All professed themselves ready enough to eat the pills; and so, having set them in a row with Calandrino among them, Bruno, beginning at one end, proceeded to give each a pill, and when he came to Calandrino he chose one of the pills of dog-ginger and put it in his hand.  Calandrino thrust it forthwith between his teeth and began to chew it; but no sooner was his tongue acquainted with the aloes, than, finding the bitterness intolerable, he spat it out.  Now, the eyes of all the company being fixed on one another to see who should spit out his pill, Bruno, who, not having finished the distribution, feigned to be concerned with nought else, heard some one in his rear say:—­“Ha!  Calandrino, what means this?” and at once turning round, and marking that Calandrino had spit out his pill:—­“Wait a while,” quoth he, “perchance ’twas somewhat else that caused thee to spit:  take another;” and thereupon whipping out the other pill of dog-ginger, he set it between Calandrino’s teeth, and finished the distribution.  Bitter as Calandrino had found the former pill, he found this tenfold more so; but being ashamed to spit it out, he kept it a while in his mouth and chewed it, and, as he did so, tears stood in his eyes that shewed as large as filberts, and at length, being unable to bear it any longer, he spat it out, as he had its predecessor.  Which being observed by Buffalmacco and Bruno, who were then administering the wine, and by all the company, ’twas averred by common consent that Calandrino had committed the theft himself; for which cause certain of them took him severely to task.

However, the company being dispersed, and Bruno and Buffalmacco left alone with Calandrino, Buffalmacco began on this wise:—­“I never doubted but that thou hadst had it thyself, and wast minded to make us believe that it had been stolen from thee, that we might not have of thee so much as a single drink out of the price which thou gottest for it.”  Calandrino, with the bitterness of the aloes still on his tongue, fell a swearing that he had not had it.  Whereupon:—­“Nay, but, comrade,” quoth Buffalmacco, “upon thy honour, what did it fetch?  Six florins?” Whereto, Calandrino being now on the verge of desperation, Bruno added:—­“Now be reasonable, Calandrino; among the company that ate and drank with us there was one that told me that thou hadst up there a girl that thou didst keep for thy pleasure, giving her what by hook or by crook thou couldst get together, and that he held it for certain that thou hadst sent her this pig.  And thou art grown expert in this sort of cozenage.  Thou tookest us one while adown the Mugnone a gathering black stones, and having thus started us on a wild-goose chase, thou madest off; and then wouldst fain have us believe that thou hadst found the stone:  and now, in like manner, thou thinkest by thine oaths to persuade us that this pig which thou hast given away or sold, has been stolen from thee.  But we know thy tricks of old; never another couldst thou play us; and, to