The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

LAUGHABLE STORIES OF ACTORS AND COMEDIANS. I
33
"and thy cloak to whosoever asked thee for them'."
And he replied, "Let the mind of Christ be far from
"me on this matter ! For this commandment was [not]
"given by Him to the people of Sebastia in the winter
"season, although it may have been given to the people
"of Palestine in the summer season."
D. Another actor was quarrelling with a shopkeeper
called Zakron, who said to him, "Art thou not ashamed
"of me? Thy mother was like a sister to me at the
"time when thou wert a child among us." And being
much offended the actor went to his mother and said
to her, "My mother, knowest thou Zakron the shop-
"keeper?" And she said "Dost thou mean Zakron the
son of Isaac?" And the actor said, "Now I believe that
"the man did not lie in what he said. I did imagine
"that thou couldst never have known him, but behold,
"thou hast known his father also."
DI. Mimus alius interrogatus, "Quis tibi foramen
"istud perfossit quod in ano geris?"
respondit, "Idem qui
"matri tuae duo foramina, alterum in parte anteriore,
"alterum
a tergo."
DII. Another actor went into his house and found
a man with his wife and the door wide open; and he
said to the man, "What a senseless dolt thou art to
"imagine that this woman doth not know the difference
"between good and evil;
art thou in reality thus wanting
"in sense?"
DHL Another actor saw his wife halfway up a ladder,
and swore that he would never again have any more
to do with her, whether she came down or whether
she went up. And when the woman heard this she
threw herself down from the ladder on the ground,
' St. Matthew v. 40.