e. anon, at once) shall die. "Dre," I may
remind you, is an old English word, used, I think, by Burns, identical
with the Saxon "_dreogan_," meaning to "suffer." So that the writer at
least contemplated that the stone might "suffer changes." But what kind
of changes--external or internal? External change--change of
environment--is already provided for when he says, "shulde this Ston
stalen bee"; "chaunges," therefore, in _his_ mind, meant internal
changes. But is such a thing possible for any precious stone, and for
this one in particular? As to that, we might answer when we know the
name of this one. It nowhere appears in the manuscript, and yet it is
immediately discoverable. For it was a "sky-blue" stone; a sky-blue,
sacred stone; a sky-blue, sacred, Persian stone. That at once gives us
its name--it was a _turquoise_. But can the turquoise, to the certain
knowledge of a mediaeval writer, "chaunges dre"? Let us turn for light
to old Anselm de Boot: that is he in pig-skin on the shelf behind the
bronze Hera.'
I handed the volume to Zaleski. He pointed to a passage which read as
follows:
'Assuredly the turquoise doth possess a soul more intelligent than that
of man. But we cannot be wholly sure of the presence of Angels in
precious stones.
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