Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Hooper.djvu/48

xl of her two sisters, So the third daughter, when she had considered the mischief of her father, she told her husband in this form: My worshipful lord, do succour me now in this great need, my father is put out of his empire and his heritage. Then spake he. What were thy will I do thereto? That ye gather a great host, quoth she, and help him to fight against his enemies. I shall fulfil thy will,' [sic] said the earl, and gathered a great host, and went with the emperour at his own costage to the battle, and had the victory, and set the emperour again in his heritage. And then said the emperour, Blessed be the hour I gat my youngest daughter: I loved her less than any of the other, and now in my need she hath succoured me, and the other have yfailed me; and therefore after my death she shall have mine empire. And so it was done indeed; for after the death of the emperour, the youngest daughter reigned in his stead, and ended peaceably.—. No. 7333.

This, as the reader will be aware, is the story of Lear in Shakspeare; but there were many popular tales built upon the same story.

There was a powerful emperor called Andronicus, before whom a knight was wrongfully accused. When the charge could not be substantiated, his majesty proposed to him certain puzzling questions, which were to be accurately answered, under pain of death. The knight expressed himself ready to do his best. Then said the emperor, How far is heaven distant from hell? That is the first question. As far, replied he, as a sigh is from the heart.

Emperor. And how deep is the sea?

Knight. A stone's throw.

Emperor. How many s of salt water are there in the sea?

Knight. Give me the number of flaggons of fresh water, and I will tell you.

Emperor. To the first question you answered, that the distance between heaven and hell, was as great as between a sigh and the heart. How can this be?

Knight. A sigh passes from the heart with the rapidity of a glance; and in like manner the soul goes from the body into a state of punishment or happiness.

Emperor. How is the depth of the sea a stone's throw?

Knight. All weight descends; and because a stone is heavy it drops to the bottom of tiie sea at once. Its depth is therefore a stone's throw.

Emperor. And how, if you knew the number of flaggons of fresh water, could you estimate the number of salt? This seems impossible. Knight. Be good enough to try it. Begin the reckoning yourself.

The emperor, pleased with the knight's shrewdness, bids him go in peace.—MS. Copy of the

Bononius was emperor of Rome, &c., &c.

This is the same story as Tale CXXXII. of the original Gesta. Overpassed by Mr. Douce.