ABSTRACT
A little before this tragedy, I had arrived at the Emperor's court to pay my respects to him, which I did and then went to a province of the kingdom named from the Damotes. As I was on my way there, I almost fell victim to a fatal misfortune. There are, in that province only, certain herbs very similar to our water parsnips, 1 both in their appearance and in the fact that they grow close to water. These plants, however, are so poisonous that if a mule eats them it soon dies. Although I knew about the nature of these herbs, I did not know what they looked like. I happened, then, to be on the banks of a river, doing without a siesta, when I saw one of these herbs so fresh and green that I was sure it was good to eat, for I thought they were water parsnips. I picked some of one of them and put it in my mouth and started to chew it. Nature then stirred in me the sudden fear that this might be the herb I had heard about, but since I was persuaded or the devil willed it, I banished the thought from my mind, saying to myself that that could not be, and I continued to chew; but as doubt and fear were still working in my mind, I spat out what I was chewing. Just then a man arrived who knew the herb. He shouted to me to spit it out, saying it was poisonous. I finally knew the truth of the matter and thanked God for delivering me from so obvious a danger.
