Gesta Romanorum
Page 19
TALE XLVI.
OF MORTAL SINS.
JULIUS relates that in the month of May a certain man entered a grove, in which stood seven beautiful trees in leaf. The leaves so much attracted him, that he collected more than he had strength to carry. On this, three men came to his assistance, who led away both the man and the load beneath which he laboured. As he went out he fell into a deep pit, and the extreme weight upon his shoulders sank him to the very bottom. The same author also relates, in his history of animals, that if, after a crow had built her nest, you wished to hinder her from hatching her eggs, place between the bark and the tree a quantity of pounded glass;* and as long as it remained in that situation, she would never bring off her young.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the grove is the world, wherein are many trees, pleasant indeed to the eye, but putting forth only mortal sins. With these man loads himself. The three men who brought assistance, are the devil, the world, and the flesh: the pit is hell. Again, the crow is the devil; the nest the heart; which he too frequently inhabits. The pounded glass is the remembrance of our latter end, the tree is the soul, and the bark is the human body.
* Cineres; ashes of glass.
TALE XLVII.
OF THREE KINGS.
A DANISH king had the greatest reverence for the three Eastern potentates† whom the star led to Jerusalem on the nativity of our blessed Lord; and he was usually in the habit of invoking them to his aid upon any dilemma. The pious king set out with a great company to Cologne, where the bodies of these sainted kings are preserved with great splendour, taking with him three golden crowns, constructed after a wonderful and royal fashion. Besides this, he distributed more than six thousand marks to the church and to the poor, thus leaving an example of faith to his people. As he returned to his own dominions, he fell into a deep sleep; and dreamt that he beheld the three kings bearing upon their heads the crowns he had lately presented, from whence issued a dazzling lustre. Each appeared to address him in turn. The first and the older of the three said, “My brother, thou hast happily arrived hither, and happily shalt thou return.” The next said, “Thou hast offered much, but more shalt thou carry back with thee.” The third said, “My brother, thou art faithful: therefore with us shalt thou conjointly reign in heaven at the end of twenty-three years.” Then the elder presented to him a pyx* filled with gold—“Receive,” said he, “a treasury of wisdom, by which thou wilt judge thy people with equity.” The second presented a pyx of myrrh, and said, “Receive the myrrh of prudence, which will bridle the deceitful workings of the flesh: for he best governs who is master of himself.” The third brought a pyx full of frankincense, saying, “Receive the frankincense of devotion and clemency; for thus shalt thou relieve and soothe the wretched. And as the dew moistens the herbage and promotes a large increase of fertility, so the clemency of a king lifts him to the stars.”† The sleeping monarch, surprised at the distinctness and singularity of his vision, suddenly awoke, and found the pyxes, with their rich contents, deposited by his side. Returning to his own kingdom, he devoutly fulfilled the purport of his dream, and on the conclusion of the period foretold, he was worthy to possess an everlasting throne.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the Danish king is any good Christian who brings three crowns to three holy kings—that is, to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These crowns are faith, hope, and charity. The pyx of gold is a heart full of virtues; that of myrrh typifies repentance; and the pyx of frankincense denotes the grace of God.
† We have here a curious instance of the anomalous introduction of saints. The three Magi one would have thought not exactly fitted for the Christian calendar.
* Pyx is properly a box. “ quod nomen buxum significat, unde et pyxidem buxulum Itali vocant.”—FAB. THES. The Roman Catholics put the Host into this kind of box.
† The Latin original is as follows: “Sicut ros herbam irrigat ut crescat; sic dulcis dementia regis usque ad sydera provehit et exaltat,” which coincides remarkably with a passage in the “Merchant of Venice”:—
“The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven,
Upon the place beneath”—Act iii. Sc. 1.
TALE XLVIII.
OF THE END OF SINNERS.
DIONYSIUS records that when Perillus desired to become an artificer of Phalaris, a cruel and tyrannical king who depopulated the kingdom of Agrigentum, and was guilty of many dreadful excesses, he presented to him, already too well skilled in cruelty, a brazen bull, which he had just constructed. In one of its sides there was a secret door, by which those who were sentenced should enter and be burnt to death. The idea was that the sounds produced by the agony of the sufferer confined within should resemble the roaring of a bull; and thus, while nothing human struck the ear, the mind should be unimpressed by a feeling of mercy. The king highly applauded the invention, and said,” Friend, the value of thy industry is yet untried: more cruel even than the people account me, thou thyself shalt be the first victim.” Indeed, there is no law more equitable than that “the artificer of death should perish by his own devices,” as Ovid * has observed.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the sufferer is any evil-worker who will finally suffer for the exertion of his iniquitous practices.
* ——“Neque enim lex sequior ulla,
Quam necis artifices arte perire suâ.”
De Arte Amandi.
[The edition from which Mr. Swan translated read Quidius here and he allowed this manifest error to stand. It is easy to see how it crept into the text. Q and O are very much alike in Black Letter, and v of course appeared as u. All the best editions, except that printed at Hagenau in 1817, read Ouidius.—ED.]
TALE XLIX.
OF THE ILLUSIONS OF THE DEVIL.
PAULUS, the historian of the Longobardi,* relates that Conan, king of the Hungarians, was besieging a castle in the town of Julius,† called Sondat. Rosimila, the duchess of that place, had four sons and two daughters. When she perceived that Conan was a wonderfully handsome man, she sent him a secret message, saying, “If you will take me to wife I will surrender the castle to you.” The king acquiesced and the castle was given up; but the sons, indignant at the treacherous conduct of their mother, fled together. Conan, however, adhering to his promise, married the duchess on the following day. But the next morning after the nuptials, he delivered her to twelve Hungarian soldiers, to be publicly abused and mocked; and on the third day, he commanded her to be stabbed, and transfixed from the throat downward, observing, “that a wife who betrayed her country to gratify her evil passions, ought to possess such a husband.”
APPLICATION.
My beloved, Conan is the devil, who besieged a castle, that is, the human heart. Rosimila is any woman who wanders from the path of rectitude. The children are those virtues which leave the breast when evil enters; and the Hungarian soldiers are the vices into which it falls.
* “Paulus, that is, Paulus Diaconus, the historian of the Longobards, is quoted. He was chanceller of Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards; with whom he was taken captive by Charlemagne. The history here referred to is entitled GESTA LONGOBARDORUM.”—WARTON.
† Warton calls it “Foro-Juli” because the Latin is “inforo JuliiP In all probability the same place is meant as in the following extract from the old play of Promos ad Cassandra:—“In the cytie of JULIO (sometime under the dominion of Corvinus, king of Hungarie, and Boemia),” &c. 1578.
[The name of the town here spoken of is Forum Julii (compare our Market Drayton, Market Bosworth, &c), and consequently Warton is more nearly right in his writing of it than Mr. Swan. There were two towns of this name, one the modem Fréjus near the mouth of the Argens, in the south of France, the other (Cividad di Friuli) about forty miles north-west from Trieste.—ED.]
TALE L.
OF PRAISE DUE TO A JUST JUDGE.
VALERIUS informs us that the Emperor Zelongus made a law by which, if any
one abused a virgin, he should lose both his eyes. It happened that his only son trespassed in this manner with the daughter of a certain widow, who immediately hastened into the presence of the emperor, and spoke thus: “My Lord, you have righteously decreed that he who defiles a virgin shall lose his sight. Youi only son has dishonoured my daughter; command him to be punished.” These words greatly distressed the emperor, but he gave instant orders respecting the punishment of his son. On this, two noblemen observed: “The young man is your only child, and heir to the throne: it were impious if for this he should lose his eyes.” The emperor answered, “Is it not evident to you that I myself ordained this very law ? disgraceful as the occasion is, it may break my heart, but not my resolution. My son has been the first to transgress the law, and therefore shall be the first to undergo the penalty.” “Sire,” said the nobleman, “let us implore you, for the sake of Heaven, to forgive the errors of your child.” Somewhat subdued by the urgency of their entreaties, the emperor, after a moment’s pause, said, “My friends, listen to me : my eyes are the eyes of my son; and his are in like manner mine. Pluck out, therefore, my right eye, and let him surrender his left; thus, the law will be satisfied.” The paternal affection of the emperor was indulged, and the whole kingdom extolled the prudence and justice of their prince.*”
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the emperor is Christ; the eyes are divine grace and eternal happiness, which he who sinned would have totally lost, had not the compassion and consequent sufferings of the Son of God meliorated the condign punishment.
* Zaleucus, not Zelongus, was the name of the king who performed this striking act of justice. It is thus told by Valerius Maximus: “Zaleucus, urbe Locrensium à se saluberrimis atqne utilissimis legibus munita, cum filius ejus adulterii crimine damnatus, secundum jus ab ipso constitutum, utroque oculo carere deberet, ac tota civitas in honorem patris pcenae necessitatem adolescentulo remitteret, aliquamdiu repugnavit. Ad ultimum precibus populi evictus, suo prius, deinde filii oculi eruto, usum videndi utrique reliquit. Ita debitum supplicii modum legi reddidit, sequitatis admirabili temperamento, se inter misericordem patrem et justum legislatorem partitus.”— Lib. vi. c. 5, Ex. 3.
[Zaleucus was not a “king” but a lawgiver of the Locrians.—ED.]
TALE LI.
OF EXTORTION.
JOSEPHUS mentions that Tiberius Cæsar, when asked why the governors of provinces remained so long in office, answered by a fable. “I have seen,” said he, “an infirm man covered with ulcers, grievously tormented by a swarm of flies. When I was going to drive them away for him with a flap, he said to me, ‘The means by which you think to relieve me would, in effect, promote tenfold suffering. For by driving away the flies now saturated with my blood, I should afford an opportunity to those that were empty and hungry to supply their place. And who doubts that the biting of a hungry insect is not ten thousand times more painful than that of one completely gorged—unless the person attacked be stone, and not flesh.’”*
APPLICATION.
My beloved, governors who are already enriched by plunder are less likely to continue their oppression than they who are poor and needy.
* I have met with a similar story in a modern book of fables under the following form:—
“One hot day in summer, a boar, covered with wounds, threw himself beneath the shadow of a large tree, where he was grievously tormented by innumerable swarms of flies. A fox, who was passing by, drew near, and good-naturedly offered to drive away the obnoxious insects. ‘Let them alone, my friend,’ said the boar; ‘these flies are glutted, and unable to do me much further injury. But if they are driven off, others will supply their places, and at this rate, I shall not have a drop of blood left in my body.’”
[This story is only slightly varied from that in Aristotle’s Rhetoric, bk. ii. ch. 20, p. 1393.—ED.]
TALE LII.
OF FIDELITY.
VALERIUS* records that Fabius redeemed certain captives by the promise of a sum of money; which when the senate refused to confirm, he sold all the property he possessed, and with the produce paid down the stipulated sum, caring less to be poor in lands than poor in honesty.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, Fabius is Christ, who, at the expense of life, ransomed mankind from eternal death.
* The occasion of this noble proceeding is thus detailed:—“Captivos ab Annibale interposita pactione nummorum receperat. Qui cum à senatu non prsestarentur, misso in Urbem filio, fundum, quem unicum possidebat, vendidit, ejusque pretium Annibali protinus numeravit. Si ad calculos revocetur, parvum, utpote septem jugeribus, et hoc in Pupinia addictis, redactum: si animo erogantis, omni pecunia majus. Se enim patrimonii, quam patriam fidei, inopem esse maluit: eo quidem majore commendatione, quod proni studii certius indicium est supra vires niti, quam viribus ex facili uti. Alter enim quod potest, præstat: alter etiam plus quam potest.”—Valerius Maximus, lib. iv. c. 8, Ex. 1.
The Fabius of whom this is told is FABIUS MAXIMUS.
TALE LIII.
OF GOOD RULERS, WHO ARE NOT TO BE CHANGED.
VALERIUS MAXIMUS† states that, when all the Syracusans desired the death of Dionysius, king of Sicily, a single woman, of great age, every morning entreated the gods to continue his life beyond hers. Dionysius, surprised at this solitary exception, inquired the reason. She answered, “When I was a girl, and governed by a tyrant, I wished for his removal, and presently we obtained a worse instead. Having got rid of him, a worse still succeeded; and therefore, under the justifiable apprehension that your place may be filled up by yet a worse, I pray earnestly for your longer continuance.”* Dionysius, hearing this, gave her no farther trouble. †
APPLICATION.
My beloved, be not desirous of change. God is merciful and gracious—be content with His government.
† The anecdote is thus recorded by the historian: “Senectutis ultimse quaedam, Syracusanis omnibus Dionysii tyranni exitum, propter nimiam morum acerbitatem et intolerabilia onera, votis expetentibus, sola quotidie matutino tempore deos, ut incolumis ac sibi superstes esset, orabat. Quod ubi is cognovit, non debitam sibi admiratus benevolentiam, arcessit earn, et quid ita hoc, out quo suo merito faceret, interrogavit. Turn ilia, certa est, inquit, ratio propositi mei, paella enim, cum gravem tyrannum haberemus, carere eo cupiebam: quo interfecto, aliquanto tetrior arcem occupavit Ejus quoque finiri dominationem magni aæstimabam: tertium te superioribus importuniorem habere cœpimus rectorem. Itaque timens, ne, si tu fueris absumptus, deterior in locum tuum succedat, caput meam pro tua salute devoveo. Tarn facetam audaciam Dionysius punire erubuit.”—Val. Max. lib. vi. c. 2, Ex. 2.
This must remind the reader of Æsop’s fable of the frogs who desired a king. Which is the original ? It occurs among some translated Dutch fables, by De Witt, under the title, of A Woman praying for the long Life of Dionysius the Tyrant. See the Appendix.
* The sentiment is similar to that of Shakspeare:—
“And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of.”
Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 1.
† This tale has been copied in a story cited by Mr. Douce in his Illustrations of Shakespeare, vol. ii. p. 541, and dated about the reign of Henry III.
“Quidam abbas dedit monachis suis tria fercula. Dixerunt monachi, Iste parum dat nobis. Rogemus Deum ut cito moriatur. Et sive ex hac causa, sive ex alia, mortuus est. Substitutus est alius, qui eis tamen dedit duo fercula. Irati monachi contristati dixerunt, Nunc magis est orandum, quia unum ferculum subtractum est, Deus subtrahat ei vitam suam. Tandem mortuus est. Substitutus est tertius, qui duo fercula subtrahat. Irati monachi dixerunt, Iste pessimus est inter omnes, quia fame nos interfecit; rogemus Deum quod cito moriatur. Dixit unus monachus, Rogo Deum quod det ei vitam longam, et manu teneat eum nobis. Alii admirati quaerebant quare hoc diceret: qui ait, Vide quod primus fuit malus, secundus pejor, iste pessimus; timeo quod cum mortuus fuerit alius pejor succedit qui penitus nos fame perimet. Unde sole
t dici, Seilde corned se betere.” [Seldom comes a better.]
TALE LIV.
OF A CELESTIAL KINGDOM.
THE Emperor Frederic II. constructed a curious marble gate at the entrance of Capua. It stood above a fountain of running water; and upon it the statues of the emperor and two of his judges were sculptured. In a half circle over the head of the right-hand judge was inscribed as follows: “He who regards his own safety and innocence, let him enter here.” Similarly over the head of the left-hand judge appeared this scroll,” Banishment or imprisonment is the doom of the envious.” In a semicircle over the emperor’s head was written, “Those whom I made miserable, I recompensed.” In like manner, above the gate was inscribed, “In Cæsar’s reign I became the guardian of the kingdom.”*
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the emperor is God; the marble gate is the Church, which is placed above a running fountain—that is, above the world, which fleets like a water-course. The judges indicate Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John, the Evangelist.
* “I wonder there are not more romances extant on the lives of the Roman emperors in Germany; many of whom, to say no more, were famous in the crusades. There is a romance in old German rhyme, called TEUERDANK, on Maximilian the First, written by Melchior Pfinzing, his chaplain. Printed at Nuremberg in 1517.”—WARTON.