_Reynard_ exhibits the bare struggle for existence which was generally characteristic of Feudal life. Cunning opposes force and triumphs over it. The adventurous hero appeals because of his faculty of _adjustment_, his power to adapt himself to circumstances and to master them. He also appeals because of his small size when compared with the other animals. In the Middle Ages _Reynard_ appealed because it was a satire upon the monks. Of _Reynard_ Carlyle has said, "It comes before us with a character such as can belong only to very few; that of being a true World's Book which through centuries was everywhere at home, the spirit of which diffused itself into all languages and all minds." * * * * * About one tenth of European folk-lore is traced to collections used in the Middle Ages: _Fables of Bidpai_, _Seven Wise Masters_, _Gesta Romanorum_, and _Barlaam and Josophat_. These tales became diffused through the _Exempla_ of the monks, used in their sermons, through the _Novelle_ of Italy, the _Decameron_ of Boccaccio, the _Tales of Chaucer_, Painter's _Palace of Pleasure_, and the _Elizabethan Drama_ of England. One half of La Fontaine's _Fables_ are of Indian sources. 1326. The _Gesta Romanorum_, written in Latin. This was a compilation, by the monks, of stories with a moral appended to each. It was the most popular story-book before the invention of printing. In England it was printed by Wynkyn de Worde, of which edition the only known copy is at St. John's College, Cambridge. The earliest manuscript of the collection is dated 1326. Between 1600 and 1703 fifteen editions of the book prove its popularity. One English version is by Sir Frederick Madden, who lived 1801-73. The author of the _Gesta Romanorum_ is unknown, but was likely a German. The stories included are miscellaneous and vary in different editions. Among its stories are Oriental tales, tales of the deeds of Roman Emperors, an early form of _Guy of Warwick_, the casket episode of _The Merchant of Venice_, a story of the Jew's bond, a tale of the Emperor Theodosius, being a version of _King Lear_, the story of the Hermit, and a tale of Aglas, the daughter of the Roman Emperor Pompey, being a version of _Atalanta and her Race_.