Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/255

Rh said, "Go, and consider amongst ye, what this superscription signifies." The nobleman replied, "Sire, the meaning is, that an Emperor, who reigned before your Majesty, wished to leave an example for the imitation of his successors. He therefore wrote, 'I have expended'—that is, my life; judging some, admonishing others, and governing to the best of my ability. 'I have given,'—that is, military equipments, and supplies to the needy; to every one according to his desert. 'I have kept,'—that is, exact justice; shewing mercy to the indigent, and yielding to the labourer his hire. 'I have possessed,'—that is, a generous and true heart; recompensing faithfully those who have done me service, and exhibiting at all times a kind and affable exterior. 'I do possess,'—that is, a hand to bestow, to protect, and to punish. 'I have lost,'—that is, my folly; I have lost the friendship of my foes, and the lascivious indulgences of the flesh. 'I am punished,'—that is, in hell; because I believed not in one eternal God, and put no faith in the redemption."
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