husband and wife when he came back,
and whilst they were conversing pleasantly, the good woman, at the
demand of her husband, caused to be brought all their children, not
omitting the one who had been born during the absence of him whose name
she bore.

The worthy merchant seeing all these children, and remembering perfectly
how many there should be, found one over and above; at which he was much
astonished and surprised, and he inquired of his wife who was this fair
son, the youngest of their children?

"Who is he?" said she; "On my word, husband, he is our son! Who else
should he be?"

"I do not know," he replied, "but, as I have never seen him before, is
it strange that I should ask?"

"No, by St. John," said she; "but he is our son."

"How can that be?" said her husband. "You were not pregnant when I
left."

"Truly I was not, so far as I know," she replied, "but I can swear that
the child is yours, and that no other man but you has ever lain with
me."

"I never said so," he answered, "but, at any rate, it is ten years since
I left, and this child does not appear more than seven. How then can it
be mine? Did you carry him longer than you did the others?"

"By my oath, I know not!" she said; "but what I tell you is true.
Whether I carried it longer than the others I know not, and if you
did not make it before you left, I do not know how it could have come,
unless it was that, not long after your departure, I was one day in our
garden, when suddenly there came upon me a longing and desire to eat
a leaf of sorrel, which at that time was thickly covered with snow. I
chose a large and fine leaf, as I thought, and ate it, but it was only
a white and hard piece of snow. And no sooner had I eaten it than I
felt myself to be in the same condition as I was before each of my other
children was born. In fact, a certain time afterwards, I bore you this
fair son."

The merchant saw at once that he was being fooled, but he pretended to
believe the story his wife had told him, and replied;

"My dear, though what you tell me is hardly possible, and has never
happened to anyone else, let God be praised for what He has sent us. If
He has given us a child by a miracle, or by some secret method of which
we are ignorant, He has not forgotten to provide us with the wherewithal
to keep it."

When the good woman saw that her husband was willing to believe the tale
she told him, she was greatly pleased. The merchant, who was b