A Schole of wise conceytes wherein as euery conceyte hath wit, so the most haue much mirth : set forth in common places by order of the alphabet / translated out of diuers Greeke and Latine wryters by Thomas Blage ...

62 Of a deceiuer.

THere was a certayne man who sowed leade and other trifles in a peece of lether, as thou∣ghe it had bene some Iewell, and in the sighte of a riche marchaunt and other men, he priuily threw it to the ground, & after tooke it vp agayn, inquiring if any had lost it: This rich mā béeing couetous, came & affirmed it to be his: to whom the Deceiuer sayde: Is it a precious thing as it séemeth? The Marchaunte auouched it to bée. Mary (quod the other) thou shalte not haue it it againe except thou giue me ten crownes for a rewarde, which he willingly gaue, & foorthwith departed and opened the leather, but he percei∣uing it to be a small trifle, went to the deceiuer, alleaging that he was beguyled, wherefore he

threatned to hang him, excepte he restored the .x. Crownes. Why (quod the deceiuer) didste thou craftely & falsely say it was thine? and he caught holde on his hande, and would haue brought him before the Maior to trie their honestie, but the marchant plucked backe his hand and ran away.