XXXVIII Of an astrologer called Melisus, who was reprimanded by a woman
Edward Storer translation
And it is said that this wise man once passed the night in the house of a poor woman.
When he went to his rest in the evening, he said to the woman: look you, woman, leave the house door open to-night, for I am accustomed to get up and study the stars.
The woman left the door open.
That night it rained, and before the house there was a ditch filled with water.
When the wise man rose, he fell into it. He began to cry for help. The woman asked: what is the matter? He answered: I have fallen into a ditch. Oh you poor fellow, said the woman, you gaze up at the sky and cannot mind your feet.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · It would appear that the compiler of the Novellino is referring to Thales of Miletus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, who lived 639–564Note 2 · St Augustine speaks of Thales in Book VIII, not Book VI. ↑Note 3 · The original version of this anecdote is to be found in Diogenes Laertius, Book I. See also Æsop’s fable of the Astronomer. ↑Note 4 · The woman got up and helped him, for he was perishing in a little ditch of water from absentmindedness.3Note 5 · When Bishop Aldebrandino1 was living in his Palace at Orvieto, he was at table one day, in the company of various Franciscans, and there bei