What passed between the King and his daughter Sinforosa.

There are in nature many things, of which we do not know the cause. Some persons have their teeth set on edge when they see a loaf cut with a knife; sometimes a man trembles at sight of a rat; I have seen another shudder over the cutting of a radish: and others leave the table, at a formal dinner, on seeing olives placed upon it. Ask the cause? no one can tell it; and they who fancy they can best solve the mystery, say, that the stars have a certain antipathy with the temperature of the man, inclining him to certain actions, fears, and aversions, touching the before-mentioned things, and others similar that occur every day. One of the definitions of man, is to say that he is a laughing animal, for man only laughs, and no other animal; and I think that we may also say, he is a weeping animal—an animal that weeps.

It is lawful for a wise man to weep for three things. For having committed a sin; when he asks pardon for it; and for jealousy. No other tears suit the dignity of a grave man.

Let us return then to the fainting Periander; and although he weeps neither as a sinner nor as a penitent, he sheds the tears of a jealous lover; but he lacks not one who will both excuse his tears, and even wipe them away, as Auristella did, who had thrown him into this condition more from artifice than honestly meaning all she said. He at length recovered his senses, and hearing steps in the apartment, he turned his head and saw beside him Ricla and Constance, who were come to visit Auristella. He seized the opportunity of departing, not finding words wherewith to answer his mistress, so he retired to consider the advice she had given him.

Sinforosa, meanwhile, was longing to hear the sentence that had been pronounced in the court of love, on the first hearing of her suit; and she would, doubtless, have been first to visit Auristella instead of Ricla and Constance, but that she was prevented doing so, by receiving a message from the king her father, who required her immediate presence. She went to him, and found him alone. Polycarp made her sit near him; and, after a few moments' silence, in a low voice (as if he feared being overheard) he said, "Daughter, although thy tender youth has probably kept thee in ignorance of that passion which is called love; and although my maturer age might well preserve me from its jurisdiction, yet nature will sometimes deviate from its regular course, lighting up the flame of love in the bosom of a mere girl, and consuming with its blaze the dry heart of the old man."

When Sinforosa heard her father speak thus, she never doubted but that he knew her wishes, nevertheless she was silent, not liking to interrupt him, until he should have spoken more clearly; in the meantime her heart was beating quickly. Her father went on, saying, "After I lost your mother, O my daughter, I devoted myself to the study of your gratification and comfort. I have done in all things as you advised, and as you well know have hitherto preserved strictly and carefully the state of widowhood, as much for the sake of my own character as to keep the Catholic faith which I profess; but since the arrival of these new guests in our city, all the former regularity of my mind has been disconcerted, and the steady course of my life has been disturbed; and, finally, I have fallen from the summit of my boasted discretion, to the very lowest abyss of I know not what desires, which I must die of, if I keep silence, and if I declare them I am disgraced. No longer will I keep you in suspense, daughter, no longer will I be silent. If you would hear further, know that I am dying for love of Auristella; the rays of her bright beauty have penetrated even to the depths of my dried-up heart. I would wish, if it were possible, in giving to you and your sister a step-mother, that her great merits should excuse my so doing; if you agree with me, I care for nothing else that will be said; and as to that, if people think me mad, I will leave my kingdom, and reign only in the heart of my Auristella. There would then be on earth no monarch who could be compared to me. Now, daughter, it is my wish that you should tell her of this, and learn from her what is very important for me to know, (although I do not believe she will make many difficulties,) whether her prudence will esteem my station and authority enough counterpoise to my age, and whether my riches may be set against the difference of our years. It is a great thing to be a queen; it is a great thing to command. Honours are enjoyable things; and amusement and pleasure are not only to be found in marriages where the ages are equal. In reward for this embassy that I employ you in, I am thinking of improving your own condition; if you are as wise as I think you are, you will scarcely desire anything better. Look you, now, there are four things which a person of high rank requires; these are, a good wife, a good house, a good horse, and good armour. The two first are equally necessary for a woman, and even more so, for the wife does not raise her husband, but the husband does raise the wife; so, Auristella, let her be who she may, being my wife will become a queen; and her brother, Periander, being my brother-in-law, and I giving him to you as a husband, and honouring him with the title of my brother, you will be as great in being his wife, as in being my daughter."

"But," said Sinforosa, "how do you know, Sire, that Periander is not already married, and even if he is not, that he wishes to marry me?"

"I think," said the king, "that one may presume he is unmarried, from his wandering life through foreign countries, a thing incompatible with domestic life. That he will love you, I feel assured, both from his well-known sense and prudence, which will point out the advantages of such an alliance; and since the beauty of............