Greek and Roman
Get Rich Quick or Go Blind Trying
“They all agreed that the counsel was excellent; and casting lots, the chance fell upon the contriver of the expedient; whose eyes they immediately put out.” […]
Money
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.” […]
Greek and Roman
The Ocean Gives and Takes Away
“One day our father came to this very place crossing over a great stretch of sea; he left Aeolian Cyme and fled, not from riches and substance, but from wretched poverty which Zeus lays upon men, and he settled near Helicon in a miserable hamlet, Ascra, which is bad in winter, sultry in summer, and good at no time.” […]
Britons and Celts
Poor Men Sorely Swinked
“Wa-la-wa! that any man should be so moody, so to upheave himself, and think himself above all other men! May almighty God have mild-heartedness on his soul, and give him forgiveness of his sins!” […]
Viking
Hostage Negotiations Gone Bad
. Ibn Sam’un therefore broke off negotiations. The Rus put off their massacre, hoping to get at least this small amount. When it was not forthcoming, they put them to the sword, and slew them to the last man.” […]
Humor
A Pussy for a Birdie
–“What are you asking for it, tell?”
–“My lady, for a fuck it’s yours.”
–“Saint Peter help me now, because
I haven’t any fuck to trade!” […]
Greek and Roman
The Grasping Goes Too Far
“When the accused saw her, he was thunderstruck and stood there, speechless, for some time. Then he just managed to regain enough of his composure to embrace the emperor’s feet in tears and become a humble petitioner.” […]
Human Affairs
Noble Thieves; Just Deserts
“When Hading came home from his Swedish campaigns he found that the treasury in which he usually stowed the proceeds of his warfare and plundering had been broken into and riffled. He immediately hanged his guard, Glumer, and devised a cunning scheme. ” […]
Britons and Celts
Beware the Red Swine
“They are so cunning that they can change the shapes of things as they list at their pleasure & so deceive the people thereby that an act was made in Ireland, that no man should buy any red swine.” […]
Human Affairs
Facial Hair Diplomacy
“The adult men of the land of Gog and Magog are beardless. When a man with a full beard enters their country, the king, who is of the line of Gog and Magog, orders his beard plucked out.” […]