labourer who found a man ... The Lost Ring By Monseigneur De Commesuram. _Of two friends, one of whom... The Scarlet Backside By Pierre David. _Of one who saw his wife with a man to wh... The Right Moment By Mahiot D'auquesnes. _Of a damsel of Maubeuge who gave h... The Bagpipe By Monseigneur De Thalemas. _Of a hare-brained half-mad fe... The Butcher's Wife Who Played The Ghost In The Chimney By Michault De Changy. _Of a Jacobin who left his mistress... The Sick Lover By Poncelet. _Of a lord who pretended to be sick in order ... Montbleru; Or The Thief By G. De Montbleru. _Of one named Montbleru, who at a fair... The Reverse Of The Medal By Monseigneur Le Duc _The first story tells of how one fo... A Rod For Another's Back By The Seneschal Of Guyenne. _Of a citizen of Tours who bo... Indiscretion Reproved, But Not Punished By The Provost Of Wastennes. _Of a woman who heard her hus... Women's Quarrels By The Editor. _Of a married woman who was in love with a ... The Child Of The Snow By Philippe Vignier. _Of an English merchant whose wife ha... The Metamorphosis By The Editor. _Relates how a Spanish Bishop, not being ab... The Woman At The Bath By Philippe De Laon. _Of an inn-keeper at Saint Omer who p... The Duel With The Buckle-strap By Philippe De Laon. _The fifth story relates two judgment... The Bird In The Cage By Jehan Lambin. _Of a cure who was in love with the wife ... How A Good Wife Went On A Pilgrimage By Messire Timoleon Vignier. _Of a good wife who pretended... |
The Real FathersBy The Editor. _Of a woman who on her death-bed, in the absence of her husband, made over her children to those to whom they belonged, and how one of the youngest of the children informed his father._ There formerly lived in Paris, a woman who was married to a good and simple man--he was one of our friends and it would have been impossible to have had a better. This woman was very beautiful and complaisant, and, when she was young, she never refused her favours to those who pleased her, so that she had as many children by her lovers as by her husband--about twelve or thirteen in all. When at last she was very ill, and about to die, she thought she would confess her sins and ease her conscience. She had all her children brought to her, and it almost broke her heart to think of leaving them. She thought it would not be right to leave her husband the charge of so many children, of some of which he was not the father, though he believed he was, and thought her as good a woman as any in Paris. By means of a woman who was nursing her, she sent for two men who in past times had been favoured lovers. They came to her at once, whilst her husband was gone away to fetch a doctor and an apothecary, as she had begged him to do. When she saw these two men, she made all her children come to her, and then said; "You, such an one, you know what passed between us two in former days. I now repent of it bitterly, and if Our Lord does not show me the mercy I ask of Him, it will cost me dear in the next world. I have committed faults, I know, but to add another to them would be to make matters worse. Here are such and such of my children;--they are yours, and my husband believes that they are his. You cannot have the conscience to make him keep them, so I beg that after my death, which will be very soon, that you will take them, and bring them up as a father should, for they are, in fact, your own." She spoke in the same manner to the other man, showing him the other children: "Such and such are, I assure you, yours. I leave them to your care, requesting you to perform your duty towards them. If you will promise me to care for them, I shall die in peace." As she was thus distributing her children, her husband returned home, and was met by one of his little sons, who was only about four years old. The child ran downstairs to him in such haste that he nearly lost his breath, and when he came to his father, he said, "Alas, father! come quickly, in God's name!" "What has happened?" asked his father. "Is your mother dead?" "No, no," said the child, "but make haste upstairs, or you will have no children left. Two men have come to see mother, and she is giving them most of my brothers and sisters. If you do not make haste, she will give them all away." The good man could not understand what his son meant, so he hastened upstairs, and found his wife very ill, and with her the nurse, two of his neighbours, and his children. He asked the meaning of the tale his son had told him about giving away his children. "You will know later on," she said; so he did not trouble himself further, for he never doubted her in the least. The neighbours went away, commending the dying woman to God, and promising to do all she had requested, for which she thanked them. When the hour of her death drew near, she begged her husband to pardon her, and told him of the misdeeds she had committed during the years she had lived with him, and how such and such of the children belonged to a certain man, and such to another--that is to say those before-mentioned--and that after her death they would take charge of their own children. He was much astonished to hear this news, nevertheless he pardoned her for all her misdeeds, and then she died, and he sent the children to the persons she had mentioned, who kept them. And thus he was rid of his wife and his children, and felt much less regret for the loss of his wife than he did for the loss of the children. ***** Next: The Three Reminders Previous: Tit For Tat
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