46 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
to all three: namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Moses, David, Habak- 
knk, Elisabeth, John the Baptist, Virgil, Nebuchadnezzar, Sibyl, 
and Simeon. Balaam is peculiar to the Laon version, as Israel and 
Zacharias are to the Limoges version and the lectio respectively. 
The similarity of the three versions is further apparent in the 
textual content of the prophecies. In eight of these prophecies 9 
the Limoges and Laon versions agree in presenting metrical ver¬ 
sions of the utterances provided by the lectio. In the utterance of 
Isaiah the Limoges and Laon versions agree as against the lectio. 
In the prophecies of Moses and Nebuchadnezzar the two dramatic 
versions differ from each other in expression, but both derive from 
the lectio. The utterance of Simeon in the Laon play is developed 
somewhat beyond what is found either in the Limoges text or in the 
lectio. 
In general arrangement the Laon play differs considerably from 
the two preceding versions. The non-chronological order in which 
the first six prophets appear reproduces what we have observed in 
the lectio. The presence of Simeon and Balaam at the end, after 
Sibyl, suggests that those two prophets were attached to the series 
in a relatively mechanical way. Possibly the copy from which 
the present text was made was in disorder. This impression is in¬ 
deed strengthened by the inconclusiveness with which the play 
ends. 10 
In considering the delivery of the prophecies from the dramatic 
point of view, our attention centers in three: those of Nebuchadnez¬ 
zar, Simeon, and Balaam. The first of these may be dismissed 
briefly, for although the rubric Appelatores reducent Danielem 
suggests special dramatic action of some sort, the nature of this 
action is not specified. The dramatic action accompanying the 
role of Simeon can be visualized somewhat more clearly. It ap¬ 
pears that Simeon barbatus is represented as standing in the temple 
in the presence of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, and that after Simeon’s 
first utterance has been heralded by the cantores and choir, he 
takes the Child in his arms and speaks again, in the manner of a 
Nunc dimittis. * 11 
9 Jeremiah, Daniel, David, Habakkuk, Elisabeth, John the Baptist, Virgil, and 
Sibyl. 
10 Concerning the mechanical attachment of the part of Balaam to the end 
of the play see Chambers, Vol. II, pp. 54, 56-57 ; Chasles, p. 127, note 2. 
11 See Luc. ii, 22-32. 
