AND WHAT THEREON BEFELL.
Furthermore after the descent of Alexander into the sea, messengers
came from Susa with the word that the king of Babylon, Nabuzardan,
had refused the tribute that he ought to pay, and had declared war
against the Lord of Macedon, for he deemed that Alexander would
not return from the far lands to which he had departed, and he
thought that the city Babylon could not be taken of man, for it was
exceeding great and strong, and needed help of no man when it was
closed up. Then Alexander the king grew very wroth, and bade all
men prepare to go to Babylon, for he would gather all the armies
of the empire against it, and he turned his face towards the land
of Babylon and marched towards it, and they went through mighty
deserts and strange lands, and many strange things they saw and
wild beasts of strange shapes, and some that breathed out fire, and
had teeth and claws like iron, and were covered with scales like
brass. But above all wonders of the land men brought him a certain
bird called Caladrius. Now this bird is white of colour and hath no
part of blackness, and its nature is such that when a man suffers
from great sickness, and this bird turneth away its face from him
that is sick, then without doubt the man shall die. And if the sick
man shall escape, the bird setteth its sight on him and beholdeth
him as it were fawning and playing. And Alexander made proof of its
wondrous gifts.
Now the land of Babylon is the best land to bear all manner of
bread-corn and fruit and wine; full of sweet spices, herbs, and
trees; and most rich of precious stones and of divers metals,
with great plenty of camels, horses, oxen, asses, mules and other
beasts. And the greatness of the city may scarcely be told, for the
walls were fifty cubits thick, and as much in height, and the city
was four hundred and fourscore furlongs about. The walls were of
burnt tiles and brick, and without was a broad ditch and deep. Into
that ditch ran the river Euphrates all about the city. And in the
front of the walls were an hundred gates, and about the walls were
dwelling places for them that should defend the city, and those
places of defence were wondrous huge and strong.
On the day that Alexander came into the land of Babylon, there met
him messengers from his mother Olympias and from Aristotle the
wise, whom he had left to govern the land of Macedon. And Olympias
wrote telling of troubles in the kingdom, now Antipater the father
of Cassander and Roboas had stirred up the people against her,
and how he sought to be king of Macedon, for he had heard that
Alexander should return no more to Greece. But Aristotle wrote
praising the wondrous works he had wrought, and the sights he had
seen.
Soon the Lord of Macedon pitched his tents before the walls of
Babylon, and called on Nabuzardan its king to yield himself up. Now
it was the custom of Alexander when he besieged a town that for
three days a white flag hung over his tent, and after that a black
one flew, and if the town yielded while the white flag was flying,
then Alexander received it into the number of his friends, but if
they yielded not then were they treated as enemies and slain or
sold for slaves. And three days did the heralds come to the walls
of Babylon, and sound their trumpets and call on them to yield, but
they did not, and on the fourth day, Alexander brought up great
catapults and sent huge stones into the city, and the people feared
and sent out the dead body of Nabuzardan their king, and yielded
them to the mercy of Alexander. Then the Lord of Macedon entered
into the city with all his men, and they came into it and abode
there many months.
So Alexander reigned in Babylon, and of the gold of India and of
Persia he bade men make him a throne, and they brought the gold on
horses, and on camels, and on elephants, and cast it into a heap
twelve cubits high, and this was the fashion of the throne they
made. It was at the top of twelve steps, and was surrounded by
twelve images, the shapes of his twelve tried princes, and each of
these held up the heavy work of the canopy of the throne. The seat
of the throne was of smaragd stone, green and clear, and above all,
in the canopy, was a lovely carbuncle which shone in the darkest of
the night like a sun, and on the steps of the throne were engraved
the names of all the countries of the world, for they were subject
to his rule. Then made he a crown adorned with noble and precious
stones, rich beyond all telling, and on it was a name telling of
his power and might. And his heart swelled within him and he forgot
the warnings of the gods who had told him of his death.
Then wondrous things began to happen in the land, signs and
marvels, for on one day an ass fell upon a noble lion and kicked it
to death, nor did the lion resist, and on another day a child was
born in shape like a lion from the waist up, and the child spoke a
word and died. So Alexander asked his wise men and the priests of
Babylon, and they told him that it showed evil that should happen
to him. And this is how the evil came. There was a certain great
lord in Macedon, Antipater by name, and he sent to gather poison
from the rock of Nonacris, and so strong was this poison that no
cup or vessel might contain it, save only it were made from the
hoof of a horse. So when he had gathered it he sent messengers to
his son Cassander with the poison, and he bade him fear not to
use it. Now Cassander and Roboas his brother had determined evil
towards Alexander in their hearts since the day when Roboas had let
Alexander loose in the sea, and since the day when Cassander had
come into the camp to Alexander. For when Cassander had done his
homage to his lord, one of the Indian kings came up and fell on the
ground before him, and kissed the ground at his feet, and Cassander
laughed out at the Indian king, wherefore Alexander was offended,
and struck him a blow so that he reeled against the wall. So when
the poison came Cassander rejoiced, and he told his brother, and
they set a day to kill the Lord of Macedon, the noble Alexander.
The tale tells how Alexander held high feast in his palace at
Babylon, seated on his golden throne with his crown on his head,
and Roxana the queen by his side, and with him the twelve princes
of Greece, who had been his companions and his friends from the
days of his youth up. And they rejoiced and were glad, for all
nations were put under their feet, and the burden of warfare was
over, and now they had to rule the folk and to lead happy days,
and they trusted that they should be great kings under Alexander
the emperor. And now men passed the wine, and full draughts were
drunk, and Nearchus told a tale of the wonders that he had seen in
the great sea of ocean when he had sailed there at the orders of
Alexander, and another great lord reached for a lyre and sung a
song of old days. Then men told tales of their deeds in battle, and
each man boasted how near he had been to Alexander in the days of
the great battles, and at the last men fell to talk of that good
steed Bucephalus, and how he bore the king in battle, and served
him faithfully, and fought with him, and Cassander said to Roboas
his brother “What thou hast to do, that do,” and Roboas rose and
brought a cup to Alexander, and said “Dear Lord, this cup is made
from the hoof of thy brave steed, Bucephalus the white; drink we a
cup in memory of this horse, the best in the world.” And Alexander
rose and said “O Bucephalus, my fair horse, thou failedst me never;
were this cup my bane, I would refuse it not from thee,” and he
drank it down. Then he sat down for a space, and then he fell
forward from his seat, and his sword fell from its sheath, and
pierced his side, and he called but twice “Help! Help!” Yet when
his lords ran to him and raised him, he said “Nay, my good lords of
Macedon, it is nought; drink ye and rejoice for the good days to
come,” but he turned to Cassander and said “My faithful liegeman,
go and fetch me somewhat to ease me of this pain,” for he trusted
in Cassander as he did in his nearest friend. But Cassander brought
him that which only increased his pain.
That night Alexander the king lay alone in his palace at Babylon,
for he would have no man near him to watch by him or to guard him,
and as he lay the cold poison weighed on his heart. Then his brain
grew dizzy and faint, and the room seemed measurelessly great,
and all men seemed far away. The beginning of the night seemed to
be long time past, the dawn of day was still too far away to hope
for, the pain became over great to bear, the poison ran through the
veins and seemed to eat his throat with a cold fire, and in the
midst of his trouble and fear the light went out and the darkness
came on him like a net round him. Then he feared indeed, for he
knew that he could not stay there with the terror that was on him,
and he tried to stand and walk, but he could not for his wound and
the poison that he had drunk, he thought of the great cold river
flowing near and the water seemed to call him, so he crawled out
of the room on hands and knees painfully, step by step, till the
morning broke and he found himself in the garden of the palace
close on the bank of the river, and said, “The gods have left me,
and I know not why; but one more effort, and I shall be free of
this burning and wound.” Then he heard a great cry “My lord, my
life!” and Roxana the Queen came running down the garden to him,
and after her the women, and the lords of Greece. So one of them
snatched a shield from the guard that came up and laid it on the
ground for the King, and Roxana sat him on the shield and rested
his head on her bosom, while Ptolemy held up his golden shield over
him to guard his eyes from the rays of the morning sun, and a cry
of confused voices went up round him. Then Roxana the Queen said,
for in truth she knew not what to say, “See, my lord, a canopy of
gold for my Emperor.” “Aye, fair lady love,” said Alexander, “a sky
of gold, and a soil of iron; now are the fates accomplished and my
time is surely come; bear me back to my bed that I may die there.”
Then at the word all men there burst into tears and lamentation,
for the end of all things seemed at hand now their lord was to die
so young, and what words can tell the grief of Roxana the Queen.
So his lords bore him gently to his bed in the palace, and stood
round it, and listened to the words that he spoke, and Alexander
sent for his scribes and bade them bring parchment and an inkhorn
for his will. So it was done and he shared out all the lands that
he had conquered amongst his war-dukes, to every man of them a
kingdom. And he left to the priests of Egypt a thousand talents
of gold and his body that they should keep it for ever, and for
his wife Roxana, if she should have a son he should be Emperor
after him, if a daughter she should be married to the best of
the Macedonians and he should be Emperor. Then Alexander put his
seal to the parchment, and all the dukes put their seals on it as
witnesses, and the will was folded up and laid in a precious casket
before them all.
Now drew on the time that this noble Prince was to die, and all the
world suffered with the pain of losing him. The thunders rolled
and crashed, the lightnings flashed wide over the land, and there
was a darkness of thick clouds, and the earth was rent hither and
thither, and huge towers toppled and fell, so that all that was
strong and well-founded became weak and unstable as water, and the
foundations of all things were shaken. Then men in far-off lands
feared and wondered what these things should mean, and when they
hurried to the temples of the gods to enquire, the oracles answered
“The earth is poorer to-day by the loss of its most noble knight
and king,” and all men knew that Alexander was dying. Then the
seamen heard voices over the sea of weeping and wailing, and they
knew that all people mourned for the death of the Lord of Macedon,
the bravest, the most courteous, and most generous of knights.
But the army of the Macedonians came round the dwelling of their
chief, as it ever was their wont in time of danger, though they
knew that they could not help him, nor he them, in this his day of
passing away from them. Their hearts longed to see him once more,
to look on the face that had led them smiling into danger and out
of it again, and it may be, to touch the hand that had struck such
blows in their aid, or had given such gifts to them as he had.
So Alexander the king was brought on his bed into the great hall
of his palace, and the Macedonians crowded round to see him, and
one of them was over-bold and asked him “Whom dost thou leave to
be lord of thine army?” and Alexander lifted up his head and said
“Perdiccas, I leave my army and my Queen in thy charge, take care
of them: as I have loved thee, love and keep them in my memory.”
Then the Macedonians began to weep and lament and those who were
near kissed the cold hand of their king, and they went out, and the
sound of their sobs and lamentations was like the dying away of a
thunder storm far off.
There stood up in the midst of them a lord of Macedon, Solentius by
name, and said “Men of Macedon, our land was a small one, and our
name was lightly esteemed in Greece, till this man’s father was
born, and he ruled us and made us a mighty people among the Greeks,
and subdued Athens and made us first among the folk of our land.
And when he died, and Alexander our lord came to the throne he went
wide into the world, and rode over it, and conquered it, and he
made the footmen of his army lords over the people and kings among
the barbarian folk, so that no man stands before the Macedonians,
and they are the first of folk under heaven. Now is he at point to
die, and what shall fall to us, for no man has he left behind him
who can take his place. Soon shall the empire of the Macedonians be
broken to pieces, and the name of the country be forgotten.” And
all men said that he had spoken true, and they lamented exceedingly.
And Alexander died: and the sun was eclipsed.
Then Ptolemy sent physicians, and they embalmed the body of
Alexander, and dressed it in his imperial robes, and set it in a
chariot, and with all the army of Macedon, marched from the land
of Babylon to the land of Egypt, to the city of Alexandria which
Alexander had built. And when they were come there, Ptolemy built
a golden sepulchre for him in a high place looking over the city
he had built and the sea, and there he set a chair of state, and
in it was the body of Alexander, clothed as the Emperor of the
World, with his crown upon his head: his right hand held a golden
sceptre, and his left a golden ball, and on his knees lay his
sword, sheathed and swaddled in his girdle, for he should no more
draw it in the face of the foe.
The tale tells of Olympias that when men told in Macedon that
Alexander was dead, Antipater the traitor sent men, and they seized
the lovely queen, and slew her, and cast out her body to the beasts
of the field, and the fowls of the air; and great wars followed
that cruel deed. And other things are told of the son of Alexander
and Roxana, but never did he reach the empire of his father, nor
attain the fame of Alexander.
On a day there came to the tomb of Alexander wise men from all
lands, and one said, “Alexander made his treasure of gold, and the
gold endures, but not Alexander.” The second said, “Yesterday the
whole world did not satisfy him, to-day four ells are enough.”
The third said, “Yesterday he ruled the people, to-day the people
rules him.” The fourth said, “Yesterday he could save a multitude
from death, to-day he cannot save his own life.” The fifth said,
“Yesterday he led his army from the city, to-day they led him to
his burial.” The sixth said, “Yesterday he pressed down the earth,
to-day it weighs him down.” The seventh said, “Yesterday all men
feared him, to-day they hold him in small honour.” The last said,
“Yesterday he had friends and enemies, to-day all men are alike to
him.”
Then they went away, and Alexander was alone, sitting in his chair,
of state, watching his city.
[Illustration: WHO SHALL ME GIVEN TEARES TO COMPLAIN
THE DEATH OF GENTILLESSE AND OF FRANCHISE.
THE END]
AFTER-WORDS
The story which has just been told may be looked on as the result
of ten centuries of Eastern and Western imagination. The career
of the historical Alexander is perhaps one of the most important
things, in its way, that have happened on our earth, and could not
fail to give rise to a plenteous crop of legend and of marvels.
Even in his lifetime the Greek orators allowed their language
to run riot in the telling of his deeds, which required no
exaggeration to stand out before the world.
[Sidenote: _Greek Text of Pseud-Callisthenes._]
The form of the story was fixed much as we have it now, certainly
before the third century of our era, and probably much earlier, in
the work of which a corrupt text has come down to us, under the
name of Callisthenes, one of the companions of Alexander. The Greek
text of this work was printed by Muller (Paris, 1877) from three
MSS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, which represent three
different classes of MS. There are about twenty MSS. of the work
known.
[Sidenote: _Probable Alexandrian origin of the Romance._]
The origin of this romance is probably Egyptian. In fact, there
seems little reason to doubt Favre’s guess, that its composition
was due to one of the Ptolemies, who were successors of Alexander
on the Egyptian throne, and willing to legitimatise their rule by
connecting it with that of the last of the ancient kings. The style
of the Greek seems to be Alexandrian, and Nicephorus Calistes (X.
36), speaks of the Life of Alexander written by the Alexandrian.
Other considerations tend to support the Egyptian origin of the
romance. The character of the magic is distinctly Egyptian (see
a very interesting discussion of some points in Budge’s Syriac
Version of the Alexander Story, pp. xxxix. _et seq._). The way in
which magic has been attributed to Anectanabus agrees with Egyptian
tradition, which has always attributed supernatural powers to him.
Reuvens, in his Third Letter (p. 76), gives an account of a papyrus
describing some of his magical powers, and Tertullian, in the “De
Anima” (lvii.), names him as one of the masters of magic.
[Sidenote: _Julius Valerius and his Epitome._]
The story was translated into Latin by Julius Valerius early in
the fourth century, since the translation is one of the sources of
the “Itinerarium Alexandri” (340-345 A.D.). An epitome of Julius
Valerius, made in the ninth century, was published by Zacher
(Halle, 1867). Our earliest MS. of Julius Valerius is at Turin, and
dates from about 800 A.D. He is quoted by Syncellus in the eighth
century, and by Malala in the ninth.
The most important translation--the one which is known as the
“Historia Alexandri Magni de Proeliis”--is, however, due to the
tenth century. Leo the Archpriest seems to have been sent on an
embassy to Constantinople to the Emperors Constantine and Romanus
(920-944) by John and Marius, Dukes of Campania (941-965), and
while there he seems to have collected many books, among which was
the Story of Alexander. On his return he was commanded by Duke John
to translate the story into Latin.
[Sidenote: _Alberic de Besançon. And the decasyllabic poem._]
[Sidenote: _Lamprecht’s Version._]
The Alexander Story came into European literature early in the
twelfth century. As far as we know it was introduced by Alberic
de Besançon. Of his work there exists now only a fragment of
about 105 lines, first printed by Heyse, Berlin, 1856, 8vo. We
can, however, judge of it by the decasyllabic poem, of which two
portions are printed by Meyer. It was founded on Julius Valerius
and the authentic histories of Alexander. Alberic rejects with
disdain the story of Anectanabus’ parentage of Alexander, judging
it a disgrace to any true knight to be base-born. The character of
the missing parts of the poem may also be gathered from the German
version of Lamprecht the preacher, who wrote towards the end of the
twelfth century, and who seems to have made use of Alberic’s poem
till it concluded with the episode of Nicholas. The poems printed
by Meyer here change their versification, and are henceforth in
Alexandrines, the continuator being Simon le Poitevin.
[Sidenote: _Lambert li Tors and Alexandre de Paris._]
The development of the Alexander Story in Europe is due, however,
neither to Alberic nor Lamprecht, but to Lambert li Tors and
Alexandre de Bernay (or Paris), who in the middle of the century
wrote the romance in Alexandrines. The poem was full of the magical
wonders which Alberic had rejected; it adopted the Egyptian origin
of Alexander and the wondrous stories of Bucephalus, and became
instantaneously popular.
[Sidenote: _The Alexander Cycle._]
But medieval listeners were not satisfied with so meagre
information as the Romance of Alexander gave. Here was a great king
foully murdered, beautiful queens beheaded; is there no justice in
the skies? So in quick succession came the “Testament d’Alexandre”
of Pierre de Saint Cloor, and in 1190 “La Vengeance Alexandre”
of Gui de Cambrai. Another poem on the same subject was written
between 1288-1308 by Jean le Nevelois (Nevelaux), and a new cycle
of poems was opened by the “Voeux du Paon” of Jacques de Longuyon,
1312, the “Restor du Paon” of Brisebarre de Douay (before 1338).
The Alexander cycle finishes by Jean de la Mote’s “Parfait du
Paon,” 1340.
[Sidenote: _Eustace of Kent._]
Meanwhile the Alexander Story itself had gone on its way. Eustace
of Kent had incorporated it in his (still inedited) “Roman de
Toute Chevalrie” in the middle of the thirteenth century. Four
manuscripts of this work still exist, and it seems to be the stock
from which many English translations have been made, notably
that published by Weber in 1810. About the same time the prose
translation of the “De Proeliis” was made, a translation which
profoundly influenced the later story-tellers. Soon the Epitome of
Julius Valerius, and a letter of Alexander to Aristotle, giving an
account of the wonders of India, were translated. Frère Jehan de
Vignay wrote a prose romance of Alexander in 1341, unfortunately
lost, and the roll is closed in 1445 by “l’Histoire d’Alexandre” of
Jean Wauquelin.
[Sidenote: _English Versions._]
Our English versions seem to have been later. Very few of them have
been printed, a fact perhaps due to the very insufficient support
extended to the Early English Text Society, which has printed the
portions to be found of two of them. Our earliest version seems
to be that of which some extracts are given in Warton. There was
an English version of 48,000 lines or so of the Alexander Story,
belonging to the Duke of Roxburghe, but the MS. has disappeared.
Weber, in his “Early English Metrical Romances,” gives a rhymed
poem of 8031 lines. Two fragments are known of an alliterative
translation of Lambert li Tors, which must have been of enormous
length; and a nearly complete poem, which follows pretty closely
the “De Proeliis,” is printed under the name of “The Wars of
Alexander.” The three last are published by the Early English Text
Society. Gower, in the “Confessio Amantis,” also makes use of
episodes of the romance. Cockayne printed an A.S. version of the
letter of Alexander.
We have thus run down the line which brought the tale from Egypt
to Chaucer’s doors, so that he could sing that--
“_Alisaundre’s storie is so commune_
_That everie wight that hath discrecionne_
_Hath horde somewhat or al of his fortune;_”
but we would not have the reader think that here is an exhaustive
list, even along the line of descent we have traced, of the forms
of the Alexander Story. Amongst other European versions are the
German prose version (printed in 1478, Aug. Vind., fo.), made by
John Hartlieb Moller, at the command of Albert, Duke of Bavaria.
There are further, early Spanish, Italian, Norse, Swedish, Dutch,
and Russian versions. An early rhyme, preserving an incident of the
story, is printed by Schiller, “Thesaur. Antiq. Teuton,” t. i., in
the Rhythm. de S. Annone, xiv., xv.
It hardly comes within our province to refer to other forms of the
Alexander Story in Europe, except in the briefest possible way. A
work often mistaken for the “De Proeliis” is the compilation of
Radulphus of St Albans, who compiled from Quintus Curtius and other
authors a Life of Alexander. In 1236 William of Spoleto wrote a
Life of Alexander in Latin elegiacs, a work quoted by Warton as of
Aretinus Quilichinus.
[Sidenote: _Independent Legends--Persian, Arabic._]
The Pseud-Callisthenes is often spoken of as the work of Simeon
Seth, protovestiarius of the palace of Antiochus at Constantinople,
and was in the last century considered a translation from the
Persian about the year 1070. Other reasons apart the dissimilarity
between the Egyptian and the Persian forms of the story would
disprove this theory. Just as the Egyptians represented Alexander
as the son of the last of their native kings, so the Persians
represented him (in the popular legend) as the son of Darius
(Codomannus of the Kayanian dynasty), and of a daughter of Philip
of Macedon, who was brought up by his grandfather, and afterwards
overcame his elder brother. An independent tradition seems to have
grown up among the Arabs, making him the son of an old woman, and
born in obscurity, his name being originally Mazban (Lord of the
Marches), son of Marzabah, descended from Yunan, son of Japhet
(Burton, “Arabian Nights”).
[Sidenote: _Syriac Versions._]
An early Arabic version of the Greek must have been made about the
eighth century, from which the Syriac version we have at present
was made, but unfortunately this has not been found. A Syriac
version was made in the eighth century, of which parts exist;
but our most complete version is that made in the seventh-ninth
century, and published with a version by Budge. Eight chapters
of this are missing, and it is noticeable that the source of the
translation did not contain the interpolations from Palladius
(367-431) which the Greek text now does. An Armenian version is
attributed to Moses of Chorene (fifth century), who certainly knew
the story.
[Sidenote: _Armenian, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Ethiopic, Coptic._]
The story early passed into Hebrew. It is found in Jos. ben
Gorion (lib. II. p. 94, ed. Oxon. 1704, 4to), and a pseudonymous
translation of the work of Ptolemy, son of Lagos, by Samuel ben
Judah ben Sibbon of Granada, appeared in the thirteenth century.
(See a French translation of a Hebrew version by J. Levi, “Revue
des Etudes Juives,” III. 241.) It is found in the Arabic of
Said ibn Batrik (939 A.D.), Patriarch of Alexandria (Eutychus.,
ed. Pocock, Oxon. 1606), and in Gregory Abul Farag (1265). Mohl
believed that Firdusi had an Arab author before him when writing
of Alexander. Among the Persian writers may be named Firdusi
(1024), Nizami (1203), and Mirkond (1497). An Ethiopic version
will shortly be published by Budge; and among others existing are
versions in Coptic, Malay, and Siamese. Several detached incidents
connect themselves with the story. Thus we may mention the “Iter
ad Paradisum,” twelfth century (of Talmudic origin), printed at
Konigsberg, 1859; the Gog and Magog story, &c.
[Sidenote: _Anectanabus._]
The Egyptian king who figures in our story as Anectanabus is known
to history as Necht-neb-f (Nakhtenephen). His mutilated statue
and two inscriptions are in the British Museum. He was overthrown
by Ochus, and retreated into Ethiopia some four years after the
birth of Alexander. We have already referred to the reputation
for magic that attached to him early in the Christian era. The
form Anectanabus is used as being the form (sometimes shortened to
Anec) in which the name appears in Gower and the poet of “The Wars
of Alexander.” His history may be read in Wiedemann, “Aegyptische
Geschichte,” p. 716, or in Maspero, “Histoire du Peuples de
l’Orient,” pp. 566-7.
[Sidenote: _Plutarch and the Alexander Story._]
It is difficult to resist the conclusion that Plutarch had before
him such a collection of tales as the “Pseud-Callisthenes,” and
was thinking of them when he wrote his first pages of the Life of
Alexander. The tradition of his birth from the visit of a dragon
is accounted for by the habits of the Macedonian women, who are
accustomed to pet large snakes. Justin XI. 2, 3, and XII. 16,
and Solinus, cap. XV., also mention the tradition. Other points
where Plutarch is contradicting the legend will readily suggest
themselves. However, this is saying nothing more than that many of
the stories must have grown up about the time of Alexander, or soon
after his death. The filiation of Alexander and Ammon is one of
these, the cartouche of Alexander being “Alexander, son of Amen.”
There has been no attempt to give a Greek character to the story.
Even when the alteration of a letter would have made a good Greek
name, as in the case of Pausanius, it has not been altered, and
Sir Samson, Sir Balaan, speak for themselves. But, on the other
hand, as the tales make him Christian or Pagan by turns, we have
not tried to make him consistent. In the same way, it was found
impossible to leave out the visit to Jerusalem, which makes such a
central point in the medieval stories.
[Sidenote: _Medieval Illuminated Copies._]
A word as to the illustrations--not those of our book, but those
of the veritable medieval illuminators. Among the chief treasures
of the British Museum are its illuminated copies of the Alexander
Romance, notably 19. D. I and 20. B. XX. Some others are older, but
these are filled with most beautiful paintings of the incidents
of the story. I may be allowed to mention one thing here which
I have noticed. In each of them, at the beginning, is a sort of
frontispiece divided into compartments, and labelled The Castle of
Cairo, The Town of Babylon (with Anectanabus shown on the walls
or elsewhere), The Garden of Balm, and The Mills of Babylon. Now,
these seem to have no connection with the French prose translation
in which they are found. Cairo is not mentioned in it, there is no
story of a garden of balm, and there is no story of the mills of
Babylon, which are large floating water-mills like those at Old
London Bridge.
FINISHED THIS THIRTIETH DAY OF MAY 1894 BY ME, ROBERT STEELE, AND
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO., LONDON, FOR DAVID NUTT IN THE
STRAND.
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note:
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg 25: ‘and gan question’ replaced by ‘and began to question’.
Pg 55: ‘CHAP. VII’ replaced by ‘CHAPTER VII’.
Pg 131: ‘and whatsover men’ replaced by ‘and whatsoever men’.
Pg 163: ‘the earth. Then’ replaced by ‘the earth.” Then’.