Gesta Romanorum Vol. II (1871)/Of Severity; which avails less than Kindness
TALE LVIII.
OF SEVERITY; WHICH AVAILS LESS THAN KINDNESS.
A certain king had an only son named Medrus, whom he constituted his heir. The son was ungrateful to his father, who punished him by immediate disinherison. The son, thus circumstanced, fled to the king of the Persians, the rival and enemy of his parent. He stated that he was ready to serve him to the death; and excited him to make war upon the author of his being. War was accordingly declared, and they fought together for some time with equal fortune. It happened that Medrus grievously wounded the king, his father, and the blood flowed very copiously. No sooner had he perceived this, than shuddering at the thought of the parricide he was committing, he changed sides, and suddenly attacked the troops of the Persian monarch, and put them to flight. After this, of course, the compact was made void; and the son, returning to his father, meekly sought forgiveness, and obtained it. Thus, peace being established, he was again constituted his father's heir.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the two kings are God and the devil. The son is the human soul, which Christ (who is God), by the effusion of his blood, redeemed.