The rise of feudalism, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, called forth a vast literature of epic poetry, which wandering minstrels sang, or chanted, to the simple accompaniment of some stringed instrument, fiddle or harp, before the knightly audience of the mediæval castle. It may be taken for granted, however, that after listening intently to the high deeds of Charlemagne, or King Arthur, or Alexander the Great, and their respective train of heroes, the lord of the castle and his household would welcome as a diversion some narrative in a lighter vein — even to-day no miscellaneous concert is complete without a couple of items from a « comic » singer or « humorist, » who too often proves the real hit and success of the evening — and it is only natural to suppose that every minstrel had a good store of jokes and funny tales with which to wind up the evening’s entertainment, and also, no doubt, to amuse the men, over their mead and wine, after the ladies had retired from the hall.
Of the « good stories » that were told hi France, in the thirteenth century, there have been preserved over one hundred and fifty, nearly all of which are in verse, generally in lines of eight syllables. These fableaux, or fabliaux as they were called in the Picardy dialect, were collected and retold in prose, at the end
