There are a few amusing anecdotes in it, such as that about Alphonso,
King of Naples. It says that he had a fool who recorded in a book the
follies of the great men of the Court. The king sent a Moor in his
household to the Levant to buy horses, for which he gave him ten
thousand ducats, and the fool marked this as a piece of folly. Some time
afterwards the king asked for the book to look over it, was surprised to
find his own name, and asked why it was there. "Because," said the
jester, "you have entrusted your money to one you are never likely to
see again." "But if he does come again," demanded the king, "and brings
me the horses, what folly have I committed?" "Well, if he does return,"
replied the fool, "I'll blot out your name and put in his."
We also find some puns remarkable for an absurdity so extravagant as to
be noteworthy. There is a string of derivations of names of places
constructed in the following manner:--
"When the seamen on board the ship of Christopher Columbus came in
sight of San Salvador, they burst out into exuberant mirth and
jollity. 'The lads are in a merry key,' cried the commodore.
America is now the name of half the globe.
"The city of Albany was originally settled by Scotch people. When
strangers on their arrival there asked how the new comers did, the
answer was 'All bonny.
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