He pays
no regard to persons, but chooses according to His purpose; and he whom
He chooses He honours with all virtues. And often He chooses the lowly
to confound those whom the world exalts and honours; for, as He Himself
hath told us, 'Let us not rejoice in our merits, but rather because our
names are written in the Book of Life, from which nor death, nor hell,
nor sin can blot them out.'" (6)
6 These are not the exact words of Scripture, but a
combination of several passages from the Book of
Revelation.--Ed.
There was not a lady in the company but had tears of compassion in her
eyes for the pitiful and glorious death of the muleteer's wife. Each
thought within herself that, should fortune serve her in the same way,
she would strive to imitate this poor woman in her martyrdom. Oisille,
however, perceiving that time was being lost in praising the dead woman,
said to Saffredent--
"Unless you can tell us something that will make the company laugh, I
think none of them will forgive me for the fault I have committed in
making them weep; wherefore I give you my vote for your telling of the
third story.
Pages:
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222