be. Neuertheles ye haue somwhat wyth your wordes easyd myn herte, and made it lighter than it was. Alas loo, here ye may see how he or they to whome a man trusteth moost, is ofte by hym or them deceyvyd. Thaugh I shold goo al the world thorugh, and my lyf in auenture sette therfore, I shal wyte wher thise jewellis ben be comen.

Wyth a dissymylyd and sorouful speche saide the foxe, Herken ye, alle my kynne and frendys, I shal name to yow, thise jewellis, what they were. And thenne may ye saye that I haue a grete losse. That one of them was a rynge of fyn golde, and within the rynge next the fyngre were wreton lettres enameld with sable and asure, and ther were thre hebrews names therin. I coude not my self rede ne spelle them, for I vnderstonde not that langage; but Maister Abrion of Tryer, he is a wyse man, he vnderstandeth wel al maner of langages, and the vertue of al maner herbes ; and ther is no beest so fiers ne stronge, but he can dompte hym, for yf he see hym ones he shal doo as hee wyl. And yet he beleueth not on God. He is a jewe. The wysest in connyng, and specially he knoweth the vertue of stones. I shewde hym ones this rynge. He saide that they were tho thre names that Seth brought out of Paradys whan he brought to his fadre Adam the oyle of mercy. And whom someuer bereth on hym thise thre names he shal neuer be hurte by thondre ne lyghtnyng; ne no witchcraft shal haue power ouer hym, ne be tempted to doo synne. And also

he shal neuer take harm by colde, thaugh he laye thre wynters longe nyghtis in the feelde, thaugh it snowed, stormed or frore, neuer so sore. So grete myght haue thise wordes; wytnes of Maister Abrion.

Withought forth on the rynge stode a stone of thre maner colours; the one part was lyke rede cristalle, and shoon lyke as fyre had ben therin, in suche wyse that yf one wold goo by nyght, hym behoued non other lighte, for the shynyng of the stone made and gaf as grete a light as it had ben mydday. That other parte of the stone was whyte and clere, as it had ben burnysshid. Who so had in his eyen ony smarte or sorenes, or in his body ony swellynge or heed ache, or ony sykenes without forth, yf he stryked this stone on the place wher the gryef is, he shal anon be hole; or yf ony man be seke in his body of venym, or ylle mete in his stomach, of colyk, stranguyllon, stone, fystel, or kanker, or ony other sekenes, sauf only the uery deth, late hym leye this stone in a litle watre, and late hym drynke it, and he shal forthwyth be hole, and quyte of his sekenes.

Alas! saide the foxe, we haue good cause to be sory to lese suche a jewel. Forthemore the thirde colour was grene, lyke glas, but ther were somme sprynklis therin lyke purpure. The maister told for trouthe, that who that bare this stone vpon hym shold neuer be hurte of his enemye, and that noman, were he neuer so stronge and hardy, that myght mysdoo hym; and where euer that he fought he shold haue vyctorye, were it by nyght or daye, also ferre as he behelde it fastyng;

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and also therto where someuer he wente, and in what felawship, he shold be bylouyd, though they hadde hated hym to fore; yf he had the ring vpon hym, they shold forgete theyr angre as sone as they sawe hym. Also though he were al naked in a felde agayn an hondred armed men, he shold be wel herted, and escape fro them with worship. But he moste be a noble gentle man, and haue no chorles condicions, for thenne the stone had no myght. And by cause this stone was so precious and good, I thought in myself that I was not able ne worthy to bere it, and therefore I sente it to my dere lord the kyng; for I knowe hym for the moste noble that now lyueth, and also alle our welfare and worship lyeth on hym, and for he shold be kepte fro alle drede, nede, and ungheluck.

I fonde this rynge in my fadres tresour, and in the same place I toke a glasse or mirrour, and a combe whiche my wyf wold algates haue. A man myght wondre that sawe thise jewellis. I sente thyse to my lady the quene, for I haue founden her good and gracious to me. This combe myght not be moche preysed; hit was made of a clene noble beest named Panthera, whiche fedeth hym bytwene the grete Inde and erthly Paradyse. He is so lusty fayr, and of colour, that ther is no colour vnder the heuen but somme lyknes is in hym. Therto he smelleth so swete, that the sauour of hym boteth alle syknessis; and for his beaute and swete smellyng all other beestis folowe hym, for by his swete sauour, they ben heled of all syknessis.

This Panthera hath a fair boon, brode and thynne,

whan so is that this beeste is slayn, al the swete odour restid in the bone whiche can not be broken, ne shal neuer rote, ne be destroyed by fyre, by water, ne by smytyng, hit is so hard, tyght, and faste, and yet it is lyght of weyght. The swete odour of it hath grete myght, that who that smelleth it sette nought by none other luste in the world, and is easyd and quyte of alle maner diseases, and infirmytes. And also he is joconde and glad in his herte.

This combe is polysshid as it were fyne syluer, and the teeth of it ben smal and straite; and bytwen the gretter teeth and the smaller, is a large felde, and space, where is caruen many an ymage, subtilly made and enameld aboute with fyn gold. The felde is checked with sable and siluer, enameld with cybore and asure. And ther in is thistorye how Venus, Juno, and Pallas, strof for thapple of gold, whiche eche of them wold haue had, whiche contrauersye was sette upon Parys, that he shold gyue it to the fayrest of them thre.

Parys was that tyme an herde man and kepte his faders beestis and sheep without Troye. Whan he had resceyuid thapple, Juno promysyd to hym yf he wolde juge that she myght haue thapple, he shold haue the moste richesse of the world. Pallas said, yf she myght have theapple, she wold gyve hym wysedom and strength, and make hym so grete a lorde that he shold overcome alle his enemyes, and whom he wold. Venus saide, What nedest thou richesse or strengthe? art not thou Priams sone, and Hector is thy brother, whiche haue al Asye under their power? Art thou not one

of the possessours of grete Troye? Yf thou wylt gyve to me thapple I shal gyve the richest tresour of the world, and that shal be the fayrest woman that ever had lyf on erthe; ne never shal none be born fairer than she. Then shal thou be richer than riche, and shal clymme above al other, for that is the tresour that no man can preyse ynough, for honest, fair, and good women can put a way many a sorow fro the herte; they be shamefast and wyse, and brynge a man in every joye and blysse.

Parys herde this Venus, whiche presented hym this grete joye and fayr lady, and prayed her to name this fayr lady, that was so fair, and where she was. Venus saide, It is Helene, kynge Menelaus wyf, of Grece. Ther lyveth not a nobler, richer, gentiller, ne wyser wyf in al the world. Thenne Parys gaf to her thapple, and said that she was fayrest. How that he gate afterward Helene by the helpe of Venus, and how he brought her in to Troye, and wedded her; the grete love and ioly lyf that they had to gydre, was al carven in the felde, every thyng by hym self, and the story wreton.

Now ye shal here of the mirrour. The glas that stode theron was of suche vertu that men myght see therin all that was don within a myle, of men, of beestis, and of al thynge that men wold desire, to wyte, and knowe. And what man loked in the glasse had he ony dissease, of prickyng, or motes, smarte, or perles in his eyen, he shold be anon heled of it. Suche grete vertue had the glas.

Is it thenne wondre yf I be mevyd and angry for to lose suche maner jewellis. The tree in whiche this