SECOND BOOK.
All the ladies at court shared the sufferings of the countess, lamented and cried with her, and tried sometimes to dispel the lady’s affliction by singing and playing on the harp, but her heart was inaccessible to joy. Every maid of honour gave some good advice, and suggested a remedy to banish the thoughts which oppressed her, still nothing was found that could diminish her grief. The young maiden whose office it was to present her with water[8] was the most modest and discreet of them all, and much beloved by her mistress. Within her breast beat a feeling heart, and her lady’s sorrow brought frequent tears into her eyes. Not liking to appear forward, she had till then always preserved silence, but at last she could not resist her inward urging to propose a remedy as a balm to the wounded feelings of the countess. “Noble dame,” spoke she, “if you listened to me, I could tell you the means whereby your suffering heart would be relieved.” The countess replied, “Speak freely.” “Not far from this palace,” replied the maiden, “lives a pious hermit, in a solitary cavern, to whom many sufferers pilgrimate in
