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¶How Apuleius was made a common Asse to fetche home woodde, and how he was handled by a boye.
AFter that I was thus handled by the Horses, I was brought home againe to the mille, but be∣holde, fortune (insatiable of my tormentes) had deuised a new paine for me, I was appointed to bringe
home woodde euery day frō a high hill, and who should driue me thither and home againe, but a boy that was the veriest hangeman in all the worlde, who was not contēted with the great trauell that I toke in climinge vp the hill, neither pleased when he sawe my hoofes torne and worne away by sharpe flintes, but he beate me cruelly with a great staffe, in so much that the mary of my boanes did ake for woo, for he woulde strike me continually on my right hippe and still in one place, whereby he tare my skinne and made of my wide sore a great hole or trench, or rather a windowe to looke out at, and although it ranne downe of bloud, yet would he not cease beatinge me in that place, moreouer he la∣ded me with such great trusses and burthens of woodde that you would thinke they had bene rather prepared for Olyphantes then for me, and when he perceaued that my woodde hanged more of one side then an other (when he shoulde rather take away the heauy shides, and so ease me or els lifte them vp to make them equall with the other) he layde great stones vpon the weaker side to remedie the matter, yet coulde he not be con∣tented with this my greate miserie and immoderate burthens of woodde, but when we came to any riuer (as their weare many by the way) he to saue his féete from water woulde leape vpon my loynes likewise, whiche was no small lode vpon lode. And if by ad∣uenture I had fell downe in any dirtie or myry place, when he should haue pulled me out, either with ropes, or lifted me vp by the tayle, he woulde neuer healpe me, but layde me on from toppe to toe with a mighty staffe, till he had lefte no heare on all my bodie, no not so muche as on mine eares, whereby I was com∣pelled by force of the blowes to stande vp.
The same hangeman boye did inuent an other tor∣ment for me, he gathered a great many sharpe thornes as sharpe as néedels, and bounde them together like a faggot and tied them at my taile to pricke me, then was I afflicted on euery side, for if I had endeuored to runne away the thornes would haue pricked me, if I had stoode still the boye would haue beaten me, and yet the boye beate me to make me runne, whereby I per∣ceaued that the hangeman did deuise nothinge els saue to kill me by some manner of meanes, and he woulde sweare and threaten to doo me worse harme, and be∣cause he might haue some occasion to execute his ma∣licious minde, vpon a day (after that I had endeuored to much by my pacience) I lifte vp my héeles and spur∣ned him welfauoredly. Then he inuented this ven∣geance against me, after that he had well laded me with shrubbes and rubbell and trussed it rounde vpon my backe, he brought me out into the way: then he stale a burninge coale out of a mans house of the nexte village and put it into the middle of the rubbell, the rubbell and shrubbes beinge very drie, did fall on a light fire and burned me on euery side. I coulde sée no remedie how I might saue my selfe, and in suche a case it was not beste for me to stande still: but fortune was fauorable towardes me, perhaps to reserue me for more daungers, for I espied a great hole full of rayne water that fell the day before, thither I ranne haste∣ly and plunged my selfe therein, in suche sorte that I quenched the fire and was deliuered from that present perill, but the vile boye to excuse him selfe declared to all the neyghbours and sheapeherdes aboute that I willingly tombled in the flere as I passed through the villages. Then he laughed vpon me saiynge: Howe
longe shall we nourishe and keepe this fyry Asse in vaine.
One sorrowe that the b••ye wrought to A∣puleius.