Literature, Medieval -- Translations into English; Tales
"The waggon had four wheels, the which rattled so, and made such a
noise, as if it had been all this while running on the stones, and round
about us flew flames of fire; and the higher that I came, the more the
earth seemed to be darkened, so that methought I came out of a dungeon;
and looking down from heaven, behold Mephistophiles my spirit and
servant was behind me; and when he perceived that I saw him, he came and
sate by me; to whom I said, 'I pray thee, Mephistophiles, whither shall
I go now?' 'Let not that trouble thy mind,' said he; and yet they carried
us higher up. And now I will tell thee, good friend and schoolfellow,
what things I have seen and proved; for on the Tuesday I went out, and
on Tuesday seven nights following I came home again, that's eight days,
in which time I slept not, no not one wink came within my eyes; and we
went invisible of any man; and as the day began to appear, after the
first night's journey, I said to my spirit Mephistophiles, 'I pray thee
how far have we now ridden? I am sure thou knowest, for methinks we
have ridden exceeding far, the world seemeth so little.' Mephistophiles
answered me, 'My Faustus, believe me, that from the place from whence
thou camest unto this place where we now are is already forty-seven
leagues right in height.' And as the day increased, I looked down into
the world. Asia, Europe, and Africa, I had a sight of; and being so
high, quoth I to my spirit, 'Tell me how these kingdoms lie, and what
they are called?' The which he denied not, saying, 'See this on our left
hand is Hungaria, this is also Prussia on our left hand, and Poland,
Muscovia, Tartary, Silesia, Bohemia, Saxony; and here on our right hand,
Spain, Portugal, France, England, and Scotland; then right on before us
lie the kingdoms of Persia, India, Arabia, the king of Althar, and the
great Cham. Now we are come to Wittenburg, and are right over the town
of Weim, in Austria, and ere long we will be at Constantinople, Tripoli,
and Jerusalem, and after will we pierce the frozen zone, and shortly
touch the horizon and the zenith of Wittenburg.' There looked I on the
ocean sea, and beheld a great many ships and galleys ready to battle one
against another; and thus I spent my journey, and I cast my eyes here,
now there, towards south, north, east, and west. I have been in one
place where it rained and hailed, and in another where the sun shone
excellent fair; and so I think that I saw most things in and about the
world, with great admiration; that in one place it rained, and in
another hail and snow; on this side the sun shone bright, some hills
covered with snow never consuming, others were so hot that grass and
trees were burned and consumed therewith. Then looked I up to the
heavens, and behold they went so swift, that I thought they would have
sprung into thousands; likewise it was so clear and so hot, that I could
not gaze upon it, it so dimmed my sight; and had not my spirit
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account