"
"I am quite sure, Saffredent," began Ennasuite laughing, "that if you
still love as ardently as you were formerly wont to do, you would
submit to horns as big as oak-trees if only you might repay them as
you pleased. However, now that your hair is growing grey, it is time to
leave your desires in peace."
"Fair lady," said Saffredent, "though I be robbed of hope by the woman I
love, and of ardour by old age, yet it lies not in my power to weaken
my inclination. Since you have rebuked me for so honourable a desire,
I give you my vote for the telling of the fourth tale, that we may see
whether you can bring forward some example to refute me."
During this converse one of the ladies fell to laughing heartily,
knowing that she who took Saffredent's words to herself was not so loved
by him that he would have suffered horns, shame, or wrong for her sake.
When Saffredent perceived that the lady who laughed understood him, he
was well satisfied and became silent, so that Ennasuite might begin;
which she did as follows--
"In order, ladies, that Saffredent and the rest of the company may know
that all ladies are not like the Queen he has spoken of, and that all
foolhardy and venturesome men do not compass their ends, I will tell
you a story in which I will acquaint you with the opinion of a lady who
deemed the vexation of failure in love to be harder of endurance than
death itself.
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