Jacopo de' Benedetti da Todi [pp. 630-642]

632 JACOPO DE' BEvEDETH DA ToDL [Aug.,
single grain of salt still preserved the whole mass from corruption. This was his love and veneration for his wife. What her
gentle influence could not effect was to be brought about by her
prayers; but in a way little suspected by either. It was in the
year 1268; Jacopo's fame was at its height, and the hour of retribution at hand.
All the inhabitants of Todi were asse~bled in a large open
space to witness the public games, and a tribune had been
erected, on which the noblest maids and matrons of the city
were seated. The loveliest among them all was Jacopo's young
wife, Lucia, and by universal consent the place of honor was
assigned to her. Little they suspected the sorrow of her young
~ife, as she sat there in her magnificent attire, the recognized
queen of the brilliant assembly; little they knew how her eyes
could rain streams of tears as she~knelt, often for hours together,
in some lonely corner of her palace, pleading for her husband's
soul. The games began, and after each trial of strength or skill
the conqueror raised his eyes to the tribune to receive a token
of approval as his reward-a smile, a flower, and sometimes a
crown of laurel. Then the applause of the multitude burst forth.
T he eyes of all present were fixed on a race which was just being
riin; the goal was almost reached, and every breath was held
with expectation; already Lucia's hand had seized the crown
which she was to place on the conqueror's head, when suddenly
from among the silent crowd there arose a shriek-the tribune
began to totter. It swayed to and fro for an instant; another
moment, a crash of falling timber, and all the loveliness of Todi
was lying amid a heap of ruins. Jacopo had witnessed the catastrophe from a short distance and was on the spot immediately,
seeking with wild cries his beloved Lucia. But the uproar and
confusion were so great that it was some time before one single
victim could be extricated from under the heavy mass of beams
and planks. Then one maimed and wounded body, one corpse
after another, was borne away, and the air was rent with cries of
anguish and despair. But still Lucia was not found. At length
Jacopo discovered her by the shining jewels she wore, and, rushlug forward, succeeded in rescuing her, but apparently dead,
from among the ruins. Carrying her away from the noise and
tumult, he laid her on the grass, and, bending over her, called her
again and again by the most tender names. After a little while
the white lids unclosed, and she seemed to struggle for breath,
when, in spite of her feeble resistance, he tore 9pen her dress in
order to procure her a little relief, but with a cry of horror he