already pointed out that, for fragment A, he used a compilation by Radulphus of St. Alban's extant in MS. no. 219 in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and also the history of Orosius. I now point out that, for fragment C, he made use of certain Latin texts, of which three were printed by E. Bisse in 1665. These tracts, all of which bear more or less on hte matter in hand, are as follows.
- (1) Palladius de Gentibus Indiae et Bragmanibus; begins—"Ἡ πολλὴ φιλοπονία σου, καὶ φιλομαθία", with a Latin version—"Tua indefatigabili industria."
- (2) S. Ambrosius de Moribus Brachmanorum; begins—"Desiderium mentis tuae, Palladi," &c., being a letter to Palladius from St. Ambrose.
- (3) Anonymus de Bragmanis; begins—"Saepius ad aures meas fando pervenit."
The last gives the text of the letters between Alexander and Dindimus, of which there are five, viz. these.
- (a) First letter of Alexander to Dindimus; see l. 191–242 of our English poem.
- (b) First answer of Dindimus to Alexandere; see ll. 249–811
- (c) Second letter of Alexander; see ll. 822–966.
- (d) Second answer of Dindimus; see ll. 973–1071.
- (e) Third letter of Alexander; see ll. 1078–1127.
There is a MS. copy of these letters in the MS. C.C.C. no. 219, just mentioned above; and there are other MS. copies in the same library viz. in MS. 370 at fol. 38, back, and in MS. no. 450, p. 279;[1] but these copies are imperfect. As Bisse's printed edition is a convenient one for reference, I take the opportunity of recording here the contents of a sentence which, owing to the imperfect state of the MS. used by him, he was unable to give properly. The gap occurs in col. 2 of p. 102, as indicated by dots, and may be filled up by help of the following. "Nonnumquam etiam suauitate odoris uel gustu dulcedinis aut contactus blanda mollicie refouemur. Quorum omnium suggerunt nobis elementa materiarum, que eciam uite nostre creduntur esse principia. Quorum permixtione contraria
- ↑ Described in Nasmith's Catalogue, p. 414, as "Epistola Originaniorum (sic) ad Alexandrum magnum;" certainly an odd rendering of the Bragmanorum" of the MS.
