was so amazed to hear the voice of
her husband that her loyal heart almost failed her; and she would have
fainted, had not the good citizen and his servants comforted her.

The good citizen being calm and well advised how to act, made haste
to put her to bed, and lay close by her; and charged her well that she
should lie close to him and hide her face, so that no one could see it.
And that being done as quickly as may be, yet without too much haste,
he ordered that the door should be opened. Then his good comrade sprang
into the room, thinking to himself that there must be some mystery, else
they had not kept him out of the room. And when he saw the table laid
with wines and goodly viands, also the bath finely prepared, and the
citizen in a handsome bed, well curtained, with a second person by
his side, God knows he spoke loudly, and praised the good cheer of his
neighbour. He called him rascal, and whore-monger, and drunkard, and
many other names, which made those who were in the chamber laugh long
and loud; but his wife could not join in the mirth, her face being
pressed to the side of her new friend.

"Ha!" said the husband, "Master whore-monger, you have well hidden from
me this good cheer; but, by my faith, though I was not at the feast, you
must show me the bride."

And with that, holding a candle in his hand, he drew near the bed, and
would have withdrawn the coverlet, under which, in fear and silence,
lay his most good and perfect wife, when the citizen and his servants
prevented him; but he was not content, and would by force, in spite of
them all, have laid his hand upon the bed.

But he was not master there, and could not have his will, and for good
cause, and was fain to be content with a most gracious proposal which
was made to him, and which was this, that he should be shown the
backside of his wife, and her haunches, and thighs--which were big and
white, and moreover fair and comely--without uncovering and beholding
her face.

The good comrade, still holding a candle in his hand, gazed for long
without saying a word; and when he did speak, it was to praise highly
the great beauty of that dame, and he swore by a great oath that he had
never seen anything that so much resembled the back parts of his own
wife, and that were he not well sure that she was at home at that time,
he would have said it was she.

She had by this somewhat recovered, and he drew back much disconcerted,
but God knows that they