The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

LAUGHABLE STORIES OF ACTORS AND COMEDIANS. 1 37
DXVIII. Another actor heard a man saying to his
companion, *'When thou art travelling by night and
''wouldst that the dogs should not molest thee, shout
"in their faces the Psalm wherein occur the words,
'"[And save] my only one from the mouth of the dogs'.'
"And he said to him. Nay, but let him also take a
"stick in his hand, for all dogs do not understand the
"Psalms, although there may be among them some who
"read them."
DXIX. A judge commanded them to shave off the
beard of an actor, and when the barber wanted to do
so, he said to him, "Fill thy mouth with air." The X
actor said to him, "O fool, did the judge command,
"thee to shave my beard or to teach me how to blow
**a whistle?"
DXX. Mimus alius interrogatus quot eduxisset
liberos, regessit, "Deos obtestor uxorem meam saepius
peperisse quam cum ilia concubuerim."
DXXI. Unto another actor who had been bitten by
a dog it was said, "If thou wishest to know whether
"he was mad or not, give him bread made of fine
"wheaten flour; if he eateth it then he is mad." The f^
actor said, "If I were to do this there is not a dog
"in the world but would bite me in order to be tried
"in this same way."
DXXII. Certain men told lies about another actor
concerning some offences [which had been committed],
and the judge took him and gave him fifty stripes
with a stick, but some time afterwards, when the judge
discovered that the men had accused him falsely, he
said to the actor, "I punished thee by mistake." The
^ Psalm xxii. 20.