Meanwhile the guests had laughed mockingly, and one of them turned to Raniero and wanted to continue the jesting. He said: “There is one thing, however, which is certain, Raniero, and that is—this time you can’t send to the Madonna in Florence the most precious thing you have won in the battle.”
Raniero asked why he thought that he should not follow his old habit this time.
“For no other reason,” said the knight, “than that the most precious thing you have won is that sacred candle flame, which you were permitted to light at the church of the Holy Sepulchre in presence of the whole corps. Surely you can’t send that to Florence!”
Again the other knights laughed, but Raniero was now in the mood to undertake the wildest projects, just to put an end to their laughter. He came to a conclusion quickly, called to an old squire, and said to him: “Make ready, Giovanni, for a long journey. To-morrow you shall travel to Florence with this sacred candle flame.”
But the squire said a blunt no to this command. “This is something which I don’t care to undertake,” he said. “How should it be possible to travel to Florence with a candle flame? It would be extinguished before I had left the camp.”
Raniero asked one after another of his men. He received the same reply from all. They scarcely seemed to take his command seriously.
It was a foregone conclusion that the foreign knights who were his guests should laugh even louder and more merrily, as it became apparent that none of Raniero’s men wished to carry out his order.
Raniero grew more and more excited. Finally he lost his patience and shouted: “This candle flame shall nevertheless be borne to Florence; and since no one else will ride there with it, I will do so myself!”
“Consider before you promise anything of the kind!” said a knight. “You ride away from a principality.”
“I swear to you that I will carry this sacred flame to Florence!” exclaimed Raniero. “I shall do what no one else has cared to undertake.”