The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

STORIES OF LUNATICS AND OF MEN POSSESSED OF DEVILS. 1
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"not forget that ye have given alms to me for the
"next among you who shall
die."
DCXLIX. Another lunatic asked a certain
nobleman
to give him a pair of shoes, "For", he said, "I am bare-
"footed." And when the governor had given him the
shoes, he said to him, "Have a care so that my head
"also may pray for thee as well as my feet, otherwise
"the prayer of my feet will not be more availing
"than the curses of my head." And the nobleman
commanded and gave him a cloak also.
DCL. The wife of another lunatic came to the judge
and made a complaint against her husband, saying,
"He beateth me and he starveth me." And when the
judge had rebuked him for such conduct the lunatic
said, "As regards the beatings which I give her she
"speaketh the truth, but fn the matter of the starving
"she lieth." Then he fell at the feet of the judge, and
entreated him to come in person with him to the door
of his house that he might see for himself and judge
rightly in the matter. Now when the judge heard
[these words] he imagined that the lunatic wished to
shew [him] the quantity of bread and meal which were
in his house, so he rose up and went with him. Quum
tamen ad aedium fores ventum est ingentem merdam
illi monstravit quaesivitque, "Hanc per deos rem cogno-
"scite, num istam merdam edere famelica valuisset?"
And when the judge looked he was very angry and
reproached himself because he had been persuaded to
come with the lunatic.
DCLI. Unto another lunatic a certain man said,
"Why
"standest thou idle? Behold, the prince distributeth two
''suze to every man." The lunatic said, "Shew me, now,
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