THE EMPEROR AND THE PILGRIM

The Emperor [148] riding through the streets of Rome, saw a pilgrim who

seemed to him to bear a close resemblance to his own person, and he

asked his barons whether the said pilgrim was like him.

Everyone said he was. Then the Emperor believed it was true what he

thought about the pilgrim, namely that the pilgrim’s mother might have

been in Rome, and that his Imperial father might have had to do with

her. He asked the pilgrim: Pilgrim, was your mother ever in Rome? And

the pilgrim understood why the Emperor said that, and replied: Sire, my

mother was never in Rome, but my father was, often.

The Emperor appreciated how well the pilgrim had answered: he let him

come to his court, and showed him much honour [149].

Il Novellino: The hundred old tales · 第 150 / 177 题