Wonders Will Never Cease

Of late, Edward has begun to challenge the burden of the stories that Anthony tells, and in particular, the Prince rejects what he sees as Anthony’s cult of doomed heroes—Merlin, Hagen, Roland, Arthur, all men who advanced knowingly towards their deaths, not to mention Jesus Christ and the legion of martyred saints who came after Him. Edward has declared that Roland deserved no fame at all, for he was determined to lose and determined that he and all the men with him should be killed by the Saracens. He ought to have blown his horn to fetch up reinforcements much sooner.

Of course, the demand for printed books will always be limited since their stubby black letters are so ugly.

he had been hoping that the giant would get Jack. Anthony is in his thirties and he is not inclined to support youth against age. The giant in the castle must be an aristocrat, whereas Jack is a nobody. On the other hand, it must be true that the giant who likes to eat Englishmen would be a foreigner. But no, the giant should be supported, for besides being a jumped-up peasant, Jack is a thief and finally a murderer and Anthony guesses that he must have been an adulterer too. Otherwise the giant’s wife would not have been so helpful. He has been watching a tragedy.

according to theologians of the Dominican Order, all the nail clippings of Jesus left this world and followed Him when He ascended up to Heaven and therefore the supposed holy nail clippings are no such thing

The multiplication of holy foreskins is a miracle and a blessing for mankind.

Anthony is disturbed by some of what he has learnt, for he is accustomed to think of the settling of issues by violence to be an aristocratic prerogative.

“Behold, the Lord God has decreed that you should be rewarded for your piety and I am commanded to offer you the choice between the gift of beauty or that of stupidity.” The hermit thought for a long while and then spoke, “I choose stupidity.” The angel was astounded by his choice and said so. “Ah, but you see,” said the hermit, “beauty fades.”

when one magician enters into combat with another he attacks his enemy’s memory

His leathery face breaks into a rare grin. It is like watching an ice floe breaking up, or so Anthony supposes, for he has never seen an ice floe.

There is a shelf full of manuscripts devoted to men who built themselves wings and attempted to fly and another shelf devoted to earth-eaters and the types of soil and clay that are deemed to be particularly edible. There is a manuscript on how to simulate the appearance of leprosy. Anthony studies a fat volume full of diagrams illustrating ways of manufacturing mechanical horses and chess players. There is an Etruscan grammar. And a manual on how to construct a revolving door. Another one on how to construct a wife from flowers. Another on cooking with testicles. Also one on sticks that feature in the Bible and in the lives of saints. There is an armorial roll displaying the heraldry of the ancient Egyptians.