278 The History of the Destruction
proof lies in the fact that, if they were so, a man like R. Johannan would not have occupied himself with their pursuit, for of him it is stated that he never uttered an idle word all his life. You see therefrom that they did not con- sider those tales as mere idle talk. And similarly the stories which I have translated from this book are anything but idle talk, and they do not fall short of the washer- women's tales ; on the contrary, they are far superior to them and more noble. We find also that on the eve of the Day of Atonement they used to tell tales of ancient kings to the High Priest all through the night, in the event that the High Priest happened not to be a scholar. It is there- fore right not to eschew them. Another and more im- portant reason for my translation has been, that the sinners might learn from it the way of repentance and think of their end and return to the Lord, as you will see at the end of the story. To the man who admits the truth and has an open mind, who is not obstinate or refuses to learn, I think I have stated sufficiently the reason for my action.
2, This is the history of Messer Langolot. Know that King Bano of Benook and King Borz of Gaunes were brothers. They married two sisters, descendants of the House of David. King Bano begat a son, and he called him Langolot del Lac (or dellek). The reason why he has been called del Lac is written in his book, where you can find it also (told) when he got to know his own name. He had a brother who was a bastard, namely the son of King Bano and of a lady of noble birth ; the name of the bastard was Estor de Mareis (Mates) i^ he was thus the brother of Messer Langolot on his father's side.
3. King Borz begat also two sons, one called Borz after his father, and the second Lionel. Borz and Lionel were therefore, as we would call them, " cosini iermani " of Messer Lancelot and Estor.
^ See footnote, p. 2S1.
