Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/324

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OF THE PUNISHMENT, &c.

manifest that he was leprous. The fourth penny was therefore laid claim to; and the scuffle continuing, revealed a rupture, which entitled him to a fifth. Thus, a fellow unjustly refusing to pay a rightful demand of one penny, was necessitated, much against his inclination, to pay five[1].


APPLICATION.

My beloved, the emperor is Christ. The porter is any prelate, or discreet confessor; the city is the world. The diseased man is a sinner.

  1. This tale is in Alphonsus, and the Cento Novelle Antiche, Nov. 50.