The Lord once formed a partnership with a minstrel.
Now it befell one day that it had been made known that wedding
festivities were to be held, and it had also been made known that a
rich man had died. The minstrel said: I will go to the wedding, and you
shall go the funeral. The Lord went to the funeral, and succeeded in
raising the dead man. He received a reward of one hundred ducats.
The minstrel went to the wedding, and ate his fill. And he returned
home, and found his companion, who had earned his reward. He praised
him. The Lord had eaten nothing. The minstrel obtained some money from
him, and bought a fat kid, and roasted it. And as he roasted it, he
drew out the kidneys, and ate them.
When it was set before his companion, the latter asked for the kidneys.
The minstrel replied: the kids in this region have no kidneys.
Now it befell, on another occasion, that another wedding was announced,
and another rich man died. And God said: this time I wish to go the
wedding, and do you go to the funeral; and I will show you how to raise
the dead man. You shall make the sign of the cross on him, and you
shall bid him to rise, and he will arise. But first of all, let them
promise you a reward. The minstrel said: indeed, so I will.
He went, and promised to raise him; but he did not rise, for all his
signing.
The dead man was the son of a great lord.
The father waxed wroth, seeing that this man was making a mock of him.
He sent him away to be hanged by the neck.
The Lord went out to meet him, and said: Do not fear, for I will raise
him; but tell me, on your honour, who did eat the kidneys of the kid?
The minstrel replied: By that holy world whither I must go, oh my
partner, I did not eat them. The Lord, seeing that he could not make
him confess, had pity on him. So he went, and raised the dead man. And
the other was set free, and received the recompense that he had been
promised. They returned home. The Lord said: O my partner, I wish to
leave you, because I have not found you to be as loyal as I thought you
were.
And he, seeing that it must be so perforce, said: I am content. Do you
divide, and I will take my share. The Lord divided the money into three
parts. And the minstrel said: What are you doing? We are but two. Said
the Lord: That is indeed so; but this one part shall belong to him who
ate the kidneys, and the others shall be, one yours and one mine.
Then the minstrel said: By my faith, since you speak this, I must
indeed tell you that I did eat them. I am so old, that I may tell no
more lies. And so such things can be proved for money, which a man will
confess who would not confess them in order to save his own life [134].