12 The History of Monsters

of a wicked nature called Arimaspi are said to dwell there, the middle of whose forehead is marked by a single eye. Mondognetus asserts this more freely, recounting that during the consulship of Fulvius Torquatus, while at war against the Volsci, a one-eyed man was brought to Rome from Mauritania and paraded through the city as a marvel. Pliny acknowledged these one-eyed or Monophthalmic peoples, or rather Arimaspi, noting that in the Scythian tongue, *arima* signifies "one" and *spu* signifies "eye." We can call them by the common name of Cyclopes. According to Gellius, they feed solely on the flesh of wild beasts, which is why some call them Agriophagitae (wild-eaters). This nation was not unknown to Aristides, who often mocked Philip of Macedon—who had lost an eye to the arrow of the excellent soldier Aster—by calling him a kinsman of the Arimaspi. Saint Augustine, a man of unshakable faith as reported by Fulgosus, does not dismiss the existence of this nation; indeed, while he was Bishop of Hippo and traveling through the lower parts of Ethiopia to call the human flock back to a simple life and the path of salvation, he affirmed that he had seen such people himself. Therefore, for the reader's benefit, we provide an illustration. However, Thevet admits in his history that he never observed such peoples in the New World.

In the previous pages of this history, it was recorded that people lacking a neck dwell in this world. Conversely, we now present the news that in Eripia (as some write), or in the furthest reaches of Siricana according to Lycosthenes, or as others prefer, in certain valleys of the Tartars, there lives a race with necks so long they rival those of cranes. Furthermore, at the top of the neck is a beastly face with human eyes and nostrils, yet adorned with a beak and wattles like a rooster. This is perhaps more pleasant to read about than to believe. Nevertheless, we do not deny that semi-wild men with elongated necks and beast-like faces live in those regions; it is said their women are not as deformed as the males and are very rarely seen. This nation is reported to use great force against enemies, especially against the Tartars. A likeness of them is also presented here for the reader to consider.

Before we speak of nature’s astounding miracles regarding human feet, we shall first discuss people marked by tails. According to Peter Martyr, the inhabitants of the Inzignanin region reported that a race of men was once brought across the sea who possessed tails an amazing span in length—not mobile, but solid, twisted, and very similar to those of crocodiles. Because of this, they used chairs with holes in them. Indeed, Marco Polo mentions seeing people in the Kingdom of Lambri with tails a palm’s length long. We do not dare to attest that all these stories are mere trifles. We know for a fact that it is recorded in the English Annals, as John Major recounts, that infants were once born there from their mother's womb equipped with tails. They claim this originated when Saint Augustine was sent from Greece to England by order of Gregory the Great to spread the Gospel with his eloquence and wonderful skill in oratory; the common people mockingly threw fish tails at him. Whereupon the Saint, having first implored the divine power, obtained as a punishment for their sin that human offspring born there thereafter would be disfigured with tails, so that by this warning they might learn not to despise divine teaching. Therefore, this was to be attributed neither to celestial influence nor to the weather; the punishment was inflicted upon them for a time so that an incredulous people might marvel at such a man, a witness of the most proven and excellent faith.

Now it is time for the shape or number of feet to provide us with other differences among men. Pliny reported a race in India with feet a cubit long; the women, however, have feet so small they are called *struthiopedes* (ostrich-footed). Likewise, in certain places of the Tartars, according to Vincent in his *Speculum Historiale*, men wander with only a single arm, and likewise only one leg and foot. Two of these men perform the duty of a single archer: while one holds the bow, the other shoots the arrow. Furthermore, a miraculous nimbleness is observed in them; they run with such speed using one hand and one foot that they outrun horses, and when the arm grows weary, they proceed by hopping on the foot alone. However, Solinus announced that others of this kind, called *Monoscelli* (interpreted as *monoskelēs*, having a single leg), roam through India and leap swiftly. Indeed, he wrote that they have a foot so vast that, when it is raised against the sun, they easily protect themselves in its shadow; for this reason, they are also called *Sciopodes* (for *skia* is shadow, and *pous* is foot