108 The letters of Alexander. His throne.

doute he schulde dye,* and if thay tourned hym the bakke wit
owttein dowte he sulde dye.

FRa ¹theine thay remowed and come to the grete Citee of
Babiloyne and wanne it oo werre and slew the kynge thare-offe 4
& the Captayne also. And thare he duelled un-till his lyffes end,
and that was Bot vij seuen Monetbes. In that mene tyme
Alexander sent a lettre till Olympias his Moder and till his
Mayster Arestotle, latand tham witte of the Batells and the dyssese 8
that thay suffred bathe wynters and Somers in Inde and other
cuntreey, and also of the Batetts that thay had hadd wit dyuerse
Monstres. And than Arestotle wrate another lettre till Alexander
agayne the wbilke was of this tenour : 12

²' Un-till Alexandere the grete kynge of kyngegh Arestotle
sendegh ioy and seruyce. When I hade redde your wyrchipfull
lettres I was gretly astonayd. For whilke cause I desyre with
all myn hert for to fynde lonynge that I myghte yelde un-to the. 16
I take witnesse at oure goddegh that for the passande hardenesse of
thi hert & the grete auentours that thou hase put the in, thou erte
wele worthy for to be loued & praysede. For thou hase sene &
assayed thyngegh that neuer man or this durste assaye. Whare-for 20
thankynge & lonynge I yhelde to the makere of all this wyde
werlde that swylke victoryes hase grantede un-to the. For thou hase
ouercommen all & nane hase ouercomen the. Full blyssede are
all thy pryncey
that hase bene obeyande unto the, and helped the 24
in all thi disessegh.'

³Afftir this Alexander gart make in Babyloyne a wonder
curious trone ⁴ of golde, thare was noghte swilke another in the
werlde. For the grekeȝ broghte so mekill golde oute of perse & 28
oute of Inde, that it ware wonder for to telle. This ilke toure
was twlue cubytegh hye and by twelue grecegh⁵ men ascended
thare-too, and thase greegh ware all of golde. This trone was
wonderfully wroghte and sett apon twelue ymagegh of golde, the
wbilke trone the forsaid ymagegh helde up wit thaire hende. And
on thase twelue ymagegh ware wretyn the names of the twelue
pryncegh of Macedoyne. The seet of the trone was of a Smaragde,

¹ Three lines with big capital F followed
by small capital.

² Four lines with red capital U and
small u in the margin.

³ Four lines with red capital A and
small a in the margin beside.

⁴ toure scratched out and trone written
in.

⁵ The first part of this word reads gr +
blot + ceȝ.