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rest. He shall get upon the back of one with his sword, and sever his
head from his body. Then throwing off his garment, he shall get upon
another, and put his right and left hand upon his tail. Thus being naked
shall he overcome him, whom when clothed he was not able to deal with.
The rest he shall gall in their flight, and drive them round the kingdom.
Upon this shall come a roaring lion dreadful for his monstrous cruelty.
Fifteen parts shall he reduce to one, and shall alone possess the people.
The giant of the snow-white colour shall shine, and cause the white
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people to flourish. Pleasures shall effeminate the princes, and they shall
suddenly be changed into beasts. Among them shall arise a lion swelled
with human gore. Under him shall a reaper be placed in the standing
corn, who, while he is reaping, shall be oppressed by him. A charioteer
of York shall appease them, and having banished his lord, shall mount
upon the chariot which he shall drive. With his sword unsheathed shall
he threaten the East, and fill the tracks of his wheels with blood.
Afterwards he shall become a sea-fish, who, being roused up with the
hissing of a serpent, shall engender with him. From hence shall be
produced three thundering bulls, who having eaten up their pastures
shall be turned into trees. The first shall carry a whip of vipers, and turn
his back upon the next. He shall endeavour to snatch away the whip, but
shall be taken by the last. They shall turn away their faces from one
another, till they have thrown away the poisoned cup. To him shall
succeed a husbandman of Albania, at whose back shall be a serpent. He
shall be employed in ploughing the ground, that the country may become
white with corn. The serpent shall endeavour to diffuse his poison, in
order to blast the harvest. A grievous mortality shall sweep away the
people, and the walls of cities shall be made desolate. There shall be
given for a remedy the city of Claudius, which shall interpose the nurse
of the scourger. For she shall bear a dose of medicine, and in a short time
the island shall be restored. Then shall two successively sway the sceptre,
whom a horned dragon shall serve. One shall come in armour, and shall
ride upon a flying serpent. He shall sit upon his back with his naked
body, and cast his right hand upon his tail. With his cry shall the seas be
moved, and he shall strike terror into the second. The second therefore
shall enter into confederacy with the lion; but a quarrel happening, they
shall encounter one another. They shall distress one another, but the
courage of the beast shall gain the advantage. Then shall come one with a
drum, and appease the rage of the lion. Therefore shall the people of the
kingdom be at peace, and provoke the lion to a dose of physic. In his
established seat he shall adjust the weights, but shall stretch out his
hands into Albania. For which reason the northern provinces shall be
grieved, and open the gates of the temples. The sign-bearing wolf shall
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lead his troops, and surround Cornwall with his tail. He shall be opposed
by a soldier in a chariot, who shall transform that people into a boar. The
boar therefore shall ravage the provinces, but shall hide his head in the
depth of Severn. A man shall embrace a lion in wine, and the dazzling
brightness of gold shall blind the eyes of beholders. Silver shall whiten in
the circumference, and torment several wine presses. Men shall be drunk
with wine, and, regardless of heaven, shall be intent upon the earth.
From them shall the stars turn away their faces, and confound their usual
course. Corn will wither at their malign aspects; and there shall fall no
dew from heaven. The roots and branches will change their places, and
the novelty of the thing shall pass for a miracle. The brightness of the sun
shall fade at the amber of Mercury, and horror shall seize the beholders.
Stilbon of Arcadia shall change his shield; the helmet of Mars shall call
Venus. The helmet of Mars shall make a shadow; and the rage of
Mercury pass his bounds. Iron Orion shall unsheath his sword: the
marine Phoebus shall torment the clouds; Jupiter shall go out of his
lawful paths; and Venus forsake her stated lines. The malignity of the
star Saturn shall fall down in rain, and slay mankind with a crooked
sickle. The twelve houses of the star shall lament the irregular excursions
of their guests; and Gemini omit their usual embraces, and call the urn to
the fountains. The scales of Libra shall hang obliquely, till Aries puts his
crooked horns under them. The tail of Scorpio shall produce lightning,
and Cancer quarrel with the Sun. Virgo shall mount upon the back of
Sagittarius, and darken her virgin flowers. The chariot of the Moon shall
disorder the zodiac, and the Pleiades break forth into weeping. No
offices of Janus shall hereafter return, but his gate being shut shall lie hid
in the chinks of Ariadne. The seas shall rise up in the twinkling of an eye,
and the dust of the ancients shall be restored. The winds shall fight
together with a dreadful blast, and their sound shall reach the stars.
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Book VIII.
Chapter 1. Vortigern asks Merlin concerning his own death.
Merlin, by delivering these and many other prophecies, caused in all
that were present an admiration at the ambiguity of his expressions. But
Vortigern above all the rest both admired and applauded the wisdom,
and prophetical spirit of the young man: for that age had produced none
that ever talked in such a manner before him. Being therefore curious to
learn his own fate, he desired the young man to tell him what he knew
concerning that particular. Merlin answered: ÒFly the fire of the sons of
Constantine, if yon are able to do it: already are they fitting out their
ships: already are they leaving the Armorican shore: already are they
spreading out their sails to the wind. They will steer towards Britain:
they will invade the Saxon nation: they will subdue that wicked people;
but they will first burn you being shut up in a tower. To your own ruin
did you prove a traitor to their father, and invite the Saxons into the
island. You invited them for your safeguard; but they came for a
punishment to you. Two deaths instantly threaten you; nor is it easy to
determine, which you can best avoid. For on the one hand the Saxons
shall lay waste your country, and endeavour to kill you: on the other
shall arrive the two brothers, Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon,
whose business will be to revenge their fatherÕs murder upon you. Seek
out some refuge if you can: to-morrow they will be on the shore of
Totness. The faces of the Saxons shall look red with blood, Hengist shall
be killed, and Aurelius Ambrosius shall be crowned. He shall bring peace
to the nation; he shall restore the churches; but shall die of poison. His
brother Uther Pendragon shall succeed him, whose days also shall be cut
short by poison. There shall be present at the commission of this treason
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your own issue, whom the boar of Cornwall shall devour.Ó Accordingly
the next day early, arrived Aurelius Ambrosius and his brother, with ten
thousand men. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]