K and Do depart from the opening scheme given in the A-group texts. K (1–42) opens with a minstrel’s prologue that inserts the poem in a longer history of misogynist storytelling. There then follows a rendition of the Vengeance Nostre Seigneur story: shortly after the crucifixion, the Roman emperor Vespasian is visited by Cilofida, who cures Vespasian of leprosy with a piece of Christ’s shroud and dispatches him to Jerusalem to exact vengeance upon the Jews (43–158); on his return, the emperor marries and has a child (159–68). Next come excursions on the age at which baptism is appropriate and how parents should choose their children’s nursemaids (169–244). The poem proper is then announced as an example of women outwitting men (245–52). On the minstrel’s prologue, see Jeay, “La mise en scène du narrateur.” On the significance of the Vengeance Nostre Seigneur in K and the manuscript that transmits it, see Foehr-Janssens, “De Jérusalem à Rome.”

Do opens with a dedication in which the author, who calls himself Johannes, one of the monks of Alta Silva, directs his work to Bertrand, bishop of Metz; Johannes then announces his topic: his work, The King and the Seven Wise Men, will treat the history of a certain king and the amazing things that happened during his reign (pp. 1–4). The story begins with the youth of king Dolopathos, whose name means “one who suffers treachery or grief,” and who, when still a boy, inherits the kingdom of Sicily (p. 5). Dolopathos rules righteously and when slandered at Rome before the emperor Augustus, is defended by reports from his people of his upright rule. Indeed, Augustus is so impressed by Dolopathos that he gives him his wife’s sister, Agrippa, to marry (pp. 6–11). On their return to Sicily, Dolopathos and Agrippa must wait many years for a child (p. 12).

For burgeis, maiden, other knave / Mighte him in som riot sette. In the northern version (C170–71) and F (138), women are the only distraction imagined. In the midland version (D125–32), He (p. 6), Hs (71–72), and K (363–66), the description of the town’s distractions does not single out women. In S (p. 214), the emperor asks the sages to construct their school in a forest away from the distraction of the crowds.

of Donet thre pars. The reference is to the Donatus, or Donet, a popular manual of elementary Latin by Aelius Donatus (ca. 310–380 CE) that was used throughout medieval Europe. See Orme, Medieval Schools, pp. 28–29. This line is shared with F (155) but is absent elsewhere. In B, Cato’s Distichs are painted on the wall of the sages’ school.

the seven ars . . . and ek fisike. With one exception, the sages’ curriculum treats the seven liberal arts that were taught as part of the foundational arts course at medieval universities. These were usually understood to include grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy; their mastery preceded study of the higher subjects of law, medicine, and theology. See The Seven Liberal Arts, ed. Wagner. In the southern and northern versions, the replacement of dialectic with one of the higher subjects — fisike, or medicine — might indicate a flaw in the sages’ program. A* (2.11–17) has the traditional sequence including dialectic but replaces geometry with “nigromance.” This enumeration is lacking elsewhere. In K (357–80), the prince also learns medicine, astronomy, magic, and song.

despout. Oral disputation, or disputatio, was a primary means of education and examination for upper-level undergraduates pursuing the university arts course. See Leff, “The Trivium and the Three Philosophies,” pp. 325–28. Mention of the prince’s training in this subject stokes the anticipation resulting from the long silence that he will observe upon his return to his father’s court.

argument / Of the sterre and of the firmament. Florentine will owe his success to his expertise in astronomy. On the development of this aspect of the prince’s education in Hs, see Robbins, “Medieval Astrology.”

Thei wolde prove in the sexte yer / Yif he ware wis and wer. In M (p. 2, lines 50–87), the prince is tested alongside Marcus, whose challenge is to determine through astronomy the reward that the sages will receive for their teaching from Diocletian; Marcus determines that the emperor will soon attempt to destroy both the sages and the prince.

And: “Sire, par nostre fai . . . make hem riche everichon.” The Middle English text shifts into direct speech more abruptly than written Present Day English allows. For further examples of this feature, see lines 293, 316, and 468. For further discussion of the handling of direct speech in the poem, see Critten, “The Affordances.”

Themperour was wel ipaied / With that the barons had seid. In the midland version (D235), lust is adduced as a reason for the emperor’s agreement to his baron’s demands. In Hs (121–23), the emperor initially resists his counsellors’ attempts to have him remarry, citing his age.

Thai weren iwedded . . . lovede hem thourg alle thing. In K (401–36), the emperor’s decision to remarry triggers some violently misogynist commentary. In He (p. 9), the emperor’s second wife is the daughter of the king of Castile. In M (p. 4, lines 112–13), the second wife is introduced as the daughter of the count of Provence; she is said to be not yet thirteen, and we are shown the knight who rides out to fetch her asking for and obtaining her consent to the marriage before her departure for Rome (M p. 4, line 117; pp. 4–5, lines 130–43).

Thing ihid . . . Godes owen priveté. These lines are proverbial; see Whiting T165. All four lines are shared with E; only the second of the two statements is shared with B and the northern version (C283–84). These lines are absent elsewhere. In S (p. 214), the empress knows that her husband has a son from the outset.

Som squier . . . Hou he with the maistres wone. In F (227–36), the words of the informing courtier are reported in direct speech. In the midland version (D256–60), the informant is blamed for the empress’s obsession with killing the prince. In Aw (p. 647), the empress learns from a hag that the emperor has a son and appears contented with the news. In M (pp. 5–6, lines 157–74), the empress’s cunning is evidenced by her quick discovery of the emperor’s son, whom she asks to see on her wedding night.

stepmoder. It is a given in medieval romance and related genres that stepmothers are bad characters. The negative connotations of the word are well illustrated in the citations listed in the MED, under step-moder (n.).

Than couthe sche bothe qued and god . . . on hemselve falleth al the smerte. These lines are common to the southern version texts, except F. The northern version (C313–15) keeps only the lines about harm to others turning to harm to oneself and adds a digression in which the empress enlists the help of a witch who authors the curse necessitating the prince’s silence (C295–312). The midland version (D296–302) agrees with the northern version in attributing the curse to the empress’s use of black magic. In Aw (pp. 647–48) and Do (pp. 31–34), it does not seem that the empress plots the prince’s murder from the outset. Instead, her approach towards him will be motivated spontaneously by lust.

I thee love with fin amour / And thou nowt me. The phrase fin amour is used throughout the Middle Ages to refer to an especially refined kind of love thought appropriate to elites and having its own complex set of rules and expectations. In anglophone scholarship the phrase commonly used to describe this kind of affection is courtly love. While in the context of this speech, the empress’s questioning of her husband’s love belongs to her plan to persuade him to destroy his son, her complaint that she suffers in a loveless marriage anticipates the dissatisfaction of three wives in tales told by the sages (tentamina, inclusa, puteus).

“Thi most time . . . Let me of him han a sight.” These lines in which the empress expresses a desire to adopt the prince are common to the Middle English versions, He (p. 10) and Hs (138–42). In A* (3.16), the empress merely states that there are enough teachers in Rome for the boy to continue his education with them. In K (443–48), the empress argues that the son should return to Rome to learn courtesy and chivalry.

writen in bok. While the main function of this tag may be metrical — it prepares for the rhyme in the next line — the phrase also alerts the audience of the poem to the long, written tradition to which it belongs. No direct mention is made of the text’s eastern origins here. On the effacement of these in the western branches of the Seven Sages-Sindbad tradition, see Foehr-Janssens, “De Jérusalem à Rome,” “Le désir et le savoir,” and “Misogyny and the Trends,” and the comments in the Introduction, p. 3.

“Yif we him bring . . . se wel in the mone.” In F (300) and the midland version (D344–45), the sage understands that the empress is at the root of the matter. In S (p. 214), the prince learns that he should not speak in a dream in which he sees eight branches growing out of his bed in the middle of which there lies a serpent who aims to kill him by spilling its venom along the branches’ leaves. The sages determine that the snake is the empress and the branches represent the days to come, during the first seven of which the prince must not speak. The sages decide on their own initiative to help the prince by telling tales.

“This seven daies I nel nowt speke.” On the significance of the prince’s silence, see the headnote. In D* (p. 2), as well as staying silent at his father’s court, the prince must forgo kissing both men and women.

“So the ax . . . wrout me this wo.” In this extended simile, the sages are compared to the blade in the axe that Florentine will wield against his enemy, the empress. It appears to literalize an idiom, perhaps to comic effect. MED, ax(e) (n.1), sense 2b lists the phrase putten the ax in the helve (lit. put the axe blade in the handle) with the translation “to solve a problem.” The phrase “to put the axe in the helve” was apparently proverbial. See Whiting A254. On the creative use of proverbial Middle English in the poem, see further Critten “The Affordances.”

Seint Nicholas. While the saint by which the sage swears may have been chosen for primarily metrical reasons (to rhyme with Bancillas in line 373), the associations that Nicholas conjures are not entirely inappropriate. In the Middle Ages he was celebrated as (amongst other things) a protector of children. See Farmer, Oxford Dictionary of Saints, pp. 322–23.

“Maistres,” he saide, “graunt merci.” The Middle English versions and He lack lines in A* (3.41), Hs (179-82), and K (563–98) that clarify the plot, specifying that the sages should come to court one a day.

To overcome the emperice. These lines in which the prince identifies the empress as his enemy are common to the northern and southern versions, except F. They are absent elsewhere.

the bois of Seint Martin. Campbell (p. 155) finds no location fitting the name in Rome or near the Tiber. Speer and Foehr-Janssens (p. 147) point out that there is an area of Constantinople called Martinakou whose main monument is a monastery. The mention of the forest of saint Martin in texts situating the emperor at Rome may be a survival from an older version whose geography is more perfectly preserved in K, which places the emperor in Constantinople. In F (270), the boys seynt Martyne is the location of the sages’ school.

The maistres here wai agen nome. In A* (3.46), the prince weeps upon taking leave of the sages.

Tiding had themperour . . . rod him agen with mani a knight. The northern version (C491–500) condenses this part of the narrative, sending the empress out to meet the prince and having him taken to her chambers immediately.

Knight and erl . . . themperour palais. The southern and northern versions lack lines in the midland version (D400–53), A* (4.1–14), He (pp. 14–15), Hs (183–210), and K (701–84) in which the emperor discovers his son’s mutism and the empress embarks upon her seduction plot.

Wil ye nou ihere of wommannes wrenche? This line incriminating women in general is shared with B but is absent elsewhere. On the narrator’s misogynist bias, see Critten, “Hating Women.”

“Mi leve suete grom . . . ich have ikept mi maidenhod.” In F (369) and K (805–06), the empress offers to kill the emperor; in K (798–802), she also claims to have used magic to avoid sex with her husband. In He (pp. 17–18), the seduction scene includes a moment when the empress bears her breasts in front of the boy as well as a letter that he writes explaining his reasons for rejecting her. In M (p. 8, lines 255–305), the empress makes two moves on the boy before finally crying rape. In S (p. 215), the empress initially attempts to win the prince’s favor by promising to be a good mother to him.

He ne was nevere of thi blod. K (851–70) adds the claim that the emperor’s first wife was unfaithful.

the emperice wex wroth . . . “lengere on him see.” On this iteration of the Potiphar’s wife motif, see the Introduction, pp. 15–16.

Gentil ronnen . . . “conseil of thi gentil men.” In K (881–944), the emperor summons the barons to judge his son, the barons deliberate, and sentencing is postponed until the morning. In F (419–28), it is a steward who intervenes, asking for an adjournment as a personal favor. In Aw (p. 648), the barons do not intervene and the emperor swears that his son will be executed the next day. This moment in the story is absent in S, where the empress’s accusation continues directly with her first story, arbor.

An even late . . . to bedde with honur. In the Middle English versions, A*, Aw, He, and Hs, the empress tells her stories in the intimate context of the bedroom that she shares with the emperor. In K (e.g., 967–82), she tells her stories in the morning.

a riche burgeis. In the southern and the northern versions, A* (6.1), He (p. 22), and Hs (292), the owner of the garden is a burgess; in the midland version (D594), he is said to be a knight. In K (985–86), he is a powerful duke, a variant that facilitates the identifications of the tale’s main character with the emperor. Where the owner of the garden is a merchant (e.g., A551–54), the extradiegetic audience of the Middle English poem might feel implicated. The compilers of the manuscripts containing texts B and E are thought to have been London merchants, and there is a long tradition of viewing A as a book made for a mercantile readership. On the manuscripts and audiences of the Middle English Seven Sages, see the Introduction, pp. 6–12.

a pinnote tre. In the southern and northern versions, A* (6.2), Hs (297), and K (993), the tree is a pine; the midland version (D598) has an apple tree. He (p. 22) has a tree whose fruits are a source of miraculous healing. In K (997–1002), the rich duke encloses his beloved tree with a wall in a move that recalls the treatment of wives by old and jealous husbands in medieval romance. Another reading of the tale is thus available in K that has sympathy accrue to the empress, whose experience of marriage may be dissatisfactory and whose precarious place at court is threatened by the young prince, symbolized here by the new shoot. The figure of the immured wife features most prominently in the sages’ last story, inclusa.

Thanne segh he wexe a litel stren. In all the Middle English texts as well as He (p. 22), Hs (317–24), and K (1017–20), the shoot sprouts spontaneously; Hs adds that the shoot remains fruitless. In A* (6.3), the burgess first fertilizes the older tree. MED, stren (n.), sense 2c lists this line as the only example for the definition “a young shoot of a tree.”

abrad. MED, abreden (v.), sense 1b lists this usage as the only quotation for the definition “spread out, prostrate.” The word appears to have been rarely used.

‘Lat the yonge tre atire, aplight.’ The instruction that the burgeis gives to his gardener mimics the vague but incisive command of a superior to a more specialized inferior.

Thous was the olde tre doun ithrawe / And the yonge tre forht idrawe. In all the Middle English texts and in A* (7.3), the shoot grows at the expense of the old tree. E adds a line in which the burgess explicitly compares the decline of the old tree to the decline of an old man, and B has the gardener say that the shoot has achieved its will. At the end of K (1059–60), the shoot flourishes. In Hs (343–50), the old tree is cut down so that the shoot might bear fruit, but the effects of this action are uncertain and the burgess is blamed by his peers for sacrificing the old tree. In He (p. 23), the shoot dies after the old tree has been cut down and the poor people who had benefitted from its healing fruit curse the counsellors who conspired in the old tree’s destruction. In S (p. 216), the young shoot also dies with the old tree.

He sschal be sone forht idrawe / And maister, and thou his knaue. According to our editorial policy, knaue in the second of these lines should be normalized to knave. We keep the manuscript spelling in this instance since it leaves open the opportunity for rhyme with idrawe in the preceding line. On another example of stretched rhyme in the poem, see the Explanatory Note to lines 2363–64, below.

Gode sire . . . thou ne hast no might. A gives the kernel of a moral that is shared across the extant versions of the Seven Sages. Elsewhere the empress expands upon her lesson. In A* (7.8), the empress states that the prince will shame his father as the shoot shamed the old tree, adding that the whole empire desires to disinherit her husband. The claim that the prince is not acting alone is also present in Aw (p. 648) and E. In some versions, the branches of the trees are incorporated into the lesson. In the midland version (D638–43) and He (p. 24), the branches are said to represent the emperor’s far-reaching power, which his son is stripping away; in F (473–76), the branches (of the new tree?) represent the sages, who are intent on the emperor’s downfall. In Hs (358–59), the empress identifies the “fals” gardener as an avatar of the sages. In K (1069–73), the moral focuses on the role played by the owner of the garden, who is blamed for sacrificing his old tree for the sake of the newer one. The empress claims that the emperor risks doing likewise.

“God thee defende, / Fram god dai and fram god ende.” The emperor’s sarcastic retort subverts the more usual formula, “God give you good day and a good end.”

Thei he had iwraththed your wif, / Yit had he nowt agelt his lif. As well as questioning the truth of the stepmother’s accusation, the sage also casts doubt over the severity of the crime.

“I fond hire torent . . . non nede of witnessing.” The correct reading of signs will emerge as a central thematic concern in the Seven Sages. Bloody signs assume special importance in the sages’ first tale, canis. On this point, with primary reference to the Dolopathos, see Foehr-Janssens, Le temps des fables, pp. 195–215.

A swithe noble strong burdis. E, the midland version (D726–27), He (p. 28), and Hs (405–10) begin directly with a description of the knight. Otherwise, the Middle English versions agree with A* (9.1–2) in opening with a description of the joust. Aw (p. 649) conflates the text’s woman protagonist with the empress. In K (1203), the main character is a powerful seneschal and the story begins with an account of the ten-year wait that he and his wife endure before the arrival of their son; both the seneschal and his wife are said to be well liked, in particular the wife is praised for her slowness to anger. The distracting event is bear-baiting (K1195–1216). Do (pp. 40–41) gives the male protagonist the fullest backstory. There he is a spendthrift knight who, after exhausting his resources, must leave his homeland taking only his wife, his child, a horse, a dog, and a hawk. The family lodges in an uninhabited building and the knight goes out every day to hunt with his animals; when he brings nothing home, his household goes hungry. He (p. 28) also gives the knight a bird of prey.

forcrased. This is the MED’s only example of this word.

a graihond. The Middle English versions, A* (9.9), He (p. 28), and Hs (429–30) make the greyhound a mature dog and, effectively, a double for the knight. In K (1217–18), where the greyhound is a puppy, the identification between the dog, the baby, and the prince is strengthened. See too K (1341–42), where the dog’s inability to speak is highlighted upon the knight’s return home.

pointt tournis. MED, pointe (n.1), sense 3b gives the definition “at the mid point of the tournament field” for the phrase in pointe tourneis, citing this line. A* (9.11) has the wife leaving her home by the gate and standing on the pont torneiz, or drawbridge. Compare DMF, tournis (adj. and n.). Our gloss prefers this sense, which avoids positioning the wife amid the mêlée.

An addre. The variable gendering of the snake in the following passage (735–70) reflects the double gender of the French word. See DMF, serpent (n.). The other extant texts of the poem vary broadly in their treatment of this point of grammar. In the other southern texts and the midland version, the serpent is referred to by both masculine and feminine pronouns; in A* (10.2–11), He (pp. 29–30), and the northern version, the snake is masculine throughout; in Hs (432–49), the snake is feminine throughout; in K (1235–76), the snake has masculine articles and masculine and feminine pronouns. On the literary significance of this grammatical point, see the commentary on canis in the Introduction, pp. 14–15. On the grammatical conditions that allow for the alternate gendering of the animal in Middle English, see Critten, “The Affordances.”

I nelle never ete bred. MED, bred (n. 1), sense 4a glosses the phrase as ever I ete bred with “as I live.” In the negative and in the future, the phrase expresses a death wish. The expression was proverbial. See Whiting B520.

‘And but ye willen him slen . . . mi lif forgon.’ The wife’s ultimatum to her husband is shared across the southern and northern texts but is not in the midland version, A*, He, Hs, K, or S. In Do (p. 42), the wife is absent when the knight returns home because she has gone to a neighbor’s house to beg for food.

‘Ne be that man . . . leve wimmannes pleint.’ This generalizing comment on the perils of believing women is shared across the southern and the northern versions. In A* (11.15–16), the knight restricts himself to blaming his wife for misinforming him. In the midland version, blame is shared between the wife, for a quickness to worry that is said to be characteristic of women (D824–25), and the nurses, who are blamed for leaving the baby alone (D759–61), and who are shown regretting their negligence (D818–19). The midland version also expands upon a line in A* (10.16) according to which the nurses believe the dog has eaten the baby; there, both the nurses and the wife subscribe to this notion (D813–14, D836–37, D848–49; see too C873–74 and Do, p. 42, where the knight assumes that the baby has been eaten). In He (p. 31) and Hs (490–92), the knight blames himself or is blamed for believing his wife. In K (1369–72) and Do (p. 42), the male protagonist regrets his action without blaming his wife.

slawen was his gode graihond . . . for his fole wives rede. These lines blaming the outcome of the story on the wife’s bad advice are shared across the southern and northern versions; they are absent in the midland version, A*, He, Hs, K, S, and Do. In S (p. 217), the baby is equated with the city of Rome; the snake is the empress, who wants to devour the honor of the Romans; and the son is the dog, who kills the snake; the knight’s self-exile is absent.

‘O grehound,’ he seide . . . ‘leve here leuedis conseil.’ The southern and northern versions agree in having the knight present his self-exile as a lesson to other men that they should not believe their wives; the northern version repeats the idea that the knight’s suffering derives from his willingness to follow his wife’s counsel (C925). These lines are absent in A* (11.17), where the knight describes his self-exile as a penitential journey; in He (p. 31) and Hs (484–88), where he breaks his weapons and leaves for the Holy Land; in F (1390–1401), where he leaves on pilgrimage; and in the midland version (D880–85), where the knight drowns himself in a pond.

“So falle on thee . . . slough his greihond nowt geltif.” The Middle English versions, A* (11.20), He (p. 31), and Hs (499–501), agree in having the sage present the tale as a lesson on the danger of following women’s advice; A* adds that if the emperor follows his wife’s counsel, he will be ignoring that of his barons. The northern version and E also blame haste for the knight’s demise. In K (1387) and Do (p. 42), the story is moralized as a warning against hasty action.

For I thee warni of thine fon, / And thou ne kanst me thank non. This is the first in a series of remarks in which the empress worries about the effectiveness of her tales. See too 1212–14 (before gaza), 1353 (after gaza), and 1539–44 (before senescalcus). Lines to this effect occur at this juncture throughout the southern texts, excepting F. In He (p. 32) and in the other English texts, they are absent. In K (1427–32), the empress cites Cato to the effect that those who listen to stories without catching their meaning are worthy of ridicule. Where the empress doubts the capacity of her tales to change the emperor’s mind, she highlights a problem lying at the heart of the story-telling competition. Both the empress and the sages are invested in the idea that stories can be persuasive and effect change in the world, but the emperor’s vacillation suggests otherwise. On the failure of judicial rhetoric in the poem, see Foehr-Janssens, “La parole condensée” and Bahr, Fragments and Assemblages, pp. 132–34.

here bi west. The northern version, Hs (527), and the southern versions excepting F set the tale “out west” in a part-geographical, part-historical, part-mythical location that often provides a backdrop for Middle English romance. Compare the opening of Lay le Freine, line 29, which is also preserved in the Auchinleck Manuscript, and see MED, Britaine (n.). A* (12.1) and F (645) set the story in the empress’s own country, i.e., Rome, and Aw (p. 649) sets the story in France. The midland version, K, and He do not locate the tale.

In that forest woned an herd . . . he hit hadde isought. A* (12.5) and all the Middle English versions except F agree in having the herdsman set out into the forest to find a lost animal. In F (649–52), the herdsman has lost an animal and flees into the forest to avoid his master’s anger; there he climbs an oak tree and starts to eat its acorns. K (1927–30), Hs (539–40), and Aw (p. 649) have the herdsman discovering the boar’s tree by chance; K also insists on the character’s youth. In He (p. 34), an emperor has promised his daughter and his kingdom to anyone who can kill the boar: this is why the shepherd enters the forest.

aresede. MED, aresen (v.2) lists this as its only example of the verb used in this sense.

“Lo, sire emperour . . . sle with dethes glaive.” A* (13.1–2) and the Middle English versions agree in presenting the boar as a reflection of the emperor and the herdsman as a reflection of the sages. In He (p. 35), Hs (571–82), and K (1983–2004), the herdsman is equated with the prince, whom the empress accuses of conspiring to bring about her husband’s downfall with the help of the sages’ soothing tales. K insists that the boar is to blame for his downfall and Hs adds further allegorical touches: the tree that the son climbs is the tree of knowledge and the fruit that he throws down to the boar is the fruit of the sages’ learning. In S (p. 217), the boar is said to be the emperor; the tree represents the emperor’s imperial dignity, which the son, as the herdsman, appropriates for himself; and the fruits thrown down to the boar are the arguments of the sages.

For here bolt is sone ischote. The image is of the shooting of a bolt from a crossbow; the sense appears to be that women shoot carelessly and to little effect. MED, bolt (n.), sense 1b identifies the phrase as proverbial. See too Whiting F408.

Sire Ypocras. The celebrated physician, Hippocrates of Kos (ca. 460–ca. 370 BCE). On his representation in Arthurian romance, see the headnote to this tale.

his neveu . . . lere of his vertu. In the southern and the northern versions, and in He (p. 91), where the nephew is called Galienus, after another famous doctor, Ypocras breaks off his instruction when he sees that his apprentice is learning too quickly. In A* (14.2) and Hs (623–24), he never undertakes to teach his nephew. In the midland version (D1048–57), the nephew is a wastrel who teaches himself medicine from his uncle’s books.

He taketh an urinal for to sen, / He ne segh nowt of the kyng, but of the quen. In the southern and northern versions and in He (p. 93), the nephew only needs one urine sample; in A* (14.10), the nephew also asks for urine samples from the child’s parents. In the midland version (D1072–79), Aw (p. 650), and S (p. 218), the nephew guesses the cause of his patient’s illness from looking at him; the midland version also has a passage in which the passing of such skillful scholars is lamented. In K, the method of diagnosis is not specified.

Therl of Naverne. In the Middle English versions, where he is identified, the father is a lord of Navarre, a kingdom in northern Spain. In A* (15.1), he is from Namur; in He (p. 93), he is from Burgundy; in Hs (688), he is from Artane; in K (1748), he is from Frisia.

‘Dame,’ he saide, ‘be aknawe . . . A, leve maister, let no man wite.’ This exchange is condensed in the midland version (D1084–1103), where the boy approaches the mother more delicately.

Contrarius drink, contrarius mete . . . gaf the child anon therof. The Latinate adjective contrarius belongs to a scientific register and is well chosen to reflect the medical proficiency of the nephew; several of the examples in the MED under contrarious (adj.) are drawn from astrological or medical texts. It is unclear whether the direct speech in these lines ends with line 1084 or continues into 1085. We take the loose syntax in 1085 to indicate that the direct speech continues for a line. Some version of the nephew’s remedy including beef and either broth or water is given everywhere except in the northern version, where boar’s flesh is called for (C1184), and in the midland version, which does not mention how the child is cured. In D* (p. 13), where the child is identified as the natural son of the king of Frisia, the elements of the cure are said to match the Frisian diet.

He let alle hise bokes berne. It is not clear here whether the books to be burned are Ypocras’s or the boy’s; the imprecision is met again in line 1160. Readers with an awareness of Hippocrates’s reputation as a burner of books (on which see the headnote to this tale) may have had little difficulty interpreting these lines. For those unaware of the backstory, it will have been unclear whether Ypocras destroys his own learning or his nephew’s.

An empti tonne he let fet . . . Mervaile hadde mani a man. The barrel trick is absent in the midland version, which ends with Ypocras falling ill and dying (D1152–53), and in Aw, which ends with Ypocras being cursed for killing his nephew (p. 650). S (p. 218) underlines the point that the doctor’s nephew might have saved him.

“Lo!” saide the maister . . . “on maister Ypocras.” The southern and northern versions and Hs (779–90) agree in giving the sage a moral that concentrates on the waste of life and learning constituted by Ypocras’s murder of his nephew. In the midland version (D1154–63) and A* (16.4–5), the sage expands upon this moral with a reminder to the emperor that he only has one son. K underlines Ypocras’s responsibility for his own demise (K1855–66).

A! Hou wimmen conne hit make, / Whan thai wil ani man lake. These lines that incriminate women in general are unique to A.

“Lat be, sire . . . bi hevene kyng.” These lines in which the empress doubts the effectiveness of her tales are found in the northern and the southern versions, except F; they expand on a line in A* (16.13). They are absent elsewhere.

tellen als a fals wimman. This line presenting the empress as an example of women’s falseness is shared with variants by the southern version texts, except F. They are absent elsewhere.

Octovien. Octavian, Caesar Augustus (63 BCE–CE 14), was the adoptive son of Julius Caesar and the first Roman emperor, reigning from 27 BCE until his death. Campbell (p. 162n1318) notes that, in the Middle Ages, his great wealth was proverbial. Octavian’s love of treasure is sometimes found problematic. The midland version (D1193–1235), A* (17.1), and Hs (824–28) suggest that his hoarding is unreasonable, but these lines are absent elsewhere. On the tale’s implicit criticism of greed in the Dolopathos, where the ruler is unnamed, see Foehr-Janssens, Le temps des fables, pp. 267–78.

Cressent. Campbell (p. 162n1317) notes the recurrence of this name in some versions of Roma, where it is also the name given to a tower, and in Virgilius, where it is a variant for Crassus, the anti-hero of that tale.

Seve wise men . . . kepe Rome with rightful dome. In the Middle English versions, A* (17.3–4), and K (2863–66, 2871–74), both the keeper of the treasury and the thief are sages; in A* and in the southern and midland versions, the connection between the sages in the frame narrative and the sages in gaza is strengthened because there the two sages are said to belong to a larger group of seven sages at Rome. In He (p. 46) and Hs (829–34), the keeper of the tower and the thief are knights. In the midland version (D1206–15), He (p. 46), and Hs (835–46), the father’s debts necessitate his robbery of the tower. In S (p. 219), the thief is a knight who is dismissed after twenty years of faithful service on the report of his enemies; he and his son return to steal bits of treasure from the tower over several years in order to eke out a living. In Do (pp. 43–44), the father is a knight who has retired from his role as the keeper of the king’s treasury but returns to rob it when his profligate son uses up the inheritance that he has given him.

als we finden writen in boke. The empress’s appeal to written authority in this tale can be interpreted as an attempt to bolster her credibility. Because the version of the popular story that she tells differs broadly from its analogues, it may be that the gesture was interpreted ironically by its medieval readers, who could interpret her rewriting of the story as a further example of her deceptive nature. On the transmission history of gaza, see the headnote to this tale.

withoute sojour. In the Middle English versions, the son does not resist his father’s plan; in He (pp. 46–47) and Do (p. 44), the father and son decide on the theft together; in A* (17.13–16; 18.3), Hs (863–66), and K (2885–90), the son is reluctant to embark upon the theft.

He ne made no pleint to no man, / But stopped the hole anon agen. Do (pp. 44–45) adds a passage where an old thief advising the proprietor of the treasure teaches him a trick to discover the thieves’ point of entry.

For thef of steling wil nowt blinne, / Til he honge bi the chinne. This gnomic commentary is unique to the southern version. The phrase is proverbial. See Whiting T79.

The stolen catel ispended is, / The wise bicometh a fol, iwis. This gnomic commentary is unique to the southern version.

‘Sone, with thin hond thi swerd . . . al that sinne.’ Two versions cast the son in a less positive light at this juncture. In Hs (909–14), the son does not hesitate to kill his father and, in Aw (p. 651), the decapitation is the son’s idea, to which the father objects. In S (p. 219), the son is shown decapitating his father with none of the conversation found in the other versions.

His fader heued . . . and his sustren also. The midland version (D1259–67) concludes after the son has decapitated his father and thrown his head in a ditch. Aw (p. 651) ends directly after the decapitation and does not show the son disposing of the head.

He let him drawe . . . ‘For of that kyn he was ibore.’ Variations on this trial are shared at the conclusion of the southern and northern versions and in A* (19.6–16) and Hs (931–52). In K (2959–74), the father has warned the son that his body will be dragged around Rome and instructs him on how to proceed; once he has passed the test, the son leaves his father’s body behind and sets out with his family for Carthage (K3023–28). In He (pp. 48–49), where the keeper of the treasure is being instructed by the emperor, the corpse is hung on the gallows after being dragged around Rome and the son leaves his father’s body exposed there. In Do (pp. 47–48), the body is dragged past the son’s house twice; he disguises his family’s mourning first by cutting off his thumb, then by throwing his child into a well. Finally, by a clever ruse he manages to save his father’s body from the gallows at night (p. 49).

“Lo, sire, swich a foul wille . . . Ibiried hit ower preveliche.” The southern and northern versions and K (2029–38) share this brief moral. A* (19.17), the midland version (D1268–73), and Hs (957–58) add that the son quickly forgot his father once he came into his inheritance. In He (p. 50), the empress adds that, while the emperor labors for his son’s profit, his son labors for the emperor’s destruction. In Do (p. 49), where the story is told by one of the wise men defending the prince, the tale is said to exemplify the frequently deceptive nature of appearances. In Aw (p. 651), the empress predicts that the emperor’s son will kill him because he desires the empire.

“Thi sone, the devel him mote anhonge, / But he cast thin heued in a gonge.” The curses with which the empress and the sages typically end their moralizations usually wish ill on the emperor unless he changes his course of action. Here the empress modifies the formula to suggest that the son would be a fool not to kill his own father. She thus emphasizes the likelihood that the prince will attempt to usurp the emperor unless he is stopped.

“Sire, I leve thee nowt, sikerliche.” This line in which the empress doubts the effectiveness of her tale is unique to A.

“Graunt merci,” she saide, “sire gent.” The empress’s change of heart after the imprecation uttered above (A1349–50) is doubled by a change in language, perhaps to comic effect. After her thoroughly English curse, the empress switches to the French of court in order to express her gratitude. These phrases are not taken over from the French source, which instead has the empress hoping that the emperor will follow through on his promise to kill his son. See A* 19.20.

A riche man of gret renoun, / That wolde spouse no neyhebours schild. The identity and age of the husband vary, as does the manner of his marriage. In the southern and northern versions and K (2125), the protagonist is called a bourgeois or a rich man; in the midland version, he is simply a man (D1333); in Hs (1019), he is a citizen of Rome; in He (p. 37), he is a knight. In Do (p. 78), he is a philosopher. A* (21.1–4), D (1336–38), He (p. 38), and Hs (1019–25) provide a traditional reason for the wife’s infidelity: there the husband is said to be old; A* and Hs further encourage a mental connection between the husband and the emperor where the husband is shown to take a new wife on the advice of his friends. With two exceptions, the northern and the southern versions have the husband disdain his neighbors’ children and take a stranger’s daughter as his wife. In B, the husband disdains poor matches and, in F (531–36), the husband is said to be on his third wife, whom he has married for her inheritance. In K (2125–36), the husband marries locally but above his rank.

He spoused hire and ladde hire hom. Hs (1028–38) and Do (p. 78) add that the husband shut his wife up in a stone tower built specially for her keeping. The inclusion of this motif strengthens the connections between inclusa and puteus in Hs and Do.

Hire forme lemman hire after com. In the northern and the southern versions, except F, the wife already has a lover when she is married; the northern version adds that the wife kept her lover once he had moved to be with her and that the lover befriended her husband (C1522–26). In F (545–50), D (1336–38), A* (21.4), He (p. 37), and K (2137–38), the wife takes a lover after her marriage. In Hs (1041–50) and Do (p. 78), the wife spots the man who will be her lover when sitting at the window in her tower.

Than was the lawe . . . him villiche drive. This description of the curfew is shared by the northern and southern versions and by He (p. 37); F (537–44) makes breaking the curfew punishable by death. A* (21.5) adds a link to the frame narrative where it says that the judgment of those caught out late awaits the arrival of the seven sages in the consistory the next day. There is some variance among the other versions regarding the handling of the curfew. Aw and Do do not mention the curfew, and the midland version (D1413–37) postpones its description of the curfew but shares the claim with F that breaking the rule was punishable by death. K (2185–96) gives a reason for the establishment of the rule: young people had been making love to the city’s statues at night.

Sche stal awai mididone / And wente to here lotebi. The degree of ruse deployed by the husband and the wife varies. There is no subterfuge on the part of the husband in D (1339–46) and Aw (p. 651); in the northern version he pretends to be asleep (C1547–78). In He (p. 37), the wife steals her husband’s keys; in Hs (1051–56), she steals his keys after getting him drunk. In A* (21.9), the wife feigns illness to go to see her lover; in K (2139–44), the wife carefully prepares the excuse for her absence by complaining of toothache throughout the day.

And schet the dore swithe skete. In K (2163–70), the husband has gone searching for his wife with his sword drawn but does not dare attack the couple upon discovering them because he knows that the guilty should be tried at court in Rome. The husband’s hesitancy in this version contrasts with the emperor’s impetuous behavior in the frame narrative.

‘A, lat me in, sire, par amour, / Men sschal sone ringe corfour.’ In He (p. 38) and Hs (1083–86), the wife claims that she was called away to visit her sick mother by one of her mother’s maids.

‘For here thou havest lived too longe.’ Both A* (21.25) and He (p. 39) mention that the night becomes especially dark at this moment in the narrative.

‘Her now, sire, I schal me adrenche.’ In He (p. 39) and Hs (1108–12), the wife makes her testament, leaving her soul to God and the Virgin, her body to St. Peter’s, and her belongings to her husband. In F (591–94), she has a final prayer for forgiveness.

Thai wist ful wel hou hit ferde. This suggestion that the wife’s infidelities are common knowledge is transmitted in B and Ar; it is absent elsewhere. In the northern and southern versions and in A* (22.6–7), but not in the midland version, He, and Hs, the watchmen are aware of the husband’s good reputation and encourage the wife to readmit him. These variants adumbrate a larger culture in which men might use their social power to help each other out. In K (2309–14), the wife makes this point patent when she accuses the watchmen of accepting bribes from her husband.

The burgeis was lad forht with wrong. In the midland version (D1446–52), the husband tries to prevent his arrest by claiming that he had gone out at night to look for a lost spaniel. In Do (p. 79), the wife finally readmits her husband after he promises that he will no longer keep her against her will. Her tower is pulled down and she is left to come and go as she pleases.

Amorewe the burgeis . . . Gelteles he suffred, this penaunce. In F (625), the husband is stoned to death the next day. In S (p. 221), the husband is also killed.

She wil thee traie sikerlich . . . dost thi sone to ded. The moral varies. In the southern version texts except F, and in A* (22.14), the sage threatens the emperor with a betrayal greater than that visited upon the husband by his wife. In F (627–30), the emperor’s life is at stake. The northern version says that the emperor’s shame will be greater than the husband’s in the tale if he follows the empress’s advice (C1653–56). The midland version says that the emperor risks losing his honor as did the husband in his tale (D1470–73). He (p. 42) and Hs (1159–60) focus on the husband’s punishment, which the emperor’s punishment would exceed should he execute his son. K (2331–34) presents the tale as another exemplum against hasty action: the emperor will no more be able to undo the execution of his son than could the husband reenter the house from which he had been shut out.

“Nai, sire,” she saide . . . “suffri wel that man thee spille.” These lines in which the empress doubts the effectiveness of her tales are common to the southern version texts, except F; they expand on a line in A* (22.25). The empress also expresses doubts about the effectiveness of her tales in Hs (1182–83).

Al Poile and Calabre lond — / Al he held hit in his hond. The action is situated in Italy in all the Middle English texts as well as A* (23.1) and Hs (1187). K (1441) and D* (p. 9) set the tale in Egypt. Aw (p. 659) sets the story in Germany.

Wimmen he lovede swithe lite / And usede sinne sodomighte. There is considerable disagreement among the surviving texts regarding the nature of the king’s sexual behavior. A follows A* (23.1) and agrees with D* (p. 9) in calling the king a sodomite but some uncertainty remains because the label is written out as three individual words: “so do miȝht” (A fol. 93r). If three words are read here rather than one, the line could be translated: “and regularly committed sins, as well he might.” B is clearer — “He vside synne of sodomyte” — but none of the other Middle English versions is so direct. The northern version mentions that the king had no delight in love or women (C1693–94); the midland version (D1517–19), Hs (1188–89), and S (p. 220) say that the king hated women; and in K (1441–42), the king is held to be a sodomite. Several texts dispatch with the sodomy motif entirely. In He (p. 99), the king’s sexual inactivity is not of his choosing: here he is an enemy of Rome who wants sex with a woman before he launches an attack on the city; he needs the help of his steward because his face is offputtingly deformed. In two of the southern texts, the king is said to be a womanizer. In Ar, he loves women day and night and, in E, he takes great delight in women.

So long he pleiede with yong man . . . ne mighte himselve welde. The nature of the king’s illness and its cause are handled differently across the extant versions. In A, the swelling in the king’s members is apparently venereal in its cause insofar as it is presented as a result of his dalliances with young men; in Ar and E, it is attributed to intercourse with women in his youth. In the northern version, the midland version, and Hs (1190–91) the king’s illness is linked to abstention from sex with women; in Hs (1211–12), he is threatened with leprosy unless he finds a cure. In K (1443–48), the king grows fat due to his sexual inactivity; in S (p. 220), he is called Grossus. In He (p. 99), the king is not ill but deformed. In Aw (p. 659), the reason for the king’s swelling disease is not given.

Barli bred . . . And barli water. The diet of barley bread and barley water or (spring) water is prescribed in A* (23.4), Hs (1203–04), K (1499–1502), and in all the southern texts of the tale except in B, where these lines are omitted; mention of the diet is also omitted in the northern and midland versions.

his stiward . . . com als a leopard. Leopards were reputed for their cunning and cleverness. See MED, leopard (n.), sense 1b.

Thanne thout that stiward coveitous: / ‘That silver schal bileve with ous.’ The northern version goes one step further, having the steward wish that he were a woman so that he could lie with the king and win the money himself (C1726–28). The homoerotic connections between the king and the steward are most strongly brought out in K (1461–64), where as well as being described as a handsome young man, the steward is said to be the king’s dru, a word whose possible translations include “lover.” See DMF, dru (n.). In K (1516–20) and B, the steward plants the idea that payment for sex will be necessary.

Who that selver winne nelle, / Lese he mot with right skille. This bit of wisdom is transmitted in the northern and southern versions and in A* (23.15). It is absent elsewhere.

O nedes he sschal that nedes mot. This line is proverbial. See Whiting N61.

‘Nai, sire, hit is mi leuedi / That al night hath laien thee bi.’ Here the possessiveness that the steward belatedly feels for his wife explodes. The midland version alone has the king discover the identity of the woman by himself at light of day (D1600–03). In S (p. 220), the steward’s wife sets the king against the steward during the night and the king has the steward hanged in the morning. In K (1613–22), the steward attempts to excuse himself by saying that he could find no other woman willing to sleep with the king.

He com agein nevere more. The tale usually ends with the banishment of the steward. B puts a more definitive end to his story: he is bound naked to a post and molten silver and lead are poured into his mouth until he dies (B1691–1700).

And kep the leuedi with the best . . . a riche erl of that lond. The other southern texts and the northern texts agree with A in having the king pass her on to one of his noblemen. In A* (23.36), He (p. 102), Hs (1274–75), and K (1643–44), the king keeps the wife for himself. In the midland version, the fate of the wife is not specified.

“Sire, and so wil hit fare bi you . . . But thou do als I rede thee.” In A, the other southern texts, and the northern version, the empress’s moral emphasizes the positive outcome that the tale gives the queen and promises the emperor that he risks sharing the fate of the steward unless he follows her advice. The midland version follows A* (24.5) more closely with the suggestion that the emperor is covetous for the sages’ tales in the same way that the steward coveted the emperor’s money (D1621–24); in A* (24.6) and Aw (p. 659), the empress expects help not from a future husband but from her friends or family. K (1645–52) says that the king risks ending up banished like the steward and that, like the steward’s wife, the emperor’s son will bear the crown. In He (p. 105), the empress argues that the prince covets power as the steward coveted money: the emperor should do with his son as the king did with the steward while he still can. Hs (1282–86) says that the sages should be banished as the steward was.

In his youthe . . . two jolif wives. This description extends a brief mention of the husband’s previous marriages in A*(25.4); the northern version expands further still (C1879–87). D (1676–77), F (709–12), Aw (p. 660), He (p. 69), and Hs (1327–30) omit details of any previous marriages; He and Hs indicate that a young wife has been sought to provide an heir. K (2479–96) gives the old man one previous wife with whom he lived happily for twenty years without fathering any children; in both these marriages, the husband marries above his station.

Bi her rede . . . wraw and gelouse. The description of the heroine’s entrapment in a marriage to an older man may recall the description of the emperor’s marriage to the empress (221–30), with the result that the fate of the heroine in tentamina might encourage a more sympathetic apprehension of the empress’s situation. In A* (25.3), the connection between the husband in tentamina and the emperor in the frame narrative is further strengthened by a description of the emperor sending his men to find him a wife.

‘Ich moste have som other love.’ In A* (25.6), the wife gives the marriage a year before she complains to her mother. In Aw (p. 660), the wife has already selected a lover by this point; in the midland version (D1680–81), she has a clerk in prospect; and, in F (725–28), she wants a priest. In He (pp. 69–71) and K (2497–2512), the wife remonstrates with her mother for marrying her to an old man and tells her that she intends to take a lover.

‘Lat ben, moder, for hit is nede.’ The southern texts except F are initially unclear regarding the reason for the wife’s tests; in F (729–30), the mother hopes that her daughter will achieve mastery over her husband in private. A* (25.13), Aw (p. 660), and the midland version (D1691–93) clarify that the mother’s advice is to test her husband before she takes a lover. He (p. 71) and Hs (1347–52) are more explicit still, establishing that the test concerns the husband’s lust for revenge: if the young wife can get away with these stunts, then she can safely take a lover. In the northern version, the mother hopes to provoke the husband’s anger so that he might correct her daughter’s wayward tendencies before things go too far (C1921–24). In K (2547–50), the mother’s advice to try the husband’s vengefulness becomes clear during her description of the first test.

‘Doughter, thi louerd hath o gardin . . . To warme bi his colde bones.’ In the midland version, it is the daughter who thinks up the tests for her husband, including the first test with his beloved tree (D1694–96). In the F text, the wife suggests the husband’s little tree as a possible testing point, mentioning that he loves the tree more than her (F736–40). F and D also plan more blatant attempts to attract the husband’s ire. In F (744), the wife is told to plant docks and nettles in the prized tree’s place and, in D (1707–08), the wife leaves the pieces of the tree chopped up in the hall for her husband to discover.

al maugre the gardiner. In A* (25.25), He (p. 72), Hs (1377–78), and K (2569–72), when the gardener refuses to fulfil the wife’s order, she takes an axe to the tree herself.

‘O,’ thoughte he, ‘her was a sscherewe.’ The husband in A is unusually controlled in his reaction to his wife’s infractions. In Ar, E, B, and Aw (p. 660), the husband requests an explanation for his wife’s actions; in A* (25.32), the northern version (C1951), F (753–56), and K (2585–88), he tells her of his regret. In He (pp. 72–73) and Hs (1402–15), his remonstrations must be calmed by the wife’s tears. In the midland version, the husband is said to hold a grudge against his wife (D1717–19).

Thi louerd hit wile sone aspie / And he him wolde fellich awreke. At this point the northern version adds lines in which the wife blames her mother for marrying her to an old man (C1958–61).

‘A grai bichche . . . a wives pleint.’ With the exception of F, the southern version remains vague about the purpose of the mother’s instructions. A* (25.43) and Aw (p. 660) make clear that the second trial with the dog is a test. In He (pp. 73–74), Hs (1425–26; 1431–32), and K (2617–22), it is patent that the test is designed to establish the husband’s vengefulness. In the midland version, the wife comes up with the idea of killing the dog herself (D1736–39); in A* (25.46), she suggests the idea before her mother can. In F (770–71), the wife offers the dog as a possible testing point and complains that her husband loves the animal more than her.

She hadde on a pilche of pris / And a chaisel. Other versions are more explicit on the point that the wife has put on her best clothes in order to have a pretext for killing the dog when it jumps on her. See, e.g., A* (25.54–64) and K (2655–62).

Sche drow a knif and smot. In He (p.74), she kills the dog by throwing it against the wall when it jumps on the marital bed; in Hs (1442–46), she kills it with a blow to the head.

The lord ros and yede to bed. Again, the husband in A is unusually taciturn in the face of his wife’s provocations. In Ar, E, B, F (782–83), the northern version (C1993–95), and Aw (p. 660), the husband remonstrates with his wife. In D (1746–55) and K (2663–68), the husband expresses his regret; in A* (25.60–69), He (pp. 74–75), and Hs (1447–66), the wife’s tears calm her husband’s ire.

For al hire wrenche and al here ginne, / The more love sche ne might awinne. The southern version texts with the exception of F agree at this juncture in identifying the goal of the tests as the reignition of the old husband’s libido.

‘Doughter, ich rede that thou lat.’ A* (25.76) and Hs (1479–82) add lines in which the daughter counters her mother’s advice not to bring shame on the family with the argument that her case is different: whereas her mother and father married young, she has an old husband.

‘What man hastou ment to love?’ The F text omits this discussion and proceeds to the description of a test that is unique to this version, in which the wife kills a hawk that her husband loves more than her (F802–27). The midland version also omits this discussion and proceeds directly to the announcement of the third test, which is shared with the other extant versions, in which the wife disrupts a public meal (D1782–97). Hs (1488–98) has the discussion and adds that the wife is attracted to the priest because of his handsomeness and reliability.

‘Nai, doughter, her a queinte ginne, / Thi louerdes love hou schalt winne.’ These lines reconfirm that the tests are designed to reignite the libido of the old husband. They are shared across the southern version and the northern version (C2019–20). K (2699–2702) agrees with F (729–30, 798–99) at this juncture where F suggests that the mother’s goal for her daughter is the subjection of her husband.

‘And wite I sschal, moder, bi than, / Yif he wil plaie, that olde man.’ These lines clarifying the wife’s motives are unique to A.

Swithe sore sche him atraid, / Certes he was wel ivel ipaid. The husband’s reactions are again unusually muted in A. Ar, E, B, and D (1798) have a line expressing the husband’s anger. In the northern version the husband complains on his guests’ behalf (C2045–46); in He (pp. 76–77), he puts a good face on things for them. In A* (25.95–99) and Hs (1535–40), he remonstrates with his wife.

Therof ne stod him non owe . . . The barbour in the veyne hire smot. It is not clear in A when the barber takes over the bleeding. In the lines leading up to 1889, the masculine pronouns might refer to the husband or the barber.

‘I nelle neither lovie clerk ne knight.’ The daughter’s promise seems to satisfy her mother but is oddly formulated in A given the preference for priests that she has voiced above.

Hire moder com and sche saide . . . Than thou kanst do with ani wrenche. The midland version does without the final interview with the mother. Instead, the husband nurses his wife back to health and promises forgiveness in return for amendment (D1820–31).

“So fareth the quen . . . As dede to that elde wise.” In A, the emperor is threatened with an outcome that is worse than that which befell the husband in the tale. This is odd insofar as the husband in the tale escapes his wife’s trap. In A* (27.4) and the midland version (D1837–47), the emperor is incited to follow the husband’s example; in K (2817–18), the advice is that he should bleed the empress. B and E replace the last three lines of this passage (A1930–32) with lines shared with the northern version (C2126–28), in which the emperor is threatened with general outrage if he kills his son. Aw (p. 661) warns that the emperor should avoid falling into sin as did the wife in the tale. Only Hs (1592–94) parallels the moral in A. There the emperor is threatened with a worse outcome than the husband in the tale if he follows his wife’s advice and kills his son.

Virgil. All the extant versions of the story give Virgil as the originator of the tale’s marvels, except the midland version, which attributes them to Merlin (D1878), and Aw (p. 654), which attributes them to an unnamed alchemist. On the Virgilian legends that the story engages, see the headnote to this tale.

He made a fair conjuring / Amideward Rome cheping. In the southern and the northern versions, He (p. 84), and Hs (1620–28), the conjuring helps the poor; A* (28.2–3) specifies that it serves women and children in particular; in K (3933–38), it is merely a marvel. The midland version and Aw omit this wonder and begin with a description of the miraculous mirror. He (pp. 82–84) describes the mirror before giving its description of the marvelous fire.

A Lumbard com with gret noblai. The man comes from Lombardy, in the north of Italy. The southern and the northern versions present the Lombard as a visitor to Rome; in A* (28.6) and Hs (1629–31), he is described as a student there; in K (3951), he is a bishop coming to Rome from Carthage. In He (p. 84), the destroyer of the fire is a clerk; he is motivated to topple the figure by the false notion that treasure might be found under it.

And saide to the folk about . . . and he him smette. Like A, E and B implicate the people of Rome in the destruction of their marvel; Ar, the northern version (C2188), A* (28.8), and Hs (1632) have the vandal in conversation only with his entourage. In K (3953–58), the bishop’s people advise him not to strike the statue and the bishop ignores them. In He (p. 84), the clerk operates alone.

“That was no rightwis doing.” A* (28.12) adds a line in which the emperor sympathizes with the women and children who have lost their source of fire. In S (p. 223), it is the clerks who extinguish the fire just before they burn down the supports holding up the mine under the mirror.

Ac Virgil dede yit more mervail. The description of the ball-throwing statues is omitted in D, Aw, He, and Hs.

Virgil made another ymage. In the southern and the northern versions, the mirror is held by an anthropomorphic statue; A* (28.16), the midland version (D1880–89), and K (3979–4002) have a mirror without the figure holding it. In D and K, the mirror is said to illuminate the town as well as identifying Rome’s traitors. He (p. 82) explains that the marvel has been built to protect the overweening Romans from their increasingly numerous enemies; Hs (1655–60) adds to this description the familiar prophecy attributed to Virgil that the mirror will stand until a virgin bears a child.

The kyng of Poile. All the versions that identify the enemy king agree with A in making him the king of Apulia, except Aw (p. 654), which makes him the king of Poland, and K (4003–06), where he is the king of Hungary.

And tolde hem alle his grevaunce. A* (28.18) and He (p. 85) more explicitly blame the Romans for stoking the enmity of their opponents.

Twei clerkes, brether, that were in Rome. In He (p. 85) and Hs (1685), four knights take the place of the two clerks.

This was a dede of queint list. The southern and the northern versions agree with A* (28.28) and Hs (1705–13) in having the treasure buried beneath the gatehouses at Rome; in the midland version (D1918–28), Aw (p. 654), He (p. 85), and K (4027–44), the treasure is buried outside or on route to the town.

Amorewen thai sschewed hem in Rome. Uniquely in K (4055–58), the emperor visits the treasure hunters; he is attracted by news of the luxury in which they live. A* (28.28) also mentions their fine living.

grot. MED, grot (n.3) gives the definitions “an English silver coin equivalent to four pennies” (sense 1), or “any of several small European silver coins” (sense 2). The sense is that the emperor has lost everything down to his smallest change.

Ich mot mete a sweven tonight. Uniquely, the northern version dispatches with the dreams whereby the treasure hunters usually pretend to find their booty.

‘Goht an hast.’ B adds lines here further compromising the emperor in which he exhorts the diggers to go about their work energetically.

The smale and the poeple of Rome. The agents of Crassus’s punishment vary. The northern and southern versions and K (4149) agree where they have the emperor attacked by the Romans in general; in the midland version, the lords of the city rebuke the emperor but he is executed by the crowd (D2044, 2054–57). In A* (30.1–10), He (pp. 88–89), and Hs (1811–27), it is the emperor’s own retainers who rebuke and execute him. In K (4151–52) and Hs (1822–27), the emperor is drowned in molten gold.

make thee heit! MED, hait (interj.) describes a command to a horse. Here the phrase is being used facetiously as the children and the people of Rome encourage Crassus to drink the molten gold with which they are murdering him.

“Nou is he ded with mochel schame.” He (p. 89) ends with the destruction of Rome by its enemies.

“Ya, sire, for his lesingges . . . thou mai sike.” The southern and northern versions agree in moralizing the tale as a warning against believing the tales of false gadelinges, or rascals, here equated implicitly with the sages. In the midland version (D2072–79), the empress claims that the sages’ tales have caused the emperor to fall into covetousness; she also points out how Crassus was executed without proper legal process. Other versions incorporate Crassus’s reputation for covetousness in their morals. A* (31.4), K (4155–62), and He (p. 89) say that the emperor is greedy for stories like Crassus was for gold; He adds that the sages are undermining the emperor’s wits, which are symbolized by the warning figures kept in his tower. Hs (1828–40) has an elaborate moral: the emperor is the first image with the arrow that guarded Virgil’s warming marvel; the fire is his charity, which causes him to love the poor; the child that struck down the first marvel is the emperor’s son, who will take the emperor’s crown; the treasure hunters are the sages; and the empress is the mirror who shows her husband his enemies. In S (p. 223), the empress also claims to be the mirror; the son is the fire that devours it; and the clerks are his agents.

A burgeis. The hero is a burgess in all the versions consulted except K (3077), where he is a chatelain.

But sche was fikel . . . al bilapped therinne. The first two lines of this misogynist commentary are shared by the northern and southern versions, except B and F, where they are absent. They are absent elsewhere. The last two lines of the passage are unique to A.

a pie. The bird is a magpie in all the extant versions of the Seven Sages except the midland version (D2143), where it is a popyniay, or parrot.

Freinch langage. Where the language spoken by the magpie is mentioned, the extant texts often have it speaking Latin. See e.g., A* (32.1), Ar, B, Hs (1888). In He (p. 54), the husband trains the bird to speak Latin and Hebrew.

And seth lemmans comen and gon. Some versions rationalize the wife’s adultery. In F (1506–09) and He (p. 54), she turns to adultery because the husband is an insufficient lover; in K (3081–84), the wife scorns her husband and takes a knightly lover.

And teld hire louerd. The gender of the bird alternates in A, where the magpie is referred to by pronouns both masculine (2210, 2237, 2242, 2272, 2275) and feminine (2206, 2243, 2261, 2262, 2263, 2275). In the northern version, feminine pronouns are used for the bird throughout. The other southern texts including this part of the poem differ in their treatment of the creature. B and Ar have a mixture of masculine and feminine pronouns, with Ar clearly preferring masculine pronouns and B feminine; E has feminine or neuter pronouns throughout. In the midland version, the bird is gendered masculine or neuter. Feminine pronouns are used in Hs, He, and the French versions. In K (3097–99), the bird is said to speak like a woman. On the alternate gendering of the bird in avis, see further Critten, “The Affordances.”

he couthe nowt lie. Other versions are less sure about the truth-telling capacities of the bird. Elsewhere in the southern texts it seems to the husband (E2258: hym thought) or, as in the northern version, he expects (C2428: he hoped) that the bird cannot lie. According to A* (32.3–4), the bird often told the truth and the husband was particularly inclined to believe it when it spoke about his wife’s lovers. In He (p. 55), it is the husband — not the narrator of the tale — who asserts the reliability of the magpie; in Hs and K and in the midland version, no claims are made for the bird’s truthfulness at the opening of the text.

‘I schal you wraie, bi the rode.’ At this juncture, Hs (1930–81) departs from the other versions, reporting the unexpected return of the husband and a trick that the wife’s mother puts in motion to save her daughter’s reputation: she gives the lover a sword and tells the husband that the lover is hiding out in their house after an assault; the husband believes the story, and the women escape punishment despite the truthful report of the magpie. Hs (1982–2011) then inserts a second lucky escape for the daughter. When the husband returns early from a pilgrimage during a visit from the lover, the mother and daughter pretend to have made new sheets, one of which they hold up to show the husband, allowing the lover to escape undetected. After these two escapades, the wife and her maid proceed to trick the magpie. These innovations appear to have been taken over from the Disciplina clericalis of Petrus Alfonsi. See further The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis, ed. van Buuren, p. 335n1934–60.

a maide. The identity of the wife’s helper varies. In A* (32.16), He (p. 55), Hs (2015), and in the southern texts except F, she is helped by her maid; in F (1530–39), where the lover is a priest, and in the northern version (C2451–70), she is helped by her lover; and in the midland version (D2161–82) and K (3133–62), she is helped by a manservant. K (3111–26) adds a motivating detail: the bird reports on everyone in the household, not just the wife.

This was on of wommannes wrenche. The southern texts except F share this generalizing misogynist comment, which is absent elsewhere.

But also swithe his nekke tobrak. The midland version ends with the killing of the bird (D2249–50).

And with a god staf ful sket . . . twenti devel wai. In the northern version and in the other southern texts, except F, the husband beats his wife and drives her out of the house. The wife is also chased out of the house in A* (32.42). In Hs (2073–78), the wife is banished and the husband departs on pilgrimage for the Holy Land; in He (p. 57), the husband departs on pilgrimage but no punishment for the wife is mentioned. In K (3261–62), the husband decapitates his wife. In F (1576–77), the wife and the lover go unpunished and kill the husband.

“Lo, sire,” he seide, “for a foles red . . . thou art bicought.” The moralization usually compares the wife in the tale to the empress and threatens the emperor with a fate like that of the husband in the text, who regrets killing his magpie, if the emperor kills his son (see e.g., A*32.46–47, D2251–56, Hs 2080–85). In F (1578–81), where the lovers kill the husband, the sage predicts death for the emperor and his wife if the emperor kills his son on her advice. The northern version adds lines to the usual moral counseling against hasty action and emphasizing women’s capacity to trick men (C2541–44). The moral is less clearly pointed in He (p. 58), where the emperor agrees with the sage that the wife was full of falseness.

“Al the werld thee sschal despise / Yif thou do bi here and lete the wise.” These lines threatening general disapprobation for the killing of the son are unique to A.

Herowdes. Whenever he is named in the extant versions, the ruler in vii sapientes is called Herod. In the Bible, Herod is king of Judea when Christ is born in Bethlehem; in an attempt to destroy the baby before it can threaten his rule, Herod has all the children in the town killed. See Matthew 2:1–20. This moment will have been familiar to medieval audiences of the Seven Sages thanks to its frequent rendition in medieval drama. See, for example, the play of the Massacre of the Innocents in The York Corpus Christi Plays, ed. Davidson, pp. 130–38. The vitriolic speeches given to Herod in productions such as this led to a more general set of connections between Herod, bombast, and tyrannous rule. The connection that the empress draws between this figure and her husband jars with the text’s portrayal of Diocletian as a dithering ruler.

He hadde with him seven wise, / Als ye han. The northern and the southern versions, except F, emphasize the parallel between the ruler in the tale and Diocletian; in A* (33.1), Herod is said to have seven sages “as there are now.” In the northern version, the great reputation of the sages is presented as the opinion of the emperor (C2584). F (1601, 1625, 1685) repeatedly states that the ruler in the tale thinks that his wise men are wiser than God.

Al that themperour dede or thout, / Bi here conseil al he hit wrout. These lines emphasizing the wise men’s power over Herod are common to the northern and southern versions, except F, but absent in A*. B and F (1604–05) anticipate the moral in additional lines stating that the wise men almost ruined Herod. Aw (p. 657) announces at the outset that the ruler’s wise men aimed to kill him and divide his kingdom between them.

besaund. While the besaunt might just be a silver coin, the word is frequently used to refer to eastern and biblical currencies. The use of the word here plays into the Roman setting of the tale. See MED, besaunt (n.).

So her was arered in this toun . . . richcher than themperour. Responsibility for the custom whereby the wise men are paid for interpreting dreams is handled differently across the extant versions. At the extremes, in He (pp. 61–63) and F (1606–13), the custom is enshrined in law, and in the northern version (C2596–600), popular enthusiasm sustains the tradition. B, the midland version (D2300), and the northern version (C2595) cast doubt on the veracity of the wise men’s dream readings. F (1616–17) adds that the sages built a treasury at Rome’s gates to store their wealth; in that text, it is upon riding past this treasury that the king is blinded (F1619–21). Aw does without the dream-telling custom and does not specify how the wise men enrich themselves.

He bicam blind so ston. He (p. 61), K (3292–3306), Aw (p. 657), and S (p. 224) handle the emperor’s predicament differently. In He, his vision is troubled whenever he attempts to leave his palace. In K, the king’s sight is unaffected but he is unable to leave the city, and he interprets this affliction as a punishment for his sinfulness. In Aw, the king dreams that he is blinded by sparks from a fire warming a cauldron with seven feet in it; in reality he retains his sight. In S, the sages are responsible for Herod’s predicament, which prevents him from entering his city.

His maistres he ofsente . . . out of Rome te. In He (p. 63) and Hs (2128–30), the emperor summons his sages on the advice of his wife; in He, the wife claims that the sages are to blame for his predicament and deserve to die in consequence. In He (p. 62), Hs (2132–36), and F (1630–31), the emperor demands that the sages find a cure on pain of death.

K, He, and Hs organize the tale’s opening elements differently. At the outset in K (3281–86), the king is suffering from an unspecified illness that has made him lethargic; notice of the custom regarding dream interpretation is postponed until after his failed attempt to leave Rome (K3327–36). In He (p. 61), the extent of the sages’ domination over the emperor is stressed. Their responsibility for the king’s blindness is made clear at the outset and their ability to acquire riches through dream interpretation is attributed to their laws. Hs (2113–24) begins by announcing the custom of dream interpretation established by the sages before going on to state that Herod trusted them in all things.

respit a fourten night. The length of time that the sages are accorded varies between seven nights (Ar, B, E) and twenty-four days (F1639–41). The midland version and Aw dispense with the following interlude in which the sages seek out Merlin (A2350–2426). Instead, the boy is brought to the ruler’s court directly (D2321–26, Aw p.657).

Thai soughte conseil fer and negh / Ase man that is queinté. Here we assume that the redactor is stretching the phonology of the French word queinte in order to make it rhyme with negh in line 2363. On the poem’s flexible rhymes combing English and French elements, see further Critten, “The Affordances.”

an hold man. Some versions have the discovery of Merlin do without the old man. In F (1634–42) and Hs (2137–44), the sages set out for Merlin, whose reputation they already know; in He (p. 64), they discover him by chance. In K (3327–3482), the child’s existence is discovered from a dreamer who is seeking out the sages to interpret his dream.

ther Merlin pleid. On the similarity between this scene and a passage in the Auchinleck romance Of Arthour and of Merlin, see the headnote to this tale. In K (3345–56), the child’s name is Jessé and the story of his generation is altered: he is said to have been conceived when his mother inhaled a magical powder contained in a box that she had been given to take care of. In Aw (p. 657), the child who is brought to court to interpret the ruler’s dream is unnamed.

‘Al to loude thou spak thi Latin.’ As well as referring to the Roman language, in Middle English, “Latin” could also mean “what one has to say.” See MED, Latin (n.), sense 1c. See too the use of Latin at A2476.

‘Ich wil hem helpe swithe sone.’ Merlin’s words to his fellows have a double meaning for readers who know the outcome of the story. In F (1654–61), he expresses his enmity towards the wise men more clearly, calling them his greatest foes.

donghel. The southern and the northern versions feature a dream about a dunghill, but A* (33.22) has a dream in which the fountain is located beneath the man’s hearth. In He (p. 64), the dream fountain springs in an orchard; in Hs (2154–55), it appears in a field. In K (3377–90), the fountain emerges from the dreamer’s house, which has partly been destroyed by fire. Whereas the fountain signifies the gold that he will find, the child says, the fire in his home betokens the death of his wife.

‘Lo her, sire, a litel page / That schal sai thee thi corage.’ Lines in B here attribute the boy’s learning to his education by wise men (2528–39).

And therwhiles thai boilland be, / Sire, thou ne schalt never ise. In addition to the extinction of the bubbles in the cauldron, F (1694–97) specifies that the emperor will need to share out the sages’ ill-gotten treasure to secure his recovery. In Aw (p. 657), the child says that if he doesn’t take counsel, his dream of blinding will become a reality. In S (p. 224), the bubbles are replaced by seven demons who are blowing on the flames heating a boiling cauldron under Herod’s bed; the demons disappear when the sages are executed.

swich Latin. See the note at line 2386, above.

Tho themperour wiste this, / He let sle alle sevene, iwis. A* (34.30) and the midland version (D2389–92) have lines preceding these in which the emperor reiterates his determination to follow Merlin’s advice. F (1718–21) adds lines following in which the emperor redistributes the sages’ treasure to the poor. In Aw (p. 657), the emperor ignores the child’s advice that his wise men should be killed and is finally killed by them.

Anon he wichss therof his hond, / And overseth al the lond. In B, the emperor’s sight is restored and the text does not mention his rule; in the northern version (C2765–66), Merlin washes his eyes and restores the emperor’s vision in this way. Several versions offer a brief continuation of the action. In K (3628), Merlin’s reward is briefly mentioned; in He (p. 66), the child is made a lord; in A* (35.2–13), the midland version (D2407–22), and Hs (2218–26), Merlin and the emperor ride out of Rome together and Merlin is retained; in Hs, he is made steward.

“And sire, so fare maistres thine . . . browt to ivel ending.” To the core moral that the sages in the frame narrative are blinding the emperor as did the sages in the tale, the midland version adds commentary on the beneficent intervention of Merlin (D2423–30), and He (p. 67) suggests that the sages’ power derives from the emperor’s son. K (3631–32) presents the tale as an example of the punishments that befall those who treat others unjustly.

he lovede hire has his lif, / And ssche him. Some versions more explicitly cast doubt on the affection of the wife for the husband. Both A* (36.2) and the northern version (C2815) suggest that the wife dissimulates; in F (1080–83), the wife is jealously guarded. The midland version (D2469–70) only mentions the husband’s reluctance to aggrieve his wife.

The knight his wif in the wombe carf. In A* (36.5), E, and B, the knight cuts her thumb; in the northern version (C2820), he cuts her finger. The midland version does not specify the location of the injury. In F (1084–89) and He (p. 129), the wife cuts herself, either when cutting a pear or when playing chess. In K (3695–3708) and Aw (p. 655), the husband is preparing an arrow or a spear-shaft when the wife is hurt. In S (p. 226), the accident is not related and the young man dies of apparently natural causes.

And wel faire browt on erthe / After that he was werthe. The midland version (D2479–82) specifies that, as a suicide, the husband is buried in unconsecrated ground outside the town. A* (36.8) and K (3709–12) also specify that the burial takes place out of town.

Sche wolde be ded and bi him laide. E has an extra line saying that the wife wept and lamented as women are inclined to do.

A logge thai made upon his grave. In F (1104–05), the wife makes her own lodge.

A knight of the countré held his fe / For to loke the thre knighttes. The northern version (C2879–80) adds that if he loses any of the men, he risks forfeiting his lands; in He (p. 131), he risks losing his life too.

Sche let him in anonright. In the northern version (C2897–2914), the knight asks to be admitted four times before the wife relents. In the midland version (D2529–42), the ensuing conversation is replaced with a wooing scene in which the wife and the knight have sex. In S (p. 226), the wife and the knight negotiate their marriage before the knight realizes that one of his corpses is missing.

gade. MED, gade (n.) gives this as its only example of the word.

He was so smal and so gent. Whereas in A the wife recalls her husband’s slender physique, in E, B, and Ar, she remembers his courteous, loving, or sweet nature. In the northern version (C2940–42), she recalls how pliant he was to her will.

He thoughte men mighte don him gile. In place of this idea, B has lines asserting that the knight planned to trick the wife.

He thought that wimmen couthe red. These lines ironically asserting the reliability of women are common to the northern and southern versions, except F. They are absent elsewhere.

‘Sire, ich wille helpe thee, / So that thou wille spousi me.’ In B, the wife offers the knight advice and he promises to wed her in return without prompting. In the northern version (C2966–69), before making her condition, the wife ascertains that the knight has never had a lover or a wife. In the midland version, the help is given unconditionally.

Here red was don. In F (1162–66), the wife must dig up her own husband and carry him to the gallows on her back; in Aw (p. 656), she also lifts him to the gallows herself.

The knight of hire dedes was agast. This line detailing the knight’s reaction is common to the southern versions, except F, but absent elsewhere. A* (38.11) points out that her heart has changed entirely.

‘Nai, dame, for moche ne lite, / The dede knight wolde I nowt smite.’ B adds that the knight fears the wife’s disapproval if he wounds the dead man. In He (p. 134), the knight won’t harm the corpse because the man was his friend. In some versions, the wife requires less persuasion to mutilate her husband’s corpse. In A* (38.15–22), for example, the wife gives him a head wound and knocks out his teeth without being asked.

Thanne the knight wel understod / That fals and fikel was hire blod. With minor variations, these lines are common to the northern and southern versions, except F. In B, the knight sees the wife’s subtle and false disposition; in E, he thinks she’s mad. In the northern version (C3008), he deduces that she comes from unnatural blood. Elsewhere the lines are absent.

And smot hem out everichon. In the midland version, the tale ends here. Some versions add an extra mutilation. In Aw (p. 656), the wife shaves the corpse’s head; in F (1186–91), she must cut off two fingers, and she cuts off three; in He (pp. 134–35), she cuts off his testicles.

‘Thou hast itawt me . . . bigile thee altherformest.’ This generalizing misogynist moral is common to the northern and the southern versions, except F. In A* (38.26–28) and K (3901–08), the knight says that the wife is fit to be burned but restricts himself to blaming bad women. In Aw (p. 656) and F (1196–99), the knight refuses to marry the woman but forgoes further misogynist comment. In He (p. 135), the knight decapitates the wife. The action is briefly continued in A* (38.29–30) and K (3909–10), which give the wife’s shocked reaction.

“Sire and on thee falle . . . Rightfulliche thou him awreke.” The moral is abbreviated in E, which also lacks the announcement of the prince’s account of events. In A* (38.31–32), the sage warns that the emperor will end as did the husband in the tale unless he changes course. In F (1200–03), he and his wife will suffer the same fate as the husband if he kills his son. In the midland version (D2609–16), he will lose his honor as the husband lost his life if he falls for his wife’s lies. In He (pp. 135–36), the emperor acknowledges that the wife was a terrible woman and looks forward to hearing his son. In K (3911–14), the sage says that, like the husband in the tale, the emperor is too quick to believe his wife.

folen feste. The empress refers to the Feast of Fools, a moment of carnivalesque inversion in the medieval ecclesiastical calendar that appears to have involved masks and costuming. The Feast of Fools took place in January; it is first mentioned in the twelfth century and was suppressed in the fifteenth. See further Speer and Foehr-Janssens, p. 241n88.

seven soudans. The number of besieging kings varies. In the midland version (D2647–48), there are three, for example. On He, see the headnotes to this tale and to Senescalcus.

Seinte Petres sate. The phrase repeats the reference to Rome in the preceding line. The “see of Saint Peter” is the church of the first Pope, Saint Peter, now Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

‘To seven wise men toke we this toun, / To kep hit fram destructioun.’ The other Middle English versions present this statement as an old man’s suggestion. See B2836–41, Ar1793–1802, E2764–69, F1980–88; in the midland version, one of the sages suggests that they should be given the city to keep (D2659–76). The northern version (C3075–86) adds that the sages are given the task of defending Rome on pain of death. The parallels between the frame narrative and the situation in the tale are variously developed. In A* (39.3–4) and K (2375), the sages are said to take turns defending Rome for a day. In He (p. 103), the empress points out that her husband’s sages have promised to defend the prince likewise.

A moneth thai kept hit. The duration of the siege varies. In A* (39.5), for example, the sages keep the town for seven months; in K (2384), they keep it for six.

so seith the rime. Ar (1809) mentions a Latin source here.

In three versions the action is extended by a judicial combat. In L (pp. 73–76) and S (p. 228), representatives of the son and the empress fight and the empress is executed when the prince’s knight wins. In S, before she is sent to the pyre, the empress recognizes the truthfulness of a dream that she had: a snake issued from her mouth and was pursued by seven birds who, with the help of an eagle, brought the snake back to her before she and the snake were burned together in a great fire. The serpent signifies her falseness, the seven birds were the seven sages, and the eagle was the prince. In D* (pp. 51–54), which also concludes with a judicial combat, the prince fights for himself against a nephew of the empress and wins but is ambushed by the nephew’s men and must be rescued by his father. Before she is executed, the queen begs a final request that she should be burnt with the best of fleeces. When the wish is granted, she presents the emperor with a conundrum: his own hide, she says, is the best fleece. The prince disproves her argument and the empress is finally burnt.