When the liar appeared to demand his three florins , the wife met him with tears in her eyes , and told him that her husband was dead . ` Where have you buried him ? ' asked the liar . ` In the hay-loft , ' answered the wife . ` Then I will go there , and take away some hay in payment of his debt , ' said the liar . And proceeding to the hay-loft , he began to toss about the hay with a pitch-fork , prodding it into the trusses of hay , till , in terror of his life , the thief crept out and promised his partner to pay him the three florins on the following Saturday . When the day came he got up at sunrise , and going down into the crypt of a neighbouring chapel , stretched himself out quite still and stiff in an old stone coffin . But the liar , who was quite as clever as his partner , very soon bethought him of the crypt , and set out for the chapel , confident that he would shortly discover the hiding-place of his friend . He had just entered the crypt , and his eyes were not yet accustomed to the darkness , when he heard the sound of whispering at the grated windows . Listening intently , he overheard the plotting of a band of robbers , who had brought their treasure to the crypt , meaning to hide it there , while they set out on fresh adventures . All the time they were speaking they were removing the bars from the window , and in another minute they would all have entered the crypt , and discovered the liar . Quick as thought he wound his mantle round him and placed himself , standing stiff and erect , in a niche in the wall , so that in the dim light he looked just like an old stone statue . As soon as the robbers entered the crypt , they set about the work of dividing their treasure . Now , there were twelve robbers , but by mistake the chief of the band divided the gold into thirteen heaps . When he saw his mistake he said they had not time to count it all over again , but that the thirteenth heap should belong to whoever among them could strike off the head of the old stone statue in the niche with one stroke . With these words he took up an axe , and approached the niche where the liar was standing . But , just as he had waved the axe over his head ready to strike , a voice was heard from the stone coffin saying , in sepulchral tones : ` Clear out of this , or the dead will arise from their coffins , and the statues will descend from the walls , and you will be driven out more dead than alive . ' And with a bound the thief jumped out of his coffin and the liar from his niche , and the robbers were so terrified that they ran helter-skelter out of the crypt , leaving all their gold behind them , and vowing that they would never put foot inside the haunted place again . So the partners divided the gold between them , and carried it to their homes ; and history tells us no more about them . FORTUNATUS AND HIS PURSE Once upon a time there lived in the city of Famagosta , in the island of Cyprus , a rich man called Theodorus .
He ought XXXXX have been the happiest person in the whole world , as he had all he could wish for , and a wife and little son whom he loved dearly ; but unluckily , after a short time he always grew tired of everything , and had to seek new pleasures .
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