Chapter 113 Chapter Seventeen

How Banurge talked to the soothsayer of Ponzust It took a total of three days on the road①.On the third day they saw the fortune teller's house under a tall chestnut tree on the top of a hill.They walked into this shabby little hut without any difficulty. The interior was simple and smoky. "Very well," said Abesdemon, "it is not surprising that the mysterious and great Scotch philosopher Heraclitus should enter such a hut, and would say to his pupils and apprentices that the gods live in Here is no different from living in a luxurious palace. I believe that when the famous Hecate ② entertained Theseus ③ in such a place. Sirius or Enopeion ④ probably home In this way, Jupiter, Neptune, and Marguri all ate and lived in it without resentment, and even made Orion out of urine to reward her when they left."

An old woman sat in the corner of the fireplace. Ebisdemon said: "It is indeed the appearance of a divination woman, exactly the image of τ■παμιγο■⑥ described by Homer." The old woman was listless, dressed in rags, as if she hadn't eaten for many days, her mouth was full of teeth, her eyes were blurred, her eyes were blurry, her movement was inconvenient, her nose was sloppy, and she was cooking vegetable soup half alive, with only a piece of butter and a piece of bacon bone in it. . "Holy Mother of God," said Ebisdemon, "we have come in vain. She will not tell us anything, because we have not brought golden boughs⑦."

Banurge said: "I have brought it. I have a gold ring in my pocket, and some new 'carolus' ①." Having said this, Banurge bowed deeply to her, and brought out six smoked ox tongues, a large bowl of buttered couscous, a bottle of wine, and a purse made of sheep's follicles containing Brand-new "Carolus," and respectfully fitted on her middle finger a beautiful gold ring, in which was elegantly set a Bose's toad-head gemstone.Then briefly explain the purpose of coming, politely ask her for instructions, and ask for a divination to ask about major marriages. The old woman stayed silent for a while, thinking in her heart, gritting her teeth, and then sat on the bottom of a bucket, holding three spinning hammers in her hand, fiddled with them side to side for a long time, and then felt where they were. One point, keep the sharpest one, and throw the other two under a stone mortar for pounding rice.Later, she picked up her tangled thread and turned it around nine times. At the ninth turn, she stopped her hand and let it stop by itself.Then I saw her take off one shoe (the kind we call a clog), put the apron on her head like a priest wears a square collar at mass, and tie it with an old diagonal striped strap Tie it under the neck.Dressed up like this, I took a swig from the bottle and took it out of the follicle purse ① Six days on the first edition.In fact, Ponzust is only five or six miles away from Terremy, and can be reached in a day.The author here deliberately exaggerates.

② Hecate: The poor woman of Attica once received Theseus and was appreciated after her death. See Chapter Fourteen of Plutarch's Biography of Theseus. ③ Theseus: Hero in Greek mythology, king of Athens. ④ Enopion: The son of Bagus in mythology, also said to be the son of Theseus, was born in Crete. ⑤ Orion: In order to thank Sirius for his hospitality, Jupiter, Neptune and other gods promised to give him a son. They pissed on the skin of a young cow and buried it in the ground for nine months. Then, the giant Orion was born.See lines 495 and onwards of Ovid's "Journal of Seasons".

⑥ Greek: "the old woman who never leaves the stove", - see the twenty-seventh line of the eighteenth chapter of "Odyssey". ⑦ Ulises, following Sibyl's instructions, went to see Proserpina with a golden branch in his hand.See the first thirty-sixth line of the sixth volume of "Init". ① "Carolus": the name of the silver coin. ② "Couscous": Arab pasta. ③ Boss: Place name of Ludun, Vienna Province. ④ Toad head gemstone: It is said to be peeled from the head of a frog in Perth. Three pieces of "Carolus," in three walnut shells, were put together in a pot for collecting chicken feathers, and after three sweeps with the broom over the fireplace, a handful of annua and a sprig of annua were thrown into the fire. dried osmanthus.She watched them burn in silence, and there was no sound at all when they were burning. Suddenly, the old woman yelled gloomily, uttering strange words with strange endings.

Banurge said to Ebisdemon: "By God, I'm trembling! I'm afraid I'm possessed, and she's not talking religiously. I think she's four feet older than she was when she put on her apron. The chin moves." Go, shrug your shoulders, mutter like a monkey peeling a shrimp, what does this mean? My ears are ringing, I seem to hear Proserpina's cry , the devil is about to appear. Ah, scary things! Let's run away! God, I'm scared to death! I don't want to see ghosts, I don't like ghosts, I'm afraid of ghosts. Run away! Goodbye, old lady, thank you Good intentions! I will never get married in my life! From now on, I will never think about it again."

He was about to escape from the house, but the old woman ran faster than him. With a spinning hammer in her hand, she ran to a yard next to the house, where there was an old maple tree. She shook it three times and fell down. Eight leaves came, and the old woman drew a few short poems on the leaves with a hammer, and then threw the leaves out, saying: "Go pick it up and see if you can find it; the good and bad luck of your marriage is written on it." After finishing speaking, he walked back to the house, and when he entered the door, he suddenly lifted up his robe, upper body, and shirt, and exposed them all the way to his arms, exposing his buttocks.Panurge saw it, and said to Ebisidemon:

"My God! I saw Sybil's hole." The old woman closed the door suddenly and never came out again.They rushed to the leaves, and with great difficulty—for the wind had blown them all into the swale bushes—retrieved them.Arranged in order, they saw the following poems: Like peeling off the bean skin, peeling off your reputation. Bear a son, not yours. Suck your honey. Peel off your skin and stop breathing. ① "Ang Pan": equivalent to more than one meter. ② See the eleventh line of the sixth volume of "Init".