father and mother of the myrtle wherewithal to live comfortably,
he himself spent his days happily with the fairy; while the wicked
women ended their lives in bitter anguish, and thus verified the
proverb of the wise men of old--

"The lame goat will hop
If he meets with no stop."



III

PERUONTO

A good deed is never lost. He who sows courtesy reaps benefit;
and he who gathers kindness gathers love. Pleasure bestowed on a
grateful mind was never barren, but always brings a good
recompense; and that is the moral of the story I am going to tell
you.

Once upon a time a woman who lived in a village, and was called
Ceccarella, had a son named Peruonto, who was one of the most
stupid lads that ever was born. This made his mother very
unhappy, and all day long she would grieve because of this great
misfortune. For whether she asked him kindly, or stormed at him
till her throat was dry, the foolish fellow would not stir to do the
slightest hand's turn for her. At last, after a thousand dinnings at
his brain, and a thousand splittings of his head, and saying "I tell
you" and "I told you" day after day, she got him to go to the wood
for a faggot, saying, "Come now, it is time for us to get a morsel to