Literature, Medieval -- Translations into English; Tales
From thence he went to Cullen, which lieth upon the river of Rhine,
wherein he saw one of the ancientest monuments in the world, the which
was the tomb of the three kings that came by the angel of God, and their
knowledge they had in the stars, to worship Christ, which when Faustus
saw, he spake in this manner: "Ah! alas, good men! How have you erred,
and lost your way! You should have gone to Palestina, and Bethlehem in
Judea; how came you hither? Or belike after your death you were thrown
into Mare Mediterraneum, about Tripolis in Syria, and so you steered out
of the Straights of Gibralterra, in the ocean seas, and so into the Bay
of Portugal. And not finding any rest, you are driven along the coast of
Gallicia, Biscay and France, and into the narrow seas: then from thence
into Mare Germanicum, and taken up I think about the town of Dort in
Holland: you were brought to Cullen to be buried, or else (I think) you
came most easily with a whirlwind over the Alps, and being thrown into
the river of Rhine, it conveyed you to this place where you are kept a
monument." Then saw he the church of St. Ursula, where remains a
monument of the thousand virgins; it pleased him also to see the beauty
of the women.
Not far from Cullen lieth the town of Ach, where he saw the gorgeous
temple that the Emperor Carolus Quartus built of marble-stone for a
remembrance of him, to the end that all his successors should there be
crowned.
From Cullen and Ach he went to Geneva, a city in Savoy, lying near
Switzerland; it is a town of great traffic, the lord thereof is a
bishop, whose wine-cellar Faustus and his spirit visited for the love of
his good wine.
From thence he went to Strasburg, where he beheld the fairest temple that
ever he had seen in his life before, for on every side thereof he might
see through, even from the covering of the minster to the top of the
pinnacle, and it is named one of the wonders of the world; wherefore, he
demanded why it is called Strasburg? His spirit answered, "Because it
hath so many highways common to it on every side, for Stros in Dutch is
a Highway, and hereof came the name: yea," said Mephistophiles, "the
church that thou so wonderest at, hath more revenues belonging to it
than the twelve dukes of Silesia are worth, for there pertain unto this
church fifty-five towns, and four hundred and sixty-three villages,
besides many houses in the town."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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