ON that very day, as I was passing through the Piazza Navona, and had my
fine retriever with me, just when we came opposite the gate of the
Bargello, my dog flew barking loudly inside the door upon a youth, who
had been arrested at the suit of a man called Donnino (a goldsmith from
Parma, and a former pupil of Caradosso), on the charge of having robbed
him. The dog strove so violently to tear the fellow to pieces, that the
constables were moved to pity. It so happened that he was pleading his
own cause with boldness, and Donnino had not evidence enough to support
the accusation; and what was more, one of the corporals of the guard, a
Genoese, was a friend of the young man’s father. The upshot was that,
what with the dog and with those other circumstances, they were on the
point of releasing their prisoner. When I came up, the dog had lost all
fear of sword or staves, and was flying once more at the young man; so
they told me if I did not call the brute off they would kill him. I held
him back as well as I was able; but just then the fellow, in the act of
readjusting his cape, let fall some paper packets from the hood, which
Donnino recognised as his property. I too recognised a little ring;
whereupon I called out. “This is the thief who broke into my shop and
robbed it; and therefore my dog knows him;” then I loosed the dog, who
flew again upon the robber. On this the fellow craved for mercy,
promising to give back whatever he possessed of mine. When I had secured
the dog, he proceeded to restore the gold and silver and the rings which
he had stolen from me, and twenty-five crowns in addition. Then he cried
once more to me for pity. I told him to make his peace with God, for I
should do him neither good nor evil. So I returned to my business; and a
few days afterwards, Cesare Macherone, the false coiner, was hanged in
the Banchi opposite the Mint; his accomplice was sent to the galleys;
the Genoese thief was hanged in the Campo di Fiore, while I remained in
better repute as an honest man than I had enjoyed before.