Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/317

 of the Round Table. 277

following translation, and, for the sake of easier comparison, I have subdivided the text into small paragraphs.

Translation.

I. This is the book of the destruction of King Artus' Round Table. I translated it in the year (. . 39) (1279) from the vernacular {La'az) into Hebrew. In my translation I have left out some portions contained in the original book from which I translated. I did so because those passages were only dialogues and elegies or other accidents which happened to creep in without belonging to the body of the tale ; I therefore passed them over. All together they would not be more than three small leaves. And I have undertaken this translation for two weighty reasons. First, I wished to preserve my bodily health. For through my sins have I met with troubles and sorrows and grief, and I am immersed in the sea of thoughts, marvelling and wondering constantly on the vicissitudes which have passed over me by days and nights; and I was afraid lest I fall a prey to melancholy, which is to lose my reason, than which death is better. Therefore have I translated those tales for my own pastime, and to drive away the thoughts which en- compass me, and to soften my grief Surely no one will take it amiss that I should have done so, for even our great sages, like R. Johannan ben Zakkai, cultivated also the study of the fox tales and the washerwomen's tales and the parables of the trees ; for through such occupation men derive some comfort and peace of mind, notably those engrossed in the study of the Law or in pursuits of the world. And the prophet himself asked for one to play on the harp to him, and our sages have explained it as you are aware. One can moreover derive from these tales some moral lessons in manners, and the conduct of man towards himself and towards others. They are therefore not mere idle talk and wasteful occupations, for the best