The Embassadour for too much animositie
and more then needed in the case, or perchance by ignorance of the
proprietie of the Spanish tongue, told the Emperour among other words,
that he was _Hombre el mas ingrato enel mondo_, the ingratest person in
the world to vse his maister so. The Emperour tooke him suddainly with the
word, and said: callest thou me _ingrate_? I tell thee learne better
termes, or else I will teach them thee. Th'Embassadour excused it by his
commission, and said: they were the king his maisters words, and not his
owne. Nay quoth th'Emperour, thy maister durst not haue sent me these
words, were it not for that broad ditch betweene him & me, meaning the
sea, which is hard to passe with an army of reuenge. The Embassadour was
commanded away & no more hard by the Emperor, til by some other means
afterward the grief was either pacified or forgotten, & all this
inconuenience grew by misuse of one word, which being otherwise spoken &
in some sort qualified, had easily holpen all, & yet th'Embassadour might
sufficiently haue satisfied his commission & much better aduaunced his
purpose, as to haue said for this word [_ye are ingrate_,] ye haue not
vsed such gratitude towards him as he hath deserued: so ye may see how a
word spoken vndecently, not knowing the phrase or proprietie of a
language, maketh a whole matter many times miscarrie.
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