The Heptameron of the Tales of Margaret, Queen of Navarre, Vol. 2

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A certain Bornet, less loyal to his wife than she to him,

desired to lie with his maidservant, and made his enterprise

known to a friend, who, hoping to share in the spoil, so

aided and abetted him, that whilst the husband thought to

lie with his servant he in truth lay with his wife. Unknown

to the latter, he then caused his friend to participate in

the pleasure which rightly belonged to himself alone, and

thus made himself a cuckold without there being any guilt on

the part of his wife. (1)

In the county of Alletz (2) there lived a man named Bornet, who being married to an upright and virtuous wife, had great regard for her honour and reputation, as I believe is the case with all the husbands here present in respect to their own wives. But although he desired that she should be true to him, he was not willing that the same law should apply to both, for he fell in love with his maid-servant, from whom he had nothing to gain save the pleasure afforded by a diversity of viands.



1 For a list of tales similar to this one, see post,

Appendix A.



2 Alletz, now Alais, a town of Lower Languedoc (department

of the Gard), lies on the Gardon, at the foot of the

Cevennes mountains. It was formerly a county, the title

having been held by Charles, Duke of Angoulême, natural son

of Charles IX.-M.

Now he had a neighbour of the same condition as his own, named Sandras, a tabourer (3) and tailor by trade, and there was such friendship between them that, excepting Bornet’s wife, they had all things in common.
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