one, he began anew to batter the door more
furiously than ever.

At this many of the neighbours, who had already been awakened and had
arisen, deeming him some pestilent fellow who had trumped up this
story to spite the woman of the house and provoked at the knocking he
kept up, came to the windows and began to say, no otherwise than as
all the dogs of a quarter bark after a strange dog, ''Tis a villainous
shame to come at this hour to decent women's houses and tell these
cock-and-bull stories. For God's sake, good man, please you begone in
peace and let us sleep. An thou have aught to mell with her, come back
to-morrow and spare us this annoy to-night.' Taking assurance,
perchance, by these words, there came to the window one who was within
the house, a bully of the gentlewoman's, whom Andreuccio had as yet
neither heard nor seen, and said, in a terrible big rough voice, 'Who
is below there?'

Andreuccio, hearing this, raised his eyes and saw at the window one
who, by what little he could make out, himseemed should be a very
masterful fellow, with a bushy black beard on his face, and who yawned
and rubbed his eyes, as he had arisen from bed or deep sleep;
whereupon, not without fear, he answered, 'I am a brother of the lady
of the house.' The other waited not for him to make an end of his
reply, but said, more fiercely than before, 'I know not what hindereth
me from coming down and cudgelling thee what while I see thee stir,
for a pestilent drunken ass as thou must be, who will not let us sleep
this night.' Then, drawing back into the house, he shut the window;
whereupon certain of the neighbours, who were better acquainted with
the fellow's quality, said softly to Andreuccio, 'For God's sake, good
man, begone in peace and abide not there to-night to be slain; get
thee gone for thine own good.'

Andreuccio, terrified at the fellow's voice and aspect and moved by
the exhortations of the neighbours, who seemed to him to speak out of
charity, set out to return to his inn, in the direction of the quarter
whence he had followed the maid, without knowing whither to go,
despairing of his money and woebegone as ever man was. Being loathsome
to himself, for the stench that came from him, and thinking to repair
to the sea to wash himself, he turned to the left and followed a
street called Ruga Catalana,[101] that led towards the upper part of
the city. Presently, he espied two men coming towards him with a
lantern and fearin