AT that time, whilst Penguinia was still plunged¹ in ignorance and barbarism, Giles Bird-catcher, a Franciscan monk², known by his writings under the name AEgidius Aucupis, devoted³ himself with indefatigable⁴ zeal⁵ to the study of letters and the sciences. He gave his nights to mathematics and music, which he called the two adorable sisters, the harmonious⁶ daughters of Number and Imagination. He was versed⁷ in medicine and astrology. He was suspected of practising magic, and it seemed true that he wrought⁸ metamorphoses and discovered hidden things.

The monks⁹ of his convent, finding in his cell Greek books which they could not read, imagined them to be conjuring-books, and denounced their too learned brother as a wizard. AEgidius Aucupis fled, and reached the island of Ireland, where he lived for thirty studious years. He went from monastery¹⁰ to monastery, searching for and copying the Greek and Latin manuscripts which they contained. He also studied physics and alchemy. He acquired a universal knowledge and discovered notable secrets concerning animals, plants, and stones. He was found one day in the company of a very beautiful woman who sang to her own accompaniment on the lute¹¹, and who was afterwards discovered to be a machine which he had himself constructed.

He often crossed the Irish Sea to go into the land of Wales and to visit the libraries of the

分享到：