The next is The Last Will of the Dying Ass.  There is not much to be said for the wit of this piece.

THE WILL OF THE DYING ASS.

No. 54.

While a boor, as poets tell,
Whacked his patient ass too well,
On the ground half dead it fell. 
La sol fa,
On the ground half dead it fell,
La sol fa mi re ut.

Then with gesture sad and low,
Streaming eyes and words of woe,
He at length addressed it so: 
“Had I known, my gentle ass,
Thou from me so soon wouldst pass,
I’d have swaddled thee, alas!

“Made for thee a tunic meet,
Shirt and undershirt complete,
Breeches, drawers of linen sweet.

    “Rise awhile, for pity’s sake,
    That ere life your limbs forsake
    You your legacies may make!”

    Soon the ass stood up, and thus,
    With a weak voice dolorous,
    His last will proclaimed for us: 

    “To the magistrates my head,
    Eyes to constables,” he said,
    “Ears to judges, when I’m dead;

    “To old men my teeth shall fall,
    Lips to wanton wooers all,
    And my tongue to wives that brawl.

    “Let my feet the bailiffs win,
    Nostrils the tobacco-men,
    And fat canons take my skin.

    “Voice to singing boys I give,
    Throat to topers, may they live!
    **** to students amative.

    “*** on shepherds I bestow,
    Thistles on divines, and lo! 
    To the law my shade shall go.

“Elders have my tardy pace,
Boys my rude and rustic grace,
Monks my simple open face.”

He who saith this testament
Will not hold, let him be shent;
He’s an ass by all consent. 
La sol fa,
He’s an ass by all consent,
La sol fa mi re ut.

As a third specimen I select a little bit of mixed prose and verse from the Carmina Burana, which is curious from its allusion to the Land of Cockaigne.  Goliardic literature, it may be parenthetically observed, has some strong pieces of prose comedy and satire.  Of these, the Mass of Topers and Mass of Gamesters, the Gospel according to Marks, and the description of a fat monk’s daily life deserve quotation.[34] They are for the most part, however, too profane to bear translation.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 34:  Wright’s Rel.  Ant., ii.; Carm.  Bur., pp. 248 and 22; Wright’s Mapes, p. xl.]

THE ABBOT OF COCKAIGNE.

No. 55.

    I am the Abbot of Cockaigne,
    And this is my counsel with topers;
    And in the sect of Decius (gamesters) this is my will;
    And whoso shall seek me in taverns before noon;
    After evensong shall he go forth naked,