THE THIRTY-FIFTH CHAPTER

The Golden Ass

by Lucius Apuleius

THE THIRTY-FIFTH CHAPTER, THE GOLDEN ASS by Lucius Apuleius

How a woman killed her selfe and her child, because her husband
haunted harlots.

After that we had passed a great part of our journey, we came to
a village where we lay all night, but harken, and I will tell you what
mischiefe happened there : you shall understand there was a
servant to whom his Master had committed the whole government
of his house, and was Master of the lodging where we lay : this
servant had married a Maiden of the same house, howbeit he was
greatly in love with a harlot of the towne, and accustomed to resort
unto her, wherewith his wife was so highly displeased and became
so jealous, that she gathered together all her husbands substance,
with his tales and books of account, and threw them into a light fire
: she was not contented with this, but she tooke a cord and bound
her child which she had by her husband, about her middle and cast
her selfe headlong into a deepe pit. The Master taking in evill part
the death of these twaine, tooke his servant which was the cause
of this murther by his luxurie, and first after that he had put off all
his apparell, he annointed his body with honey, and then bound him
sure to a fig-tree, where in a rotten stocke a great number of
Pismares had builded their neasts, the Pismares after they had felt
the sweetnesse of the honey came upon his body, and by little and
little (in continuance of time) devoured all his flesh, in such sort,
that there remained on the tree but his bare bones : this was
declared unto us by the inhabitants of the village there, who greatly
sorrowed for the death of this servant : then we avoiding likewise
from this dreadfull lodging incontinently departed away.