Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/242

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OF A SINFUL AND LEPROUS SOUL.

APPLICATION.

My beloved, the two knights are the devil and the first man. The first, envious of human happiness, possesses a deformed wife, that is, pride; the second had a beautiful wife, which is the soul. The leprosy is iniquity, which drove us from Paradise into the university of the world. The son of the emperor is Christ, who took upon himself our nature; but by his sufferings freed us from the consequence of sin. As the leper thirsted, so did Christ thirst upon the cross; but not for wine; it was for the salvation of our souls. The serpent is his crucifixion; the war-horse, the divine and human nature, with which he ascended into heaven.