9. Aaron [Haroun] recognized by this incident the might of Karl, and spoke [to Karl's ambassadors] these words of praise: "Now I understand, how true are the things which I have heard about my brother Karl; how he is accustomed by his ceaseless efforts and unwearied striving to make everything under the sun serve as a means of discipline for his body and his mind. What can I send back that will be worthy of him who has so honored me? If I should give him the land of Abraham which was given to Joshua, he would not be able to defend it, because of its distance from him; or if he determined in his magnanimity to defend it, I fear that the neighboring provinces would revolt in his absence from the Frankish rule. Nevertheless I will try to equal him in generosity by this means: I will give him authority over that land, and I will act as his representative in it; he may send ambassadors to me when it pleases him or is convenient for him, and he will find that I am the most faithful defender of the incomes of that land."{52} {52} Notice the popular or legendary character of these stories. They are just such tales as would grow up among the people around a figure like that of Karl. Compare the stories of the conquest of the Avars and the embassy to Haroun in Einhard (no. 7, chs. 13 and 16), with the same stories here. The circumstantial details are in all probability added by popular tradition. 11. Letter of Karl the Great to Baugulf, Abbot of Fulda, 787. Jaffé, IV, pp. 343 ff.