Thursday 3 April 2014

Of different things in Cyprus...

On the way to Cyprus men pass by a place that is called the Gulf of Cathaly, which was once a great and fair country, and there was a fair city in it that was called Adalia.  And all that country was lost through the folly of a young man.  For there was a beautiful damsel whom he loved well, and she died suddenly and was laid in a tomb of marble; and on account of the great love he had for her he went one night to her grave and opened it and went in and lay with her and then went on his way.  At the end of nine months a voice came to him one night and said, "Go to the grave of that woman and open it, and behold what you have begotten on her.  And if you go not you shall have great evil and suffering."  And he went and opened the grave, and there flew out a very horrible head, hideous to look at, which flew all round the city; and forthwith the city sank, and all the district round about. - The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

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