The poem is printed in T. Wright's _Anglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigrammatists of the Twelfth Century_ (Rolls Series, 1872), vol. i. At the end the Ass returns disappointed to his master Bernardus (= Bardus). Bernardus, when gathering wood, hears Dryanus (= Adrian), a rich citizen of Cremona, call from a pit for help. The rescued animals are a lion, a serpent, and an ape. The gem given by the serpent in token of gratitude always returns to Bernardus, who, with more honesty than Gower's poor man shows, takes it back to the buyer. The fame of the marvellous stone reaches the king; his inquiries bring to light the whole story; and Dryanus is ordered to give half his goods to Bernardus. Gower probably worked on a later modification of Nigel's story. _b_ 86. _blessed_, 'crossed (himself)'. _b_ 89. _Betwen him and his asse_, i.e. pulling together with the ass. The ass is, of course, the distinguished Burnellus. _b_ 116. _his ape_: for _this ape_ (?). _b_ 191. _Justinian_, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (d. 565), was best known for his codification of the Roman Law, and so is named here as the type of a lawgiver. XIII #Dialect#: South-Western, with some Midland forms. #Inflexions#: VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg. _bloweþ_ _a_ 7, _casteþ_ _a_ 8. 3 pl. _buþ_ _a_ 10, _habbeþ_ _a_ 15. pres. p. _slyttyng_, _frotyng_ _b_ 59. strong pp. _yknowe_ _a_ 12, _ysode_ _a_ 30. NOUN: Note the plural in _-(e)n_, _tren_ 'trees' _a_ 44, 51, 53; _chyldern_ _b_ 16 is a double plural. PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl. _hy_ _a_ 17; _here_ _a_ 61; _ham_ _a_ 23. Note the unstressed 3 sg. and 3 pl. form _a_, e.g. at _a_ 13, 27. #Sounds#: There is no instance of _v_ for initial _f_, which is evidenced in the spelling of early South-Western writers like Robert of Gloucester (about 1300), or of _z_ for initial _s_, which is less commonly shown in spelling. _u_ for OE. _y_ occurs in _hulles_ 'hills' _a_ 18 (beside _bysynes_ _b_ 24, where Modern English has _u_ in spelling but _i_ in pronunciation; and _lift_ (OE. _lyft_) _b_ 39, where Modern English has the South-Eastern form _left_). * * * * * _a_ 2-3. _Mayster... Minerua... hys_: Trevisa appears to have understood 'Minerva' as the name of a god. _a_ 6-49. Higden took all this passage from Book i of the twelfth-century Annals of Alfred of Beverley (ed. Hearne, pp. 6-7). The _Polychronicon_ is a patchwork of quotations from earlier writers. _a_ 7. _Pectoun._ Higden has _ad Peccum_, and Alfred of Beverley _in monte qui vocatur Pec_, i.e. The Peak of Derbyshire. _cc_ and _ct_ are not distinguishable in some hands of the time, and Trevisa has made _Peccum_ into _Pectoun_.