Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Hooper.djvu/61

Rh Then said the emperor to Fulgentius: It is no wonder, for that death I ordained for thee, through counsel of the steward, because thou didst defame me throughout all my empire, saying, that my breath did stink so grievously, that it was death to thee, and in token thereof thou turnedst away thy face when thou servedst me of my cup, and that I saw with mine eyes; and for this cause I ordained for thee such a death; and yet thou shalt die, except I hear a better excuse.

"Then answered Fulgentius, and said; Ah, dear lord, if it might please your highness for to bear me, I shall shew you a subtile and deceitful imagination. Say on, quoth the emperor.

"The steward (quoth Fulgentius) that is now dead, came to me and said, that ye told unto him that my breath did stink, and thereupon he counselled me, that when I served you of your cup, I should turn my face away, I take God to witness, I lie not.

"When the emperor heard this, he believed him, and said. O my nephew, now I see, through the right wise judgment of God, the steward is burnt, and his own wickedness and envy is fallen on himself, for he ordained this malice against thee, and therefore thou art much bound to Almighty God, that hath preserved thee from death. On this story Schiller seems to have founded his legend of "Fridolin, or the Road to the Iron Foundery," lately translated by Mr. Collier. In Schiller the cause of the youth's purposed destruction is jealousy malignantly excited in the mind of his master, by Robert the Huntsman.

But the termination and most of the principal circumstances of the story are similar. Here, then, arises a pretty strong inference that Mr. Douce's opinions relative to what he terms the English Gesta are not altogether accurate. Whence had Schiller this story, if not from the ? And if from thence, a copy of it was probably in his possession. The resemblance is too close to suppose it furnished by tradition, when there were actually several printed or MS. copies. And even in that view, it opposes the idea of an English origin, which is the hypothesis of Mr. Douce. Such are my sentiments; the following is the account given by Mr. Collier. "Not long subsequent to the first publication of 'Fridolin,' it became so great a favourite throughout Germany, that it was converted into a five-act play, by Holbein, the director of the theatre at Prague; and during the fifteen years that followed, it was represented on most of the continental stages, with great success, other authors making use of the same story. It was also set to music by C. F. Weber, master of the chapel at Berlin, and in this shape it was extremely popular. Mr. Boettiger informs us that the origin of the story is an Alsatian tradition, which Schiller learnt when at Manheim. The probable adherence to this Volkssage, as far as was at all convenient, will account for the mode in which the author has treated some incidents. We know of no similar narrative, or ballad, in English."—Remarks on "Fridolin," p. 37.

"This story may have come from the East. (See Scott's Tales from the Arabic and Persian, p. 53, where there is an excellent story, of similar construction.) It is likewise extremely well related in the Contes devots, or Miracles of the Virgin (Le Grand, Fabliaux, v. 74), and in other places."—.

The commencement of this story is in Tale CIV. Not observed by Mr. Douce.

"In Rome dwelt some time a mighty emperor, named Manelay, which had wedded the king's daughter of Hungaria, a fair lady, and