Read The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. IV. (of V.) Page 3
PROLOGUE.
The Lady Oisille, as was her excellent custom, rose up on the morrowvery much earlier than the others, and meditating upon her book ofHoly Scripture, awaited the company which, little by little, assembledtogether again. And the more slothful of them excused themselves in thewords of the Bible, saying, "I have a wife, and therefore could not comeso quickly." (1) In this wise it came to pass that Hircan and his wifeParlamente found the reading of the lesson already begun. Oisille,however, knew right well how to pick out the passage in the Scriptures,which reproves those who neglect the hearing of the Word, and she notonly read the text, but also addressed to them such excellent and piousexhortations that it was impossible to weary of listening to her.
1 "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come."--St. Luke xiv. 20.--M.
The reading ended, Parlamente said to her--
"I felt sorry for my slothfulness when I came in, but since my errorhas led you to speak to me in such excellent fashion, my laziness hasprofited me double, for I have had rest of body by sleeping longer, andsatisfaction of spirit by hearing your godly discourse." "Well," saidOisille, "let us for penance go to mass and pray Our Lord to give usboth will and power to fulfil His commandments; and then may He commandus according to His own good pleasure."
As she was saying these words, they reached the church, where theypiously heard mass. And afterwards they sat down to table, where Hircanfailed not to laugh at the slothfulness of his wife. After dinner theywithdrew to rest and study their parts, (2) and when the hour was come,they all found themselves at the wonted spot.
2 Meaning what they had to relate. The French word is _rolle_ from _rotulus_.--M.
Then Oisille asked Hircan to whom he would give his vote to begin theday.
"If my wife," said he, "had not begun yesterday, I should have given hermy vote, for although I always thought that she loved me more than anyman alive, she has further proved to me this morning that she loves mebetter than God or His Word, seeing that she neglected your excellentreading to bear me company. However, since I cannot give my vote to thediscreetest lady of the company, I will present it to Geburon, who isthe discreetest among the men; and I beg that he will in no wise sparethe monks."
"It was not necessary to beg that of me," said Geburon; "I was not atall likely to forget them. Only a short while ago I heard Monsieur deSaint-Vincent, Ambassador of the Emperor, tell a story of them which iswell worthy of being rememorated and I will now relate it to you."