They found the Emperor among his barons, still pouring water over his hands as he had been doing when the Count went away with the necromancers.
The Emperor made him tell his tale, and he told it. I have taken a wife. My children are [[80]]forty years old. Three pitched battles have I fought. The world is all topsy-turvy. How comes this?
The Emperor made him relate all this with great mirth for the barons and knights.[5]
[1] uomini d’arti: men of arts literally, artificers, necromancers or magicians. [↑]
[2] Seated at table in accordance with the mediæval custom. [↑]
[3] schiavine. Sacchetti says: “the first thing a pilgrim does when he sets out is to put on his long cloak.” [↑]
[4] lit.: the two masters. [↑]
[5] A similar enchantment is told of in a Turkish tale translated by Petit de la Croix: The Story of Sheik Schehabbedin. [↑]