The King of Cyprus and the Woman of Gascony
Intro
- Storyteller: Elissa
- Elissa wants to tell a story to show how one properly chosen word can be more effective than a strong punishment.
Story
- A gentlewoman of Gascony is on the return leg of a road trip to the Holy Land when she's attacked by a gang of thugs in Cyprus. Naturally, she's pretty upset.
- She decides to lodge a complaint with the King of Cyprus, but everyone tells her she's wasting her time because he's spineless.
- The lady despairs but thinks that she'll feel better if she at least teases the king for his attitude.
- So she appears before him and "humbly" asks if he can teach her how to take such insults calmly, since he's so good at lying down and taking it.
- The king feels the sting of her comments and finally gets some courage. He punishes the lady's assailants and stands up to all the evildoers in his kingdom.