I am named Saracil, and
these two Sathiel and Jana. Our kingdom lies near the moon, where dwell
that multitude of intermediate beings who have sway over earth and
sea.' Palingenius then asked, not without an inward tremor, what they
were going to do at Rome. The answer was: 'One of our comrades, Ammon,
is kept in servitude by the magic arts of a youth from Narni, one of
the attendants of Cardinal Orsini; for mark it, O men, there is proof
of your own immortality therein, that you can control one of us: I
myself shut up in crystal, was once forced to serve a German, till a
bearded monk set me free. This is the service which we wish to render
at Rome to our friend, and he shall also take the opportunity of
sending one or two distinguished Romans to the nether world.' At these
words a light breeze arose, and Sathiel said: 'Listen, our messenger is
coming back from Rome, and this wind announces him.' And then another
being appeared, whom they greeted joyfully and then asked about Rome.
His utterances are strongly anti-papal: Clement VII was again allied
with the Spaniards and hoped to root out Luther's doctrines, not with
arguments, but by the Spanish sword. This is wholly in the interest of
the demons, whom the impending bloodshed would enable to carry away the
souls of thousands into hell. At the close of this conversation, in
which Rome with all its guilt is represented as wholly given over to
the Evil One, the apparitions vanish, and leave the poet sorrowfully to
pursue his way alone.
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