kick, now a kind word, now a cruel one, reflected how mutable court-fortune is, and would fain have been without the acquaintance of the king. But knowing that to reply to great men is a folly, and like plucking a lion by the beard, he withdrew, cursing his fate, which had led him to the court only to curtail the days of his life. And as he was sitting on one of the doorsteps, with his head between his knees, washing his shoes with his tears and warming the ground with his sighs, behold the bird came flying with a plant in her beak, and throwing it to him said, "Get up, Miuccio, and take courage! for you are not going to play at 'Unload the ass[1]' with your days, but at backgammon with the life of the dragon. Take this plant, and when you come to the cave of that horrid animal, throw it in, and instantly such a drowsiness will come over him that he will fall fast asleep; whereupon nicking and sticking him with a good knife, you may soon make an end of him. Then come away, for things will turn out better than you think."
"Enough!" replied Miuccio; "I know what I carry under my belt; we have more time than money, and he who has time has life." So saying he got up, and sticking a pruning-knife in his belt, and taking the plant, he went his way to the dragon's cave, which was under
- ↑ Scareca l'aseno—a game.
