ere to-morrow be
night, whereas thou lookest for sentence of death, hear that of thine
acquittance.'

'Honest man,' replied the prisoner, 'since thou art solicitous of my
deliverance, albeit I know thee not nor mind me ever to have seen
thee, needs must thou be a friend, as thou sayst. In truth, the sin,
for which they say I am to be doomed to death, I never committed;
though others enough have I committed aforetime, which, it may be,
have brought me to this pass. But this I say to thee, of reverence to
God; an He presently have compassion on me, I will not only promise,
but gladly do any thing, however great, to say nothing of a little
one; wherefore ask that which pleaseth thee, for without fail, if it
come to pass that I escape with life, I will punctually perform it.'
Then said the pilgrim, 'What I would have of thee is that thou pardon
Tedaldo's four brothers the having brought thee to this pass,
believing thee guilty of their brother's death, and have them again
for brethren and for friends, whenas they crave thee pardon thereof.'
Whereto quoth Aldobrandino, 'None knoweth but he who hath suffered the
affront how sweet a thing is vengeance and with what ardour it is
desired; nevertheless, so God may apply Himself to my deliverance, I
will freely pardon them; nay, I pardon them now, and if I come off
hence alive and escape, I will in this hold such course as shall be
to thy liking.'

This pleased the pilgrim and without concerning himself to say more to
him, he exhorted him to be of good heart, for that, ere the ensuing
day came to an end, he should without fail hear very certain news of
his safety. Then, taking leave of him, he repaired to the Seignory and
said privily to a gentleman who was in session there, 'My lord, every
one should gladly labour to bring to light the truth of things, and
especially those who hold such a room as this of yours, to the end
that those may not suffer the penalty who have not committed the crime
and that the guilty may be punished; that which may be brought about,
to your honour and the bane of those who have merited it, I am come
hither to you. As you know, you have rigorously proceeded against
Aldobrandino Palermini and thinking you have found for truth that it
was he who slew Tedaldo Elisei, are minded to condemn him; but this is
most certainly false, as I doubt not to show you, ere midnight betide,
by giving into your hands the murderers of the young man in question.'

The wo