“. . .Since you want it, my lord, I honestly tell you that you have become the laughingstock of the world, and wherever anyone goes, they hear a lot of mockery about you.

And their only pleasure is to expose you and continuously come up with tales about your stinginess. One person says that you print separate calendars with double fasting days to profit from the fasts of the people you have at home. Another says that you always find an excuse to start a quarrel on New Year's or holidays with your servants just so you won’t give them any gifts.

Another person even said that you sued a neighbor's cat because it ate the leftovers from one of your roasts. And another said that you were caught one night trying to steal your horses' oats yourself, and that the coachman you had before me thrashed you without you uttering a single groan, out of shame.

In the end, what can I say to you? . . .” [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]