ve that doll, or I will kill the child." Taddeo, who let his proud
wife toss him about like a shuttle, had nevertheless not the heart to
send to Zoza for the doll, but resolved to go himself, recollecting the
sayings: "No messenger is better than yourself," and "Let him who would
eat a fish take it by the tail." So he went and besought Zoza to pardon
his impertinence, on account of the caprices of his wife; and Zoza, who
was in ecstasies at beholding the cause of her sorrow, put a constraint
on herself; and so let him entreat her the longer to keep in sight the
object of her love, who was stolen from her by an ugly slave. At length
she gave him the doll, as she had done the other things, but before
placing it in his hands, she prayed the little doll to put a desire
into the heart of the Slave to hear stories told by her. And when
Taddeo saw the doll in his hand, without his paying a single coin, he
was so filled with amazement at such courtesy that he offered his
kingdom and his life in exchange for the gift. Then, returning to his
palace, he placed it in his wife's hands; and instantly such a longing
seized her to hear stories told, that she called her husband and said,
"Bid some story-tellers come and tell me stories, or I promise you, I
will kill the child."

Taddeo, to get rid of this madness, ordered a proclamation instantly to
be made, that all the women of the land should come on the appointed
day. And on that day, at the hour when the star of Venus appears, who
awakes the Dawn, to strew the road along which the Sun has to pass, the
ladies were all assembled at the palace. But Taddeo, not wishing to
detain such a rabble for the mere amusement of his wife, chose ten only
of the best of the city who appeared to him most capable and eloquent.
These were Bushy-haired Zeza, Bandy-legged Cecca, Wen-necked Meneca,
Long-nosed Tolla, Humph-backed Popa, Bearded Antonella, Dumpy Ciulla,
Blear-eyed Paola, Bald-headed Civonmetella, and Square-shouldered
Jacova. Their names he wrote down on a sheet of paper; and then,
dismissing the others, he arose with the Slave from under the canopy,
and they went gently to the garden of the palace, where the leafy
branches were so closely interlaced, that the Sun could not separate
them with all the industry of his rays. And seating themselves under a
pavilion, formed by a trellis of vines, in the middle of which ran a
great fountain--the schoolmaster of the courtiers, whom he taught
every