Tell me what is wrong , and perhaps I can help you . ' ` Ah , my son , I have reason enough to be sad ; but for me you would now have been enjoying every kind of pleasure , instead of being buried in this tiny house . ' ` Oh , do not let that trouble you , ' replied Fortunatus , ` it is time I made some money for myself . To be sure I have never been taught any trade . Still there must be something I can do . I will go and walk on the seashore and think about it . ' Very soon -- sooner than he expected -- a chance came , and Fortunatus , like a wise boy , seized on it at once . The post offered him was that of page to the Earl of Flanders , and as the Earl 's daughter was just going to be married , splendid festivities were held in her honour , and at some of the tilting matches Fortunatus was lucky enough to win the prize . These prizes , together with presents from the lords and ladies of the court , who liked him for his pleasant ways , made Fortunatus feel quite a rich man . But though his head was not turned by the notice taken of him , it excited the envy of some of the other pages about the Court , and one of them , called Robert , invented a plot to move Fortunatus out of his way . So he told the young man that the Earl had taken a dislike to him and meant to kill him ; Fortunatus believed the story , and packing up his fine clothes and money , slipped away before dawn . He went to a great many big towns and lived well , and as he was generous and not wiser than most youths of his age , he very soon found himself penniless . Like his father , he then began to think of work , and tramped half over Brittany in search of it . Nobody seemed to want him , and he wandered about from one place to another , till he found himself in a dense wood , without any paths , and not much light . Here he spent two whole days , with nothing to eat and very little water to drink , going first in one direction and then in another , but never being able to find his way out . During the first night he slept soundly , and was too tired to fear either man or beast , but when darkness came on for the second time , and growls were heard in the distance , he grew frightened and looked about for a high tree out of reach of his enemies . Hardly had he settled himself comfortably in one of the forked branches , when a lion walked up to a spring that burst from a rock close to the tree , and crouching down drank greedily . This was bad enough , but after all , lions do not climb trees , and as long as Fortunatus stayed up on his perch , he was quite safe . But no sooner was the lion out of sight , than his place was taken by a bear , and bears , as Fortunatus knew very well , are tree-climbers . His heart beat fast , and not without reason , for as the bear turned away he looked up and saw Fortunatus !
Now in those days every young man carried a sword slung to his belt , and it was a fashion that came in very handily for XXXXX .
Brittany Earl Flanders Fortunatus Robert days first night second tree-climbers