With you I may no longer bene;
Farewel, my lordes, bydene
For letting of your play.
The expositor or doctor takes care that the play is “understanded of the people.” He appears early in the play on horseback, and says:—
Lordinges, what maye this signify
I will expound it appeartlye,
That the unlearned standing here by
May know what this may be.[41]
[41] Being on horseback, he would, of course, be more easily heard by the crowd. Everything in the play points to the fact that it was looked upon as a means of instruction for the people, and not a mere amusement. The play itself consists of two plays compressed into one, and seems to be one of the oldest of the series.
He interrupts at different points, and explains the rite of circumcision and the offering up of Isaac, and then we have the remarkable and significant fact that the crowd joins him in prayer.