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le bastun e le bref. Stengel (note to vv. 331-36, p. 34) thinks that V4 has
altered the assonance because the laisse corresponding to O vv. 331-36
has been combined with the laisse corresponding to O vv. 303—09, with the
assonance in -ant. But this combination is found in V4 only, and is cer-
tainly due to the scribe who shortened that particular version, and it would
be surprising if the author of the version rimée, when he “rhymed” O vv.
331-36, should have chosen exactly the same rhyme as the author of V4,
working independently, had chosen for reasons of his own. In my opinion,
V4 is based on an assonanced version which had the episode in substantially
the same form as CV7, and the scribe, having decided that the episode
ought to be cut down, saw at once that the hest way to do this was to
combine the two laisses in -ant, thus getting rid of the laisses describing
the handing over of the letter and the glove. In a similar way V4 had
earlier combined vv. 103-21, 122-25, 146-55 into one laisse (V4 vv. 101
-28 ) 29.
The examination of this episode seems to point to the conclusion that
Kms is based on an old variant version of the Chanson de Roland, which
differed from O in various ways, and which has been used, together with
O, by the author of the version represented by the other French MSS.
In its version of w. 392-401, Kms again differs from all the other
versions. The Kms text corresponds to the first part of the laisse in O, but
then the second part is omitted, and Kms has instead a passage which is
also found in the version rimée.
O 392: Dist Blancandrins: “Mult est pesmes Rollant,
Ki tute gent voelt faire recreant,
E tutes teres met en chalengement!
395: Par quele gent quiet il espleiter tant ?”
Guenes respunt: “Par la franceise gent.
Il Paiment tant ne li faldrunt nient;
Or e argent lur met tant en present,
Muls e destrers e palies e guarnemenz;
400: L’emperere mei'smes ad tut a sun talent;
Cunquerrat li les teres d’ici qu’en Orient.”
20 The German version is apparently based on a text very similar to the common
source of V4 and CV7: it has both the glove and the letter (vv. 1430-36 and 1502-
04) and also the message (vv. 1505-26). The Welsh translation has omitted 2 full
laisses of the O text (O vv. 296-309), but it has the message (ed. p. 492) ; the letter
is mentioned, but not the glove.