"Yes," he answers, "and I still am so. I was
never more wretched than I am now. And I should have died a long
time ago, had it not been for the king, who in his compassion has
shown me so much gentleness and kindness that he willingly let me
lack nothing of which I stood in need; but I was furnished at
once with ever)thing that I desired. But opposed to the kindness
which he showed me, was Meleagant his son, who is full of
wickedness, and who summoned the physicians to him and bade them
apply such ointments as would kill me. Such a father and
stepfather have I had! For when the king had a good plaster
applied to my wounds in his desire that I should soon be cured,
his treacherous son, wishing to put me to death, had it promptly
taken off and some harmful salve applied. But I am very sure
that the king was ignorant of this; he would not tolerate such
base and murderous tricks. But you do not know how courteous he
has been to my lady: no frontier tower since the time that Noah
built the ark was ever so carefully guarded, for he has guarded
her so vigilantly that, though his son chafed under the
restraint, he would nor let him see her except in the presence of
the king himself. Up to the present time the king in his mercy
has shown her all the marks of consideration which she herself
proposed.
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