The English Moral Plays 304 
compilers proceeded after no methodical plan. So, also, the exempla 
themselves varied, from a cursory statement, in some instances, 
giving the merest skeleton of plot, to a complete story, in others, 
told with zest and skill. The stories, too, cover a fairly broad 
range. Of course, one compiler borrowed freely from another, 
usually with no acknowledgment, and all are indebted to practically 
the same ultimate sources—the Vitae Patrum, Gregory’s Dialogues, 
the Dialogus Miracularum, and the current saints’ legends.'| Even 
within a single collection there is some repetition. Nevertheless, 
the collections offer a wide variety of material; history of all 
shades of authenticity, saints’ legends, fable literature and folk-lore, 
personal experiences—all contribute to the making of what Haw- 
thorne would call these ministerial “ note-books.” 
Neither the compiler nor those he served drew in all probability 
any clear distinction between the sources from which the stories 
were derived. They would classify them, rather, according to the 
nature of the moral taught, and repeat the same story several times 
if several lessons were suggested.2 The tale might be a simple 
example of right living that the preacher would commend. A holy 
man once saw “by revelacion” the house that was being built in 
heaven for the shoemaker who worked steadily all the week, and 
on the Sabbath went to the church to give his savings to the poor. 
Other equally effective tales were told as warnings. A blasphemer 
was afflicted by paralysis of his left hand, and, on his remaining 
obdurate in the sin, by paralysis of the other members of his body.* 
Still others exposed to ridicule the follies of the day. A certain 
percentage of the exempla can be classed neither as encouragement, 
nor warning, nor satire; for example, the many tricks perpetrated 
by clever rogues upon the righteous, are told without any hint of 
disapprobation, the preacher, no doubt, being left to supply that, 
in case the audience seemed willing to receive it. Such stories, 
and indeed not such alone, savor strongly of the tavern jest. But 
the majority hold true to the original didactic intent of the species. 
To recall lax Christians to religious ceremonies there were at hand 
the story of the nun who, forgetting to make the sign of the cross 
before eating, swallowed a devil with a leaf of lettuce®; the ex- 
ample of the poor scholar who amused himself during responses 
by imitating the street cries of Paris venders; and the very different 

1 Crane, lxx. 2 Bonaventura, 245. 
3 Alphabet of Tales, No. 293. 4 Etienne de Bourbon, No. 392. 
5 Jaques de Vitry. 
