Literature, Medieval -- Translations into English; Tales
From thence he went to Norenberg, whither as he went by the way his
spirit informed him that the town was named of Claudius Tiberius, the
son of Nero the Tyrant. In the town are two famous cathedral churches,
one called St. Sabelt, the other St. Laurence; in which church stands
all the relics of Carolus Magnus, that is to say, his cloak, his hose,
his doublet, his sword and crown, the sceptre and apple. It hath a very
glorious gilded conduit in the market-place of St. Laurence; in which
conduit is the spear that thrust our Saviour into the side, and a piece
of the holy cross; the wall is called the fair wall of Norenberg, and
five hundred and twenty-eight streets, a hundred and sixty wells, four
great and two small clocks, six great gates, two small doors, eight
stone bridges, twelve small hills, ten fair market-places, thirteen
common hot-houses, ten churches; within the town are twenty wheels of
water-mills, it hath a hundred and thirty-eight tall ships, two mighty
town walls of hewed stone and earth, with very deep trenches: the walls
have a hundred and eighty towers about them, and four fair platforms,
ten apothecaries, ten doctors of the common law, fourteen doctors of
physic.
From Norenberg he went to Auspurg, where at the break of the day he
demanded of his spirit whereupon the town took his name. "This town,"
quoth he, "hath had many names; when it was first built, it was called
Vindelica; secondly, it was called Zizaria, the iron-bridge; lastly, by
the Emperor Octavus Augustus, it was called Augusta, and by the
corruption of language, the Germans had named it Auspurg."
Now, for because that Faustus had been there before, he departed
(without seeing their monuments) to Ravensberg, where his spirit
certified him that the city had seven names: the first Diperia, the
second Quadratis, the third Heaspolis, the fourth Reginipolis, the fifth
Imbripolis, the sixth Ratisbona, the last is Ravensberg. The situation
of this city pleased Faustus well, also the strong and sumptuous
building; by the walls thereof runneth the river Danubius, in Dutch
called Danow, into which not far from the compass of the city falleth
near hand threescore other small rivers and fresh waters. Faustus also
liked the sumptuous stone bridge over the same water, with the church
standing thereon, the which was founded Anno 1115, the name whereof is
called St. Remedian; in the town Faustus went into the cellar of an
inn-holder, and let out all the beer and wine that was in the cellar.
After which feat, he returned into Mentz in Bavaria, a right princely
town: the town appeared as if it were new, with great streets therein,
both of breadth and length from Mentz to Salisburg, where the bishop is
always resident: here saw he all the commodities that were possible to
be seen, for at the hill he saw the form of a bell made in crystal, a
huge thing to look upon, that every year groweth bigger and bigger, by
reason of the freezing cold.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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