so.  She had too long, she explains, been expected to take words for deeds, and to believe on his mere assertion, that her admirer was prepared to die for her; and when the sight of this lion brought before her the men who had risked their lives in capturing it, without royal applause to sustain them, the moment seemed opportune for discovering what this one’s courage was worth.  She marries a youth, so the poet continues, whose love reveals itself at this moment of her disgrace; and (he is disposed to believe) will live happily, though away from the Court.  De Lorge, rendered famous by the incident, woos and wins a beauty who is admired by the King, and acquires practice in seeking her gloves—­where he is not meant to find them—­at the moments in which his presence is superfluous.

“THE TWINS” is a parable told by Luther in his “Table Talk,” to show that charity and prosperity go hand in hand:  and that to those who cease to give it will no longer be given.  “Dabitur” only flourishes where “Date” is well-fed.

“THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN” (Hameln)[99] is the story of a mysterious piper who is said to have appeared at Hameln in the fourteenth century, at a moment when the city was infested by rats.  According to the legend, he freed it from this nuisance, by shrill notes of his pipe which lured the rats after him to the edge of the river Weser, where they plunged in and were drowned; and then, to punish the corporation, which had refused him the promised pay, enticed away all its children, by sweet notes from his pipe; and disappeared with them into the Koppelberg, a neighbouring mountain, which opened and then closed on them for ever.  The legend also asserts that these facts (to which Mr. Browning has made some imaginative additions), were recorded on a church window, and in the name of a street.  But the assertion no longer finds belief.

“GOLD HAIR” is a true “Story of Pornic,” which may be read in guide-books to the place.  A young girl of good family died there in odour of sanctity; she seemed too pure and fragile for earth.  But she had one earthly charm, that of glorious golden hair; and one earthly feeling, which was her apparent pride in it.  As she lay on her deathbed, she entreated that it might not be disturbed; and she was buried near the high altar of the church of St. Gilles[100] with the golden tresses closely swathed about her.  Years afterwards, the church needed repair.  Part of the pavement was taken up.  A loose coin drew attention to the spot in which the coffin lay.  Its boards had burst, and scattered about, lay thirty double louis, which had been hidden in the golden hair.  So the saint-like maiden was a miser.

“HERVE RIEL” commemorates the skill, courage, and singleness of heart of a Breton sailor, who saved the French squadron when beaten at Cape la Hogue and flying before the English to St. Malo, by guiding it through the shallows of the river Rance, in a manner declared impracticable by the Maloese themselves; being all the while so unconscious of the service he was rendering, that, when desired to name his reward, he begged for a whole day’s holiday, to run home and see his wife.  His home was Le Croisic.