When the wise man rose, he fell into it. He began to cry for help. The woman asked: what is the matter? He answered: I have fallen into a ditch. Oh you poor fellow, said the woman, you gaze up at the sky and cannot mind your feet.
The woman got up and helped him, for he was perishing in a little ditch of water from absentmindedness.[3] [[108]]
[1] It would appear that the compiler of the Novellino is referring to Thales of Miletus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, who lived 639–564 B.C. [↑]
[2] St Augustine speaks of Thales in Book VIII, not Book VI. [↑]
[3] The original version of this anecdote is to be found in Diogenes Laertius, Book I. See also Æsop’s fable of the Astronomer. [↑]
XXXIX
Here it is told of Bishop Aldebrandino, and how he was mocked by a friar
When Bishop Aldebrandino[1] was living in his Palace at Orvieto, he was at table one day, in the company of various Franciscans, and there being one of them who was eating an onion with much relish; the Bishop watching him, said to a page: Go to that friar, and tell him that gladly would I change stomachs with him.