"Anon he let two coffers make,
Of one semblance, of one make;
******
"His own hands that one chest
Of fine gold, and of fine perie[1],
The which out of his treasury
Was take, anon he filled full:
That other coffer of straw and mull[2],
With stones mened[3] he filled also,
Thus be they full both two."
As in the other stories the courtiers chuse the wrong casket; and
"Thus was the wise king excused,
And they left off their evil speech,
And mercy of the king beseech."
It may also be found in the LXV. Nov. of the Cento Novelle Antiche.
"The story, however, as it stands in Gower, seems to be copied from one which is told by the hermit Barlaam to King Avenamore, in the spiritual romance, written originally in Greek, about the year 800, by Joannes Damascenus, a Greek monk, and entitled, Barlaam and Josaphat. But
