to the infirmity of my body, attain a full merit, yet suffer me, by
giving a tenth of all I possess, to attain a half." Then falling
down at the feet of the archbishop, he deposited in his hands, for
the service of the cross, the tenth of his estate, weeping bitterly,
and intreating from him the remission of one half of the enjoined
penance. After a short time he returned, and thus continued: "My
lord, if the will directs the action, and is itself, for the most
part, considered as the act, and as I have a full and firm
inclination to undertake this journey, I request a remission of the
remaining part of the penance, and in addition to my former gift, I
will equal the sum from the residue of my tenths." The archbishop,
smiling at his devout ingenuity, embraced him with admiration.

On the same night, two monks, who waited in the archbishop's
chamber, conversing about the occurrences of their journey, and the
dangers of the road, one of them said (alluding to the wildness of
the country), "This is a hard province;" the other (alluding to the
quicksands), wittily replied, "Yet yesterday it was found too soft."

A short time before our days, a circumstance worthy of note occurred
in these parts, which Elidorus, a priest, most strenuously affirmed
had befallen himself. When a youth of twelve years, and learning
his letters, since, as Solomon says, "The root of learning is
bitter, although the fruit is sweet," in order to avoid the
discipline and frequent stripes inflicted on him by his preceptor,
he ran away, and concealed himself under the hollow bank of a river.
After fasting in that situation for two days, two little men of
pigmy stature appeared to him, saying, "If you will come with us, we
will lead you into a country full of delights and sports."
Assenting and rising up, he followed his guides through a path, at