If, however, his body had but little of the human form in it, by way of amends he had a great deal of wit, which shone the more brilliantly as he advanced in age. His repartees were so pleasant and so much to the purpose, that he was the admiration of all who knew him, and received great alms, which he owed no less to his facetious and good natured manner, than to the compassion excited by his unfortunate person. Deformed and ugly as he was, however, he lived until seventy two years of age, after which he fell sick; and knowing well that his illness must be fatal, he began to reflect on his past life, and sent for a confessor, a pious and learned man, with whom he was acquainted. Having discoursed with him about all his affairs as well spiritual as temporal, he called in a Notary, to whom he indited his will in the following terms: _I recommend my soul to God who created it, and my body to the earth, and I wish to be interred in my own parish_.
_Item, I desire that my ass be sold, and that the money accruing therefrom be employed in defraying the expenses of my burial. As for the pack-saddle, I bequeath it to the Grand Duke my Lord, to whom it of right belongs, and whom I hereby nominate executor to this my will, and universal heir to my property._
This beggar died a few days after, and his Will being made public, became the talk of the city of Florence. As every one had known him to be a merry-conceited fellow all his life, it was the general opinion that he had hoped, by this seeming burlesque, to make folks laugh at him even after his death. But the Duke somewhat differed from them; for having frequently heard of the testator and his pleasantries, he suspected there might be some mystery in it. To unravel it, therefore, he ordered the pack-saddle which was bequeathed to him to be brought to his Palace, where he caused it to be unripped in the presence of the whole court, who were not a little surprised at discovering in it several pieces of gold of all kinds, to the value of three thousand six hundred crowns, of four hundred maravedis each. It came afterwards to be known that it was by the advice of his Confessor that he had thus disposed of his property, which the Grand Duke, like a just and pious Prince, made a good use of, by employing the whole of it in founding a perpetual Mass to be said for the testator’s soul.