“What thou hast deserved, thou must endure,” replied Virgil, “and long and bitter must thy penance be; but first of all restore to this poor creature all that of which thou hast robbed her, and make a public avowal of her innocence and of all thy crimes.”
And this he did; when Virgil said:
“Now from this hour thy spirit shall haunt the street where thou hast lived, and thou shalt never leave it, but wander up and down, thinking of all the evil thou hast wrought. And when thou wouldst curse or rage, it shall come forth from thy mouth in flames, and therewith thou shalt have some short relief.”
As for the girl, she was restored to health, and Virgil made for her a happy life, and she married well, and after a long and prosperous life passed away, having founded a great family in the land.
But the goblin friar still haunts the street in Arezzo, for he has not yet fully and truly repented, and a life as evil as his leaves its stain long after death.
IL GIGLIO DI FIRENZE, OR THE STORY OF VIRGIL AND THE LILIES.
“The lily is the symbol of beauty and love. By the Greeks it was called Χαρμα Αφροδιτης, the joy of Venus, and according to Alciatus, Venus Urania was represented with a lily in her hand.”—J. B. Friedrich: Die Symbolik der Natur.
This story is of the lily, or the stemma, or crest of Florence. One day Virgilio went forth to walk when he met with a Florentine, who saluted him, saying:
“Thou truly shouldst be a Florentine, since thou art by name a vero giglio”—a true lily (Ver’-giglio).
Then the poet replied: