A Jest: The Poor Man Who Claimed Kinship from Adam
A facetia, with a note on a beam held by rope and a column of figures (folio 126v)
Folio 126v is filled by a jest (facetia): a poor man has an usher tell a great lord that his brother has come, then argues before him that, since all descend from father Adam, he is the lord's brother, that goods were badly divided, and begs relief from poverty. The lord grants the request but has only one soldo given him, explaining that with so many such brothers a single soldo per head is a fair share of the inheritance. Below, a small beam diagram lettered a and b explains why the beam does not turn over despite the rope binding, and a column of large numbers records a calculation.
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The facetia of brotherhood from Adam
A poor man gains audience with a great lord by claiming to be his brother, then argues that all being descended from father Adam, the inheritance was ill-divided, and asks to be freed from poverty. The lord grants the plea but gives only one soldo, saying that with so many such brothers a soldo each is a fitting division of the estate, and so lawfully parts him from the inheritance.
A beam that will not turn over
In the lower-right diagram a emerges below one end-face of the beam and b above the opposite end-face. The beam nevertheless does not turn to obey a, which would call for the rope's binding above, because b does not let it.
A column of figures
A set of numbers is written on the sheet, including 12, 1320, 432000, 14284, 30000, 300, 3, 1080, 400 and repeated zeros, apparently a running calculation.