surely was a man of few words. So he said, "Friend, will you buy
my cloth? I'll sell it you cheap." And seeing that the statue still
remained dumb, he exclaimed, "Faith, then, I've found my man at
last! There, take the cloth, examine it, and give me what you will;
to-morrow I'll return for the money."

So saying Vardiello left the cloth on the spot where he had been
sitting, and the first mother's son who passed that way found the
prize and carried it off.

When Vardiello returned home without the cloth, and told his
mother all that had happened, she wellnigh swooned away, and
said to him, "When will you put that headpiece of yours in order?
See now what tricks you have played me--only think! But I am
myself to blame, for being too tender-hearted, instead of having
given you a good beating at first; and now I perceive that a pitiful
doctor only makes the wound incurable. But you'll go on with your
pranks until at last we come to a serious falling-out, and then there
will be a long reckoning, my lad!"

"Softly, mother," replied Vardiello, "matters are not so bad as they
seem; do you want more than crown-pieces brand new from the
mint? Do you think me a fool, and that I don't know what I am
about? To-morrow is not yet here. Wait awhile, and you shall see
whether I know how to fit a handle to a shovel."

The next morning, as soon as the shades of Night, pursued by the
constables of the Sun, had fled the country, Vardiello repaired to
the courtyard where the statue stood, and said, "Good-day, friend!
Can you give me those few pence you owe me? Come, quick, pay