Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/530

356 a large increase of fertility, so the clemency of a king lifts him above the stars."

The Latin original is as follows: "Sicut ros herbam irrigat ut crescat; sic dulcis clementia regis usque ad sydera provehit et exaltat," which coincides remarkably with a passage in the "Merchant of Venice."

"Who Quidius was I am unable to say. The sentiment here referred to is Ovid's—

But it is very probable that we should read for  above.