Three jolly friends sat down to eat, A merrier crew you could not meet. They tried and emptied every dish, For better fare they could not wish. The varlet next before them placed A dish with three fat pigeons graced. Each ate his pigeon, bones and all, But pigeons twain were left withal. This enigma seemed to the company to be one very difficult to solve, and finally it was judged to be impossible, for no one saw how, after each had eaten his pigeon, two out of the three could remain on the board, but they did not look for the snake which was hidden in the grass. When, therefore, Arianna saw that the secret of her enigma had not been grasped, and that the solution was impossible, she turned her fair and delicate face towards the Signora and said: “It seems, dear lady, that my enigma is not to be solved, and yet it is not so difficult but that it may be easily disentangled. The answer is this: Out of the three jolly friends one bore the name of Each. As they sat together at the same table they ate as if they had been famished wolves, and when, at the end of the feast, the varlet brought them three roast pigeons, two out of the three revellers were so full that they could eat no more, but the one whose name was Each finished his neatly, so there were two pigeons left when they rose from the table.” The solution of this obscure riddle was greeted with great laughter and applause, for not one of the company could have solved it. Thus, the last story of this present night having been told, the Signora directed everyone to go home to rest. And by the flare of torches, which shed over all the place a white light, the ladies and gentlemen were escorted to the landing-place. =The End of the First Night.= [Illustration: [Fleuron]] =Night the Second.= [Illustration: [Fleuron]] [Illustration: [Fleuron]] =The Fables and Enigmas of Messer Giovanni Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio.= =Night the Second.=