cum lo sangs a terra curren
de sa sudor las sanctas gutas.
Als sos fidels cum repadred,
tam benlement los conforted
li fel Judas ja s'aproismed
ab gran cumpannie dels judeus.
Jhesus cum vidra los judeus,
zo lor demandet que querent.
il li respondent tuit adun
'Jhesum querem _Nazarenum_.'
'Eu soi aquel,' zo dis Jhesus.
tuit li felun cadegren jos.
terce ves lor o demanded,
a totas treis chedent envers.

VIE DE SAINT LEGER.

Domine deu devemps lauder
et a sus sancz honor porter;
in su' amor cantomps dels sanz
quae por lui augrent granz aanz;
et or es temps et si est biens
quae nos cantumps de sant Lethgier.
Primos didrai vos dels honors
quie il auuret ab duos seniors;
apres ditrai vos dels aanz
que li suos corps susting si granz,
et Evvruins, cil deumentiz,
qui lui a grand torment occist.
Quant infans fud, donc a ciels temps
al rei lo duistrent soi parent,
qui donc regnevet a ciel di:
cio fud Lothiers fils Baldequi.
il le amat; deu lo covit;
rovat que _litteras_ apresist.

[Sidenote: Dialects and Provincial Literatures.]

Considering the great extent and the political divisions of the country
called France, it is not surprising that the language which was so
slowly formed should have shown considerable dialectic variations. The
characteristics of these dialects, Norman, Picard, Walloon, Champenois,
Angevin, and so forth, have been much debated by philologists. But it so
happens that the different provinces displayed in point of literature
considerable idiosyncrasy, which it is scarcely possible to dispute.
Hardly a district of France but contributed something special to her
wide and varied literature. The South, though its direct influence was
not great, undoubtedly set the example of attention to lyrical form and
cadence. Britanny contributed the wonderfully suggestive Arthurian
legends, and the peculiar music and style of the _lai_. The border
districts of Flanders seem to deserve the credit of originating the
great beast-epic of Reynard the Fox; Picardy, Eastern Normandy, and the
Isle of France were peculiarly rich in the _fabliau_; Champagne was the
special home of the lighter lyric poetry, while almost all northern
France had a share in the Chansons de Gestes, many districts, such as
Lorraine and the Cambresis, having a special _geste_ of their own.

[Sidenote: