“Nay, that is a whimsical idea of yours,” said Hircan, “to hold that an honourable woman may in all honour betray the love of a man; but that a man may not do as much towards a woman. You would make out that the heart of the one differs from that of the other; but for my part, in spite of their differences in countenance and dress, I hold them to be alike in inclination, except indeed that the guilt which is best concealed is the worst.” Thereto Parlamente replied with some heat-- “I am well aware that in your opinion the best women are those whose guilt is known.” “Let us leave this discourse,” said Simontault; “for whether we take the heart of man or the heart of woman, the better of the twain is worth nothing. And now let us see to whom Parlamente is going to give her vote, so that we may hear some fine tale.” “I give it,” she said, “to Geburon.” “Since I began,” (18) he replied, “by talking about the Grey friars, I must not forget those of Saint Benedict, nor an adventure in which they were concerned in my own time. Nevertheless, in telling you the story of a wicked monk, I do not wish to hinder you from having a good opinion of such as are virtuous; but since the Psalmist says ‘all men are liars,’ and in another place, ‘there is none that doeth good, no not one,’ (19) I think we are bound to look upon men as they really are. If there be any virtue in them, we must attribute it to Him who is its source, and not to the creature. Most people deceive themselves by giving overmuch praise or glory to the latter, or by thinking that there is something good in themselves. That you may not deem it impossible for exceeding lust to exist under exceeding austerity, listen to what befel in the days of King Francis the First.” 18 See the first tale he tells, No. 5, vol. i.--Ed. 19 Psalms cxvi. 11 and xiv. 3. [Illustration: 071.jpg Tailpiece] [Illustration: 073a.jpg Sister Marie and the Prior] [Sister Marie and the Prior] [Illustration: 073.jpg Page Image] _TALE XXII_. _Sister Marie Heroet, being unchastely solicited by a Prior of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields, was by the grace of God enabled to overcome his great temptations, to the Prior’s exceeding confusion and her own glory_. (1) 1 This story is historical, and though M. Frank indicates points of similarity between it and No. xxvii. of St. Denis’ _Comptes du Monde Adventureux_, and No. vi. of Masuccio de Solerac’s _Novellino_, these are of little account when one remembers that the works in question were written posterior to the _Heptameron_. The incidents related in the tale must have occurred between 1530 and 1535. The Abbey of Saint- Martin-in-the-Fields stood on the site of the present Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, Paris.--Ed.