“I shall,” said Ulenspiegel.
“I will wager you a hundred florins.”
“They are mine!” said Ulenspiegel.
The very next day, tired as he was, he ran through all the city and found out that the Pope was to say Mass that morning at the Church of St. John Lateran. Thither Ulenspiegel repaired, and took up a position as prominently in the Pope’s view as he could. And every time that the Pope elevated chalice or Host, Ulenspiegel turned his back to the altar. Now one of the cardinals was officiating with the Pope, swarthy of countenance he was, malicious and corpulent; and on his shoulder he carried a monkey. He reported Ulenspiegel’s behaviour to the Pope, who straightway after Mass sent four terrible-looking soldiers (such as one finds in those warlike lands) to seize the pilgrim.
“What religion do you profess?” the Pope asked him.
“Most Holy Father,” answered Ulenspiegel, “my religion is the same as my landlady’s.”
The Pope had the woman fetched.
“What is your religion?” he asked her.
“The same as your Holiness’s,” she told him.
“That also is mine,” said Ulenspiegel.