BOOK
VII.
CHAPTER
IV.
THE
CONTINUATION OF THE PROPHECY.
"Three springs shall break forth in the city of
Winchester, whose rivulets shall divide the island into
three parts. Whoever shall drink of the first, shall
enjoy long life, and shall never be afflicted with
sickness. He that shall drink of the second, shall die of
hunger, and paleness and horror shall sit in his countenance.
He that shall drink of the third, shall he surprised with
sudden death, neither shall his body be capable of burial.
Those that are willing to escape so great a surfeit, will
endeavour to hide it with several coverings: but whatever
bulk shall be laid upon it, shall receive the form of another
body. For earth shall be turned into stones; stones into
water; wood into ashes; ashes into water, if cast over it.
Also a damsel shall be sent from the city of the forest
of Canute to administer a cure, who, after she shall have
practiced all her arts, shall dry up the noxious fountains
only with her breath. Afterwards, as soon as she shall have
refreshed herself with the wholesome liquor, she shall bear
in her right hand the wood of Caledon, and in her left the
forts of the walls of London. Wherever she shall go, she
shall make sulphureous steps, which will smoke with a double
flame. That smoke shall rouse up the city of Ruteni, and
shall make food for the inhabitants of the deep. She shall
overflow with rueful tears, and shall fill the island with
her dreadful cry. She shall be killed by a hart with ten
branches, four of which shall bear golden diadems but the
other six shall he turned into buffalo’s horns, whose hideous
sound shall astonish the three islands of Britain. The Daneian
wood shall be stirred up, and breaking forth into a human
voice, shall cry: Come, O Cambria, and join Cornwall to
thy side, and say to Winchester, the earth shall swallow
thee up. Translate the seat of thy pastor to the place where
ships come to harbour, and the rest of the members will
follow the head. For the day hasteneth, in which thy citizens
shall perish on account of the guilt of perjury. The whiteness
of wool has been hurtful to thee, and the variety of its
tinctures. Woe to the perjured nation, for whose sake the
renowned city shall come to ruin. The ships shall rejoice
at so great an augmentation, and one shall be made out of
two. It shall be rebuilt by Eric, loaden with apples, to
the smell whereof the birds of several woods shall flock
together. He shall add to it a vast palace, and wall it
round with six hundred towers. Therefore shall London envy
it, and triply increase her walls. The river Thames shall
encompass it round, and the fame of the work shall pass
beyond the Alps. Eric shall hide his apples within it, and
shall make subterraneous passages. At that time shall the
stones speak, and the sea towards the Gallic coast be contracted
into a narrow space. On each bank shall one man hear another,
and the soil of the island shall be enlarged. The secrets
of the deep shall be revealed, and Gaul shall tremble for
fear. After these things shall come forth a hern from the
forest of Calaterium, which shall fly round the island for
two years together. With her nocturnal cry she shall call
together the winged kind, and assemble to her all sorts
of fowls. They shall invade the tillage of husbandmen, and
devour all the grain of the harvests. Then shall follow
a famine upon the people, and a grievous mortality upon
the famine. But when this calamity shall be over, a detestable
bird shall go to the valley of Galabes, and shall raise
it to be a high mountain. Upon the top thereof it shall
also plant an oak, and build its nest in its branches. Three
eggs shall be produced in the nest, from whence shall come
forth a fox, a wolf, and a bear. The fox shall devour her
mother, and bear the head of an ass. In this monstrous form
shall she frighten her brothers, and make them fly into
Neustria. But they shall stir up the tusky boar, and returning
in a fleet shall encounter with the fox who at the beginning
of the fight shall feign herself dead, and move the boar
to compassion. Then shall the boar approach her carcase,
and standing over her, shall breathe upon her face and eyes.
But she, not forgetting her cunning, shall bite his left
foot, and pluck it off from his body. Then shall she leap
upon him, and snatch away his right ear and tail, and hide
herself in the caverns of the mountains. Therefore shall
the deluded boar require the wolf and bear to restore him
his members; who, as soon as they shall enter into the cause,
shall promise two feet of the fox, together with the ear
and tail, and of these they shall make up the members of
a hog. With this he shall be satisfied, and expect the promised
restitution. In the mean time shall the fox descend from
the mountains, and change herself into a wolf, and under
pretence of holding a conference with the boar, she shall
go to him, and craftily devour him. After that she shall
transform herself into a boar, and feigning a loss of some
members, shall wait for her brothers; but as soon as they
are come, she shall suddenly kill them with her tusks, and
shall be crowned with the head of a lion. In her days shall
a serpent be brought forth, which shall be a destroyer of
mankind. With its length it shall encompass London, and
devour all that pass by it. The mountain ox shall take
the head of a wolf, and whiten his teeth in the Severn.
He shall gather to him the flocks of Albania and Cambria,
which shall drink the river Thames dry. The ass shall call
the goat with the long beard, and shall borrow his shape.
Therefore shall the mountain ox be incensed, and having
called the wolf, shall become a horned bull against them.
In the exercise of his cruelty he shall devour their flesh
and bones, but shall be burned upon the top of Urian. The
ashes of his funeral-pile shall be turned into swans, that
shall swim on dry ground as on a river. They shall devour
fishes in fishes, and swallow up men in men. But when old
age shall come upon them, they shall become sea-wolves,
and practise their frauds in the deep. They shall drown
ships, and collect no small quantity of silver. The Thames
shall again flow, and assembling together the rivers, shall
pass beyond the bounds of its channel. It shall cover the
adjacent cities, and overturn the mountains that oppose
its course. Being full of deceit and wickedness it shall
make use of the fountain Galabes. Hence shall arise factions
provoking the Venedotians to war. The oaks of the forest
shall meet together, and encounter the rocks of the Gewisseans.
A raven shall attend with the kites, and devour the carcases
of the slain. An owl shall build her nest upon the walls
of Gloucester, and in her nest shall be brought forth an
ass. The serpent of Malvernia shall bring him up, and put
him upon many fraudulent practices. Having taken the crown,
he shall ascend on high, and frighten the people of the
country with his hideous braying. In his days shall the
Pachaian mountains tremble, and the provinces be deprived
of their woods. For there shall come a worm with a fiery
breath, and with the vapour it sends forth shall burn up
the trees. Out of it shall proceed seven lions deformed
with the heads of goats. With the stench of their nostrils
they shall corrupt women, and make wives turn common prostitutes.
The father shall not know his own son, because they shall
grow wanton like brute beasts. Then shall come the giant
of wickedness, and terrify all with the sharpness of his
eyes. Against him shall arise the dragon of Worcester, and
shall endeavour to banish him. But in the engagement the
dragon shall be worsted, and oppressed by the wickedness
of the conqueror. For he shall mount upon the dragon, and
putting off his garment shall sit upon him naked. The dragon
shall bear him up on high, and beat his naked rider with
his tail erected. Upon this the giant rousing up his whole
strength, shall break his jaws with his sword. At last the
dragon shall fold itself up under its tail, and die of poison.
After him shall succeed the boar of Totness, and oppress
the people with grievous tyranny. Gloucester shall send
forth a lion, and shall disturb him in his cruelty, in several
battles. He shall trample him under his feet and terrify
him with open jaws. At last the lion shall quarrel with
the kingdom, and get upon the backs of the nobility. A
bull shall come into the quarrel, and strike the lion with
his right foot. He shall drive him through all the inns
in the kingdom, but shall break his horns against the walls
of Oxford. The fox of Kaerdubalem shall take revenge on
the lion, and destroy him entirely with her teeth. She shall
be encompassed by the adder of Lincoln, who with a horrible
hiss shall give notice of his presence to a multitude of
dragons. Then shall the dragons encounter, and tear one
another to pieces. The winged shall oppress that which wants
wings, and fasten its claws into the poisonous cheeks. Others
shall come into the quarrel, and kill one another. A fifth
shall succeed those that are slain, and by various stratagems
shall destroy the 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 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 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 stars 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 put 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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