Simontault; "for whether we take
the heart of man or the heart of woman, the better of the twain is worth
nothing. And now let us see to whom Parlamente is going to give her
vote, so that we may hear some fine tale."

"I give it," she said, "to Geburon."

"Since I began," (18) he replied, "by talking about the Grey friars, I
must not forget those of Saint Benedict, nor an adventure in which they
were concerned in my own time. Nevertheless, in telling you the story of
a wicked monk, I do not wish to hinder you from having a good opinion of
such as are virtuous; but since the Psalmist says 'all men are liars,'
and in another place, 'there is none that doeth good, no not one,' (19)
I think we are bound to look upon men as they really are. If there be
any virtue in them, we must attribute it to Him who is its source, and
not to the creature. Most people deceive themselves by giving overmuch
praise or glory to the latter, or by thinking that there is something
good in themselves. That you may not deem it impossible for exceeding
lust to exist under exceeding austerity, listen to what befel in the
days of King Francis the First."

18 See the first tale he tells, No. 5, vol. i.--Ed.

19 Psalms cxvi. 11 and xiv. 3.

[Illustration: 071.jpg Tailpiece]

[Illustration: 073a.jpg Sister Marie and the Prior]

[Sister Marie and the Prior]

[Illustration: 073.jpg Page Image]

_TALE XXII_.

_Sister Marie Heroet, being unchastely solicited by a Prior
of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields, was by the grace of God
enabled to overcome his great temptations, to the Prior's
exceeding confusion and her own glory_. (1)

1 This story is historical, and though M. Frank indicates
points of similarity between it and No. xxvii. of St. Denis'
_Comptes du Monde Adventureux_, and No. vi. of Masuccio de
Solerac's _Novellino_, these are of little account when one
remembers that the works in question were written posterior
to the _Heptameron_. The incidents related in the tale must
have occurred between 1530 and 1535. The Abbey of Saint-
Martin-in-the-Fields stood on the site of the present
Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Paris.--Ed.

In the city of Paris there was a Prior of Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields,
whose name I will keep secret for the sake of the friendship I bore him.
Until he reached the age of fifty years, his life was so austere that
the fame of his hol