Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/175

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GESTA ROMANORUM.

TALE I.

OF LOVE.

Pompey^[1] was a wise and powerful king. He had an only daughter, remarkable for her beauty, of whom he was extremely fond. He committed her to the custody of five soldiers; and charged them, under the heaviest penalties, to preserve her from every possible in-

↑ The fair Reader who has not condescended to notice my prolegomena (and I hope the suspicion is not treasonable!) may require to be informed that "Gesta Romanorum" supplies a very inadequate idea of the contents of these volumes. The Romans have little to do in the matter, and King Pompey must not be confounded with Pompey the Great, though they are unquestionably meant for the same person. Such blunders are perpetual.

[1] The fair Reader who has not condescended to notice my prolegomena (and I hope the suspicion is not treasonable!) may require to be informed that "Gesta Romanorum" supplies a very inadequate idea of the contents of these volumes. The Romans have little to do in the matter, and King Pompey must not be confounded with Pompey the Great, though they are unquestionably meant for the same person. Such blunders are perpetual.

[1]