stopping their eares fast close with pelets of wax taking some few victuals with thē put themselues onward in their enterprize not without exceeding wearines trauel insomuch that the one fainting by the way was forced to bide behind The other two with chereful labor vertuous alacrity ouercōming all difficulties cam at last with much ado vnto the top of the mountain wher they found a great Plain without any trees in the midst a lake the water of which was obscure black as inke boiling bubling vp as though all the fire in the world had been flaming vnder it making a noise so terible thundring that though they had stopped their eares with all possible care diligence yet the intollerable roring noise thereof wrought such a humming and giddines in their heads that they were constrained with all possible hast to returne without bringing any certaine relation then this which you haue heard BE. Such a matter as this cannot be without great mistery for put case that there were vnderneath some mine of Sulphur or brimstone sufficient through the heat of the fiery matter therein to make the water seeth vp and boile yet could not the same cause a noyse so tempestuous horrible as you said the same is and besides me thinks this continuall boiling should in time consume the water and so the Lake by consequence become dry LU. Perchaunce there may be some Spring or Fountaine there neere which feedeth the Lake with as much warer as the fire consumeth by which meanes it can neuer be voyde or empty AN. Let vs leaue these secrets of Nature to him onely which hath made them for though we through some causes represented in our vnderstanding would seeke to yeeld reasons thereof yet when we thinke to hit the white we shall finde our selues far wide returning therefore to our former matter of Springs Waters me thinks it were not reason that speaking of things so farre off we should ouer-slip these which we haue heere at home in our owne Country hauing in this our Spaine two Fountaines whose effects are not a little to be admired at the one of which is in a Caue called de la Iudia by the Bridge of Talayuelas neere the Castle of Garcimunios which though I my selfe haue not seene yet I haue been thereof so certified that I assuredly know it to be true It yeeldeth a vvater which in falling congealeth and becommeth hard in manner of a stone which hardnes it alwayes after retaineth without dissoluing in such sort that they apply it to theyr buildinges BER It were neede of great Philosophy to know the mistery of this that vvater should in such sort harden that it should neuer afterwards dissolue the contrary reason whereof we see in great heapes of Ice which how hard so cuer they be yet change of weather maketh them to dissolue and melt LV. This is because the heat vndoeth that which is done by the cold as in snow haile ice which seeing it worketh not the like effect in these stones we may thereby gather that not the cold but som other secret to vs hidden vnknown is the cause of this obduration hardnes I haue heard with great credite affirmed that there is also neere the towne called Uilla Nueua del obyspo a Fountaine in which during sixe moneths of the yeare from such time as the sunne entreth into the signe of Lybra which beginneth about the midst of September called the Equinoctiall of the Autumne till the middest of March there is no one drop of water and all the other halfe yeare there runneth a most cleere abundant streame and thys is euery yere ordinary Of thys Fountaine maketh mention also Lucius Marineus Siculus Sinforianus Campegius wryteth of another in Sauoy which breedeth by miraculous operation stones of exceeding vertue BER If this be true then am I deceaued for I neuer thought that stones could be bred but that they were as the bones of the earth alwayes of one bignes neyther decreasing nor increasing for otherwise if stones should grow in time they would come to be of such quantitie and greatnes that they would be in diuer parts very combersome AN. And doubt you of this Assure your selfe that stones waxe and diminish according to the qualitie of which they are the place where they are and the property nature and condition of the earth where they are founde Though those which wee here call peble stones remaine alwayes in one greatnes or els grow so little and so slowly that it can in many yeeres hardly be perceaued yet all those stones which are any thing sandie contracting drawing the earth about them conuert the same into theyr owne nature hardning it in such sort that in short space a little stone becōmeth to be exceeding great yea and in such sort that sometimes we see things of different nature and kinde enclosed shut vp within them still retaining their owne substance and essence which if you desire better to vnderstand behold but the stone in the Earle Don Alonsos garden which hee hath caused to be placed there as a thing meruailous to be viewed of al men which though it be hard and sound hath in the midst therof a great bone seeming to be the shinbone of some beast which the same stone embraced by all likelihood lying neere it on the ground and continually growing came at last to compasse it rounde about which beeing afterwards carued by a Mason was found lying in the very bosome midst therof and that thys should be a very perfect bone there is no doubt to be made thereof for I my selfe haue made most sufficient proofe and try all of the same BER I haue also viewed it very narrowly and am of your opinion AN. Turning to our discourse of Fountaines I am perswaded that there are many of rare and great vertues vtterly to vs vnknowne and sometimes it hapneth that the vertue of the water worketh through the ayde of some other thing ioyntly together matters verie admirable as that which Alexander writeth in his booke De diebus genialibus that in those partes of England vvhich bende toward the West when any shyps are broken and the ribbes or planches of them remaine a while in the water that with the continuall moystnes they engender bring forth certaine Puscles like Mushromps which within fevve dayes seeme to be aliue and to haue motion and by little and little grow gather feathers That part wherewith they are fast to the rotten tymber is like vnto a water-foules bill which comming lose of it selfe thys miraculous foule beginneth to heaue it selfe vp and by little and little in short space of time to flie and mount into the ayre Pope Pius whose name was Aeneas Siluius rehearseth this in another sort saying that in Scotland vpon the bankes of a Riuer there growe certaine Trees whose leaues falling into the water and putrifying
somewhat difficill yet not so much as you make it for they were not inuented without cause or without contayning vnder them a signification which oftentimes is manifested vnto vs by the effect and sequell of such aduentures and chaunces as doe happen vnto vs. LU. It were not amisse in my opinion seeing wee haue happened on a matter so subtile and disputable if we endeuoured to vnderstand what might be sayde as concerning it for wee cannot passe the conuersation of this euening in a matter more pleasant or more necessary to be knowne then this and therefore sir you cannot excuse your selfe to take the paines to satisfie vs in this of which we are so ignorant and contayneth therein so many doubts AN. Though in respect of my small vnderstanding I might iustly excuse my selfe yet I will not refuse to satisfie you in this or any thing else whereto my knowledge and capacity extendeth on condition that you will not binde me any farther or expect more at my handes If I shall erre in any thing lette it remaine onely amongst our selues as in our former conuersations it hath doone for this matter being so farre from my profession I feare mee I shall not bee able to say all that vvere necessarie and behoouefull for the good vnderstanding thereof BER Greater should bee our error in leauing to reape the fruite of your learned conuersation and therefore without losing any more time I pray you deferre it no farther AN. Well to obey you then I will begin according to the common order with the definition of Fortune which Aristotle writing in his second booke De Phisicis Cap. 6. sayeth in this sort It is a thing manifest that Fortune is an accidentall cause in those things which for some purpose are done to some end Vppon the woordes of this Definition all the Phylosophers that haue vvrytten Glosses vppon Aristotle doe spende much time and many reasons vvith great alterations and argumentes the vvhich differing one from an other I vvill forbeare to recite least vvith the rehearsall of them I shoulde confounde your vnderstanding and beginne an endlesse matter I vvill therefore onely say that vvhich in my opinion I iudge fittest for the purpose and most materiall to satisfie your desire for your better vnderstanding I vvill therefore beginne vvith that vvhich in Humanitie is helde and vvritten as concerning Fortune and then vvhat in Phylosophie is thought thereof and lastlie vvhat vvee that are Christians ought to thinke and esteeme in true Diuinitie in deede Touching the first of the Gentiles as they erred the groslyest that might be without all reason and sence in all things concerning their Gods so without any foundation or ground faigned they Fortune to be a Goddesse dominating and hauing power ouer all things as writeth Boetius in his first booke of Consolation so that as well in Rome as in other places they builded and dedicated vnto her temples in which she was worshipped and adored of the which and of the founders of them many Authors make mention as Titus Liuius Pliny Dionisius Halycarnaseus Plutarch and Seneca The Praenestins a people of Italy held and adored her for the chiefest Goddesse and Protectresse of their Common-wealth but omitting this as not making much to the purpose I will tell you the diuers sorts and manners where-with they figured her forth in their temples Some paynted her like a franticke vvoman standing with both her feete vppon a rounde ball others with great wings and no feete giuing thereby to vnderstand that shee neuer stoode firme others fashioned her with a head touching the cloudes and a Scepter in her hand as though shee vniuersally gouerned all things in the world Others sette in her hand Cornucopia or the horne of aboundance shewing thereby that from her we receaue all both our good and euil Some made her of glasse because it is a mettall so easily crazed and broken but the most vsuall manner of painting her was with a wheele in her hand continually turning the same vp downe her eyes being blindfolded and mufled wherby it might appeare that hee which was in the height of all prosperity with one turne of the wheele might easily come vnder and be cast downe and likewise those vnderneath and of base estate might easily be mounted vp into higher degree Others thought it good to picture her like a man and therefore made vnto him a particuler temple Diuers also paynted her sayling by Sea vpon the backe of a great fish carrying the one end of a sayle puffed with a full winde in her hand and the other vnder her feet deciphering as it were thereby the fickle and dangerous estate of Saylers seafarers and hence as I take it proceedeth that common phrase of speech that when any man hath passed great tempest and danger by sea we say Corrio fortuna as though Fortune had medled with the matter Besides these they deuised and figured her forth in many other shapes with a thousand rediculous toyes and imaginations the cause of which diuersitie of formes attributed vnto her was because shee vvas a thing onely imagined and not knowne in the world as vvas Ceres Pallas Venus Diana and their other Goddesses so that they described her by gesse imagination according to the conceits inuentions of their own fancies some of which were passing grosse ridiculous and absurd LU. I haue not seene any picture of Fortune that pleaseth mee better then that in a table of your inuention where you paynt her vvith the wheele of which you spake in her hand holding her eyes betweene open and shut with a most strange and vncertaine aspect placing vnder her feete Iustice and Reason wearied and oppressed in poore ragged and contemptible habites lamenting in sorrowful gesture the iniury they receaue in being held in such captiuity slauery on the one side of Fortune standeth Pleasure and on the other Freewill both beeing pompously attired with rich and beautifull ornaments each of them holding in her hand a sharpe Arming-sworde seeming with angry gesture to threaten them some great mischiefe if they ceased not their complaints I leaue the other particularities thereof but it appeareth well that her effects are better knowne vnto you then they were to diuers of those Auncients AN. That liberty which they had in their imagination may I also haue to describe her properties and conditions seeing she obserueth neither Reason nor Iustice in her actions but oppresseth and banisheth them in a manner out of the world gouerning herselfe by her owne will pleasure without order or agreement as Tully writeth in his booke of Diuination There is nothing sayth he so contrary to Reason Constancie as Fortune and therefore the Ancients termed her by so sundry Names calling her blind franticke variable vnconstant cruell changeable traytresse opiniatre without iudgement besides infinite other foule Epithetes and ignominious names alwaies accusing and condemning her as vvicked light inconstant mutable
withall you said that the shapes of men being al one their countenances gestures are so diuers that it is vnpossible to finde one like another in all points Wheras I haue heard read of many that were so like in resemblance the one vnto the other that there was no difference at all to be found between them Your selfe I know must needs haue better knowledge hereof then I because you haue read Pliny other authors which treat therof and Pedro Mexia hath copied out many examples of thē in his forrest of collections besides all the which I wil alledge some notable examples The first is of two striplings which one Toranius sold to Mark Anthonio saying they were two brothers when in truth the one was born in Europe the other in Asia whose likenes was such that there was not in any one point difference between thē And when Anthonio finding himselfe deceaued began to be angry Toranius satisfied him in saying that there was greater cause of wonder in the diuersity of their Nations then if as he first had sayd they had ben both begotten horn of one father mother I am sure you haue read what many authors write of K. Antiochus who being murdered by the means of his wife Laodice she placed in his steed clothed with his rich habiliaments regall ornaments one Artemō of Siria who resembled him in such sort that he raigned two yeres without being known or discouered of any man In Rome there was a man called Caius Bibius so like to Pompey that he could be discerned from him by no other means then by the diuersity of his apparell Cassius Seucrus Mirmilus Lucius Pancus Rubus Estrius Marcus Messala Menogenes were by couples one so like another that they were with much adoe to be knowne of theyr familier friends such as were well acquainted with them and haunted daily their company But leauing the auncient Romaines we haue the like examples enough amongst our selues Don Rodrigo Girdon and his brother the Count of Vruenna were so like that vnlesse it were by their attire habiliments their very Seruants knew them not apart in so much that I haue heard it affirmed which if it be true is passing strange that being children sleeping both in one bed in touching their legs or armes together the flesh of the one did so cleaue to the other that they could not without difficulty be sundred But what should we passe heerein any farther vvhen euery day we see and heare the like BER I can be a witnesse of two which I haue seene my selfe no lesse meruailous then these which you haue rehearsed of the one there are witnesses enough in this house of Beneuenta for it is yet not much aboue twenty yeares that the Earle had a Lacky whom another man came to seeke saying that he was his brother and that he had runne away from his Parents being young they were so like that there was not betweene them any iote of difference at all vnlesse it were that he that came was somwhat more in yeeres but which is strangest though the Lacky were sent for to take possession of some goods left him by his Father yet did he constantly deny the other to be his brother affirming with oathes that he was not borne in that Village nor Country by many miles the other still remaining obstinate in challenging him for his brother where-vpon the Earle commaunded them both to goe to the same Village for to satisfie an old woman there which said she was mother to them both The Lacky comming thither could not perswade them but that he was the selfe same whom they supposed in the end the old vvoman looking fixedly vpon him for better assurance quoth she if thou art my sonne thou hast in such a place of thy legge a marke vvhich vvhen thou wert a child was burned The Lacky with wonderfull astonishment confessed that he had such a marke indeede though still perseuering with oaths to affirme that he knew them not and that hee neuer in his life before had beene in that Village as the truth indeede vvas for afterward it was proued that he was borne farre from that place and it was well knowne who were his Parents Besides this it was my hap being but a stripling to see an other the like very strange in a Village hard by the Citty of Segouia where I remained foure or fiue dayes in the house of a very honest substantiall man which had by his wife two daughters so strangely like that in turning your eyes once of them it was vnpossible to know which was the one and which was the other they were about 13. or 14. yeres olde I asking the mother which was the elder shee pointed to the one saying that she was borne halfe an houre before the other for she had at one burden both them and a sonne which she told me was with an vnkle of his in Segouia so resembling in all points to his sisters that being one day apparelled in one of theyr garments and brought before her husband and her neyther hee nor shee did the whole day till night that hee was vnclothed finde know or perceaue any difference at all betweene him and his sister LVD Truely this is very strange and the like hath sildom happened in Spaine especially in our time Macrobius writeth in the second booke of his Saturnals that there came a young man to Rome so resembling Aug. Caesar that standing before him it seemed that hee beheld as in a glasse the figure of himselfe whereupon Caesar asked him if euer his mother had beene at Rome meaning thereby that perchance his father might haue had acquaintance with her which the young man perceiuing answered him redily that his mother had neuer been there but his father oftentimes though thys history be common rehearsed of many yet I could not let it passe because it serueth so fitly to the purpose of which wee entreat AN. I deny not but that this may be true and that there are many the like things hapned in the worlde but according to the old prouerbe One Swallow maketh no Sommer neyther doth the whole field leaue to be cald greene for two or three hearbes or leaues that are withered and of a dead colour within it these are things which happen sildome and therefore refute not a generalitie so great as is the diuersity common difference of the countenaunces and gestures of all the men and women in the whole world LUD I confesse that you haue great reason but let vs not so passe ouer Signior Bernards tale of the woman with three children borne at one burden all liuing and brought vp to that age which truly seemeth to me so strange that me thinks in my life I neuer heard the like especially in this our Country AN. I wonder not a little thereat my selfe yet Aristotle writeth that the
they may hope of them in time to come for if they sit fast without feare they nourish them with great care and diligence as of a noble inclination and deseruing to be cherished but if theyr courage faile or that they shew any demonstration of feare they send them to be brought vp in some barren places farre from them selues AN. I doe not so affirme these things for true that I thinke it deadly sinne not to beleeue them mary they are written by a man so graue and which in the rest of his works vsed such sincerity that truly me thinkes wee should doo him great wrong in not beleeuing him LV. I know not what to say that there should be no more notice in the world of a Country so fruitfull and a people so blessed especially seeing the Portugals haue sayled and discouered all the Coast of Aethiopia and India euen to the very Sunne rising where they haue found so many and so diuers Ilands that it should be almost vnpossible for any such Country to remaine vndiscouered AN. Meruaile not at this for the Portugals as you say haue not stirred out of the Coast of Affrica and India the farthest that they went being to the Iles of Molucco whence such store of spice commeth as for Taprobana Zamorra and Zeilan they are all adioyning Ilands neere to those Coasts but they neuer nauigated into the Ocean foure continuall moneths as these others did LV. You are deceaued heerein for in only Magellans voyage they sailed farther then euer any other Nation did and if there had beene any such miraculous people in the world they should then haue had knowledge of them as well as Pigafeta had of the Pigmees for they did not onely as you know discouer the Sea of Sur passing a Sea where in fiue or sixe moneths they neuer saw any land but also on the other side sailed within few degrees of the Southpole And besides this the 4000. Ilands which they discouered in the Archpelago towards the Sunne rising the most part of which are peopled and according to somes opinion are thought to be on the other side of the earth in none of which any such blessed people haue been found as you speake of AN. Though all this be as you say yet the world is so great and there is in it so much to be discouered that perchaunce they are in those parts which we know not thinges so strange and monstrous that if we saw them would make vs wonder a great deale more and giue vs occasion to bee lesse astonished at the others in respect of which peraduenture we should account these very possible and one day hauing more time we may discourse more particulerly of this matter BER I take this worde of yours for a debt marry I would now aske you which you holde for the greatest wonder in that people eyther their tongue so strangelie deuided that they speake differently and with diuers persons seuerall matters at one time or else in steede of bones to haue onely sinewes doubling their members euery way AN. The first I neuer heard of nor of any the like and therefore of the two I hold it for the stranger but the likelihoode of the second is authorised for true by many vvriters and chiefely by Varro who writeth that in Rome there was a Fencer called Tritamio of such exceeding strength that being bound hand and foot he wrestled with very strong men whom onely with pushing his body from one side to another he gaue such a blow that if he touched them they were in danger of their lyues the like force had a Sonne of his who was a man at Armes vnder Pompey the which without Arms went to fight with his enemy Armed whom taking by one finger he made him yeeld and brought him prisoner to the Campe. It is sayde that these two had not onely their sinewes at length like vnto other men but also thwart and croswise ouer all their whole body whence proceeded this their so miraculous strength There are many incredible thinges reported of the forces and strength of Milo which though they were without doubt supernaturall and miraculous yet were they in the ende the cause of his most miserable and disastrous death for putting his hands into the cleft of a great tree thinking to rent and split it forcibly thorough the same of a suddaine turned backe and closed with such violence catching entrapping and crushing his handes so miserably that beeing not able to pull them foorth and beeing farre from helpe and in a desolate place hee was there forced pittifully to finish his life and vnfortunate strength together cutting vp his body they found that the pipes of his armes and legs were doubled LU. Though the strength of Milo were so famous and renowned as you say yet were there in his time as diuers Authors make mention that exceeded him farre Elian writeth that there was one called Tritormo helde in such admiration for his strength that Milo thinking thereby the greatnesse of his fame to bee diminished and obscured sought him out and challenged him but at such time as they were to enter into combate Tritormo taking vppe a mighty peece of a Rocke so huge that it seemed vnpossible that anie humaine force should mooue it cast it from him three or foure times with such exceeding force and then lifting it vppe on his shoulders carried it so farre that Milo amazed at the strangenesse thereof cryed out O Iupiter and is it possible that thou hast brought an other Hercules into the vvorlde But whether this mans pipe bones were double or single no man knoweth BER I haue heard of some whose bones were whole sounde and massiue vvithout any marrowe in them as diuers vvrite of Ligdamus the Syracusan and that the same is the cause of greater force ANTHONIO I neuer savve any such but Pliny vvryteth thereof in these vvordes vvee vnderstande sayeth hee that there are certayne menne vvhose bones are massiue and firme vvithin in vvhome this one thing is to bee marked that they neyther suffer thyrste nor may at any time sweate As for thirste wee see it voluntarilie suppressed of diuers for there was a Romaine Gentleman called Iulio Uiator who beeing in his youth sicke of a certayne corruption betvveene the fleshe and the skinne was forbidden to drinke by the Phisitians vsing him selfe to which abstinance a vvhile hee kept it in his age without euer drinking any thing at all LUDOUICO This is a matter not to bee lette slippe but in the meane time lette vs returne to that of strength I saye therefore that the forces of Sampsonne were such that if the holy Scripture made not mention of them no manne would beleeue them so that wee maye also giue credite to that which is written of Hercules Theseus and other strong menne that haue beene in the vvorlde whose Histories are so common that it were to no purpose to rehearse them heere AN.
that was also 300. yeeres old both by his lowne saying and the affirmation of those that knew him well besides other many great proofes and arguments thereof This Moore for the austeritie of his life and abstinence vvhich hee vsed was held amongst the rest for a very holie and religious man and the Portugals had great familiarity friendshippe vvith him For all thys though the Chronicles of Portugall are so sincere that there is nothing registred in them but with great fidelitie and approoued truth yet I should stagger in the beliefe of this were it not that there are so many both in Portugall and Spayne which are eye witnesses hereof and know it fully to be true BER And so trulie should I but that your proofe and information is not refutable for these ages are so long in respect of the shortnesse of ours that they bring with them incredible admiration and mee thinkes it is impossible that the first of these two shoulde haue had so many wiues AN. It being verified that hee liued so long this is not to be wondred at for the law both of Gentiles and Moores permitteth men to forsake their wiues and to take new as often as they please and so perchance this man was so fantasticall and peeuish that not contenting himselfe long with any he tooke it for a custome to put away his wiues as we doe seruants that please vs not And as they hold together as many wiues as they will though they bee not all called lawfull what letted him if he chopt changed some turning away taking new especially if he were so rich that he had meanes to maintaine many at once so that there is no such cause to wonder at any of these thinges for in the yeare 1147. in the time of the Emperor Conrad died a man which had serued Charles the great in his warres who as it was by inuinsible arguments proued had liued 340. yeeres and it agreeth with that which you haue sayd of this Indian whence Pero Mexia which writeth also the same tooke it Fascicuhis Temporum likewise maketh mention thereof All thys can he doe in whose hands Nature is shoutning lengthning lyues and ages as it pleased him but for my part I will neuer beleeue but that there are in these things some secrete mysteries which we neither conceiue nor vnderstand LU. Let vs take it as we find it without searching the profound iudgments of God who onely knoweth wherefore hee dooth it and in truth I dared not vtter as holding in for a thing fabulous that which I haue read in the xv booke of Strabo where he saith that those which dwel on the other side of the moūtaines Hyperbores towards the North many of them liued a 1000. yeares AN. I haue also read it but hee writeth the same as a thing not to be beleeued though he denieth not but that it may be possible that many of them liued very long but the likeliest is that in those Countries they deuide theyr yeeres according to the reckoning of which Pliny speaketh one into foure by which computation a thousand yeeres of theirs maketh 250. of ours and this differeth not much from the ages of other people and Nations which we haue rehearsed Yet Acatheus the Philosopher speaking of the mountaines Hyperbores sayeth that those which dwell on the farther side liue more yeeres then all the other Nations of the world Pomponius Mela also speaking of them in the third booke vseth these words vvhen they are weary of liuing ioyfull to redeeme themselues from the trauailes and miseries of life they throw themselues headlong into the Sea which they account the happiest death and fortunatest Sepulcher that may be how so euer many Authors of credite verifie theyr liues to be long BER It is said also that those of the Iland Thile according to the opinion of many now called Iseland liue so long that wearied with age they cause themselues to be conuaied into other parts to the ende that they may dye AN. I haue not seene any Author that writeth this it is like to be some inuention of the common people because those of that Iland liue very long euery one addeth what pleaseth him for as the desire to liue is a thing naturall to all men so how old so euer a man be he will in my opinion rather procure to defend and conserue his life then seeke occasion to finish or shorten the same This people being in the occident and according to the auncient vvriters the last Nation that is knowne that way participate with the Hiperboreans in fame of long life or perchaunce those which haue heard speake of Biarmio Superior the which as we will one day discourse is the last which is knowne of the other side of the Septentrion and of which are written many wonderfull matter chiefely of their long life without infirmity ending onely through extreamity of age the which many of them not attending voluntarily kill themselues thought that these men were vnder the selfe climate and hereof was the inuention of the Elysian fields which the Gentiles held to be in these parts But this being a matter that requireth long time we will now leaue it returne to our former discourse Truly if conforming our selues to reason we would well weigh the trauailes miseries vexations which in this wretched life we endure we should esteeme a short life far hapier then a long which we see beset with infinite troubles calamities endeuor so in this transitory life to serue God that we may come in glory to enioy that other which shal endure for euer BER Seeing we haue hetherto discoursed of so many particularities belonging vnto men let vs not forget one which is of no lesse mistery nor lesse worthy to be knowne then the rest which is of the Centaures or Archers to the ende wee liue not deceaued in that which is reported of thē for many Histories make mention of them though to say truth I neuer read any graue Author that affirmeth to haue seene them or stedfastly that they now are or at any other time haue been in the world which if they either be indeed or haue been they are not to be held for small wonders but for as great as euer haue been any in the world AN. Certainely this of the Centaures is but a Poetical fiction for if it were true it is not possible as you said but that som graue Author or other would haue written therof LV. Let vs yet know whence these fables had their beginning AN. Aske this of Eginius Augustus Libertus which in a booke of his entituled Palephatus de non credendis fabulis sayth that Ixion King of Thessalia brought a mighty Heard of Bulls and Cows to the mountain Pelius which being affrighted throgh some accident that happened scattered themselues flying into the Woods Valleys other vninhabited places out of which they
Generall flood it should be destroyed and ouerthrowne the selfe same consideration may serue for this of the Riuers not without proofes very euident and agreeable to reason for if it were destroyed with the Flood euen as it pleased God to permit the vndooing thereof so would hee also ordayne that all signes and markes of the same shoulde cease to the end that the peoples dwelling in the prouinces and borders thereabout shoulde haue no knowledge at all thereof that it should be no longer necessary for the Cherubin to remaine in garde thereof with a fierie Sworde as till that time hee had done But before wee come to handle the principall causes you shall vnderstande that there are some who holde opinion that all these foure Riuers rise neere the Land of Heden and come to ioyne in the same Leauing therefore a part Tygris and Euphrates because that of them seemeth in a manner verified as for Ganges the course therof is not so contrarie but that it may well meete where the other riuers doe and that any inconuenience eyther of lownes or highnes of the earth might bee sufficient to diuert or to cause the same to runne where it now doth But this is an argument that neyther concludeth nor carrieth any reason withall As for the Riuer Nilus they goe another way to worke saying that it is not the same which in the holy Scripture is called Fison for there are two Ethiopias say they the one in Affrica which is watred with Nilus the other in the West Indies in Asia beginning from the coast of Arabia folowing along the coast of the Ocean sea towards the East the which may be vnderstood by the holy Scriptures who call those of the Lande of Madian neere to Palestina Ethiopians Sephora also that was wife to Moises beeing natiue of that region was called Ethiopesse And with this agreeth a Glosse written in the margen of Caetano his discourse vppon thys matter by Anthonio de Fonseca a Frier of Portugall and a man very learned so that Fison may well be some Riuer of these which watereth this Country first discending by the Lande of Heden comming from the same to enter into the Ocean as Tygris and Euphrates and many other deepe riuers doe in the same maner may it be coniectured that Gion should bee some one of these riuers the one and the other through antiquity hauing lost theyr names and that it is not knowne because it cannot perfectly be prooued whether of these two Ethiopias is meant by the holy Scripture Aueneza saith it is a thing notorious that the Riuer Gion was not far from the Land of Israell according to that which is written in the third booke of Kings Thou shalt carry it into Gion although there be other Authors that vnderstande not Gion to be a Riuer but to be the Lake Siloe or else a Spring so called If that Gion were Ganges it is manifest that it runneth not so neere vnto Israel as it is heere said S. Isidore entreating of this matter sayeth that the Riuer called Araxes commeth out of Paradise which opinion is also maintained by Albertus Magnus Procopius writeth of another Riuer called Narsinus whose streame issueth from thence neere to the Riuer Euphrates some thinke that these are Gion and Fison though at this time their waters runne not through the same Lands These are the opinions of Ecclesiasticall Doctors labouring to discusse and sift out the truth of this secret But leauing them all I will tell you my opinion partly agreeing with Eugubinus and his followers that when it pleased God to drowne the whole worlde in time of the Patriarch Noe with a vniuersall flood mounting according to the sacred Text fifteene cubits in height aboue all the mountaines of the earth the same must of necessity make and vnmake change alter and ouerturne many things raysing valleyes abating mountaines altering the Deserts discouering many parts of the earth vnseene before and couering drowning many Citties and Regions which from thence forth remained vnder the water ouerwhelmed in the Sea or couered with Ponds and Lakes as we know that which without the flood happened to Sodome and Gomorrha with the rest which after they were burnt did sinke with them And we see oftentimes in the swelling and ouerflowing of great Riuers whole Countries drowned and made like vnto a Sea yea and sometimes mighty Riuers to lose their wonted passage and turne and change their course another way farre different from the first If I say the violent impetuosity of one onely riuer suffice to worke these effects What shall we then thinke was able to doe the incomparable fury and terrible swinging rage of the generall and vniuersall flood In the which as the same Text sayth all the Fountaines and Springs of the earth were broken vp by their bottomes and all the Conduits of heauen were opened that there might want no water eyther aboue or beneath If then the Springs so brake vp it could not be but that some of them were changed and passed into other places different from those in which they were before theyr streames scouring along through contrary wayes and veines of the earth In like manner might it happen to those which entered into terestriall Paradise issued forth to water those Lands named in the holy Text which eyther through the falling downe of huge mountaines and rocky hills or filling vp of lowe valleyes might be constrained to turne their streames farre differently to their former course or else by the permission and will of GOD which would haue vs to be ignorant of this secrete they changed their Springs and issues by hiding and shutting them selues in the bowels of the earth and running through the same many thousand miles and at last came to rush forth in other parts farre distant from those where they were before neyther passed they onely vnder a great quantity of Lands enhabited and vninhabited but the very Sea also whom they hold for mother Spring whence they proceede hideth them vnder her to the ende that they might returne to issue foorth where they were not knowne or if through some cause they were it should be vnto our greater admiration and meruaile as now it is Neyther wonder you at all if the generall flood wrought so great a mutation in the world for there haue not wanted graue men who affirme that the whole world before the time of the flood was plaine and leuell without any hill or valley at all and that by the waters thereof were made the diuersities of high and lowe places and the seperation of Ilands from firme Land And if these reasons suffice not let euery man thinke heerein what shall best agree with his owne fancy for in a mistery so doubtfull and secrete we may as well misse as hit and so S. Augustine thinking this to be a secret which God would not haue knowne but reserues it to himselfe saith that no
feele anguish and payne And if you be desirous to see many particularities and the seuerall opinions of diuers learned Authors read Caelius Rodiginus in his second Booke De Antiquis Lectionibus where hee discourseth copiously thereof But now for not digressing frō the principall let vs come to that which they call Phantasma the vvhich hath his beginning in the fantasie which is a vertue in Man called by an other name Imaginatiue and because thys vertue beeing mooued worketh in such sort that it causeth in it selfe the thinges feigned and imagined to seem present though in truth they are not Wee say also that the thinges which vanish away so soone as we haue seene them are fantasies seeming to vs that wee deceaue our selues and that we sawe them not but that they were onely represented in our fansie But thys is in such sort that sometimes we trulie see them indeed and other times our imagination fansie so present them to our view that they deceaue vs and wee vnderstand not whether they were things seene or imagined and therefore as I thinke comes it that wee call the thinges which we really see Visions and others which are fantasticated and represented in the fantasie Fancies vvhether of which this was that hapned in Fuentes de Ropell I know not but sure I am that it was as true as strange neither is the place so farre distant beeing onely two miles hence but that you may by infinite witnesses be thorowly resolued of the veritie thereof There lyued about 30. yeeres since a Gentleman of good account called Anthonio Costilla who of the vvhich I my selfe can giue good witnesse was one of the valiantest hardiest men of all the Country for I haue beene present at some broyles byckerings of his in which I haue seen him acquite himselfe with incredible courage and valour Insomuch that beeing somewhat haughtie and suffering no man to ouercrowe him he had many enemies thereabouts which caused him wheresoeuer he went to goe alwayes well prouided so that one day riding from his owne house to a place called Uilla Nueua hauing vnder him a good Ginet and a strong Launce in his hand when he had doone his businesse the night cōming on and the same very darke he lept a horse back and put himselfe on his way homeward comming to the end of the Village where stoode a Chappell in the forepart or portall of which there was a lettice window within the same a Lampe burning thinking that it shoulde not be wel done to passe any further without saying his prayers hee drewe neere vnto the same saying his deuotions a horseback where whiles hee so remained looking into the Chappell hee savve three visions like Ghostes issue out of the middest thereof seeming to come out from vnder the ground to touch the height of the roufe with their heads As he had beheld them awhile the haire of his head began to stand an end so that being somewhat affrighted he turned his horse bridle and rode away but he had no sooner lyfted vp his eyes when hee sawe the three visions going together a little space before him seeming as it were to beare him company so that commending himselfe to God blessing him selfe many times he turned his horse spurring him from one side to another but wheresoeuer hee turned they were alwaies before his eyes vvhereupon seeing that he coulde not be rid of them putting spurres to his horse he ranne at them as hard as he could with his Launce but it seemed that the visions went and mooued themselues according to the same compasse wherein hee guided his horse for if he went they went if he ranne they ranne if he stood still they stood still alwaies keeping one euen distance from him so that hee was perforce constrained to haue them in his company till hee came to his owne house before which there was a great court or yard opening the gate of which after hee was lighted of his horse as he entred he found the same visions before him and in this manner came hee to the doore of a lodging where his wife was at which knocking and beeing let in the visions vanished away but hee remained so dismayed and changed in his colour that his wife thinking hee had receaued some wounde or mishap by his enemies often asked him the cause of this his deadly countenaunce alteration and seeing that he would not reueale the same vnto her she sent for a friende of his that dwelt thereby a man of good qualitie and of singuler learning and integritie of life who presently comming and finding him in that perplexity importuned him vvith such instance that at last he recounted vnto him the particularity of each thing that had hapned He being a very discrete man making no exterior shewe of vvonder or amazement bad him be of good courage and shake off that dismaiment with many other comfortable perswasions causing him to goe to supper and from thence brought him to his bedde in which leauing him layd with light burning by him he vvent forth because he would haue him take his rest and sleep but hee was scarcely gone out of his chamber when Anthonio Costilla began with a loud skrietch to cry out for help wherevpon he with the rest entring into the chamber and demaunding the cause of this outcry he told them that hee was no sooner left alone but that the three visions came to him againe and made him blind with throwing dust vpon his eyes which they had scraped out of the ground which in trueth thed found it to be so from that time forward therefore they neuer left him vnaccompanied but all profited nothing for the seauenth day without hauing had Ague or any other accident he departed out of this world LV. If there were present heere any Phisition hee would not leaue to affirme and maintaine that this proceeded of some melancholly humor ruling in him with such force that he seemed really to behold that which was represented in his fantasie BER The same also may wel be for many times it seemeth that we see things which in deed we doe not being deceaued through the force of our imagination and perchance this of those visions may be the like who being once represented in the imagination of fancie had force to work those effects and the humor which caused the same encreasing through amazement and feare might at last procure death yet for all this I will not leaue to beleeue but that these visions were some Spirits who taking those bodies of ayre earth water or fire or mingling for that effect any of those Elements together came to put so great amazement in this man that the same was cause of his death AN. In all things which by certaine knowledge cannot be throughly approoued there neuer want diuers and contrary opinions so that in this diuersity of iudgements I would rather impute it to the worke of Spirits then to any
be chosen but that he beeing naturall of Gothland had seene a great part of these Septentrionall Countries seeing hee is able to giue so good and perfect notice of them Onely this one thing now remaineth to tell you which is that you must vnderstand that the very same which we haue heere discoursed of of Lands and Prouinces vnder the North-pole is and in the very selfe same manner in those which are vnder the South-pole and that in as much as pertaineth to the Heauen they differ nothing at all and verie little in that of the earth neyther can they chuse but haue there some other winde like vnto * Circius seeing the Snowe Ise and cold is there in such extreamity as by experience they found which went the voyage with Magellane who according to those that write of him his voyage was within 75. degrees of the Pole before he came to finde and discouer the straight to passe into the Sea of Sur but he entreateth nothing of the encrease and decrease of the dayes and nights the cause why I vnderstande not it beeing a thing of so great admiration that I vvonder why the Chronaclers make no mention thereof seeing they could not chuse but haue notice thereof both by the relation of those that then accompanied him in his voyage and of others that haue since attempted to discouer those parts beeing prohibited to passe any farther through the extreamitie of the cold who foūd in those parts men of monstrous greatnes such as I saide were found neere to the Pole Artick But this by the way I will not omit to tell you that the snowe which was founde on the toppes of Mountaines there vvas not white as it is in the Septentrionall Lands but blewish and of a colour like the skie of which secrete there is no other reason to be giuen then onely that it pleaseth Nature to haue it so There are also many other strange things as birds beasts herbes plants so farre different from these which we haue that they mooue great admiration to the beholders of them And if those parts were well discouered perchance also after the passing ouer of these cold Regions so difficile to be enhabited through the rigor of the Snow and Ise there might be found other Countries as temperate as that of the superiour Byarmia of which we spake before But let this happen when it shall please God in the meane time let vs content our selues with the knowledge of that which in our age is discouered knowne BER We should be greatly beholding to you if it should please you to prosecute your begunne discourse for no doubt where the course of the Sunne Moone and Starres is so diuers there cannot chuse but bee many other things also rare strange and worthy to be knowne AN. It pleaseth me well to giue you this contentment so that you will referre it till to morrow for it is now late and draweth neere supper time LVD Let it be as you please for to say the truth it is now time to retire our selues The end of the fifth Discourse The sixth Discourse entreating of sundry thinges that are in the Septentrionall Landes worthy of admiration Interlocutores ANTHONIO LUDOVICO BERNARDO AN. YOV may see that there wanteth in me no desire to doe you seruice seeing I came first hether to renewe our yesterdayes conuersation and to accomplish my worde and promise LVD Your courtesies towardes vs are many and this not the least of all seeing we hope at thys present to vnderstand the particularities of that delightful discourse which yesterday you began with promise to end the same to day BER It vvere good that wee sate downe vnder the shadovve of these sweete Eglantines and Iassemynes wherby we shall not onely receaue the pleasant sauour which they yeelde but shall haue our eares also filled with delight in hearing the Nightingales recorde their sweete and delectable notes to which in my iudgement the curious forced melody of many Musitians is nothing to be compared LU. No doubt but of all Birdes their singing is most delightfull if it continued the whole yeere but as theyr amorous desire ceaseth so ceaseth also theyr harmonie whereas the songe of other Birdes endureth the whole yere thorough BER They perchaunce account it needelesse to rechaunt theyr melodious tunes and sweete harmonie but at such time as the the pryde and gaietie of the season entertaineth them in loue and iealousie cheerefully with mutuall sweetnesse reioycing one another and each mate vnderstanding others call LUD According to thys you will haue the Birdes to vnderstand one another BER There is no doubt but they doe for euen as the Beastes knowe the voyce one of another assembling themselues together by theyr bellowing and braying euen so doe they vnderstande the chyrping and peeping one of another calling themselues thereby together into showles and flocks ANT. Nay vvhich is more strange they doe not onely vnderstand one another among themselues but sometimes also they are vnderstoode as it is written of men of which number Apolonius Tyaneus was one LUD That certainlie seemeth vnto mee a thing vnpossible ANT. Well yet I will not sticke to let you vnderstande what I haue read concerning this matter and you shall find the same written in his life Apollonius disporting himselfe one day in the fieldes vnder the shadow of certaine trees as wee doe at this present there setled ouer his head a Sparrow chirping and chyttering to other Sparrowes that were vpon the same trees the which altogether beganne to make a great chyrping a noyse and to take theyr flight speedilie towards the Cittie whereupon Apollonius bursting into a great laughter and beeing by his companions earnestly intreated to declare the cause thereof vnto them he saide that the same Sparrow that came alone had brought newes to the rest that a Myller comming on the high way towardes the Towne with a burden of Corne charged vppon his Asses backe had by chaunce let one of his sackes fall the stringes whereof breaking the Corne fell out which the Myller coulde not so cleane scrape vp and gather together againe but that a great deale thereof remayned tumbled in the dust which was the cause of the great myrth that the other byrdes demeaned who in thanking him for his good newes flewe away with hym to eate theyr part of the same Corne. His companions hearing this smyled thereat thinking it to be but a iest till in returning to the Towne they found the place where the sack had been broken the Sparrowes scraping verie busilie about the same LV. Apolonius was a man of great wisdom knowledge but I rather think that he deuined this matter by some other meanes for it seemeth hard to beleeue that birds should haue any language wherwith they should so particulerly expresse their meaning vnlesse it be certain generall notes by which each kind knoweth and calleth theyr semblable for in thinking
furiously sallied dooing great hurt and damage in the Country killing and wounding the passengers and destroying the fruits laboured grounds Ixion seeing that the people hereby endamaged exclaimed vpoÌ„ him resoluing to take some order for the destruction of these Bulls made it be proclaimed that he would giue rich rewards great recompences to who so euer should kil any of them There were at that time in a Citty called Nephele certaine young men of great courage which were taught instructed by those of the same towne to breake tame horses to mount vpon their backs sometimes assailing and sometimes flying as neede required These vndertooke this enterpise to destroy these Bulls and through the aduantage of their horses the vertue of theyr own courage slew tooke daily so many of them that at last they cleared deliuered the Country of this anoyance Ixion accomplished his promise so that these young men remained not only rich but mighty formidable through the aduantage they had of other meÌ„ with this vse redines of their horses neuer till that time seen or known before They retained still the name of Centaures which signifieth wounders of Bulls They grew at last into such haughtines pride that they neither esteemed the King nor any man else doing what they list them selues so that beeing one day inuited to a certaine mariage in the towne of Larissa being wel tipled they determined to rauish the dames and Ladies there assembled which they barbarously accomplished rising of a sodaine and taking the Gentlewomen behind them on their horses riding away with theÌ„ for which cause the wars began betweene them the Lapiths for so were the men of that Country called The Centaures gathering theÌ„selues to the mountains by night came down to rob spoile stil sauing theÌ„selues throgh the swiftnes of their horses Those of the Countries there about which neuer til that time had seen any horsman thought that the maÌ„ the horse had ben all one because the town whence they issued to make their warres was called Nephele which is as much to say as a cloud the fable was inuented saying that the Centaures discended out of the clouds Ouid in his Meramorphosis entreateth hereof say that it was at the mariage of Perithous with Hypodameya daughter to Ixion he nameth also many of the Centaures by whoÌ„ this tumult was committed but the pure truth is that which Eginius writeth LV. It is no meruaile if the people in those dayes were so deceaued hauing neuer before seen horses broken tamed nor men sitting on their backs the strange nouelty whereof they could not otherwise vnderstand for proofe wherof we know that in the Ilands of the vvest-Indies the Indians when they first saw the Spaniards mounted vpon horses thought sure that the man and the horse had beene all one creature the feare conceaued through which amazement was cause that in many places they rendered themselues with more facillity then they would haue done if they had knowne the trueth thereof But withall you must vnderstand that the Auncients called old men also Centaures that were Tutors of noble mens Sonnes and so was Chiron called the maister of Achilles through which name diuers being deceaued painted him forth halfe like a man halfe like a horse BER I was much troubled with this matter of Centaures wherefore I am glad that you haue made me vnderstand so much therof but withall I would that Signior Anthonio would tell vs what his opinion is of Sea men for diuers affirme that there are such and that they want nothing but reason so like are they in all proportions to bee accounted perfect men as wee are AN. It is true indeede there are many graue sincere writers which affirme that there is in the Sea a kind of fish which they call Tritons bearing in each point the shape humane the female sort thereof they call Nereydes of which Pero Mexias in his Forrest writeth a particuler Chapter alleadging Pliny which sayeth that those of the Citty of Lisboa aduertised Tiberius Caesar how that they had found one of those men in a Caue neere to the Sea making musick with the shell of a fish but he forgot an other no lesse strange which the same Author telleth in these very wordes My witnesses are men renowned in the order of Knighthood that on the Ocean Sea neere to Calays they saw come into their shippe about night time a Sea man whose shape without any difference at all was humaine he was so great and wayed so heauy that the boate began to sinke on that side where hee stoode and if hee had stayed any thing longer it had been drowned Theodore Gaze also alleadged by Alexander of Alexandria writeth that in his time one of these Sea men or rather men fishes accustomed to hide him selfe in a Caue vnder a Spring by the Sea side in Epirus where young maydens vsed to fetch their water of which seeing any one comming alone rising vp hee caught her in his armes and carried her into the Sea so that hauing in this sort carried away diuers the enhabitants being aduertised thereof set such grins for him that at last they tooke him kept him some dayes They offered him meat but he refused to eate and so at length beeing in an element contrary to his nature died The same Alexander speaketh of another Sea-monster which Bonifacius Neapolitanê° a man of great authority certified him that he saw brought out of Mauritania into Spain whose face was like a man some-what aged his beard haire curled and glistring his complexion and colour in a manner blew in all his members proportioned like a man though his stature were somewhat greater the onely difference vvas that he had certaine finnes with the which as it seemed he diuided the water as he swamme LVD It seemeth by this which you haue sayd of these monsters that there should be in them a kinde of reason seeing the one entred by night into the Shyp with intention to doe it damage and the other vsed such craft in his embuscades to entrappe those women AN. They are some likelihoods though they conclude not for as we see that there are heere on earth some beastes vvith more vigorous instinct of nature then others and neerer approching to the counterfaiting gestures of men as for example Apes and such like so is there also in this point difference among the Fishes of the Sea as the Dolphins vvhich are more warie and cautelous then the others as well in doing damage as in auoyding danger for Nature hath giuen all things a naturall and generall inclination to ayde help theÌ„selues withall Olaus Magnus handleth very copiously thys matter of Tritons or Sea-men of which in the Northerne Seas he sayth there is great abundance and that it is true that they vse to come into little Shyps of which with their weight
all the rest that is reported of them to be a meer fable BER It is a thing most true known and approued that there are in the Sea as diuers and sundry kindes of Fishes as there is on the earth of beasts or in the ayre of foules so that it is not to be wondred at if some of them resemble humaine forme as these which we haue named LU. And though wee haue long deteyned our selues in this conuersation yet before wee part I beseech you resolue me in one doubt which remaineth coÌ„cerning men the which is this I haue heard say that there haue been in times past certaine women which changing theyr sexes haue been conuerted into men which seemeth so strange and vnnaturall that I hold it but for a fable like that which is reported of Tyresias the Thebane Prophet AN. Neuer wonder so much at this for possibly this which is reported of him as a tale false and feigned was indeede truth as many other the like which haue with great authority beene written and affirmed For proofe whereof read Pliny in his 4. chapter of his 7. Booke where he vseth these words It is no matter feyned sayth hee that women sometimes change their sexe for we sinde in the Chronicles that Publiê° Liciniê° Crassê° Caius Cassiê° Longinê° beeing Consuls a young mayden perfect in that sexe daughter to Casinus was changed and metamorphozed to a perfect man and therefore by the commaundement of theyr Soothsayers was carried away as a thing prodigious and cast into a desert Iland And Licinius Mucianus affirmeth that he saw in Argos a man called Aresconte who had beene first a vvoman called Arescusa after the changing of her sexe she came to haue a beard and married a vvife of the like sort he sawe a young strypling in the Citty of Smyrna and a little farder he coÌ„meth to say I my selfe saw in Affrica Luciê° Cosciê° a cittizen of Triditania who the selfe same day that he was maried beeing then a woman was transformed into a man Neither is Plinie alone author of this wonderful nouelty for Pontanê° a man of great grauity writeth that a woman in the citty of Caeta after she had bin 14. yeres married turned her sex becam a man that another woman called Emilia maried vnto a citizen of Ibula called Anthonio Spensa after she had been 12. yeres his wife becam a perfect man and maried another woman begat children Another far stranger then eyther of these is recited by the same authour of a woman that had been maried brought forth a sonne which afterwards beeing conuerted into a man married another woman and had children by her but because these are old matters and it may be sayd that wee goe farre for witnesses I will tell you what Doctor Amatus writeth a Phisition of no small estimation in Portugall who in a worke of Phisicke which he made sayth that in a village called Esgueyra distant ix leagues from the Citty of Corimbra there liued a Gentleman who had a daughter named Marya Pacheco the which at such age as by the course of nature her flowers should haue come downe in sted thereof as though it had before lyen hidden in her belly there issued forth a perfect and able member masculine so that of a vvoman shee became a man and was presently clothed in mans habite and apparrell and her name changed from Marie to Manuell Pacheco and not long after passing into the East Indies shee wan in the vvarres great reputation through the valour of her person from whence returning most opulent and rich she shortly afterward married a Gentlewoman of a very Noble house by whom whether she had any children or no he writeth not but onely that she neuer came to haue any beard retayning alwayes a womanly face countenance and thys he affirmeth of his owne sight and knowledge But those that will neyther giue credite to these thinges vvhich I haue sayde nor to the Authors of them let them read Hyppocrates by a common consent called the Euangelist of Phisitions There was sayth he in his 6. booke De morbis popularibus a woman called Phaetula in the Citty of Abderis wife to Piteus which beeing of young and tender yeares when her husband was banished from thence remained many months without hauing her flowers which caused her to feele an exceeding payne in her members whereupon her body shortly after miraculously changed sexe her voyce became manly sharpe and her chinne was couered with a beard The selfe fame hapned in like sort in Tafus to Anamisia wife to Gorgippus LUD Truly these things which you haue rehearsed are meruailous and the onely authoritie of Hippocrates suffiseth to giue them credit emboldned through which I will tel you a thing which till nowe I alwayes accounted as a fable or thing dreamed which though it be long since it was tolde me yet would I neuer vtter it to any because I reputed it as a thing altogether incredible It was thus A friend of mine of good authority and credite told me that in a Village not farre hence there was a vvoman maried with a Husbandman by whom hauing no children they were at continuall iarre so that were it through iealousie or other cause she led with him a most vnquiet life for remedy whereof shee rising on euening cloathed her selfe in the garments of a young fellowe that dwelt with them in the house and departed secretly from that time forward faigning her selfe to be a man and put her selfe into seruice gaining where-with to sustaine her life in which estate after she had a while remained whether it were that Nature wrought in her with so effectuall vertue and puissance or that her owne earnest imagination seeing her selfe in that habite had force to worke so strange an effect she was transformed into a man and maried an other woman not daring through simplicity discouer this matter till by chaunce a man that had beene before time acquainted with her looking one day earnestly vpon her and viewing in her the perfect resemblance of her which hee had before time knowne demaunded if she or rather he were her brother vvhereuppon he being now changed and become a man and withall putting great confidence in the other opened vnto him the whole secresie of this successe instantly beseeching him not to discouer it to any man BER Whatsouer Nature hath at one time done it may doe an other and as well may this which you haue tolde bee true as that which is affirmed by Writers and therefore you haue done well to reserue it till nowe comming so well to purpose as it doth for the confirmation of the before rehearsed especially we being nowe so well perswaded of the possibility thereof but if you should tell the same amongst some kinde of men you would be in great hazard to be iested at for your labour as I was for saying that there was
vnderstand by another example of the said Alexander who sayeth that a certaine Monke called Thomas with whom he was familiarly acquainted beeing a man euer after this accident of a most holy and approued good life who being resident in a Monastery neere vnto the Citty of Luka being situated amongst certaine mountaynes falling one day out with some other of the Monkes and mooued with an exceeding passion of choller went furiously out of the Cloyster with determination to absent himselfe from thence for euer and to goe liue in some other part as he was thus trauersing the thickest of the mountaine hee met with a great tall man of a tawnie Sunne-burnd complexion with a long blacke beard rowling eyes and his garment hanging downe to the ground After hauing saluted him the Moonke asked him whether he went that way seeing the same was no beaten or vsuall path The other aunswered him that hee followed a horse of his which was broken loose and had strayed ouer those mountaines into certaine meddowes on the other side so that they went on together talking till they came to a Riuer at the foote of the mountaine which because the same was very deepe and full of great pits they went along the side thereof seeking a Foord or passage till at last comming to a certaine place which seemed passable the Moonke would haue puld off his hose and shooes but the other would by no meanes suffer him so to doe saying that he was tall strong enough to carry him safely ouer on his shoulders in which perswasion he was so earnest that make the Monke what excuse he could he trussed him halfe perforce vp vpon his sholders at which instant looking downward he chanced to spie his Ferrymans feete not hauing seene them till then which were of a farre different making from those of other mens so that entring into some suspition hee would faine haue losed himselfe but he could not for the other began to wade with him into the deepest of the streame vvhere-vpon fearing it to be as in truth it was he began with great inward deuotion to commend him selfe to God and to call vpon the blessed name of Iesus for helpe at which very instant the other who was the deuill indeede threw him downe on the shoare of the Riuer vanishing presently away vvith so horrible a noise and tempest that the very sands of the Riuer were turned vpsie downe and the Oakes that grew vpon the banks were torne vppe by the rootes and the poore Moonke left in a traunce halfe dead who so soone as he reuiued and came to him selfe returned penitently to his Cloyster giuing thankes vnto GOD for the danger out of which hee had deliuered him BER To make recitall of all such like things as happen in the vvorlde were to beginne an endlesse and infinite worke for the deuils though they lost grace yet lost they not theyr naturall vertue as Anthonio de Florencia vvryteth so that if the same vvere not restrayned through the vvill of GOD they coulde vvorke many greater hurtes and damages then those which they doe AN. According to the saying of S. Paule they cannot onely take vpon them such formes of bodies as we haue said but they can also transforme them selues into Angels of light to deceaue vs which they would each moment put in practise as sometimes they doe were not their power suppressed and preuented which God doth somtimes by his only will and somtimes by a third person as that of the deuill which vnder the habite of a very beautifull and wise woman dined with a Bishop who was deliuered from destruction by S. Andrew the Apostle cōming to demaund almes of him like a Pilgrime by aunswering a question proposed to him by the deuill which was how far distant the heauen was from the earth Thou shouldst better know then I answered S. Andrew because thou hast falne from thence where-with the deuill finding him selfe discouered vanished presently But it is to no purpose to detaine our selues in these examples because there are whole volumes full of them and Saint Gregory in his Morrals rehearseth many notable thinges which they may reade that desire to know them BER For all this I must needs tell you one by the way which hath been told me for a matter vndoubted and most assuredly true of one Don Anthonio de la Cueua a Gentleman passing well knowne in this our Country nowe lately dead vvho by Gods permission for some cause to vs vnknowne was while he liued often tempted and vexed with visions and fantasies so that in continuance of time he began not to feare them though hee accustomed to haue all night long continually a candell burning by him in the chamber where he slept One night amongst others lying in his bed and reading of a booke he might heare a great rumbling vnder the bed and as he lay imagining what the same might be he perceaued come from vnder the bed close by the bed side an arme and hand seeming to be of a naked Blackamoore which taking the candell turned it downwards in the candlestick and put it forth and at that very instant offered to come into the bed to him which he endeuoring to refist the blacke Moore or rather deuill grasped him by the armes he him likewise beginning to wrestle and strugle together with such force and making so great a noyse that the seruaunts of the house awaked who comming into the Chamber to knovve what the matter was found Don Anthonio de la Cueua alone in such a heate and sweating as though he had newly come out of a Stew or Hothouse who declared vnto them the particularitie of this accident and withall that so soone as they began to enter into the Chamber the vision vntwynged himselfe from him so that he knew not what was becom thereof LUD At one thing I doe much wonder which I haue often heard to be affirmed for truth that the deuils also are Incubi and Succubi taking oftentimes to that ende the shape likenes sometimes of men sometimes of women ANT. This is affirmed by many Authours For their malice is so great that they will not stick to commit the greatest abhomination and wickednes that may be so that ioyntly they may procure and cause men to commit it with them Caelius Rodiginus saith that there was in Greece a man called Marcus naturall of Cafronesus vvho had great familiaritie with deuils for which cause he liued alwaies solitary conuersing little with other men This man vttered many of the deuils secrets of which this of the Incubi and Succubi was one and many other that for theyr filthines and abhomination are not to be spoken of but according to his confession all the deuils doe not vse this execrable offence but those onely who are neere vnto vs and doe forme theyr bodies of a grosse substance as of water or earth Saint Augustine saith that the Satyres and Faunes
were thought of some to be Incubi because they were so luxurious Hence many tooke occasion to authorise that for truth which is reported of Marlyn that he was begotten of a deuill but thys is better said then affirmed for whether it be so or no God onely knoweth and besides this vvhich I haue said he speaketh of many other particularities secrets that are amongst the deuils which in truth it is best not to know nor vnderstand for the knowledge of them can be no way profitable and may perchance be some way hurtfull BER If the deuill can doe that which this Marcus sayeth perchance Lactantius Firmianus tooke thence occasion to vvrite that folly of his saying that the authority of Genesis vvhich saith As the sonnes of GOD sawe the daughters of men which were beautifull they tooke them for wiues and had children by them is vnderstood by the Angels vvhom God held heere in the world so that he attributeth to thē bodies with which they conuersed with women and begot chyldren AN. Truly you may rightly terme it his folly for there cannot be a greater as both S. Thomas all the other Docters of Theologie affirme vnderstanding by the sons of God men that serued him walked in the way of righteousnes by the sons of men those that followed their owne lusts and pleasures not regarding that which they ought to doe for it were absurd to thinke that the Angels should pollute themselues with such filthines as the deuils doe who also doe it not because they therin receiue delight but because of the sin and and offence which they therin make men to commit ioyntly with them for they cannot in truth howsoeuer they fashion their bodies exercise any vitall operation though there want not some who say that the deuils come to be enamoured of women pursue them in loue with lust and desire but I esteem this to be a meere mockery for it the deuill at any time make a shew of loue the same is dissembled that which he only seeks is the destruction of the soule without hauing any other respect for verification of which I will tell you what I saw in the Iland of Cerdinia in the citie of Caliar where at that instant was handled the inquisition of certaine Witches vvho they said had confederation did cōmunicate with those of Fraunce Nauarre of which many not long before had bin sought out punished at that very time there was a beautifull young mayden of the age of 17. or 18. yeres old apprehended accused to haue acquaintance and fleshly conuersation with the deuill brought to the same by the allurements and entisements of one of these Witches The deuill vsed oftentimes to resort vnto her in the likenes of one of the most beautifull young gentlemen in the world vsing so sweete and comely behauiour that the poore wench became so vehemently enamoured and so deepely inflamed in his loue that of all worldly felicities she accounted his company to be the greatest but he when he saw his time and thought her to be sure enough his tooke such order that the matter was discouered and the mayden taken who persisted so obstinatelie against the perswasions of those that willed her to repent to craue mercy that it was wonderfull thinking surelie that the deuill woulde helpe her as he had promised perseuering in such ardant loue and affection towardes him that with her passionate speeches she amazed and moued to pitty those that heard her speake and for conclusion willingly suffered herselfe to be put aliue into the fire and burnt still in vaine reclaiming the promised assistance of her abhominable Louer loosing thereby both her body and soule which so easily shee might haue saued in dying Christianlike and taking patientlie with repentance her bodily death in this world LU. Trulie her end was most pittifull and lamentable yet farre better did another of which I haue heard beeing lykewise a young mayden rich beautifull of good parentage who with extreame and vehement affection became to be inamoured of a young Gentleman liuing in the same Tovvne where shee remained but for her reputations sake she couered so warily this secrete feruent affection of hers that it was neyther perceaued of the Gentleman himselfe nor of any man else the deuill onely excepted who seeing occasion offered whereby as he thought to procure her damnation tooke vpon him the likenes habite and gesture of the Gentleman offring vnto her his seruice and loue with such artificiall perswasions that after solemne promise of marriage he came to haue the vse of her body to which otherwise her chast desire woulde neuer haue consented after which hee frequented many nights her companie lying in naked bedde with her as if hee had beene indeede the Gentleman vvhose shape he tooke vpon him and with whose loue the mayden was so ardently enflamed In this manner passed ouer manie monthes the deuill alwaies perswading her not to sende him any messages because it was for some respects conuenient to keepe the matter for a while secret withall that she should not conceaue any vnkindnesse if seeing her in publique hee vsed no outward semblance of loue towards her aduising her also to vse in all poynts the like strangenesse towardes him preuenting heereby the inconuenience that might haue hapned if she should haue found herselfe in company with the supposed Gentleman The matter continuing thus it fell out that the Mother of this mayden gaue vnto her a booke of deuout prayers to read which she often perusing the deuill had no more power at all to come in place where she was nor to abuse her any longer because she ware the same continuallie about her necke Whereupon at the end of three Moneths shee wondring much at his absence and withall hearing that he I meane the supposed Gentleman courted another Gentlewoman entring into a most vnpatient iealousie shee sent him one day word that by any meanes he should com speak with her about a matter most important The Gentleman without vnderstanding the cause beeing full of curtesie and good behauiour awayting a time when her mother was out came and founde her alone and after hauing curteously saluted her demaunded what her pleasure was The mayden seeing him speake as one that scarcely knewe her bathing her face with teares in wordes full of griefe complayned of his strangenesse and forgetfulnesse asking him for what demerite of hers he had left her so long vnuisited The Gentleman astonished at this manner of speech aunswered her as a man amazed and vtterlie ignorant of her meaning whereupon kindled with exceeding choller shee began to threaten him that seeing he had despoyled her of that which she held dearest that he should not now thinke to cast her of and that if he would not of his owne accord accomplish the promise of marriage vvhich he had vowed vnto her shee would besides her complaints to God and the world
doe her vttermost diligence to constraine him perforce to that whereto by his most solemne protestation hee was bound The Gentleman strooken heerewith into greater admiration then before aunswered her that he thought her not to be in her right sences for neuer in his life had he promised marriage nor once spoken to her in secret neyther was of meaning to satis-fie anie such demaund of hers The poore vvench welnigh out of her wits after infinite exclamations calling heauen and earth to witnes began perticulerly to recite vnto him all such thinges as had passed betweene her and the deuill asking him how he could be so impudent to deny the same she mingled with threatning teares wishing him to haue the feare of Gods vengeance before his eyes The Gentleman with great confusion began to blesse himself protesting vnto her by the most solemne sort of oaths he could that she was deceaued and that of this matter hee knew nothing at all Oh God quoth shee and howe is this possible doe you not remember that on such a very day to mee most vnfortunate naming a great feastiuall day you sware and vowed to accomplish with mee the holy estate of marriage in the open face of the Church which you said you were constrained to deferre as yet for some respects But he hauing heere no longer patience to the end quoth he that you shal fully and plainly perceaue your owne error I will by sufficient information and vnrefusable witnesses proue vnto you that I was not in this Towne the day you say neither 20. dayes before nor 20. dayes after if any man therefore in my name haue deceaued you I am not to be blamed and to the end shee might be the better resolued he sent incontinently for seauen or eight persons of credite as well of his house as others which without knowing the cause wherfore solemnly swore and declared that this Gentleman had beene the very day and all the time mentioned absent in another Towne aboue fifty leagues from thence The young Mayden remained confused and ashamed as well for this as for other particuler things passed betweene her the deuill which seemed to her impossible to haue beene done by any humaine man so that her iudgement waxing clearer she nowe began to suspect this her detestable Louer to be him who indeed he was and there-vpon entring into a wonderfull deepe repentance and vtterly giuing ouer the world shee placed her selfe in a Monastery where shee continued most deuoutly the rest of her life in Gods seruice BER She tooke in my iudgment the best and surest course both for her owne saluation and to reuenge her selfe of the iniury receaued by her enemy But seeing you haue set vs in this matter I pray you tell vs what power and authority they haue ouer the deuill that vse and exercise the Art of Negromancie for it is manifest that Negromancers and Witches constraine the deuils make them perforce obey and accomplish their commaundements and many also carry them bound and enclosed in rings boxes little viols and many other things applying their helps to such vses as they themselues will and such deuils they commonly call Familiars AN. It cannot be denied but that there is such an Art called Negromancie vsed in old times by faithfull and vnfaithfull and now in these our dayes also by diuers But this Art may be exercised in two sorts the first is naturall which may be wrought through things whose vertue property is naturall to doe them as hearbs plants and stones and other things as the planets constellations and heauenly influences and this Art is lawfull and may without scruple or offence be vsed and practised of those that can attaine vnto the knowledge of their hidden properties and such is that of which S. Thomas writeth in his Treatise De ente et essentia though some doubt whether the same be his or no where he alleageth that Abel the Sonne of Adam made a booke of all the vertues properties of the planets which foreknowing that the world should perish through the generall flood he enclosed so cunningly in a stone that the waters could not come to corrupt the same whereby it might be preserued and knowne to all people This stone was found by Hermes Trismegistus who breaking it and finding the booke therein enclosed profited wonderfully by applying the contents thereof to his vse which booke comming afterwards to the hand of S Thomas it is said that he did there-with many great experiences amongst the which one was that being sicke and troubled with the noise of Beastes and carriages that passed through the streete remedied that trouble by making an Image such as the booke prescribed him which being buried in the streete none of all the Beasts had power to passe thereby but cōming thither staid or went backward not being by any man to be constrained to do the contrary He also telleth of a certaine friend of his who by the selfe same booke made an Image putting the which into a Fountaine it caused all such vessels as touched the water thereof presently to breake which came by obseruations of certaine houres and points in working of those Images of which they tooke great reckoning and heede to the end that the planets might the better vse their influences in working those thinges which seemed supernaturall The vse of all this is so lawfull that there is nothing to be sayde to the contrary The other kinde of Negromancie or Art Magique is that which is vsed and practised through the helpe and fauour of the deuill which hath beene of long time as we know exercised in the world And of this the holy Scriptures giue vs sufficient testimony as well in the old Testament speaking of the Magitians of Pharaoh who contended with Moyses and Aaron as in the new Testament in the Acts of the Apostles making mention of Simon Magus rebuked by S. Peter and besides to satisfie your demaund you must vnderstand that the deuils may also be forced and constrained by the good Angels and this is because of the grace which the one lost and the other as yet retaine But leauing a-part the examples vvhich wee finde in the newe Testament of that which our Sauiour Christ as very GOD and manne wrought with them Let vs come to the Apostles and Saints who by the vertue of wordes and in the onely name of Iesus made them obey and accomplish all that which they commaunded them But the Magitians neyther by themselues neyther by their wordes Characters or signes haue power or force to constrayne the deuills to any thing howe so euer they persvvade them selues to the contrarie vvhich because you shall fully vnderstand to be so you must knowe that none canne vse or exercise this Arte of Negromancie vnlesse hee first make a secrete agreement or expresse couenaunt vvith the deuill and such deuilles vvith vvhom they deale in these couenauntes are not of the
thereupon forthwith went vp to the toppe of a high Bridge that crost ouer the same Riuer whence after he had stript himselfe naked he threwe himselfe downe headlong into the vvater the Riuer running in that place verie swift and dangerous where swimming vp and downe in the maine streame he called vpon Tapia by dding him according to his promise doe as much as he had doone who disdayning to seeme eyther of lesse cunning or courage then the other went likewise vp to the top of the Bridge and threvve himselfe downe in the very same place in which the other had so doone before him till which time still remaining fast a sleepe his feete were no sooner in the vvater but hee avvaked presentlie where finding himselfe plunging in midst of the rough streame though he were in a wonderfull feare and amazement yet as well as hee could and with all the possible speede he might he skambled foorth earnestly calling vpon the companion that came thether with him thinking assuredlie that there was a man swimming with him indeed but hauing passed with great difficultie the danger of the stream after long calling and looking about him when hee coulde neyther see nor heare any man make aunswere hee beganne to mistrust that thys matter proceeded by the craftie illusion and deceit of the deuil who as he truly thought endeuoured by that subtile practise and enticement to destroy in his sleep both his body and soule VVherupon recommending him selfe by hartie prayer vnto almightie GOD and going vp againe to that place of the Bridge where hee and his compapanion as he imagined had left their clothes when he found no more then his owne throughly confirming himselfe in the mistrust before conceaued he returned homewardes to his owne house with very great astonishment meeting by the way diuers of his seruaunts who missing him in his chamber and finding the doore of the house vnbolted went seeking him vp and downe to vvhō hee recited from poynt to point all that happened vnto him from which time forward hee vvas lesse troubled with such passions contayning himselfe alwayes in such heedfull sort that the deuill could neuer haue power to deceaue him againe BER Truly this man was in great danger of eternall destruction but GOD is so kind and mercifull that he alwaies succoureth and assisteth all those that in time of necessity and danger recommend themselues with a deuout hart vnto him And therefore truly we had need looke well and carefullie to our selues seeing wee haue so cautelous and craftie and aduersarie continually dressing so manie grinnes trappes to entangle vs and alwaies busie in laying baites and allurements ready to deceaue vs. But seeing it is now very late and the pleasantnes of our discoursing hath made vs passe ouer the time without scarcely thinking of the same I am of opinion that we should doe well to referre this our conuersation and meeting till another time for the satisfaction of some doubts which as yet remaine if it shall please Signior Anthonio to agree thereunto AN. No man better contented there-with then my selfe appoynt therefore what time you thinke good and I will not faile to be ready LU. Let vs then I pray you deferre the same no longer then till to morrowe morning BER I giue you my hand vpon the same AN. And I also giue mine The end of the third Discourse The fourth Discourse in which is contayned what Chaunce Fortune Destenie is and the difference betweene them withall what lucke felicity and happines doth signifie with their contraries and what the influences of the heauenly bodies import and whether they are the causes of diuers mischaunces that happen in the world touching besides manie other learned and curious poynts * Interlocutores ANTHONIO LVDOVICO BERNARDO LV. I Could neuer haue wished to haue come in a better time then now seeing I finde the company together which I so much desired especially in this place and Garden of Signior Bernardos which containeth so great a variety of pleasant Plants Flowers Hearbs and other things worthy of admiration that though we goe not this day out into the fields we may find heere sufficient to recreate and delight our selues AN. I was saying the same euen as you entred and in truth the contemplation of so rare a diuersity of many beautifull things placed in so due and excellent order within so small a plot and compasse of ground may leade vs to the contemplation of him which is the giuer of all beauty and stirre in vs a zeale and desire to be thankfull for his gifts BER The greatest excellencie of my Garden is this commendation which it hath pleased you to giue it otherwise hauing in it no particuler matter woorthy of such praise for I am altogether vncurious hauing onely endeuoured to place in it hearbs necessary and wholsome and flowers that haue some pleasing freshnes gaynesse of colour wherwith to recreate the sight amongst which somtimes when I am solitary I vse to solace my selfe in entertaining time which to the ende that at this present we may the more commodiously passe ouer Let vs sitte downe in this seate vnder this Arke of Iassemin whose shadow will keepe vs from being encombred with the Sunne for though the weather be temperate yet it is good to auoide inconueniences AN. It pleaseth me well to follow your aduise for though the heate generally be comfortable vnto the body of man yet the excesse thereof causeth great infirmities and diseases as daily experience teacheth vs. LU. Seeing wee are nowe so at leasure I pray you let vs knowe what the matter was betweene you and the Lycentiat Sorya this morning in comming out of the Church I would gladly haue drawne neere to haue heard your difference but I was deteined in talke by a Gentleman of my acquaintance about a matter of som importance If it be true which I haue heard say the Licentiat presumeth much and vnderstandeth little AN. He should loose nothing thereby if he did vnderstand somewhat more then he doth yet in his owne conceite he imagineth that he knoweth more then all the world besides though truly he made little shew thereof in the matter of which wee reasoned to day concerning Fortune and Chaunce I beleeue he had newly read the Chapter that Pedro Mexias maketh thereof in his Forrest of Collections for he could say it all by roate hee was so obstinate in affirming that there was no Fortune but onely God that hee would neyther heare reason nor speake reason nor vnderstand any thing that was sayd vnto him BER This is a matter that I haue long desired to vnderstand for in all discourses almost at euery word wee heare Fortune Chaunce good Lucke ill Lucke Hap Mishap and Desteny named and when I sette my selfe to thinke what the effect of these wordes meaneth I conceaue it not but the farther I wade therein the farther I finde my selfe in confusion AN. The vnderstanding of these wordes is
other fortune then the will and prouidence of GOD which ruleth and gouerneth all things but when we will stretch our selues farther vvee may say that Fortune coÌ„senting in Natura naturans which is God himselfe is part of Natura naturata being his operations I say part because of the definition of Aristotle others who attribute no more to her then accidentall causes so that Nature working in all other naturall thinges Fortune is more straightly limited in her workes and is inferiour to Natura naturata and the selfe same is to be vnderstood of that which wee call Chaunce BE. In this manner there is none other Chaunce nor Fortune but onely the will and prouidence of God seeing that thereon depend all successes and chaunces as well prosperous as aduerse AN. You haue said the truth and so are the wordes of Lactantius to be vnderstood in his 3. booke De diuinis institutionibus which are thus Let not those enuie at vs to whom God manifested the truth for as we well know Fortune to be nothing c. Comming therfore to the conclusion of this matter I say that we imitate the Gentiles in vsing this name of Fortune Chaunce as they did adding thereunto Hap Mishap Good luck Bad luck Felicity and Infaelicitie in an inferiour degree as it were vnto them when in pure truth there is neither Chaunce nor Fortune in such sort as they vnderstoode them and as yet many Christians thorough ignorance vnderstand them but if any such Christian would set himselfe with Aristotle to examine and sifte out the cleere reason of Chaunce and Fortune I am assured he would come to confesse the same as he which knewe and vnderstood that there was a first cause by which the vvorld was ruled and gouerned that was the beginning and Ruler of all things and that Fortune differed not from the will of the same which is the very selfe from which we receaue all good and euill according to our deserts God willing or permitting the same as it best pleaseth his diuine Maiestie so that the good Christian ought not to say in any prosperous successe of his It was my good fortune or Fortune did thys for me but that God did this or this was done by the will permission of God And therefore though we speake vnproperlie as conforming our selues to the common vse in vsing the name of Fortune in our discourses and affayres yet let vs alwayes thereby vnderstande the will of God and that there is no other fortune BER I knowe that you coulde haue discoursed more at large of this matter if it had pleased you neither should we haue wanted arguments and replyes matter to dispute on but you haue done farre better in leauing out those superfluous arguments which woulde haue but troubled our wits in going so roundly to the matter touching onely that which is requisite fit for the purpose with such breuity compendiousnes that we both vnderstand it distinctly beare it perfectly in our memory Now therfore I pray you if it be not troublesome vnto you make vs vnderstand what thing is Desteny how when for what cause we are to vse this word in which I find no lesse obscurity theÌ„ in those before discoursed of AN. I was glad in thinking that I had made an end now me thinks you cause to begin anew but I will refuse no paine so that it please you to take the same in good part to haue patience in hearing mee I will vse as much breuitie as I possibly may because otherwise the matter is so ample and so much thereof to be said that I know you would be weary in hearing me in summe therfore I will briefly alledge that which maketh most to the purpose beginning first with the opinion of the ancient Philosophers hereof The Stoyicks said that Desteny was an agreement order of naturall causes working their effects with a forcible vneuitable necessity in such sort that they affirmed al prosperitie and all misery the beeing of a King begger or hangman to proceed from the vnauoydable necessity of Desteny Aulê° Gelliê° saith that a Philosopher called Chrisippê° maintained Desteny to be a perpetuall and inclinable order and chaine of things of the selfe same opinion was Seneca when he said I verily beleeue that Desteny is a strong and forcible necessity of all thinges and doings whatsoeuer which by no means or force may be altred so that all those of this sect attributed to Desteny all successes good and bad that hapned as though they must of force necessitie so fall out without any possibility to be auoyded or eschewed to which opinion the Poet Virgill conforming himselfe saith of Pallas To euery man is assigned a fixed time and desteny not to be auoided This vnineuitable order according to many of their opinions proceedeth of the force which the starres and Planets haue through their influence and operation in humaine bodies Boetius in his 4. booke of Consolation saith that Destenie is a disposition fastned to the mooueable things by which the Prouidence annexeth each of them with order and agreement and according to S. Thomas in his 3. booke Contra Gentiles by Disposition is vnderstood ordenance which being considered with the beginning whence it proceedeth which is God may be called Desteny alwaies referring it selfe to the diuine Prouidence for otherwise we may say the same selfe of Desteny which we said of Fortune that desteny is nothing but only a thing fained in the imagination of the Gentiles for a good Christian ought by no means to attribute any inclination successe in matters or estate of his to desteny truly it is a wicked Gentilicall kind of speech which we vse in saying when any thing hapneth our Desteny woulde haue it so or it was his desteny hee could not auoyde it for though perchance the wiser sort knowe their error in saying so only following the common vse yet the common people think as they speak that Desteny is indeed a thing forcible not to be shunned but must of necessity happen and fall out LV. It is passing true that you haue said and for confirmation thereof I will tell you a most true storie which hapned to my selfe in one of the cheefest Citties of this Kingdome Riding one day with certain other gentlemen into the fields for recreations sake towards the euening as we returned homewardes we sawe by the Townes side three men setting vp a poast vpon a little knap close by the high-way for one that was condemned to be strangled there the next day of which three the one as a Gentleman in our company told me pointing to him was the Hangman adding withall that it was pittie that hee had vndertaken so infamous a condition beeing a young man otherwise well qualified and a very good Scholler of which desiring to know the truth because it seemed vnto me strange I turned my horse and
vnlesse we shold say that which is not lawfull that they are at one time good and at another time euill and that they cannot mixtly be the cause both of good and euill the which is not to be thought or beleeued that all the starres haue not one selfe caelestiall substance none of them separating themselues from theyr owne nature so that all the starres beeing good they may be the cause of good but not of euill BE. These authorities me thinks conclude not throughlie the purpose of their intention for there are manie thinges that can cause both good and euill and therefore the caelestiall bodies also may doe the same AN. This is when there is in any thing both good euill working effects according to the nature thereof but there is no euill in the heauens not in any thing therein contained for according to Aristotle in his seconde Booke De Coelo the motion thereof is life to all things in the ninth of his Metaphisickes also he affirmeth that in those things which are sempiternall there can be found no euill error or corruption And Auerroes entreating of this matter vseth these wordes It is a thing manifest saith he that in those things which are Eternall and whose essence is without beginning there can be no euill error or corruption the which cannot be in any thing but where euill is and heereby may be knowne the impossibilitie of prouing that which the Astronomers say that there are some of them luckie and others vnluckie this only may be knowne of them that there are som better then others By these words we may vnderstand that the starres are all good but not in equalitie neither haue they all equall vertue goodnes and as in them there is no euill at all so can they not be the cause of any harme at all neither can wee say that their influences cause any contagious or pestilentiall infirmities so thinketh Mercurius Trismegistus in his Asclepius Where the heauen saith he is that which engendreth and if the office thereof be to engender it cannot be to corrupt Proclus in his booke De Anima holdeth the same The Heauens saith hee founded with a harmony in reason containe all worldly thinges putting them in perfection accomodating them and benefiting them which being so how then can they damnifie destroy or corrupt them Auerroes also alleadgeth another reason by the testimonie of Plato who sayth That euill is found in those things which haue no order nor agreement and all diuine thinges are framed and constituted in most excellent order whereby it followeth that the starres and other caelestiall bodies haue no euill in them and hauing none in them they cannot worke or cause any This opinion followeth Iamblicus in his Booke De Misterijs Egiptiorum and Plotinus in his tenth Booke where he demaundeth if the stars be the causes of any thing iesting and scoffing at the Astronomers who affirme that the Planets with their motions are not onely the causes of riches and pouertie but also of vertue vices health and diseases that in diuers times they worke vpon men diuers operations And finally he will by no meanes permit that there are any euill starres or that they can be sometimes good and somtimes euill which opinion is also maintained by Auerroes in his 3. booke of Heauen Where whosoeuer sayth hee beleeueth that Mars or any other planet or starre howsoeuer set in coniunction or opposition can hurt or doe domage he beleeueth that which is contrary to all Philosophy Marcilius Ficinus in his Comentaries vpon the sixth Dialogue of Lawes sayth thus One thing we must vnderstande and beleeue that all forces and mouings of the superior Bodies which discende into vs are of their owne nature alwaies causers of our good and guide vs thereunto wee must not therefore iudge that viciousnes of ill conditioned men proceedeth of Saturne or rashnes and crueltie of Mars or craft and deceit of Mercury or lasciuious wantonnes of Venus Let vs see what reason thou hast to attribute vnto Saturne that frowardnesse and vice which thy euill custome conuersation exercise or dyet hath engendred in thy body or minde or to Mars that fiercenes and crueltie which seemeth to resemble that magnanimitie and greatnes to which he is enclined or to Mercurie that subtiltie and craft called by a better name industrie or to Venus thy lasciuious loue and wantonnesse Hapneth it not often that men loose their sight yea and sometimes their liues vnder the flaming blasts of the Sunne-beames which is ordained onely for our comfort and to giue life and nourishment to things And doe wee not see diuers that in open ayre receaue the warmenesse thereof to theyr comfort who in enclosed places are with a small heate smothered sluft choaked And euen as these men through the heate of the Sun whose nature is to helpe cherrish and comfort doe receaue domage by theyr owne faulte in not vsing the same as they shoulde doe so may the successes of those which are borne vnder these planets which by their nature are al good throgh euil vicious education proue naught though the inclination of their planets be neuer so good and fauourable So that by these wordes of Marsilius the opinion of Astronomers Mathematitians and Phisitions seemeth not to be wel grounded but that how commonly held or allowed soeuer it be he holdeth it to be reprouable by many and euident arguments LU. The Philosophers are not a little beholding to you for strengthning their opinion with so many authorities effectual reasons no doubt but if this matter were put to your arbytrement they should finde of you a fauourable iudge AN. I haue not so good opinion of my selfe as to take vpō me the arbitrement of this matter though it were of lesse substance then it is especially so many wise learned men maintaining either side I haue therfore onely rehearsed touched some of their allegations on both sides leauing you in your choyse to leane vnto that opinion which liketh you best referring alwaies the iudgement therof to those that are of greater learning deeper studie and more grounded wisedome thē my selfe though it seemeth vnto me to be a matter scarcelie determinable considering the varietie of effectuall reasons that may be alleaged of either side LVD For all this I account you halfe partiall and therefore I pray you aunswere mee to one obiection which might be of the Astronomers side opposed the which is thus We see that there are diuers venomous and hurtfull hearbes and manie other Wormes Vermins and Serpents so contagious that they are thorough theyr poysons and infections noisome vnto men yea and often causers of their death And seeing that all inferiour bodies are ruled receauing their forces and vertues from the influence of the heauenly and superior bodies it then seemeth that they should be cause of the domage which is wrought by the
before they heard any newes of his comming yet vniting themselues so well as time permitted them with the ayde of theyr neighbours arming themselues with bowes and arrowes and flying fighting and retiring with incredible swiftnes through the Snowes they disconfited the King and chased him away who in his dayes was accounted a puissant Prince and had triumphed of many warlike Nations Comming out of these Prouinces of Byarmya there is presently another which hee calleth Fynlande of which a great part was according to the Author before named in times past subiect to the King of Norway This Land though very colde yet is in some parts laboured and yeeldeth fruites of all sorts vnto the enhabitants who are in proportion of body mighty and strong and in fight agaynst theyr Enemies of great valour and courage Though the ayre be cold yet it is pure and well tempered in so much that their fishes cutte vp onely and laide in the ayre doe endure many dayes without corrupting In Sommer it rayneth with them very sildome or neuer theyr day is so long that it continueth from the Kalendes of Aprill till the sixth of the Ides of September which is more then fiue moneths and the night againe as much the darknes of which is neuer so great but that you may well see to reade a Letter in the same it is distant from the Aequinoctiall in threescore degrees There are no starres seene from the beginning of May till the beginning of August but onely the Moone which goeth wheeling round about a little aboue the earth resembling a great Oake burning and casting out beames of fire with a brightnesse somewhat dimme and troubled in such sort that it causeth great admiration and astonishment to those that neuer sawe it before and which is more hee sayeth that shee giueth them so light the most part of theyr night though it continue so long and as for that little time in vvhich shee hideth herselfe the brightnesse of the starres is so radyant that they haue lyttle misse of the Moone vvhich starre-light at such time as the Moone shyneth forsaketh them whose brightnesse is the cause that they appeare not though I cannot but beleeue that they appeare alwayes somewhat though not so cleerely at one time as at an other seeing in these our Countries we see them shine neere the Moone though she be at full yea and sometimes at mid-day we see starres very neere the Sunne LV. It is likely that it should be as you say in Byarmya and those other vnknown Countries which are vnder the Pole or neere there abouts and it may be inferred also that the dayes goe encreasing and decreasing till they come to the full length of a halfe yeere for being in this part of fiue moneths they are in some places more and some lesse and seeing it is enhabitable as you say where it endureth fiue moneths it cannot but be better where it is of foure and better then that of three and so consequently of two and one whereby there is no doubt to be made but that the whole Land is enhabitable AN. I told you before that generally the whole Land is enhabited vnlesse it be in some places through some particuler cause and secrete ordinance of Nature As touching the Moone and the manner in which she lightneth those Regions I haue not seene any Author that handleth the same but onely Olaus Magnus though by good reason it seemeth that where the Sunne turneth about the heauens in course and compasse so different from that which hee doth with vs the Moone should doe the like in such sort as wee haue sayde BER By all likelihoode there are many secrete and wonderfull thinges of the nature of this Land hidden from vs as the Eclipse of the Sunne and the Moone which must needes be otherwise then it is heere with vs and therefore the Astronomers should doe well to sift out the verity thereof and to make vs vnderstand the same and withall the reckoning of the moneths and yeeres the computation of which it is likely also that they vse in another sort AN. As for their yeeres the difficulty is small seeing one day and one night doe make a full yeere and as for the deuision of their seasons their day is Sommer and the night is their Winter the moneths perchaunce they deuide according to their own fashion and the effects of their heauen but heerein the Authors giue vs no notice neither maketh it much matter whether we know it or no. LU. That which I wonder most at is how this people can tolerate and endure the bitter and extreame colde of that Clymat the effect of which here with vs though it be not so vehement as that of theirs we see daily before our eyes bringeth many men to theyr end and therefore wee take heede of taking colde as of the most dangerous thing that may be AN. You say true it hapneth so heere indeede oftentimes but you must consider that the force of nature is great which where she createth those things that are most full of difficulty there also createth and ordaineth she remedies and defences against thē as you may before haue vnderstood by the words of Iohn Zyglere but I will giue you another reason then the which in my iudgement nothing can be more euident and plaine which is that to all things the same is proper and naturall in which they are bred and brought vp As for example a man who from his child-hood is accustomed to eate some things that are venomous afterwards though he eate them in great quantitie they hurt him not at all and of this I haue seene the experience my selfe in the like sort a man brought vp in the cold the greater he waxeth the lesse he feeleth the inconuenience thereof so that it commeth in time to be naturall vnto him euen as to the fish to liue in water the Salamander to nourish himselfe in the fire and the Camelion to maintaine himselfe onely by ayre And euen as a Moore of Guyney should hardly fashion his body to endure the colde of these Northeren Landes so likewise one of these men brought into a hote Country would finde as great difficultie in enduring the heat Besides this Nature hath framed the mē of these Regions more sturdie and strong and against the rigour of the weather ordained them warme Caues vnder the earth to harbour themselues in They haue wilde beastes in great quantitie whom they kill of whose skinnes they make them garments turning the hairie side inward Their woods and Forrests are many and great so that in euery place they haue store of fuell to make great fires in fine they vvant no defensiuenes against the cold which is so far from annoying them that they liue in better health many more yeeres then we doe for their ayres are delicate pure preserue them from diseases making theyr complexions more robust and strong lesse apt to griefes
him that knoweth not the cause thereof the same being no lesse terrible then the thunder from heauen yea and somtime because it is neerer it seemeth to be more violent the force thereof is such that the Ise sundereth and splitteth in clefts making it vvay and roome to passe espire out thereat at which time those that trauaile thereupon being neere the place where the noise is make as much hast thence as they can fetching a compasse about till they thinke themselues in securitie and then they follow theyr way on forward And though all these Lakes waters thaw by degrees more and more as the Sommer commeth on yet is the Lake Vether in thawing far different frō the rest for it seemeth to haue in the bottome thereof some secrete and hidden property hard to be vnderstood because the water beginning to boyle and bubble beneath in making like noise as doth a Cauldron of skalding water seething ouer a hote Furnace in very little space mounteth vpward breaketh the Ise how strong thicke or hard soeuer it be and that into such little peeces that many times those whose hap it is to be in that instant trauailing vpon the same doe saue themselues vpon one of them as vpon a plank where they perrish if they be not presently succoured with Boates which vsuallie accustome to be in readines to helpe and assist those that are in danger at such time as the breaking of the Ise is suspected to be at hande And once it happened that a Gentleman of very principall calling and reputation with fiue or sixe of his Seruaunts all on horsebacke trauailed vpon this Lake towards a towne in the Iland and at the very same time somewhat far from them vpon the same Lake was going a labouring man driuing before him certaine beastes who beeing borne there-abouts and knowing by long experience the propertie and manner of the Lake at that instant hearing it beginne to murmure and bubble beneath leauing his beasts betooke him to his heeles and ran with all his might towards the shoare which was about halfe a league of The Gentleman and his seruaunts being a good space farder inwards vpon the Lake imagined the poore man to be some theefe that had stolne this Cattell and the cause of his running away to be the feare he had of being discouered by him and his company and therefore putting spurres to their horses galopt after him as fast as they coulde to take him But the Labourers extreame feare made him so swift that they coulde not ouertake him till he was of from the Lake and vppon the firme Land where laying hands vpon him and demaunding him why he ran in such sort away leauing his Cattell behind him The poore Labourer beeing tyred with running was scarse able to make them answere but after hee had paused awhile and recouered his breath he prayed them to haue a little patience and though he told them not they should themselues see the cause why Whereupon presently of a suddaine the water bubled vp the Ise speeted in small peeces the beasts in sight of them all fell into the water and were drowned at which the husbandman laughing I had rather qd hee that they were drowned then I and thys was the cause of my running because fore-seeing by assured signes the breaking of the Ise and hauing no space to saue them I did the best I could to saue my selfe The Gentleman beeing a stranger in those parts hearing this tale with amazement thinking thys preseruation of him his to proceede of Gods diuine goodnes gaue thankes and prayse vnto his holie Name and withall knowing the Labourer to be an instrument and meane of sauing his life tooke him along with him not onely paying him for the Cattel which he had lost but also recompencing him with many other large rewards to his great contentment and bettering of his estate LV. By diuers meanes doth God preserue his seruaunts and I warrant you this Gentleman was one that feared GOD seeing it pleased him by fo strange a meane to deliuer him frō that danger in which he had otherwise perrished BER The nature of this Lake is wonderfull strange aboue mans capacitie which being but a moment before able to beare and sustaine a whole Army should so in an instant be dissolued broken But leauing thys the cold must of necessitie in my iudgement be there most extreamely sharp vehement rigorous seeing it causeth an Ise of such incredible strength and thicknes AN. Let vs leaue that of the sea which is on the other part or vnder the North commonly called the Frozen-sea remaining so as some doe write the whole yere thorough though as I said before my opinion is that it thaweth at such time of the yere as the sun lyeth beating vpon it with his beames let vs come vnto those Lands and Seas which though we call Septentrionals yet are neerer vnto vs which are all as you haue heard in a manner enhabited of Christians and are according to the description of the old Cosmographers contained vnder our Europe the cold of which is so sharp pearcing that a man would iudge no humaine flesh able to endure the same But according to the olde Prouerbe Custome is another nature and so those that are accustomed thereunto receaue thereby no domage at all Albertus Kransius in his history of those Countries wryteth in perticuler of some yeeres in which the cold was so excessiue that not onely the Riuers and Lakes were frozen but the Sea also so that no ship could saile thorough the same that they trauailed on horsebacke vpon the Ise frō one countrey to another carrying with them prouision of thinges necessarie fuell also to make fire Neyther was this extreame cold and freezing vpon the Sea-coast onely but also manie thousands of myles inward to the Landwarde and the earth was so hardned and bounde that it yeelded them no fruites vvhereupon there ensued a great dearth and mortalitie principally among theyr Cattell for want of fodder The dailie encrease of this cold and Ise continued so long that they built vppon the Sea on such places as men vsually trauayled by Innes and Tauerns with all necessary prouisions both to eate by day and to rest by night as well for man as horse a matter scarcely credible LVD I knowe not why any man should be so fond as to trauaile vpon the Sea in such danger and penury of commodities as of necessity they must endure especially hauing meanes to goe by Land with greater securitie and more prouision of necessaries AN. This may be easily answered for the way by Sea cannot chuse but be farre neerer in cutting straight ouer and lesse painefull as being without Hilles Valleys Quagmires or compasses about Neyther is it to be imagined that they want by the way commodity of things necessary vvhich for gaine are brought thether most aboundantly from all sides at such times
endureth very long They apply theyr skinnes to such vses as wee doe heere the hides of Oxen. They make also of them Couerlettes for theyr beds retayning alwayes in them as it were a kinde of naturall warmth Of their hornes and bones they make very strong Bowes neyther is that of their hoofes without great vertue hauing as it is wrttten in them a notable remedie against the falling sicknes BER I neuer hearde of a more profitable Beast and therefore I much meruaile why other Countries procure not to nourish them ANT. All possible dilligence hath beene vsed not onely to conuay them into other Prouinces and Regions but also to sende vvith them Keepers acquainted vvith theyr custome and nature But all sufficed not For it seemeth that Nature vvill haue them to bee onely in those Countries towardes the North the farther from which you carry them the greater difficultie is in keeping them for in comming vvhere they feele not the sharpnesse of the colde they die euen like fishes taken out of theyr naturall Element vvhich is water There is another Beast also in those partes called Onager in manner like vnto the Rangyferes but that hee hath onely two hornes like a Stagge vvhose lightnesse they say is such that hee runneth also ouer the Snovve vvithout scarcelie leauing any signe or trace of his feete They were woont to vse this Beast in dravving theyr Coaches and artificiall Tables vvith vvhich they trauayled ouer the Ice and frozen Snowe But they vvere forbidden by the publique edict of theyr Kinges and Princes not to nourish them any more tame and domesticall I omit the causes wherefore because the Authors write insufficiently thereof This Beast endureth so well hunger thirst that he will trauaile 50. or 60. leagues without eating or drinking The woods and mountaynes containe infinite numbers of thē they are at continuall warre with the Wolfes of which also there is great plenty whensoeuer any one of them happeneth to light vpon a Wolfe with his nailes howe little so euer the wound be hee dyeth thereof presently If the Wolfe pursue him his refuge is straight to the Ice where in respect of his sharpe pawes he hath a great aduantage standing stiffe and firme vpon them which the Wolfe cannot doe vpon his LU. Solinus writeth also that there are of these in Affrica whose words are thus There are saith hee in this Prouince Beastes called Onagri of which each male gouerneth a Heard of females of the same kinde they are exceeding iealous and cannot endure to haue companions in their lasciuiousnes whence it proceedeth that they looke very watchfully vnto the females going great to the end that if they bring forth males by giuing them a bite vppon the genitories they may thereby take from them all possibility euer after of engendring which the females fearing endeuour alwayes as secretly as they can to hide their young ones BER Perchaunce these and those of the Septentrionall Lands are not all of one sort seeing the one liueth not but in places extreamely colde and to the other nothing is more naturall then heate AN. This is no argument to proue that they are not all one sort of Beastes for as there are men in the Regions of extreamest cold likewise in those of most scorching heat euen so may these Beasts though of one sort yet liue vnder contrary Climates each of them conforming them to the nature of the soile Yet I will not say but that it may well be that they are two sundry kindes encountring both in one name For in truth we doe not finde that any of these properties of which Solinus speaketh are in the Northerne Onagres But seeing the matter is not great whether they be one or diuers let vs turne to our Wolfes againe of which there is so great a number in those Northerne Regions that the people haue much adoe to defend themselues and theyr Cattell from them insomuch that they dare not aduenture to trauaile in diuers places vnlesse they goe manie together and well armed There are of them three sorts the one like these which wee haue here others all white nothing so fierce and harmeful as the rest the thirde sort they call Troys hauing great bodies but short legges which though they be more cruell withall more swift then eyther of the other sorts yet are they not of the enhabitants so much feared because they liue and pray vpon wilde Beasts seldome dooing any violence to men But if at any time they vndertake to pursue a man they neuer leaue till they haue woried him As touching the auncient opinion that there should be in these parts a prouince of men called Neuri which at one time of the yeere are transformed into Wolues if there be therin at all any foundation of truth it is as all late Writers affirme that as there are in those partes many Witches and Enchaunters so haue they theyr limitted and determined times of meetings and making theyr assemblies which they doe in the shape of Wolues the cause wherof though they declare not yet is it to be thought that they are by their maister the deuill so enioyned at appointed times to doe him obedience in thys forme and figure as the Sorcerers and Hags doe at which time he instructeth them in such thinges as appertaine to theyr arte and science During the time of theyr transformation they commit such infinite outrages and cruelties that the very Wolues in deed are tame gentle in respect of them For proofe that they can and do so transfigurat themselues besides many other examples which I could alleadge I will content my selfe in telling you onelie one which is most true and certaine It is not long since that the Duke of Muscouia caused one to bee taken that was notoriously knowne to transforme himselfe in such sort as wee haue said of whom being brought bound with a chaine into his presence he demaunded if it were true that hee could so transforme and change himselfe into a Wolfe as it was bruted which he confessing the Duke commaunded him to do it presently whereupon crauing to be left alone awhile in a chamber hee came of a suddaine out in the shape of a verie Wolfe indeede being still fast bound in his chayne as he was before In the meane time the Duke had of purpose made come two fierce mastiues which taking him to be as he seemed flew presently vppon him and tare him in peeces the poore wretch hauing no force or abilitie to defende himselfe at all BER Hee was iustly punished according to his desert But it is not onely of late dayes that the deuill exerciseth thys Arte among those Nations for Solinus Plinie Pomponius Mela and many other learned Authours in theyr wrytings make mention thereof But leauing thys seeing it commeth so well to our purpose of VVoules I will tell you what a man of verie good credite tolde mee not long since affirming the