Generally speaking, the author of the _Alexandreis_ follows strictly in the footsteps of Chatillon, or rather of Quintus Curtius, to whom so many of the mediæval tales about Alexander can be traced. Yet the Bohemian _Alexandreis_ has not only a distinctly Christian, but also a national (Bohemian) character. The Persians are heathens doomed to hell. Margraves, burgraves, and counts are found in the contending armies. The Bohemian nobles Jan, Radvan, Mladota, and Radota form part of Alexander's court. The account of the festivities on the occasion of Alexander's entry into Babylon (a portion of which I have translated) describes them as similar to those which took place at Prague on the occasion of the coronation of the Bohemian kings. For Chatillon's hexameters the author has substituted a rhymed metre, consisting of verses of eight syllables, which generally, though not always, have a cæsura after the fourth syllable. The rhymes are very rugged and often irregular. The author's preface begins with a quaint attempt at disarming his critics. He tells us that Solomon, the wisest of men, admitted that there were three things, and even four things that he did not know[13]; "if, then, he who surpassed all others in wisdom was liable to be mistaken, then I, should any one doubt my word, need not be offended; I who compared to him am as a weary beast to a lion, a wax taper to the sun, or a shallow rivulet to the sea." The account of the deeds of the great Macedonian conqueror strictly follows the mediæval tradition of Alexander's career. Beginning with his birth and youth, the author then gives a detailed account of his education by Aristoteles and the wise counsel given him by that philosopher. Then follows a full account of Alexander's campaigns and victories. Very interesting is the author's account of his hero's arrival at Troy. He here has an extensive digression concerning the destruction of that city, which is not contained in Chatillon's work. It is curious to meet with the world-old tale of Paris and the three goddesses in Bohemian literature. The Christian writer no doubt considered it more seemly to relate the appearance of the three goddesses in the form of a dream. He writes: "Now it happened to him (Alexander) to march--To the spot where are the bastions of Troy--Now the only traces--Are stones lying on the ground--If it does not appear idle to you[14]--I will relate to you--Why this destruction took place--Why all this happened.--Paris was the king's son at Troy--Brought up at home in honors.--His father and mother--Out of love for their child--Treated him so kindly--That they allowed him his will in all things--The prince prepared for the chace--Nothing else was on his mind.--Then it befell--That when he was riding far away in the woods--He went astray from the other hunters--And his horse was very weary--He rode away from the path to a lonely spot--Where a fine beech-tree stood in a thicket.--Throwing his horse's bridle up to one