Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/480

444 Readings in European History legs, and in each foot eight toes, and such go about and stare in the desert of Lybia. A discriminat- The cat is a full lecherous beast in youth, swift, pliant, ttonlrfthe" anc * merrv > and l ea peth and runneth on everything that is to domestic cat. fore him : and is led by a straw, and playeth therewith: and (From the i s a right heavy beast in age and full sleepy, and lieth slyly rce>) in wait for mice: and is aware where they be, more by smell than by sight, and hunteth and runneth on them in privy places ; and when he taketh a mouse, he playeth therewith, and eateth him after the play. In time of love is hard righting for wives, and one scratcheth and rendeth the other grievously with biting and with claws. And he maketh a ruthful noise and ghastful, when one proffereth to fight with another: nor is he hurt when he is thrown down off an high place. And when he hath a fair skin, he is, as it were, proud thereof, and goeth fast about ; and when his skin is burnt, then he bideth at home ; and he is oft, for his fair skin, taken of the skinner, and slain and flayed. III. HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE MIDDLE AGES Like the works on natural science, the histories of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries furnish a singular mix- ture of truth and occasional acute criticism along with the most palpable absurdities. Such a writer as Otto of Freising made use of some excellent authorities, for example, Eusebius and the best of the mediaeval chroni- cles, and one is astonished to find how correct and philosophic is his account of the history of the world. He knew as much about the past as writers of a hundred years ago. On the other hand, there are frequent passages like the following in other writers of the time. [Philip Augustus, distressed by the ill-smelling mud in Paris, arranges to have the city paved with hard and solid