Britons and Celts

Fear and Loathing in the Church

“And as I was there about, a crow which belike was by nodding asleep on the chimney top, fell down into the chimney over my head, whose flittering in the fall made such a noise, that when I felt his feet upon my head I thought that the devil had been come indeed and seized upon me. And when I cast up my hand to save me and therewith touched him, he called me knave in his language after such a sort that I swooned for fear.” […]

Britons and Celts

A Cat Tricks and is Tricked

“For the old Priest which was so tumbled among them that his face lay upon a boys bare ass, which belike was fallen headlong under him was so astonished; then when the boy (which for fear beshit himself) had raised his face, he neither felt nor smelt it nor removed from him.” […]

Human Affairs

Wearing the Horns of the Bull

“I declared that I should rejoice to see her go in and out of our patron’s house whenever she liked, as I was convinced of her honesty. So we all three continued to have a good understanding as to this, and have never heard more about it.” […]

Britons and Celts

The Cat Who Caught a Cock

“But I minding another thing, and seeing that scratching could not move him, suddenly I leapt up and caught him by the genitals with my teeth, and bit so hard, that at last he cried out.” […]

Supernatural

Persistence and Demon-Summoning

“Faustus, who thought he might have tarried long enough now, considered fleeing from his circle, but finally he regained his godless and reckless resolve and persisted in his former intention, come whatever God might send. He continued to conjure the Devil as before, and the Devil did mystify him.” […]

Supernatural

Demonic Bureaucracy

“Now thou shalt know, Fauste, said the spirit, that among us there is a government and sovereignty, just as on earth, for we have our rulers and governors and servants–of whom I am one–and we call our kingdom Legion. For although the banished devil Lucifer brought about his own fall through vanity and insolence, he raised up a Legion, nevertheless, and a government of devils, and we call him the Oriental Prince, for he had his sovereignty in Ascension.” […]

Supernatural

A Damned Contract

“When these two wicked parties contracted with one another , Doctor Faustus took a penknife, pricked open a vein in his left hand, drained his blood into a crucible, set it on some hot coals and wrote as here followeth.” […]

Supernatural

A Soul Sold Cheaply

“He likewise enjoyed cooked fare every day, for he was so cunning in sorcery that when he opened a window and named some fowl he desired, it came flying right in through the window. His spirit also brought him cooked meat of a most princely sort from the courts of the nobility in all territories round about.” […]

Supernatural

A Devilish Alternative to Marriage

“If thou canst not live chastely, then will I lead to thy bed any day or night whatever woman thou seest in this city or elsewhere. Whosoever might please thy lust, and whomever thou might desire in lechery, she shall abide with thee in such a figure and form.” […]