The captive lioness at first turned about angrily and restlessly,
endeavouring to release herself, and uttered a hundred curses. Then she
became quieter as the monk never ceased to pray, to preach, to adjure
her, and towards morning she uttered manifest sighs, which, as it
seemed, were soon followed by contrite sobbing. In short, when the sun
rose, she was lying like a Magdalene at his feet, released from her
bonds, and bedewing the hem of his garment with tears. With dignity,
yet with gladness, Vitalis stroked her head, and promised to pay her
another visit as soon as it was dark, to inform her in what convent he
had found a penitent's cell for her. Then he left, not forgetting first
to impress upon her that she was to say nothing in the meantime about
her conversion, but only tell any one who might enquire, that he had
been very merry with her.
But judge of his surprise, when he reappeared at the appointed time,
and found the door shut fast, and the female freshly bedizened in all
her glory looking out of the window.
"What do you want, priest?" she cried down. And in astonishment he
answered in an undertone, "What does this mean, my lamb? Put away those
sinful baubles, and let me in to prepare you for your penance." "You
want in to me, you naughty monk?" she said with a smile, as if she had
misunderstood him. "Have you money, or money's worth, about you?"
Vitalis stared up open-mouthed, then shook the door desperately; but it
remained shut as fast as ever, and the woman too disappeared from the
window.
At last the laughter and imprecations of the passersby drove the
apparently depraved and shameless monk away from the door of the house
of ill fame. But his thought and endeavour ran entirely upon making his
way into the house again, and finding some means or other to overcome
the devil by which the woman was possessed.
Absorbed in such thoughts, he turned his steps to a church, where,
instead of praying, he thought over ways and means by which he might
contrive to gain access to the lost woman. While thus engaged, his eye
fell upon the box in which the charitable offerings were kept, and
scarcely was the church deserted (it had become dark), when he burst
the box violently open with his fist, poured the contents, which
consisted of a lot of small silver coins, into his tucked-up frock, and
hastened faster than any lover to the sinful woman's abode.
A foppish admirer was about to slip in at the opening door. Vitalis
seized him from behind by his perfumed locks, flung him into the
street, slammed the door in his face as he sprang in himself, and in
another instant found himself once again in the presence of the
disreputable person, who glared at him with flaming eyes when he
appeared instead of her expected admirer. But Vitalis promptly poured
the stolen money out on the table, saying, "Is that enough for
to-night?" Without a word, but carefully, she counted the sum, said "It
is enough!" and put it away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account