sure has had the pig! why, the thing would be seen through:  and they would not come.”  “What shall we do, then?” said Buffalmacco.  Whereto Bruno made answer:—­“It must be done with good pills of ginger and good vernaccia; and they must be bidden come drink with us.  They will suspect nothing, and will come; and pills of ginger can be blessed just as well as bread and cheese.”  “Beyond a doubt, thou art right,” quoth Buffalmacco; “and thou Calandrino, what sayst thou?  Shall we do as Bruno says?” “Nay, I entreat you for the love of God,” quoth Calandrino, “do even so:  for if I knew but who had had the pig, I should feel myself half consoled for my loss.”  “Go to, now,” quoth Bruno, “I am willing to do thy errand to Florence for these commodities, if thou givest me the money.”

Calandrino had some forty soldi upon him, which he gave to Bruno, who thereupon hied him to Florence to a friend of his that was an apothecary, and bought a pound of good pills of ginger, two of which, being of dog-ginger, he caused to be compounded with fresh hepatic aloes, and then to be coated with sugar like the others; and lest they should be lost, or any of the others mistaken for them, he had a slight mark set upon them by which he might readily recognize them.  He also bought a flask of good vernaccia, and, thus laden, returned to the farm, and said to Calandrino:—­“To-morrow morning thou wilt bid those whom thou suspectest come hither to drink with thee:  as ’twill be a saint’s day, they will all come readily enough; and to-night I and Buffalmacco will say the incantation over the pills, which in the morning I will bring to thee here, and for our friendship’s sake will administer them myself, and do and say all that needs to be said and done.”  So Calandrino did as Bruno advised, and on the morrow a goodly company, as well of young men from Florence, that happened to be in the village, as of husbandmen, being assembled in front of the church around the elm, Bruno and Buffalmacco came, bearing a box containing the ginger, and the flask of wine, and ranged the folk in a circle.  Whereupon:  “Gentlemen,” said Bruno, “’tis meet I tell you the reason why you are gathered here, that if aught unpleasant to you should befall, you may have no ground for complaint against me.  Calandrino here was the night before last robbed of a fine pig, and cannot discover who has had it; and, for that it must have been stolen by some one of us here, he would have each of you take and eat one of these pills and drink of this vernaccia.  Wherefore I forthwith do you to wit, that whoso has had the pig will not be able to swallow the pill, but will find it more bitter than poison, and will spit it out; and so, rather, than he should suffer this shame in presence of so many, ’twere perhaps best that he that has had the pig should confess the fact to the priest, and I will wash my hands of the affair.”