Then Bertran de Born came into his hands, and he asked for him and said: you declared you had more sense than any man in the world; now where is your sense? Bertran replied: Sire, I have lost it. And when did you lose it? I lost it when your son died.
Then the King knew that he had lost his wit for love of his son[1], so he pardoned him and loaded him with rich gifts. [[77]]
[1] The passage is not clear and is probably corrupt. I have added the word “lost”. For Bertran see Dante, Inf. XXVIII, 134, 22. [↑]
XXI
How three necromancers came to the court of the Emperor Frederick
The Emperor Frederick was a most noble sovereign, and men who had talent flocked to him from all sides because he was liberal in his gifts, and looked with pleasure on those who had any special talent.
To him came musicians, troubadours, and pleasant story-tellers, men of art[1], jousters, fencers and folk of every kind.
One day the table was set and the Emperor was washing his hands,[2] when there came to him three necromancers garbed in long pilgrims’ robes.[3] They greeted him forthwith, and he asked: which of you is the master? One of them came forward and said: Sire, I am he. And the Emperor besought him that he would have the [[78]]courtesy to show his art. So they cast their spells and practised their arts.