Atondido Stories
The duke pretended to be unconcerned but in his heart he
was deeply shaken. The voice of the astrologer sounded to him
like the voice of judgment and for the first time conscience began
to trouble him.
As for the governors, they couldn’t eat a bite of food and
were carried from the palace half dead with fright. They piled
their ill-gotten wealth into wagons and rode away to their cas-
tles, where they barred all the doors and windows in order to
keep the devil out.
The duke reformed. He gave up his evil ways and corrected
the abuses of state in the hope of averting if possible his cruel
fate.
The poor shepherd had no inkling of any of these things. He
tended his flocks from day to day and never bothered his head
about the happenings in the great world.
Suddenly one day the devil appeared before him and said: “I
have come, my friend, to repay you for your kindness. When the
moon is in its first quarter, I was to carry off the former gover-
nors of this land because they robbed the poor and gave the
duke evil counsel. However, they’re behaving themselves now
so they’re to be given another chance. But they don’t know this.
Now on such and such a day do you go to the first castle where
a crowd of people will be assembled. When a cry goes up and
the gates open and I come dragging out the governor, do you
step up to me and say: ‘What do you mean by this? Get out of
here or there’ll be trouble!’ I’ll pretend to be greatly frightened
and make off. Then ask the governor to pay you two bags of
gold, and if he haggles just threaten to call me back. After that go
on to the castle of the second governor and do the same thing
and demand the same pay. I warn you, though, be prudent with
the money and use it only for good. When the moon is full,
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