was terrified, and ran back to Lamech, crying out, "You have slain
our forefather Cain!" And Lamech also was struck with horror, and
raised his hands and smote them together with a mighty blow. And in
so doing he struck the head of Tubal with his full strength, and
Tubal fell down dead. Then Lamech returned to his house, and spoke to
his wives the words that are written in the Book of Genesis. This
story, a very ancient one, as I said, was invented by the Jews to
explain the difficult passage in Genesis; and the early Christian
writers learnt it from the Jews, and it passed into many commentaries
which were written in later times; so that you may still see
representations of it carved in stone in churches, both in England
and elsewhere. In England it may be seen on the inside of the stone
roof of Norwich Cathedral, and on the west front of Wells Cathedral;
but you have to look carefully before you can find it.

There are other stories which pretend to explain texts that do not
seem so difficult. For instance, in the 18th Psalm there is a verse,
"Thou hast made room enough under me for to go." And about this there
is a long tale of how King David went to fight the giant Ishbi-benob,
and was nearly killed by him; for the giant took David and cast him
to the ground, and put a heavy wine-press upon him, which would have
crushed him, but that the earth beneath him suddenly became soft and
yielded room for his body, and thus room was made under him.

Then again, there are others which are like parables.

At this point I will put in two short stories of the parable-kind,
neither of which I think you are likely to have seen. One of them is
certainly taken from an apocryphal book which is lost; and the other
I suspect to have been taken either from the same book or from one