Da questo Santo pien di leggiadria Che Iddio sempre perdona a’ peccatori, and are finally informed that they may purchase this edifying history on easy terms, to wit, a halfpenny— Due quattrini dia senza far più parole. The price, however, rose; for in the next century the line is altered thus:— Pero ciascun che comperarne vuole, Tre quattrini mi dia senza più parole.’ The woodcuts prefixed to the ballad represent this saintly Nebuchadnezzar on all fours, surprised by the king with his huntsmen and dogs; but no female figure, as in the German prints, in which the German version of the legend has evidently been in the mind of the artists. It differs in some respects from the Italian ballad. I shall therefore give as much of it here as will explain the artistic treatment of the story. ‘When John Chrysostom was baptized, the Pope[293] stood godfather. At seven years old he went to school, but he was so dull and backward, that he became the laughing-stock of his schoolfellows. Unable to endure their mockery, he took refuge in a neighbouring church, and prayed to the Virgin; and a voice whispered, “Kiss me on the mouth, and thou shalt be endowed with all learning.” He did so, and, returning to the school, he surpassed all his companions, so that they remained in astonishment: as they looked, they saw a golden ring or streak round his mouth, and asked him how it came there? and when he told them, they wondered yet more. Thence he obtained the name of Chrysostom. John was much beloved by his godfather the Pope, who ordained him priest at a very early age; but the first time he offered the sacrifice of the mass, he was struck to the heart by his unworthiness, and resolved to seek his salvation in solitude; therefore, throwing off his priestly garments, he fled from the city, and made his dwelling in a cavern of the rock, and lived there a long while in prayer and meditation.