The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. V | Page 2

old serving-woman, thinking to surprise a
Prothonotary with a lady, finds herself insulting Anthony de Bourbon
and his wife Jane d'Albret.
Tale LXVII. How the Sire de Robertval, granting a traitor his life at the
prayers of the man's wife, set them both down on a desert island, and
how, after the husband's death, the wife was rescued and brought back
to La Rochelle.
Tale LXVIII. The wife of an apothecary at Pau, hearing her husband
give some powder of cantharides to a woman who was godmother with
himself, secretly administered to him such a dose of the same drug that
he nearly died.
Tale LXIX. How the wife of one of the King's Equerries surprised her
husband muffled in the hood of their servant-maid, and bolting meal in
her stead.
Tale LXX. Of the love of a Duchess of Burgundy for a gentleman who
rejects her advances, for which reason she accuses him to the Duke her
husband, and the latter does not believe his oaths till assured by him
that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the Duchess, having drawn
knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses to the Lady du
Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of both lovers; and
the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs the Duchess
himself.
EIGHTH DAY.
Prologue
Tale LXXI. The wife of a saddler of Amboise is saved on her deathbed

through a fit of anger at seeing her husband fondle a servant-maid.
Tale LXXII. Kindness of the Duchess of Alençon to a poor nun whom
she meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there to confess to the Pope
how a monk had wronged her, and to obtain his Holiness's pardon.
Appendix (The Narrators of the Heptameron)
Bibliography

PAGE ENGRAVINGS CONTAINED IN VOLUME V.
Tale LI. The Duke of Urbino sending the Maiden to Prison for carrying
Messages between his Son and his Sweetheart.
LII. The Gentleman and his Friend annoyed by The Smell of that which
they Thought was Sugar.
LIII. The Lord des Cheriots flying from the Prince's Servant.
LIV. The Lady watching the Shadow Faces Kissing.
LV. The Servant selling the Horse with the Cat.
LVI. The Grey Friar introducing his Comrade to the Lady and her
Daughter.
LVII. The English Lord seizing the Lady's Glove.
LVIII. The Gentleman Mocked by the Ladies When Returning From
The False Tryst.
LIX. The Lady discovering her Husband with the Waiting-woman.
LX. The Chanter of Blois delivering his Mistress from the Grave.
LXI. The Lady returning to her Lover, the Canon of Autun.

LXII. The Gentleman's Spur catching in the Sheet.
LXIII. The King asking the Young Lord to join his Banquet.
LXIV. The Lady Swooning in the Arms of the Gentleman of Valencia
who had become a Monk.
LXV. The Old Woman startled by the Waking of the Soldier.
LXVI. The Old Serving-woman explaining her Mistake to the Duke
and Duchess of Vendôme.
LXVII. The Wife Reading to her Husband on the Desert Island.
LXVIII. The Apothecary's Wife giving the Dose of Cantharides to her
Husband.
LXIX. The Wife discovering her Husband in the Hood of their
Serving-maid.
LXX. The Gentleman Killing Himself on the Death of his Mistress.
LXXI. The Saddler's Wife Cured by the sight of her Husband Caressing
the Serving-maid.
LXXII. The Monk Conversing with the Nun while Shrouding a Dead
Body.

SIXTH DAY.
_On the Sixth Day are related the deceits practised by Man on Woman,
Woman on Man, or Woman on Woman, through greed, revenge, and
wickedness_.

PROLOGUE.

In the morning the Lady Oisille went earlier than was her wont to make
ready for her reading in the hall, but the company being advised of this,
and eager to hearken to her excellent instruction, used such despatch in
dressing themselves that she had not long to wait. Perceiving their
fervour, she set about reading them the Epistle of St. John the
Evangelist, which is full of naught but love, in the same wise as, on the
foregoing days, she had expounded to them St. Paul's Epistle to the
Romans. The company found this fare so much to their taste, that,
although they tarried a half-hour longer than on the other days, it
seemed to them as if they had not remained there a quarter of an hour
altogether. From thence they proceeded to the contemplation of the
mass, when one and all commended themselves to the Holy Ghost in
order that they might that day be enabled to satisfy their merry
audience; and, after they had broken their fast and taken a little rest,
they set out to resume their accustomed diversion.
And the Lady Oisille asking who should begin the day, Longarine
made answer--
"I give my vote to Madame Oisille; she has