The Golden Ass of Apuleius/Chapter 35
THE THIRTY-FIFTH CHAPTER
How a woman killed her selfe and her child, because her husband haunted harlots.
FTER that we had passed a great part of our journey, we came to a
village where we lay all night, but harken, and I will tell you what
mischiefe happened there: you shall understand there was a servant to
whom his Master had committed the whole government of his house, and was
Master of the lodging where we lay: this servant had married a Maiden
of the same house, howbeit he was greatly in love with a harlot of the
towne, and accustomed to resort unto her, wherewith
his wife was so
highly displeased and became so jealous, that she gathered together all
her husbands substance, with his tales and books of account, and threw
them into a light fire: she was not contented with this, but she tooke
a cord and bound her child which she had by her husband, about her
middle and cast her selfe headlong into a deepe pit. The Master taking
in evill part the death of these twaine, tooke his servant which was the
cause of this murther by his luxurie, and first after that he had put
off all his apparell, he annointed his body with honey, and then bound
him sure to a fig-tree, where in a rotten stocke a great number of
Pismares had builded their neasts, the Pismares after they had felt the
sweetnesse of the honey came upon his body, and by little and little (in
continuance of time) devoured all his flesh, in such sort, that there
remained on the tree but his bare bones: this was declared unto us by
the inhabitants of the village there, who greatly sorrowed for the death
of this servant: then we avoiding likewise from this dreadfull lodging
incontinently departed away.