But the question of the origin of these stories is outside our Outline,—we may merely state that before, during and after the Crusades, the flood of stories and tales from the Orient into Europe was continuous.
Which accounts for the fact that among the oldest stories of the various countries, duplicates are always found, and the ancient jests of the Far East have raised and will raise appreciative laughter as they are translated into all European tongues, including the Scandinavian.
As religion gave rise to laughter, so religion was the medium for disseminating mirth.
The preachers of the mediæval ages used many amusing stories in their sermons and the monks often preserved these, with additions of their own, in enduring literature.
But literature then was not in the form of circulating libraries, so the tales traveled from mouth to mouth, gaining sometimes in interest and sometimes losing charm or worth.
Perhaps about the tenth century translations began to be grouped into collections, in Europe, and among the first was the Greek version of the Fables of Pilpay. Soon after came the Book of Sindibad, which would seem to be the original form of the story of Scheherazade.
But in most cases the monks were the go-between.
Their zeal and indefatigability produced masses of material, primarily designed for the use of preachers, but easily adopted by the laymen.
The Sermones of Jacques de Vitry, Crusader and prelate, and the Liber de Donis of Etienne de Bourbon are both remarkable collections that predated and later gave material to the Gesta Romanorum.
As an instance of the ubiquity of stories, it may be mentioned here that in both the books above noticed, occurs the old tale of the husband who had two wives, the younger one of whom plucked out all his gray-white hairs, the older one plucked out all his black hairs, leaving the poor chap entirely bald. This story is also in the Talmud, in Chinese Jestbooks and in innumerable others.