Translation:The Three Princes of Serendip/Novella 3
Novella III – Wednesday
IN India there was a city above the sea, named Zeheb, which was ruled by a rich and great Lord, an idolater who adored the Lion. This Lord always had various craftsmen of exceptional skill at his court, but there was one goldsmith among them whose talent in that art was unequalled in the world. And because he was continually making beautiful and wonderful pieces of art, the Lord got the idea that he should make a great golden Lion for him. So, he called him into his presence and had ten thousand gold coins of that land to him delivered, ordering him to produce a golden Lion of the most stunning beauty.
Since the goldsmith had received such a quantity of gold, he had no other thought in mind than to make a Lion of such excellence that no one anywhere in his land could criticize it. And in the space of ten months he produced a golden lion, which lacked only the spirit to be alive. And since the lion was so heavy, he placed some wheels under its paws so that it could be easily be moved anywhere by only ten men. The King was greatly pleased by the excellent workmanship. All who saw admired it so much that they could barely be persuaded that it had been produced by human hand. Because he wanted to recognize the great merit of the goldsmith throughout the land, he assigned to him an annual income of more than one thousand scudi. Now, such generosity from the Lord caused great envy among many goldsmiths in the city and they visited the Lion often to see whether there were any obvious defects in craftmanship that they could criticize, and in so doing gain the Lord's favor.
And among these there was one who was shrewd and very prudent and who said that, not knowing of any defects in the work, the Lion could not contain ten thousand gold pieces, based on its size and quality. And he judged this to be a good opportunity to deprive the goldsmith of his income and to get into the good graces of the Lord, and he focused all his thoughts on this. But since he could not believe that in order to ascertain that the goldsmith had robbed him, the Lord had to have the statue of the animal, which was so perfect, cut entirely into pieces. He did not know exactly how to figure out how else to weigh that much gold. When one day he discussed this with his wife, he told her that whoever knew a method for weighing the Lion, and prove to the Lord that the goldsmith had robbed him, he would without a doubt acquire the favor of the Lord and obtain the annual income assigned to the goldsmith. The woman heard these words and answered her husband, "I am more than sure that if you leave it to me, this trick will soon be revealed to you."
He replied that if this could be investigated, they would lead a happy and joyful life in the future. She, arranged to develop a close acquaintance with the wife of the goldsmith, whom she had met occasionally before, in the belief that thereby she could easily fulfill his desire. So, they met several times at prayer time in front of the Lion and as they talked together about various things, she happened to mention how happy she was to be married to a man whom the Lord valued so much. And after she considered the beauty of the Lion, the other woman told her, "There is only one thing; I feel that such an excellent work is perfect in every respect, but one, and that is not being able to weigh this animal. Without this defect, surely, a similar work could not be found in our Hemisphere.
These words disturbed the wife of the goldsmith because she could not understand how there would be any defect in her husband's Lion. She answered to the other woman that if others had raised such criticism to her husband, she would nevertheless be certain, that he would also have known how to weigh it. “And if we meet again,” she said, “I hope to be able to remove any doubt." When she returned home, she anxiously waited for the night, in the belief that there would be no better time to tell her husband, who was somewhat unpredictable, of the criticism.
So, when night came, and it was time to go sleep, they went to bed. And as the woman began to caress her husband, she started to mention the excellent qualities of his Lion, and she told him at length that she knew of no defect, except for that it could never be weighed because of the great mass of the gold that it was made of.
And she said to her husband, "in truth, since your great knowledge enabled you to put wheels under the paws so that the Lion could easily be moved anywhere, your ingenuity should also enable you to find a way to solve this defect."
These words caused the goldsmith to be annoyed, because if he revealed the method to his wife, he was afraid that one day his theft could be discovered. On the other hand, if he kept it hidden from her, he would seem to have greatly damaged his reputation with her.
He told her, "I have resolved to never reveal this method to anyone. Nevertheless, because you are my wife and I love you with all my heart, I would not want to conceal it from you since I believe that you will never reveal it to anyone. But if, on the other hand, others would learn of my secrets, my reputation would be diminished and likewise, would be your standing and honor among other women." But the woman assured her husband that she would never say a word of this to anyone.
“You know,” the goldsmith told her, “how easily the Lion can be moved anywhere with the wheels. So, anyone who wanted to ascertain its weight, can take it to the seashore and load it onto a ship and the weight could not even be in error by one pound of gold. After it is placed there and the outside of the ship is marked where it touches the sea, the Lion is taken out and the ship is loaded up with stones or other objects till the waterline marking is reached again. By weighing the stones or other objects, the weight of the gold can easily be determined.
The wife listened to this and promised her husband not to reveal this neat secret to anyone. Nevertheless, as daybreak came, when most of the women of low status arise from the bed of their husbands, she went out to the prayer where she met with the wife of the other goldsmith. She told her what her husband had revealed to her and asked her affectionately that she would not mention this to anyone else. She got this promise from her companion and after they had been together for a while, each returned home.
The wife of the second goldsmith, who had learned the secret for weighing the Lion from her friend, was extremely happy and cheerful and when she came home, she told her husband immediately about the discovery and encouraged him to inform the Lord right away of the robbery that was committed. Even without the encouragement of his wife the second goldsmith did just that. Early the next morning he rushed to the palace of the Lord and let one of his chamberlains know that he had something important to discuss. And at an audience with the Lord he revealed the robbery that had been committed by the other goldsmith. And after he showed him how to ascertain this, he asked permission to return home.
Afterwards, the Lord called the goldsmith who had made the Lion in front of him. He wanted to send him to an area outside the city so that he would not be aware how the accusation against him would be ascertained. So, he was sent to a village at a day's distance, supposedly because of some affair of the palace.
And the same night that the goldsmith had left the city, the Lion was brought to the seashore, according to the instructions received. And upon weighing it was found that the goldsmith had robbed him of more than two hundred pieces of gold. So, the Lord was extremely angry and furious.
As soon as the goldsmith had returned from the village, he was taken in custody, and brought into his presence. He was reminded of the benefits and honors that had been bestowed upon him and of the wickedness and robbery he had committed. He gave orders that he should be brought to the top of a tower, not far from the city. The door was walled up with bricks, so he could not leave and in the end, he would die there from hunger, or throw himself from the high tower, thereby killing himself. The order, which was immediately carried out by the ministry, gave his wife, who had been the reason for all his misfortune great sorrow and immeasurable worry, due to her revealing the secret for weighing the Lion. She was more distressed than any other woman had ever been, so early the following morning she went to the tower, bitterly crying. She lamented greatly to her husband and confessed to him that she had been the reason of his great misfortune by revealing the method for weighing the Lion to her perfidious and disloyal friend. But her husband, who was walled up on the top of the tower, and who knew that he was certainly going to die in a few hours, said to her, "Your tears are now superfluous, and I don't see how they in any way can help me escape. You already know that you will have been the cause of my death; and it is therefore also right that you alone can rescue me from that and thereby prove that you truly love me and atone for your great sin. You see that at the top of this tower I am forced to die of hunger, or kill myself by jumping. So, with everything in your power you are obliged to help me with the escape of my life.”
“Therefore, return immediately to the city and bring with you many long very thin threads of silk to tie to the legs of many ants which you place against the wall of the tower. And you will grease their heads with butter because they like this a lot and as they sense its smell, they will continue to climb hoping that the butter will be close by. So, one may hope that at least one out of a great number of these will be able to climb up here. If it pleases God that this will happen, I am sure that in a few hours I will escape alive. And bring together with the thin silk also a thick chord which you tie to the thin ones and which I will pull up, and to which then a thin chord is tied. And after the thick chord has been pulled up, I will tie it on top of the tower to a pulley. Bring all these things with you under cover from the city and with these I will certainly free myself from the danger of death.”
After the sorrowful woman heard these words she was comforted somewhat and rushed immediately to the city. In a few hours she was back at the tower with all what her husband had asked for. And after having carried out what he asked her to do, it happened that in a very short time he could pull the thick cord and the pulley to the top of the tower. And he secured the pulley to a heavy beam that was there and in the early hours of the night he sent one end of the chord to his wife below and ordered her to tie it to her waist. He did this because she did not have the strength to be able to support him if she just held the end of the rope in her hands. With her body as a counterweight he would slowly lower himself. And as soon as he had reached the ground, he would slowly send her down with the same end of the rope to which he had tied himself. The woman who desired nothing else but the well-being of her husband carried this out in short order. She tied one end of the rope to her waist which enabled her husband to safely escape for his life. So, when he reached the ground, and the woman arrived at the top of the tower, he told her that she had to enter the tower, and that she had to drop the end of the chord to which she had been tied down to him below. This was because he wanted to tie a piece of wood to it so that once she pulled the rope up again, and straddled the wood when she mounted it, she could descend more easily.
Obeying the words of her husband, the wife threw the end of the chord down to him. He then furiously pulled the entire chord out of the pulley. And with his eyes towards the top of the tower, with his soul full of hate against the wife, who had put his life in such danger, he said, "Guilty and malicious woman, where you are now, because of me, you will certainly have to die. Because it is right, that you will meet that fate of death that the Lord had intended for me because of your loose tongue." And after he spoke these words, he threw the chord which he had pulled out of the pulley in a small stream near the tower together with the silk threads and the thin rope, that had been thrown down from the tower, so that he would not be discovered by anyone. After having walked the whole night to avoid being seized by anyone and again being taken into custody by the Lord, he came to a village, sufficiently far away from the city, where he would not be recognized by anybody.
Meanwhile, his wife was left behind on top of the tower, distressed and in great fear. She surely would have to die there and she cried wildly all night, so much so that when day arrived, some travelers who were passing through the area, were listening to her cries for mercy and help. So, when the news reached the Lord that in the tower where the goldsmith had been condemned to death, it was his wife who was fiercely weeping and asking the passers-by for mercy and help, he immediately ordered his minister to rush to the tower and have her be brought to the palace. This was promptly done and when the woman arrived before him, she told him all that had occurred.
When the lord learned of the shrewdness and subtle ingenuity with which the goldsmith had deceived his wife, he could not stop laughing. The same day, he proclaimed in the area where the tower was located that if the goldsmith came into his presence, he would forgive him his misdeed. When the goldsmith heard this news, he returned to the city happily and joyfully, and he presented himself in front of the Lord. He was asked to tell the entire story again, and laughing out loud, he asked the woman to come into his presence. He reconciled the couple by forgiving the mistake of the goldsmith. Thereafter, he assigned an estate near the city to the other goldsmith who had revealed to him the theft, which provided his family with an income. He also made peace between the two goldsmiths and send them back to their homes, happy and content.
It cannot be described how delighted Beramo was and whoever else who had heard the story about the strange way in which the goldsmith had tricked his wife. When the storyteller ended, a gentle dance was played, which greatly cheered Beramo's heart and markedly improved his condition. Then, since it was already late, the tables were prepared for dinner and afterwards everyone went to their rooms to rest. On Thursday morning, the entire court dressed in the same yellow color with which the fourth palace was adorned and moved there.
Beramo, true to his custom spent a long time with the damsel who was there, and after the tables had been cleared, the fourth storyteller was called in and asked to tell about a beautiful event. He gave due reverence to the Lord and began his story as follows: