"God's grace!" said he. "Had I indeed comrades where I believed myself
alone?"
Perceiving this dispute, wherein he had part like the rest, Astillon
laughed and said--
"We all serve one master, and have been comrades and friends from
boyhood; if, then, we are comrades in the same good fortune, we can but
laugh at it. But, to see whether what I imagine be true, pray let me
question you, and do you confess the truth to me; for if that which I
fancy has befallen us, it is as amusing an adventure as could be found
in any book."
They all swore to tell the truth if the matter were such as they could
not deny.
Then said he to them--
"I will tell you my own fortune, and you will tell me, ay or nay, if
yours has been the same."
To this they all agreed, whereupon he said--
"I asked leave of the King to go on a journey."
"So," they replied, "did we."
"When I was two leagues from the Court, I left all my following and went
and yielded myself up prisoner."
"We," they replied, "did the same."
"I remained," said Astillon, "for seven or eight days, and lay in a
closet where I was fed on nothing but restoratives and the choicest
viands that I ever ate.
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