. The former is entitled "The Godchild of St. Francis of Paula,"
and is, briefly, as follows: A queen, through the intercession of St.
Francis of Paula, has a girl, whom she names Pauline, from the saint.
The saint is in the habit of meeting the child on her way to school, and
giving her candy. One day the saint tells her to ask her mother whether
it is best to suffer in youth or old age. The mother replies that it is
better to suffer in youth. Thereupon the saint carries away Pauline, and
shuts her up in a tower, climbing up and down by her tresses, as in
other stories we have already mentioned. In the tower the saint
instructed Pauline in all that belonged to her rank. One day a king
climbs up by the hair, and persuades Pauline to fly with him. She
consents and becomes his bride. When her first child was born St.
Francis came and took it away, rubbed the mother's mouth with blood, and
deprived her of speech. Three times this happened, and then the queen
was repudiated and confined in a remote room, where she spent her time
in praying to St. Francis.

Meanwhile the queen-mother arranged another marriage for her son; but
during the banquet the saint brought Pauline royal robes, and restored
her three children to her. Then he led all four to the banquet-hall, and
the happy family lived thereafter in peace and happpiness.

The "forbidden chamber" is omitted in the above version, but is found in
the Pisan story, "The Woodman." The main idea of the story, however, is
curiously distorted. A woodman had three daughters whom he cannot
support. One day a lady met him in the wood, and offered to take one of
his daughters for a companion, giving him a purse of money, and assuring
him that he would always find enough wood. The lady took her home, and
told her she must not open a certain door during her absence. The girl
did so, however, and saw her mistress in a bath, with two damsels
reading a book. She closed the door at once; but when the mistress
returned and asked her whether she had disobeyed, and what she had seen,
she confessed her fault, and told what she saw. Then the lady cut her
head off, hung it by the hair to a beam, and buried the body.

The same thing happened to the second sister, who opened the door, and
saw the lady sitting at a table with gentlemen. The lady killed her,
too, and then took the third sister, who, in spite of having seen her
two sisters' heads, could not control her curiosity, and opened the
doo