The English Moral Plays 331 
significant for the student of the moralities is the version variously 
attributed to Hugo or Saint Bernard, in which a considerable portion 
of the parable is given in dialogue. A mighty king has endowed 
his son with all blessings. But the son abuses the greatest gift, 
the knowledge of good and evil, and, falling into the power of 
Satan, is chained in the prison of despair. The father, however, 
does not forget him, and although his first messenger, Fear, ac- 
complishes nothing, he sends a second, Hope, who finally rouses 
the prisoner from the deadening grasp of sin and the fetters of 
bad habit. Helping him to mount the steed, Desire, and furnishing 
him with the saddle of Devotion and the spurs of Good Example, 
Hope encourages him to flee, while Fear drives him on. But, 
because a bridle is lacking, the flight becomes uncontrolled. Pru- 
dence and Temperance have then to check their rash haste, and 
supply the bridle of Discretion to make possible a more orderly 
retreat. Thus they advance, Hope leading the Prodigal Son, Force 
protecting, Prudence guiding, and Justice advising, till they reach 
at last the castle of Wisdom, within whose moat and walls they 
find refuge. 
But Satan, like Pharaoh following the children of Israel, has been 
in close pursuit, and with his hosts at once besieges the castle. 
They mine the fortifications, they cast burning brands over the 
walls, they place ambuscades. The defenders are seized with fear, 
and Prayer, on the advice of Prudence and Wisdom, is hurriedly 
dispatched to the father for aid. Charity, who returns with the 
relieving party, arrives just in time to save the city from surrender. 
The son is then conducted to his father’s home, where he is received 
with great rejoicing.} 
The siege, then, as a symbol of the strife in man’s heart between 
the inclinations to good and to evil, was just as widely accepted 
as was the theme of combat.? It seems to have been preferred 
by the more strictly religious writers, and therefore, though tangible 
evidence is insufficient to warrant such a deduction, may have 
been more commonly used in the didactic plays. The reader 
already knows how seriously the earliest extant morality handles 
the siege. The same episode appears again in the late play, Mary 
Magdalene, which is half miracle-play and half morality. It is true 

1 Bernard, De Pugna Spirituali, G@uvres Completes, 4. 102-19. Grober, 
2. 1, 202, offers no conjecture as to the true author. Bourgain, 216, 
attributes the parable to Hugo de 8. Victor. 
2 The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man, 11769 ff. and 15489 ff., and Piers 
Plowman, Passus 19—20. 
