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THE THIRD BOOK OF THE COURTIER " Methinks this is the beginning of a long story." Then the Magnifico Giuliano turned to madonna Margarita laughing, and said: " You see that Frisio will not let me speak. I wished to tell you now about a woman who, having shown to the Senate that she had good reason to die, cheerfully and fearlessly took the poison in Sextus Pompey's presence, with such steadfastness of spirit and with such affectionate and thoughtful remembrances to her family, that Pompey and all the others who saw such wis- dom and confidence on a woman's part in the dread hour of death, were lost in wonderment and tears." 25-— Then my lord Gaspar said, laughing: " I too remember having read a speech in which an unhappy husband asks leave of the Senate to die, and proves that he has just cause for it in that he cannot endure the continual annoy- ance of his wife's chatter, and prefers to drink the poison, which you say was publicly kept for such purposes, than his wife's words." The Magnifico Giuliano replied: " How many poor women would have just cause for asking leave to die because they cannot endure, I will not say the evil words, but the very evil deeds of their husbands ! I know sev- eral such, who suffer in this world the pains that are said to be in hell." " Do you not believe," replied my lord Gaspar, " that there are also many husbands who have such torment of their wives that they hourly wish for death?" " And what pain," said the Magnifico, " can wives give their husbands that is as incurable as are those that husbands give their wives ? — who if not for love, at least for fear, are submis- sive to their husbands." " Certain it is," said my lord Gaspar, "that the little good they sometimes do proceeds from fear, since there are few in the world who in their secret hearts do not hate their husbands." " Nay, quite the contrary," replied the Magnifico; " and if you recall aright what you have read, we see in all the histories that wives nearly always love their husbands more than husbands love their wives. When did you ever see or read of a husband 193