me for the cloth!" But when he saw that the statue remained
speechless, he took up a stone and hurled it at its breast with such
force that it burst a vein, which proved, indeed, the cure to his own
malady; for some pieces of the statue falling off, he discovered a
pot full of golden crown-pieces. Then taking it in both his hands,
off he ran home, head over heels, as far as he could scamper,
crying out, "Mother, mother! see here! what a lot of red lupins I've
got. How many! how many!"

His mother, seeing the crown-pieces, and knowing very well that
Vardiello would soon make the matter public, told him to stand at
the door until the man with milk and new-made cheese came past,
as she wanted to buy a pennyworth of milk. So Vardiello, who was
a great glutton, went quickly and seated himself at the door; and
his mother showered down from the window above raisins and
dried figs for more than half an hour. Whereupon Vardiello,
picking them up as fast as he could, cried aloud, "Mother, mother!
bring out some baskets; give me some bowls! Here, quick with the
tubs and buckets! for if it goes on to rain thus we shall be rich in a
trice." And when he had eaten his fill Vardiello went up to sleep.

It happened one day that two countrymen--the food and life-blood
of the law-courts--fell out, and went to law about a gold
crown-piece which they had found on the ground. And Vardiello
passing by said, "What jackasses you are to quarrel about a red
lupin like this! For my part I don't value it at a pin's head, for I've
found a whole potful of them."

When the judge heard this he opened wide his eyes and ears, and
examined Vardiello closely, asking him how, when, and where he