Chapter 160 187. Massaro is the truth

Once upon a time, there was a king who had an ewe, a lamb, a he-goat, and a calf.He loved the animals, especially the calf, so much that he wanted someone reliable to look after them.The most reliable person he ever knew was a farmer whom everyone called Massaro, the truth, because he never told a lie in his life.So the king summoned him to take care of the animals. "Every Saturday," said the king, "you have to come to the palace and report to me the condition of each animal." In this way, every Saturday, Massaro, the truth, came down the mountain, walked up to the king, and took off his hat. , and said to the king:

"Hello, Your Majesty the King!" "Hello, Massaro is the truth. How about the ewe?" "White and charming!" "How is the lamb?" "White and cute!" "How about the goat?" "Fat and lazy!" "How's the calf?" "Fat and strong!" The king took his word for it.After the conversation, Massaro, the truth, went back to the mountain. The king had a minister who was very jealous of Massaro, who was highly valued by the king.One day he said to the king: "Is it true that old Massaro will not tell a single lie? I bet he will tell a lie when he comes next Saturday."

"He won't lie, I'll wager my head!" cried the King. So they made a bet that whoever lost would lose his head.The days passed day by day, and now there were only three days left until Saturday, and the minister became more and more uncertain about how to make Massaro lie. He thought hard all day long and couldn't sleep well.Seeing that he was so worried, his wife asked him, "What happened to make you look so sad?" "Don't talk about it," replied the minister, "it's annoying to mention it." But in the end, he still couldn't help his wife's soft-heartedness, and dragged the whole thing out. "Hey, it's just a little thing, it's up to me." The wife said.

Early the next morning, the minister's wife put on the most splendid clothes and the most expensive jewelry, and a shining gem was dotted on her forehead.Then she got into the carriage and drove to Massaro, the hill where Truth grazes her ewes, lambs, rams, and calves.As soon as the carriage stopped, she jumped down and looked around.The poor farmer, who had never seen such a beautiful woman, was in a moment of confusion, not knowing how to express his warm welcome. "Ah, dear Massaro," she said, "can you do me a favor?" "My lady, I obey your orders," said Massaro.

"You can see that I'm pregnant and I'm craving roast beef liver, and if you don't say yes, I'll die." "My lady," said Massaro, "you can ask me for anything else, but I cannot promise you this. This calf is the king's favorite animal." "Have pity on me!" whimpered the woman, "if you don't grant me this wish, I shall indeed die. Massaro, dear Massaro, please! The king will never know , you can say that the calf fell down the mountain and died!" "No, I can't do that," said Massaro, "and I can't give you beef liver."

After hearing this, the woman began to cry and fell to the ground, as if she was really going to seek death.The farmer's heart relented when he saw her so pretty: he killed the calf and roasted the liver for her to eat.The lady was so happy that she swallowed the beef liver in a few mouthfuls.Then he said goodbye in a hurry, jumped into the carriage and ran away. Poor Massaro was there alone, with a heavy heart. "How am I going to tell the king on Saturday? When he asks me 'how's the calf?' I can't tell him 'Fat and strong!'" He picked up a stick and stuck it in the ground , hung his cloak on it; first he went to a distance, then, taking a few steps forward, saluted the stick, and said to the stick: "Hello, Your Majesty the King!" Then he pretended The voice of the king said:

"Good day, Massaro is the truth. How is my ewe?" "White and charming." "How is the lamb?" "White and lovely." "How about the goat?" "It's fat and lazy." "How's the calf?" He suddenly ran out of words when asked here.He stammered to the stick, "Your Majesty... I took him to graze... he fell off the hill... all his bones were broken... and he died..." He began to speak incoherently. "No," he thought for a moment, "I can't say that to the king, it's a lie." He stuck his stick in another place, hung up his cloak, and repeated the scene, saluting first. , and then there was that conversation again, when he asked "how is the calf?", he faltered again: "Your Majesty, the robbers... stole it away..."

At night, he had trouble falling asleep.The next day happened to be Saturday, and he was walking on the street with his head down, thinking about how to report the matter to the king.He saluted each tree he came across, saying, "How do you do, Your Majesty the King!" and resumed the conversation, but he didn't know how to proceed.He walked through one tree after another, and finally, he came up with a way. "Yes, that's it!" He suddenly became happy, and he repeated the conversation every time he encountered a tree.And every time he said it, he felt extremely happy.

He came to the palace, where the king and ministers were waiting for him to see who would win.Massaro, the truth, took off his hat and said, "Good day, Your Majesty!" "Hello, Massaro is the truth! How is my ewe? " "White and charming!" "How is the lamb?" "White and cute!" "How about the goat?" "Fat and lazy!" "How's the calf?" "Your Majesty the King, Allow me to speak the truth: A lady came that day, beautiful and plump, I fell in love with her beauty, For her, I killed the calf! "

After finishing speaking, Massaro, the truth, lowered his head, and continued: "Your Majesty, if you want to kill me, you can kill me; but I am telling the truth." The king was saddened to lose the calf, but happy to have won the bet.He gave Massaro, the truth, a bag of gold coins, and everyone present applauded him, except for the minister, who had to pay his life for jealousy. (Catania region)