Gesta Romanorum
Gesta Romanorum (Deeds of the Romans),a collection of 181 Latin tales, each accompanied by a moral, composed in the late 13th century, is a preacher's guide. Although there were early English translations such as the one by Wynkyn de Worde in 1500, Charles Swan's version, published in Bohn's antiquarian library in 1824 (revised by Wynnard Hooper in 1876), is still useful.
Among the exempla are fairy tales of tasks or tests imposed on royal suitors: a princess announces that she will wed only the man who can outrun her in a race. Her challenger diverts her with a ball inscribed ‘Whosoever plays with me shall never satiate of play’ (lx). Another princess tells a suitor how to remain safe in a garden guarded by a lion—smear his armour with gum to which the lion's paws will adhere (lxxiii). A princess will wed a man who solves a riddle: how many feet are in the length, breadth, and depth of the four elements (a supine servant composed of...
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