Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/455

Rh  romance on Darius, and on Philip of Macedon."—.

"The story has been very properly termed by Mr. Warton a beautiful one; but he has not been equally accurate in his statement, that 'Occleve has literally followed the book before us (i.e. the original Gesta), and has even translated into English prose the moralization annexed.' Occleve's immediate model was our English Gesta; nor is it improbable that he might even be the translator of it; the moralization also, is entirely different. Mr. Warton has omitted to notice, that this story corresponds with that of Fortunatus; which, unless itself of oriental origin, might have been taken from it."—.

The incident of the magic cloth, may be found in "The story of prince Ahmed, and the Fairy Pari Banou," in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Vol. 3.

The Joculators were licensed jesters. "Latin terms were used by the middle-age writers so licentiously, and with such extreme carelessness, that in many cases it is difficult to obtain a precise idea of