Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/378

 34 2 Readings in European History conversed with me with his own mouth, invited me to dine with him, and, after the meal, honored me and my following with appropriate gifts. . . . In a hall of extraordinary height and magnificence nine- teen tables are spread on the anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ ; around these the emperor and his guests, instead of sitting as usual, recline to eat. On this day, moreover, only golden dishes are used instead of the usual silver ones. After dinner fruit was served in three golden vessels of such enormous weight that they could not be carried by men but were brought in on little carts decked with purple coverings. They were placed on the table in the following manner. Through openings in the ceiling three ropes of gilded leather were let down, on the ends of which were fastened golden rings; these were attached to hooks rising from the golden vessels, which were then lifted on to the table by means of a windlass above the ceiling, while four or more men lent their aid from below. Later they were removed in the same way. It would take too long to describe all the performances which followed, but I must mention one of them, for it was quite too wonderful. There was a man who carried on his forehead, without touching it with his hands, a pole at least twenty-four feet long, on which, an ell from the top, a cross- piece two ells long was fastened. Then two little boys, naked except for loin cloths, were brought in. They climbed up the pole, performed all sorts of gymnastic feats upon it, and came down again, headforemost, without the pole moving any more than if it had been rooted in the ground. Then after one boy had climbed down, the other one stayed up alone and went through his tricks, which threw me into still greater astonishment. For as long as they both were performing on the pole the thing seemed, after a fashion, explicable, since by their equal weight, though to be sure with marvelous skill, they had kept the pole perpendicular. That one by himself, however, should be able to preserve the equilibrium so as to perform his antics and come down again unhurt, this threw me into such a state of wonder that