The Book of Chess

The king became good through the game,
as I will now tell you.
There are three reasons
why the master first devised it.
Why the game was found,
these reasons I will now seek to tell,
just as I read them all in the book.
People should know this three-fold thing,
and I will urge it upon you;
I will sing it to you in another way The author uses the verb "singing" to refer to the rhythmic, poetic narration of the text, a common trope in Middle High German literature.
as best I can.
In the first manner, I indicate:
that is the first reason why
it was devised. ~
The first reason it was devised
was to bring King Evilmeraduch Evil-Merodach (Amel-Marduk), the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. In medieval legend, he was depicted as the epitome of a lawless tyrant.
away from his cruel ways,
so that he might accept correction original: "straffen"; in this context, it means to be rebuked or disciplined for one's moral failings.
from those who, for his own good,
corrected him. For he had such a temper,
as I have seen before in writing,
that he would let no one correct him.
And in the account of his life it was read
that he quickly stripped away his own life's [virtue];
so cruel was his mind
that many a good person
he put to death because they corrected him.
Many people felt his wrath;
to the people in his land
and to the king himself, it was a shame.

For it stands lamentably
before him in the kingdom.
"A child is our duty" A reference to the biblical warning in Ecclesiastes 10:16: "Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child," implying a ruler lacking maturity and wisdom.
and unruled behavior followed him completely.
As one reads of this king,
who is written about here,
and also in the part that precedes this,
that he has committed much evil.
As I have said before,
how his father suffered because of him,
yet died before his great pain [was eased],
and let him [the son] pour out in all his sweat A metaphor for the father's labor in trying to raise the son, or perhaps the son's dissipation of his father's efforts..
For many were stripped of their lives
for very small faults.
Men lost his favor,
and he took from them life and property.
And it came into the people's minds
that they should go to the master Xerxes In the tradition of Jacobus de Cessolis, the inventor of chess is often named Xerxes or Philometer. He is a philosopher tasked with teaching the king morality without speaking directly, which would be fatal.
and humbly pleaded with him
that he might devise something
by which he could bring the king
away from his evil ways.
For they had from him
sorrow and great suffering,
[and they hoped] that he [Xerxes], through his wisdom,
might come to their aid.
As they had prayed him to do,
the master spoke to the people:
"Your hearts are troubled;
it is truly a sorrow of the heart,
and I know well that I..."