COMMON HABIT Some poor
wretch will be flattered, and these same flatterers will always be his
deceivers, robbers and assassins.
THE PERCUSSION OF THE SUN'S DISC
Something will appear which will cover over the person who shall attempt
to cover it.
OF MONEY AND GOLD That shall come
forth from hollow caves which shall cause all the nationsthe world to
toil and sweat with great agitation, anxiety and labour, inorder to gain
its aid.
OF THE FEAR OF POVERTY The
malevolent and terrifying thing shall of itself strike such terror into
that almost like madmen, while thinking to escape from it, they will
rush in swift course upon its boundless forces.
OF ADVICE He who shall be most
necessary to whoever has need of him will be unknown, and if known will
be held of less account.
OF SNAKES CARRIED BY SWANS Serpents
of huge size will be seen at an immense height in the air fighting with
birds.
OF CANNON WHICH COME FORTH OUT OF A
PIT AND FROM A MOULD There shall come forth from beneath the ground that
which by its terrific report shall stun all who are near it, and cause
men to drop dead at its breath,and it shall devastate cities and
castles.
OF CHRISTIANS There are many who
hold the faith of the Son and only build temples in the name of the
Mother.
OF FOOD WHICH HAS BEEN ALIVE A large
part of the bodies which have had life will pass into the bodies ofother
animals, that is the houses no longer inhabited will pass piecemeal
through those which are inhabited, ministering to their needs and
bearing away with them what is waste; that is to say that the life of
man is made bythe things which he eats, and these carry with them that
part of man which is dead.
OF MEN WHO SLEEP UPON PLANKS MADE
FROM TREES Men will sleep and cat and make their dwelling among trees
grown in theforests and the fields.
OF DREAMING It shall seem to men
that they see new destructions in the sky, and the flames descending
there from shall seem to have taken night and to flee away in terror;
they shall hear creatures of every kind speaking human language;they
shall run in a moment, in person, to divers parts of the world without
movement; amidst the darkness they shall see the most radiant
splendours.O marvel of mankind! What frenzy has thus impelled you! You
shall holdconverse with animals of every species, and they with you in
human language.You shall behold yourselves falling from great heights
without suffering anyinjury; the torrents will bear you with them as
they mingle in their rapidcourse. OF ANTS Many communities there
will be who will hide themselves and their young and their victuals
within gloomy caverns, and there in dark placeswill sustain themselves
and their families for many months without any light either artificial
or natural.
OF BEES And many others will be
robbed of their store of provisions and theirfood, and by an insensate
folk will be cruelly immersed and drowned. Ojustice of God! why dost
thou not awake to behold thy creatures thus abused?
OF SHEEP, COWS, GOATS AND THE LIKE
From countless numbers will be stolen their little children, and
thethroats of these shall be cut, and they shall be quartered most
barbarously.
OF NUTS, OLIVES, ACORNS, CHESTNUTS,
AND THE LIKE Many children shall be torn with pitiless beatings out of
the very arms oftheir mothers, and flung upon the ground and then
maimed.
OF CHILDREN WHO ARE WRAPPED IN
SWADDLING BANDS O cities of the sea, I behold in you your citizens,
women as well as men,tightly bound with stout bonds around their arms
and legs by folk who will have no understanding of our speech; and you
will only be able to give ventto your griefs and sense of loss of
liberty by making tearful complaints, andsighs, and lamentation one to
another; for those who bind you will not have understanding of your
speech nor will you understand them.
OF CATS THAT EAT RATS In you, O
cities of Africa! your own sons shall be seen torn to pieces within
their own houses by most cruel and savage animals of your country.
OF ASSES WHICH ARE BEATEN O
neglectful Nature, wherefore art thou thus partial, becoming to someof
thy children a tender and benignant mother, to others a most cruel
andruthless stepmother? I see thy children given into slavery to others
withoutlever receiving any benefit, and in lieu of any reward for the
services theyhave done for them they are repaid by the severest
punishments, and they.constantly spend their lives in the service of
their oppressor. DIVISION OF THE PROPHECIES First of things which
relate to the reasoning animals, second those which have not the power
of reason, third of plants, fourth of ceremonies, fifth of customs,
sixth of propositions, decrees or disputes, seventh of
propositionscontrary to Nature (as to speak of a substance which the
more there is taken from it is the more increased), and reserve the
weighty propositions until theend, and begin with those of less import,
and show first the evils and then the punishments, eight of
philosophical things.
OF FUNERAL RITES AND PROCESSIONS AND
LIGHTS AND BELLSAND FOLLOWERS The greatest honours and ceremonies shall
be paid to men without their knowledge.All the astrologers will be
castrated, that is the cockerels.
CONJECTURE Arrange in order the
months and the ceremonies which are performed,and do this for the day
and for the night.
OF REAPERS There will be many who
will be moving one against another, holding intheir hands the sharp
cutting iron. These will not do each other any hurtother than that
caused by fatigue, for as one leans forward the other drawsback an equal
space; but woe to him who intervenes between them, for inthe end he will
be left cut in pieces. OF SILK-SPINNING There shall be heard
mournful cries and loud shrieks, hoarse angry voices of those who are
tortured and despoiled and at last left naked and motionless;and this
shall be by reason of the motive power which turns the whole.
OF PLACING BREAD WITHIN THE MOUTH OF
THE OVEN ANDDRAWING IT OUT AGAIN In all the cities and lands and
castles, villages and houses, men will beseen who through desire of
eating will draw the very food out of eachother's mouths, without their
being able to make any resistance.
PROPHECIES OF PLOUGHED LAND The
earth will be seen turned upside down and facing the opposite
hemi-spheres, and laying bare the holes where lurk the fiercest
animals.
OF SOWING Then a great part of the
men who remain alive will throw out of their louses the victuals they
have saved, as the free booty of the birds and beastsof the field,
without taking any care of them.
OF THE RAINS WHICH CAUSE THE RIVERS
TO BECOME MUDDY AND CARRY AWAY THE SOIL There will come from out the sky
that which will transport a great part of Africa which lies beneath this
sky (1) towards Europe, and that of Europe towards Africa; and those of
the provinces will mingle together in great evolution.(1) MS., si mostra
a esso cielo.
OP BRICK-KILNS AND LIME-KILNS At the
last the earth will become red after being exposed to fire for manydays,
and the stones will become changed to ashes.
OF WOOD THAT IS BURNT The trees and
shrubs of the vast forests shall be changed to ashes. OF BOILED
FISHCreatures of the water will die in boiling water.
THE OLIVES WHICH DROP FROM THE
OLIVE-TREES GIVE US THEOIL WHICH MAKES LIGHT There shall descend with
fury from the direction of the sky that whichwill give us nourishment
and light.
OF HORNED AND TAWNY OWLS WITH WHICH
ONE GOES FOWLING WITH BIRD-LIME Many will perish by fracturing their
skulls, and their eyes will almost startout of their heads on account of
fearsome creatures which have come forthout of the darkness.
OF FLAX WHEREBY PAPER IS MADE OUT OF
RAGS That shall be revered and honoured and its precepts shall be
listened towith reverence and love, which was at first despised and
mangled and tortured with many different blows.
OF BOOKS WHICH INCULCATE PRECEPTS
Bodies without souls shall by their sayings supply precepts which
shallhelp us to die well.
OF THOSE WHO ARE BEATEN AND SCOURGED
Men will hide themselves within the bark of hollow trees, and there
crying aloud they will make martyrs of themselves by beating their own
limbs.
OF WANTONNESS And they will go wild
after the things that arc most beautiful to seek after,to possess and
make use of their vilest parts; and afterwards, having returned with
loss and penitence to their understanding, they will be filled with
great admiration for themselves.
OF THE AVARICIOUS Many there will be
who with the utmost zeal and solicitude will pursue furiously that which
has always filled them with awe, not knowing its evil nature.
OF MEN WHO AS THEY GROW OLDER BECOME
MORE MISERLY,WHEREAS, HAVING BUT A SHORT TIME TO STAY, THEY OUGHT TO BE
MORE GENEROUS You will see that those who arc considered to be of most
experience andjudgment, in proportion as they come to have less need of
things, seek and hoard them with more eagerness.
OF A DITCH (GIVE THIS AS AN INSTANCE
OF FRENZY OK CRAZINESS OR MADNESS OF THE BRAIN) There will be many
busied in the practice of taking from that thing whichincreases the more
the more they take from it.
OF WEIGHT PLACED ON A FEATHER-PILLOW
And with many bodies it will be seen that as you raise your head
fromthem they will increase perceptibly, and when the head that has been
lifted up returns, their size will immediately diminish.
OF CATCHING LICE There will be many
hunters of animals who the more they catch the fewer they will have; and
so conversely they will have more in proportionas they catch less.
OF DRAWING WATER WITH TWO BUCKETS BY
A SINGLE ROPE And many will be busying themselves with a thing which the
more they draw it up will tend the more to escape in die contrary
direction.
OF SIEVES MADE OF THE SKIN OF
ANIMALS We shall see the food of animals pass through their skins in
every way except through the mouth, and penetrate through the opposite
side until it reaches the level ground.
OF THE LIGHTS THAT ARE CARRIED
BEFORE THE DEAD They will make light for the dead.
OF THE LANTERN The fierce horns of
powerful bulls will protect the light used at night fromthe impetuous
fury of the winds. OF FEATHERS IN BEDSFlying creatures will
support men with their feathers.
OF MEN WHO PASS ABOVE THE TREES
WEARING WOODEN STILTS The swamps will be so great that the men will go
above the trees of theircountries.
OF THE SOLES OF SHOES WHICH ARE OF
LEATHER
Over a great part of the country men
shall be seen walking about on theskins of large animals.
OF SAILING There will be great winds
through which the eastern things will become western, and those of the
south mingled together in great measure by the course of the winds will
follow these through distant lands.
OF THE WORSHIPPING OF PICTURES OF
SAINTS Men shall speak with men who shall not hear them; their eyes
shall beopen and they shall not see; they will speak to them and there
shall be noreply; they will ask pardon from one who has ears and does
not hear; they will offer light to one who is blind, and to the deaf
they will appeal with loud clamour.(1)(1) MS.,faran lume a [chi] e' orbo
[. . .} sordi con gran [. . .] ore.
OF DREAMING Men shall walk without
moving, they shall speak with those who are absent, they shall hear
those who do not speak.
OF THE SHADOW THAT MOVES WITH MAN
There shall be seen shapes and
figures of men and animals which shall pursue these men and animals
where so ever they flee; and the movements of the one shall be as those
of the other, but it shall seem a tiling to wonder at because of the
different dimensions which they assume.
OF THE SHADOW CAST BY THE SUN AND OF
THE REFLECTION IN THE WATER SEEN AT ONE AND THE SAME TIME Many times one
man shall be seen to change into three and all shall proceed together,
and often the one that is most real abandons him.
OF WOODEN COFFERS WHICH ENCLOSE MANY
TREASURES Within walnuts and other trees and plants there shall be found
very great treasures which lie hidden there.
OF EXTINGUISHING THE LIGHT WHEN ONE
GOES TO BED Many by forcing their breath out too rapidly will lose the
power of sight,and in a short time all power of sensation.
OF THE BELLS OF MULES WHICH ARE
CLOSE TO THEIR EARS There shall be heard in many parts of Europe
instruments of various sizes making divers melodies, causing great
weariness to those who hear the mmost closely. OF ASSES The many
labours shall be repaid by hunger, thirst, wretchedness, blows and
goadings.
OF SOLDIERS ON HORSE BACK Many shall
be seen carried by large animals with great speed, to the loss of their
lives and to instant death. In the air and on the earth shall be seen
animals of different colours, bearing men furiously to the destruction
of their lives.
OF STARS ON SPURS By reason of the
stars you will see men moving as swiftly as any swift animal.
OF A STICK WHICH IS A DEAD THING The
movement of the dead shall cause many who arc living to flee away with
grief and lamentation and cries.
OF TINDER With stone and iron things
will be rendered visible which were not previously seen.
OF OXEN WHICH ARE EATEN The masters
of the estates will eat their own labourers.
OF BEATING THE BED TO REMAKE IT To
such a pitch of ingratitude shall men come that that which shall give;
them lodging without any price shall be loaded with blows, in such a
waythat great parts of the inside of it shall be detached from their
place, and shallbe turned over and over within it.
OF THINGS WHICH ARE EATEN WHICH ARE
FIRST PUT TO DEATH Those who nourish them will be slain by them and
scourged by barbarous death.
OF THE WALLS OF CITIES REFLECTED IN
THE WATER OF THEIR TRENCHES The high walls of mighty cities shall be
seen inverted, in their trenches.
OF THE WATER WHICH FLOWS IN A TURBID
STREAM MINGLED WITHEARTH, AND OF DUST AND MIST MINGLING WITH THE AIR,
AND OFTHE FIRE WHICH MINGLES ITS HEAT WITH EACH All the elements shall
be seen confounded together, surging in huge rolling mass, now towards
the centre of the earth, now towards the sky,at one time coursing in
fury from the southern regions towards the icy north, at another time
from the east to the west, and so again from this hemisphere to the
other.
AT ANY POINT ONE MAY MAKE THE
DIVISION OF THE TWO HEMISPHERES All men will suddenly change their
hemisphere.
EVERY POINT FORMS A DIVISION BETWEEN
THE EAST AND THE WEST All the animals will move from the east to the
west, and so also from the north to the south.
OF THE MOVEMENT OP THE WATERS WHICH
CARRY LOGS THAT ARE DEAD Bodies without life will move of themselves and
will carry with them innumerable generations of the dead, plundering the
possessions of the living inhabitants.
OF EGGS WHICH BEING EATEN CANNOT
PRODUCE CHICKENS Oh! how many will those be who will never be
born.
OF FISHES WHICH ARE EATEN WITH THEIR
ROES Endless generations will perish through the death of the
pregnant.
OF THE BEASTS FROM WHOM CHEESE IS
MADE The milk will be taken from the tiny children.
OF THE LAMENTATIONS MADE ON GOOD
FRIDAY In all the parts of Europe there shall be lamentations by great
nations for the death of one man.
OF THE HAFTS OF KNIVES MADE OF RAMS'
HORNS In the horns of animals shall be seen sharp irons, which shall
take away the lives of many of their species.
OF THE NIGHT WHEN ONE CANNOT
DISTINGUISH ANY COLOUR It shall even come to pass that it will be
impossible to tell the difference between colours, for all will become
black in hue.
OF SWORDS AND SPEARS WHICH OF THEMSE
LVES NEVER DOANY HARM TO ANYONE That which of itself is gentle and void
of all offence will become terribleand ferocious by reason of evil
companionship, and will take die lives of manypeople with the utmost
cruelty; and it would slay many more if it were notthat these arc
protected by bodies which are themselves without life, whichhave come
forth out of pits-that is by cuirasses of iron.
OP GINS AND SNARES Many dead will
move with fury, and will take and bind the living, and willI set them
before their enemies in order to compass their death and
destruction.
OF THE PRECIOUS METALS There shall
come forth out of dark and gloomy caves that which shall cause the whole
human race to undergo great afflictions, perils, and death. To many of
those who follow it, after much tribulation it will yield delight;but
whosoever pays it no homage will die in want and misery. It shall bring
to pass an endless number of crimes; it shall prompt and incite
wretchedmen to assassinate, to steal, and to enslave; it shall hold its
own followers in, suspicion; it shall deprive free cities of their rank:
it shall take away life itself from many; it shall make men torment each
other with many kinds of subterfuge, deceits, and treacheries.O vile
monster! How much better were it for men that thou shouldst go back to
hell! For this the vast forests shall be stripped of their trees;
forthis an infinite number of creatures shall lose their lives.
OF FIRE From small beginnings shall
arise that which shall rapidly become great;and it shall have respect
for no created thing, but its power shall be such as to enable it to
transform almost everything from its natural condition.
OF SHIPS THAT FOUNDER There shall be
seen huge bodies devoid of life, carrying great numbers ofmen with
fierce speed to the destruction of their lives.
OF WRITING LETTERS FROM ONE COUNTRY
TO ANOTHER Men from the most remote countries shall speak one to another
and shall reply.
OF THE HEMISPHERES WHICH ARE
INFINITE AND DIVIDED BY AN INFINITE NUMBER OF LINES, IN SUCH A WAY THAT
EVERY MAN HAS ALWAYS ONE OF THESE LINES BETWEEN HIS FEET Men shall speak
with and touch and embrace each other while standing each in different
hemispheres, and shall understand each other's language.
OF PRIESTS WHO SAY MASS Many shall
there be who in order to practise their calling shall put on the richest
vestments, and these shall seem to be made after the manner of
aprons.
OF FRIARS WHO HOLD CONFESSION The
unhappy women of their own accord shall go to reveal to men all their
wantonness and their shameful and most secret acts.
OF THE CHURCHES AND HABITATIONS OF
FRIARS There will be many who will abandon work and labour and poverty
of life and possessions, and will go to dwell among riches and in
splendidbuildings, pretending that this is a means of becoming
acceptable to God.
OF THE SELLING OP PARADISE A
countless multitude will sell publicly and without hindrance things of
the very greatest value, without licence from the Lord of these things,
whichwere never theirs nor in their power; and human justice will take
no accountof this.
OF THE DEAD WHO ARE TAKEN TO BE
BURIED The simple folk will carry a great number of lights to light up
the journeys of all those who have wholly lost the power of sight. O
human folly! O madness of mankind! These two phrases stand for the
commencement of the matter.
OF THE DOWRIES OF MAIDENS And
whereas at first young maidens could not be protected from the lust and
violence of men, either by the watchfulness of parents or by the
strength of walls, there will come a time when it will be necessary for
the fathers and relatives of these maidens to pay a great price to
whoever is willing to marry them, even although they may be rich and
noble and exceedingly beautiful.Herein it seems certain that Nature
desires to exterminate die human race, as a thing useless to the world
and the destroyer of all created things.
OF THE CRUELTY OF MAN Creatures
shall be seen upon the earth who will always be fighting one with
another, with very great losses and frequent deaths on cither side.These
shall set no bounds to their malice; by their fierce limbs a great
number of the trees in the immense forests of the world shall be laid
level with the ground; and when they have crammed themselves with food
it shall gratify their desire to deal out death, affliction, labours,
terrors and banishment to every living thing. And by reason of their
boundless pride they shall wish to rise towards heaven, but the
excessive weight of their limbs shall hold them down. There shall be
nothing remaining on the earth or under the earth or in the waters that
shall not be pursued and molested or destroyed,and that which is in one
country taken away to another; and their own bodies I shall be made the
tomb and the means of transit of all the living bodies which they have
slain. O Earth! what delays thee to open and hurl them head long into
the deep fissures of thy huge abysses and caverns, and no longer to
display in the sight of heaven so savage and ruthless a monster?
OF SAILING IN SHIPS The trees of the
vast forests of Taurus and of Sinai, of the Apennines and of Atlas,
shall be seen speeding by means of the air from east to west, and from
north to south, and transporting by means of the air a great quantity of
men. Oh, how many vows! How many deaths! What partings between friends
and relatives shall there be! How many who shall never more behold their
own lands or their native country, and shall die unsepulchred and their
bones be scattered in divers parts of the world!
OF REMOVING ON ALL SAINTS' DAY Many
shall leave their own dwellings, and shall carry with them all their
goods and go to dwell in other lands.
OF ALL SOULS' DAY How many will
there be who will mourn for their dead ancestors, carrying lights for
them!
OF FRIARS WHO BY SPENDING ONLY WORDS
RECEIVE GREAT RICHES AND BESTOW PARADISE Invisible money will cause many
who spend it to triumph.
OF BOWS MADE FROM THE HORNS OF OXEN
Many there will be who by means of the horns of cattle will die a
painfuldeath.Behold a thing which is valued the less the more one has
need of it. It is advice.And many have made a trade in deceits and
feigned miracles, cozening the foolish herd, and if no one showed
himself cognisant of their deceits they would impose them upon
all.
FOR WELL-DOING By the branch of the
nut-tree which is struck and beaten just when it has brought its fruit
to perfection, is represented those who as the sequel of their
illustrious works are struck by envy in divers ways.All these things
which in the winter are concealed and hidden beneath thesnow, will be
left bare and exposed in summer:-said of a he which cannotremain
hidden.You will see the lion tribe tearing open the earth with hooked
claws, andburying themselves in the holes that they have made, together
with die other animals which are in subjection to them.There shall come
forth from the ground creatures clad in darkness who shall attack the
human race with tremendous onslaughts, and it shall lave theblood
poisoned by their fierce bites even while it is devoured by than.There
shall also hurtle through the air a tribe of dreadful winged creatures
who shall attack both men and beasts, and feed upon them with loud
cries:-They shall fill their bellies full of crimson blood.You will see
the blood streaming forth from the rent flesh of men and bedewing the
surface parts.You will see men with so cruel a malady that they will
tear their flesh withi their own nails:-This will be the itch.You will
see plants continuing without leaves, and rivers standing stillin their
courses.The water of the sea shall rise above the high summits of the
mountainstowards die sky, and it shall fail down again on to the
dwellings of men:-That is as clouds.You will sec the greatest trees of
the forests borne by the fury of the winds,from the east to the
west:-That is across the sea.Men shall cast away their own food:-That is
in sowing.The generation of men shall come to such a pass as not to
understand oneanother's speech:-That is a German with a Turk.I You will
see fathers giving up their daughters to the sensuality of men, and
rewarding them, and abandoning all their former care:-When the girls are
married.Men shall come forth out of the graves changed to winged
creatures, and they shall attack other men, taking away their food even
from their handsand tables:The flies.Many there will be who will flay
their own mother and fold back herskin:-The tillers of the ground.Happy
will be those who give ear to the words of the dead:-The reading;of good
works and die observing of their precepts.Feathers shall raise men
towards heaven even as they do birds:-That is byletters written with
their quills.The works of men's hands will become the cause of their
death:-Swordsand spears.Men will pursue the thing they most fear:-That
is they will be miserablelest they should fall into misery.Things
severed shall be united and shall acquire of themselves such virtuethat
they shall restore to men their lost memory:-That is the papyrus
sheets,which are formed out of severed strips and preserve the memory of
diethoughts and deeds of men.You shall behold the bones of the dead by
their rapid movement directingthe fortunes of their mover:-The dice.Oxen
shall by their horns protect the fire from death:-The lantern.The
forests will bring forth young who will become the cause of
theirdeath:-The handle of the hatchet. Men will deal rude blows to that
which is the cause of their life:-They will thrash the grain.The skins
of animals will make men rouse from their silence with loudcries and
oaths:-Balls for playing games.Many times the thing that is severed
becomes the cause of great union :-That is the comb made up of split
canes, which unites the threads in the silk.The wind which passes
through the skins of animals will make men leapup:-That is the bagpipes,
which cause men to dance.
OF NUT-TREES WHICH ARE BEATEN Those
which have done best will be most beaten, and their children will be
carried off and stripped or despoiled, and their bones broken and
crushed.
OF SCULPTURE Alas! whom do I see?
The Saviour crucified again.
OF THE MOUTH OF MAN WHICH IS A TOMB
There shall come forth loud noises out of the tombs of those who have
diedby an evil and violent death.
OF THE SKINS OF ANIMALS WHICH HAVE
THE SENSE OFFEELING OF WHAT IS WRITTEN THERE The more you converse with
skins covered over with sentiments, the moreyou will acquire
wisdom.
OF PRIESTS WHO BEAR THE HOST IN
THEIR BODIES Then almost all the tabernacles where dwells the Corpus
Domini will beplainly visible, walking about of themselves on the
different roads of theworld.And those who feed the air will turn night
into day:-Tallow.And many creatures of the earth and of the water will
mount up among the stars:-The Planets.You shall see the dead carrying
the living in divers parts of the world:-the chariots and ships.From
many the food shall be taken away out of their mouths:-From ovens.And
those who have their mouths filled by the hands of others, shall have
the food taken away out of their mouths:-The oven.
OF CRUCIFIXES WHICH ARE SOLD I see
Christ again sold and crucified, and his saints suffering
martyrdom.
OF DOCTORS WHO LIVE UPON THE SICK
Men will come to such a state of misery that they will be grateful that
others should profit by their sufferings, or by the loss of their true
riches, that is health.Of the religion of the Friars who live by means
of the Saints, who have been dead for a long time : Those who are dead
will after a thousand years be those who will make provision for many of
the living.
OF STONES CHANGED INTO LIME WITH
WHICH PRISON WALLSARE BUILT Many things which have previously been
destroyed by fire will deprive many men of their liberty.
OF CHILDREN WHO TAKE THE BREAST Many
Franciscans, Dominicans, and Benedictines will eat that which has
recently been eaten by others, and they will remain many months before
being able to speak.
OF COCKLES AND SEA-SNAILS CAST UP BY
THE SEA WHICHROT WITHIN THEIR SHELLS How many shall there be who after
they are dead will lie rotting in their own houses, filling all the air
around with their foul stench! PLANT WITH ROOTS UPWARDS For
someone who would be on the point of coming to the end of all
possessions and favour.
OF JACKDAWS AND STARLINGS Those who
trust themselves to inhabit near him, and these will be in great crowds,
will almost all die a cruel death, -and one will see fathers and mothers
together with their families being devoured and slain by cruel
animals.
OF PEASANTS WHO WORK IN THEIR SHIRTS
Shadows will come from the East which will tinge with much darkness the
sky that covers Italy.
OF THE BARBERS All men will take
refuge in Africa.
OF THE SHADOW CAST BY MAN AT NIGHT
WITH A LIGHT There shall appear huge figures in human shape, and the
nearer to you they approach the more will their immense size
diminish.
OF MULES WHICH CARRY RICH BURDENS OF
SILVERAND GOLD Many treasures and great riches will be laid upon
four-footed animals,which will carry them to divers places.Those will be
drowned who give light for divine service:-The bees which make the wax
of the candles.The dead will come forth from under the earth, and by
their fierce movenents will drive innumerable human creatures out of the
world:-The iron which comes from under the earth is dead, and it makes
theweapons wherewith so many men have been slain.The greatest mountains,
even though they are remote from the sea borders,fill drive the sea from
its place:-That is by the rivers which carry down the soil they have
taken fromthe mountains and deposit it upon the sea shores; and where
the earthcomes the sea retires.The water fallen from the clouds will so
change its nature as to remain fora long space of time upon the slopes
of the mountains without making anymovement. And this will happen in
many and divers regions:-The snow that falls in flakes which is
water.The great rocks of the mountains will dart forth fire, such that
they willburn up the timber of many vast forests and many beasts both
wild andtame:-The flint of the tinder-box, which makes a fire that
consumes all theloads of faggots of which the forests are cleared, and
with this the fleshof beasts is cooked.Oh! how many great buildings will
be ruined by reason of fire:-By the fire of the guns.The oxen will
become in great part the cause of the destruction of cities;and so also
will horses and buffaloes:-They draw the guns.Many there will be who
will wax great in their destruction:-The ball of snow rolling over the
snow.There will be a great host who, forgetful of their existence and
their name,will lie as though dead upon the spoils of other dead
creatures:-By sleeping upon the feathers of birds.The east shall be seen
to rush into the west, the south into the north,whirling themselves
round about the universe with great noise, fury and trembling:-The wind
from the east which will rush into the west.The rays of the sun will
kindle fire on the earth, where by that which isbeneath the sky will be
set alight; and, beaten back by that which impedes them, they will
return downwards:-The burning-glass kindles the fire with which the oven
is heated, andthis has its base standing beneath its vaulted roof.A
great part of the sea will fly towards the sky, and for a long time it
will not return:-That is in clouds.
OF CORN AND OTHER SEEDS Men shall
throw away out of their houses those victuals which were meant for the
sustenance of their lives:-[That is by sowing.]
OF TREES WHICH GIVE SAP TO
GRAFTED-SHOOTS Fathers and mothers shall be seen to bestow much more
attention upon their step-children than upon their own children.
OF THE THURIFER WITH INCENSE Some
shall go about in white vestments with arrogant gestures
threateningothers with metal and fire, which yet have never done them
any harm.
OF KIDS The time of Herod shall
return; for the innocent children shall be torn away from thieir nurses
and shall die of great wounds at the hands of cruelmen.
OF THE MOWING DOWN OF GRASS
Innumerable lives will be extinguished, and innumerable vacant spaces
created upon the-earth.
OF THE LIFE OF MEN WHO EVERY TEN
YEARS ARE CHANGED IN BODILY SUBSTANCE Men will pass when dead through
their own bowels.
OF SKINS Many animals . . .
OF LEATHER BOTTLES The goats will
carry wine to the cities.
OF SHOEMAKERS Men will take a
pleasure in seeing their own works worn out and destroyed.
OF BEES They live together in
communities. They are drowned in order that their honey may be seized.
Many and very great communities will be drowned in their own dwellings.
Snow in summer shall be gathered on the high mountain peaks and carried
to warm places, and there be let to fall down, when festivals are held
in the piazza in the time of summer.