The Evil Eye; Or, The Black Spector: The Works of William Carleton, Volume OneCarleton, William
General
The Evil Eye; Or, The Black Spector: The Works of William Carleton, Volume One
Carleton, William
Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
“Her Zander Vanderpluckem, the celebrated German conjurer, astrologist,
and doctor, who has had the honor of predicting the deaths of three
kings, five queens, twenty-one princesses, and seven princes, all of
royal blood, and in the best possible state of health at the time the
predictions were made, and to all of whom he had himself the honor
of being medical attendant and state physician, begs to announce his
arrival in this town. He is the seventh son of the great and renowned
conjurer, Herr Zander Vanderhoaxem, who made the stars tremble, and the
devil sweat himself to powder in a fit of repentance. His influence over
the stars and heavenly bodies is tremendous, and it is a well-known fact
throughout the universe that he has them in such a complete state of
terror and subjection, that a single comet dare not wag his tail unless
by his permission. He travels up and down the milky way one night in
every month, to see that the dairies of the sky are all right, and that
that celebrated path be properly lighted; brings down a pail of the milk
with him, which he churns into butyrus, an unguent so efficacious that
it cures all maladies under the sun, and many that never existed. It
can be had at five shillings a spoonful. He can make Ursa Major, or
the Great Bear, dance without a leader, and has taught Pisces, or the
Fishes, to live out of water--a prodigy never known or heard of before
since the creation of _terra firma_. Such is the power of the great and
celebrated Her Vanderpluckem over the stars and planets. But now to come
nearer home: he cures all patients of all complaints. No person asking
his assistance need ever be sick, unless when they happen to be unwell.
His insight into futurity is such that, whenever he looks far into it,
he is obliged to shut his eyes. He can tell fortunes, discover hidden
wealth to any amount, and create such love between sweethearts as will
be sure to end in matrimony. He is complete master of the fairies,
and has the whole generation of them under his thumb; and he generally
travels with the king of the fairies in his left pocket closed up in a
snuffbox. He interprets dreams and visions, and is never mistaken; can
foretell whether a child unborn will be a boy or a girl, and can also
inform the parents whether it will be brought to the bench or the
gallows. He can also foretell backwards, and disclose to the individual
anything that shall happen to him or her for the last seven years. His
philters, concocted upon the profound science of alchemistic philosophy,
have been sought for by persons of the highest distinction, who have
always found them to produce the very effects for which they were
intended, to wit, mutual affection between the parties, uniformly ending
in matrimony and happiness. Devils expelled, ghosts and spirits laid on
the shortest notice, and at the most moderate terms. Also, recipes to
farmers for good weather or rain, according as they may be wanted.
“(Signed,) Her Zander VANDERPLUCKEM,”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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