His hosen from his legs he drew,
Which to this day at Aix they show,
And with them those holy clothes did make
In which God first man's form did take.'
"It is true that we look upon these descriptions with modern eyes, not taking into consideration that our manners and customs, that our general views, in short, are not at all times in unison with those of the fifteenth century. But even if we are always right in these and similar cases, still we cannot deny that there often lies in these old poems what we, notwithstanding we are in the possession of the most exquisite skill, cannot at all reach,—an infinite naïveté, a touching simplicity. Especially rich in this respect are the songs which describe the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt:
"'Joseph he did leap and run,
Until an ass's foal he won,
Whereon he set the maiden mild,
And with her that most blessed child.'
"The whole idyllic life which they led in that country is told to us in a few unpretending traits: