ully decayed tooth she had ready in her hand and showed it to
her husband, half dead as he was for pain, saying, 'See what thou
hast had in thy mouth all this while.' Nicostratus believed what she
said and now that the tooth was out, for all he had suffered the most
grievous pain and made sore complaint thereof, him seemed he was
cured; and presently, having comforted himself with one thing and
another and the pain being abated, he went forth of the chamber;
whereupon his wife took the tooth and straightway despatched it to her
gallant, who, being now certified of her love, professed himself ready
to do her every pleasure.

The lady, albeit every hour seemed to her a thousand till she should
be with him, desiring to give him farther assurance and wishful to
perform that which she had promised him, made a show one day of being
ailing and being visited after dinner by Nicostratus, with no one in
his company but Pyrrhus, she prayed them, by way of allaying her
unease, to help her go into the garden. Accordingly, Nicostratus
taking her on one side and Pyrrhus on the other, they carried her into
the garden and set her down on a grassplot, at the foot of a fine
pear-tree; where, after they had sat awhile, the lady, who had already
given her gallant to know what he had to do, said, 'Pyrrhus, I have a
great desire to eat of yonder pears; do thou climb up and throw us
down some of them.' Pyrrhus straightway climbed up into the tree and
fell to throwing down of the pears, which as he did, he began to say,
'How now, my lord! What is this you do? And you, madam, are you not
ashamed to suffer it in my presence? Think you I am blind? But now you
were sore disordered; how cometh it you have so quickly recovered that
you do such things? An you have a mind unto this, you have store of
goodly chambers; why go you not do it in one of these? It were more
seemly than in my presence.'

The lady turned to her husband and said, 'What saith Pyrrhus? Doth he
rave?' 'No, madam,' answered the young man, 'I rave not. Think you I
cannot see?' As for Nicostratus, he marvelled sore and said, 'Verily,
Pyrrhus, methinketh thou dreamest.' 'My lord,' replied Pyrrhus, 'I
dream not a jot, neither do you dream; nay, you bestir yourselves on
such wise that were this tree to do likewise, there would not be a
pear left on it.' Quoth the lady, 'What may this be? Can it be that
this he saith appeareth to him to be true? So God save me, and I were
whole as I was