In the days of King John of Acre [101] a bell was hung for anyone to
ring who had received a great wrong, whereupon the King would call
together the wise men appointed for this purpose, in order that justice
might be done.
It happened that the bell had lasted a long time and the rope had
wasted, so that a vine clung to it.
Now it befell that a knight of Acre had a noble charger which had grown
old, so that it had lost its worth, and the knight, to avoid the
expense of its keep, let it wander about. The famished horse tugged at
the vine to eat it. As it tugged, the bell rang.
The judges assembled, and understood the petition of the horse who, it
seemed, asked for justice. They sentenced that the knight whom the
horse had served when it was young, should feed it now that it was old.
The King commanded him to do so under grave penalties.